SC President's Monthly Communication: May

This month opens with beautiful spring flowers and lot of sunshine that tends to lift one’s mood; and I hope it is so for you.

Staff Council Initiatives

A hearty welcome to the new and newly-elected staff councilors! Thirty grade representatives won their seats in the March elections, including 18 incumbents and 12 staff new to the Council; and I look forward to the ideas and contributions they will bring during their two-year term. Congratulations!

Branch Coordination. Leadership from the four UNM campuses with an existing or planned Staff Council or Association (Valencia, Taos, Gallup, and Albuquerque) met together in April, in part to help staff in Gallup think about their plans to revise their Staff Association, and in part to open the possibility of collaborating more generally. I hope this coordination will take hold and continue to grow.

Affinity Groups. Network and meet others who share your interests! The new affinity groups include Native American Staff, Black Staff, Latinx/Hispanic Staff, Women in Leadership, LGBTQIA+ Staff, Older Staff, Younger Staff, and many more. Sign up!

The Pack is Back

Although plans vary somewhat depending on where you work, and most of us that have been working remotely are asked to continue to do so, we are surely if carefully phasing back to a more normal campus this Summer and Fall. The best place to find up-to-the-minute information on the COVID dashboard, facility hours, HR guidance to staff, campus protocols, answers to frequently asked questions, and all things pandemic is the website, The Pack is Back: A Safe Return to Campus.    

Financial Planning

The Capital Projects Leadership Team (CPLT) has completed its work for the year. This Committee is evolving under Executive VP for Finance and Administration, Teresa Costantinidis, into a more collaborative and transparent body. This year, the group listened to 14 proposals; but as HSC and branch requests have separate vetting processes, CPLT rated only the six referring to projects on main campus. In the end, the group chose to bundle five of the requests into three requests: 1) $65m General Obligation Bond for the Center for Collaborative Arts and Technology, 2) $4.5m Severance Tax Bond for Lab Safety Improvements, and 3) $3.7 Severance Tax Bond for Technology Infrastructure Upgrades. In addition, HSC is requesting a total for $45m for a new UNMH Children’s Psychiatric Center, Interprofessional Healthcare Simulation Center Expansion, and research equipment. Each of our branch campuses has requested GO Bond-funded capital projects as well. All told, UNM requests total $132.5m.

These recommendations were sent to President Stokes, who has ultimately determined the recommendations to be presented to the Board of Regents this month. Once approved, they will be forwarded to the NM Higher Education Department, who will vet them again and present them to the State Legislature in January, 2022. Severance Tax items will be considered by the Legislature, while GO Bond items, if passed by the state legislature, will go before voters in November, 2022 – so this is a long process. (The NM Legislative Finance Committee provides this helpful one-page document for understanding this aspect of state financing.)

We are now in the middle of the subcommittee meetings that culminate in the full Regent Meeting on May 11^th, which this month will be dominated by branch, north campus, and main budget (operational and capital) requests.

Around Campus

Policy Office. The UNM Policy Office and Staff Council meet regularly; and many things are happening in the UNM Policy Office! Led by Sidney Mason-Coon for the past year and change, Sidney is putting transparent processes into place that will ensure your ideas for changes and new policies will be heard. Having brought together a large team of University staff to offer ideas for improved processes in February, Sidney is now working with University IT to put them into place, including a form one can submit that will incorporate the process owner and other important players. The team will meet again this fall to assess the system.

We will likely see the additional benefits for Parental Leave and Bereavement Leave in Leave with Pay Policy (3415) this month.

Parking and Transportation Services. Did you know PATS has begun a new Parking Advisory Group? This group—upon which Staff Council has both a main and north campus representative—has just begun to meet monthly to share information about construction, parking permit options, accessibility for Lobos and visitors with disabilities, communication about changes, signage, and so on. If you now work on north campus or have ventured by, you know a lot is happening, construction wise—and that means a loss of parking. That has led to changes and in some cases increases in fees for G, M and Q Lot holders; and there is a new student commuter (ELKS) lot. If you have questions or comments, our north campus representative is Jessica Serna (jserna@salud.unm.edu); our main campus representative is Lisa Beauchene-Lawson (beauch@unm.edu).

Opportunities for Lifting Your Voice

UNM 2040: Opportunity Defined. As I have just done, I encourage you to sign up for one of the six remaining employee focus groups so that you can share your thoughts about UNM’s future. The remaining dates with open, 1-hour virtual focus groups are between May 4^th and May 24^th. You are also invited to the Virtual Launch on May 7^th, in which we will hear from President Stokes and have the opportunity to interact with other staff, faculty, and students in breakout groups. It’s important for all of us to share our insights about how UNM can be more relevant, more visible and more competitive for what we do best!

Thank You

As a final note, I would like to thank everyone who has contacted me with a question or comment, or attended any Coffee Hour I hosted this year as Staff Council President. I have been humbled by the pride you take in your jobs; the thoughtfulness and compassion with which you express ideas and shared problems; and the friendliness and helpfulness you offer to fellow Coffee Hour attendees. This window into the best UNM staff has to offer has been a wonderful fringe benefit of this position, a true highlight of all my time at UNM.