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Plan would help New Mexico universities work together
Higher ed plan
Cabinet Secretary Reed Dasenbrock's proposed agenda for higher education:
• Create a common application for all New Mexico colleges that would be free for state residents.
• Guarantee admission to all New Mexico universities.
• Develop agreements around "credit stacking," which allows students to start at one public college or university and complete their degrees with a program offered by another public college or university.
• Develop agreements around "degree hosting," which allows undergraduate or graduate programs to be delivered on two-year campuses.
• Allow transferability for online courses taught in state public colleges and universities.
• Allow full transferability for courses taken at home during the summer for New Mexico students attending public colleges and universities in different countries.
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A proposal to make it easier for New Mexico universities to collaborate and easier for students to get college degrees would be good for the state, say the presidents of the state's two biggest universities.
Reed Dasenbrock, secretary of the state Higher Education Department, has been working on his six-point proposal since he took the post June 7.
If approved by New Mexico universities, it would make the application process easier, simplify student transfers from one university to another and allow students at one state college campus to receive a degree from another.
Mike Martin, president of New Mexico State University, said the plan is a way for schools to work together for the greater good of the state.
"In New Mexico, we're a poor state, and the only way we're going to be better is if we share resources and collaborate," he said.
David Schmidly, who will be inaugurated as president of the University of New Mexico on Oct. 7, called the plan very promising.
"I've seen these things work in other states," he said. "If they are implemented, we will help students be more successful and graduate (more) students - and graduate more on time."
Martin said the Council of University Presidents will meet in Santa Fe on Wednesday to discuss Dasenbrock's proposal.
The council includes representatives of New Mexico's public universities and colleges.
Two of the big items on the agenda are credit stacking and degree hosting.
Credit stacking was an idea Schmidly said he heard in Florida while touring campuses throughout the United States.
It allows students to stay at one public college or university but enroll in a degree program offered by another public school.
Degree hosting would allow two-year colleges to offer undergraduate and graduate programs. The state is already doing that in an informal way, Schmidly said.
Dasenbrock, former provost at UNM, said the state's public education institutions need to start collaborating.
"We have 24 institutions thinking different ways," he said of the state's public universities, colleges and branch campuses.
Dasenbrock said as New Mexico's statewide university enrollments decline, something needs to be done to get students back into classes.
He said he will implement his six-point proposal during the 2008 school year if New Mexico's colleges and universities agree.
"There is nothing preventing it from being achieved," he said.
Schmidly said degree hosting and credit stacking will help more people go to college.
"In a state like New Mexico that's relatively small, you don't have a large population or a large tax base. These things provide people opportunities to have a higher education," he said.
Martin said he is already on track with some of Dasenbrock's ideas.
"I like his idea of degree hosting," he said. "We have agreed to be hosted by the Rio Rancho campus" created by UNM and Central New Mexico Community College. "I like the idea we can come up with a new arrangement, credit stacking, where we treat other course work as our own. It makes it easier for students."
Also on Dasenbrock's agenda is creating an online application for New Mexico colleges and universities that allows prospective students to apply to several schools simultaneously, at no cost.
Application fees vary from school to school. At UNM the fee is $20.
Martin said it's important to get the ball rolling.
"The state of New Mexico remains near the bottom of the nation in terms of education attainment," he said.
Although Martin agrees with the agenda, some people might resist change, he said.
"Any time you start moving toward more central coordination, there is some concern about turf battles," Martin said. "There's always a concern: `Is there enough money?' "
But he said everyone he's talked to believes change is good.
"If you're not changing to improve, you're falling behind," he said.
That change will bring New Mexico universities together for the betterment of the state, Martin said.
"It's going to try to make us look more like a system," he said. "The board of NMSU met with the Board of Regents at UNM. We're going to compete in football and volleyball but collaborate on educational issues."
