… no one else comes close to the University of New Mexico.
Its president is a nepotistic nullity.
Its football coach likes to lose games and beat up people.
Everyone’s tried to get rid of the president every which way, but the governor and legislature can’t get enough of the guy.
UNM will also keep the coach on, rumor has it, because “UNM’s Board of Regents, the state of New Mexico and the athletic department’s private fundraising Lobo Club is unwilling to provide the $1.46 million to buy Locksley out of a contract that runs through 2014.”
They’re already paying through the teeth on contract buyouts for three other coaches.
Plus:
This year’s average attendance will likely be the lowest since 1992. The school’s ticket revenue projection is down over a million dollars over the last two years yet it will cost the University about $1.4 million to buyout the remainder of his contract.
All UD can say is Choose your state well. You’re free, in the United States, to move unaccosted from state to state, putting down roots, attending school, and working, where you prefer. Occasionally, you’re trapped; I understand that. But in most cases you do not have to go to a public university in Nevada, New Mexico, Alaska, or Hawaii — all states where there is simply no good option if you’re serious, or even semi-serious, about an education.
Don’t wait for UNM to change. Go away.
November 26th, 2010 at 2:40PM
I think you’ve gone a bit far here.
Yes, UNM is a mess right now, and there is excessive political influence throughout the higher ed system in New Mexico. There have been significant problems, but on the positive side:
New Mexico puts a larger portion of its state budget into higher education than most other states.
New Mexico ranks very highly in terms of access and affordability of higher education- unlike many other states, New Mexico has not taken to charging very high in-state tuition rates. The result is that a comparatively high proportion of high school graduates in New Mexico go on to higher education.
The fact is that there are lots of faculty and staff working in public higher ed in New Mexico who are working hard to help students, and there are thousands of students who are getting an education that they wouldn’t be able to get if it weren’t for the hard work of all those faculty and staff and the money being spent by the state.
November 26th, 2010 at 3:09PM
Brian: I appreciate what you’ve said, but access and affordability mean little if the quality of education in one’s state is drastically compromised by corruption. I know that my counseling people to leave the state for better university systems also sounds drastic, but after following the UNM story for a number of years, I’ve concluded that given the system’s inability to self-correct, this would be best.
None of what I’ve said has anything to do with the fact that the system is full of dedicated, long-suffering faculty and staff. Of course it is.