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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Rehm

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/16/2007

HB 1194

SHORT TITLE

RESEARCH SERVICE LEARNING PROGRAM

SB

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$250.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

NM Department of Higher Education

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 1194 requests $250,000 to be appropriated from the General Fund in FY08 to the

Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico (UNM) to create the Research Service

Learning Program (RSLP).

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $250,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY08 shall revert to the

general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

HED indicates that in September 2006, the UNM Research Service Learning Program (RSLP)

was officially launched. According to information on the UNM website, the RSLP was designed

to guide academic cohorts of undergraduate students in the development of community

relationships in Central Albuquerque. Working with community partners, students are given

House Bill 1194 – Page

2

opportunities to engage in sustained, real-world experiences and apply course-based knowledge.

In this way, learned theories and experiential practices are combined to enhance student skills

and the lives of community residents. Each RSLP course provides the guidance and instruction

for students to research problems as a group, identify solutions as a group, and work together

with the designated community toward immediate implementation or continued planned support

activities over time. RSLP student learning opportunities are designed, planned and guided

cooperatively by UNM faculty, community faculty, graduate students, community organizations

and the academic course cohort of students.

According to the program director, a number of successful partnerships and projects have been

developed and completed (for example, with the Santa Barbara/Martineztown Neighborhood

Association, Barelas Neighborhood Association, and Mesa Verde Community Center). Per the

director, this academic program provides students with an innovative, different path to a degree

one that shows a direct relevance and connectedness between education and the community. The

program also helps UNM in its outreach efforts to give back to the community. According to the

program director, HB1194 funding will be used for:

•

Salaries for the faculty involved in teaching the RSLP courses

•

Special instruction in service learning for the faculty teaching RSLP courses

•

Designing new RSLP courses for students

This request was not submitted to the New Mexico Higher Education Department by UNM, and

was not included in the Department’s funding recommendation for FY08.

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