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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Griego
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
02/1/06
HB
SHORT TITLE
Northern NM State School Salary Increases
SB 177
ANALYST Moser
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY06
FY07
$3,000.0
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act
Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
NM Higher Education Department (NMHED)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 177 appropriates $3,000,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of
Northern New Mexico State School for expenditure in FY06 and FY07 to raise faculty and staff
salaries by approximately 51%. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end
of FY07 shall revert to the General Fund. The bill carries an emergency clause and would take
effect immediately upon executive approval.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
SB 177 contains a $3,000,000 appropriation for expenditure in both FY06 and FY07 to raise fac-
ulty and staff salaries at NNMC by 51 percent. Because this is a salary increase this would be
considered a recurring expense.
HB 2/aHAFC appropriates 4.5 percent in compensation increases to faculty and staff of four- and
two-year public post-secondary educational institutions in addition to appropriating a 0.75 per-
cent increase in the employer contribution to the Educational Retirement Fund. This bill appears
to grant a 51 percent increase in addition to the 4.5% salary increase adjustment of HB2/aHAFC.
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Senate Bill 177 – Page
2
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
SB 177 is specific only to NNMC and would not apply to faculty in other two-year to four-year
higher education facilities.
SB 177 contains a $3,000,000 multi-year special appropriation for expenditure in both FY06 and
FY07 to raise faculty and staff salaries at Northern New Mexico State School. NMHED points
out that the official name of the school is Northern New Mexico College (NNMC). During the
2005 legislative session, Governor Richardson signed into law duplicate bills that changed the
name from Northern New Mexico State School to NNMC to signify its transition from two-year
to four-year status beginning in FY06. NMHED suggests an amendment to clarify this point (See
Alternatives).
The NMHED indicates that the New Mexico Association of Community Colleges (NMACC)
recently issued its report on Faculty and Staff Salary Comparisons for 2004-2005 with data self-
reported by the 2-year institutions and compared against data supplied by both the Chronicle of
Higher Education (CoHE) and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).
Since NNMC was still a two-year institution in FY05, the report mainly compares its fac-
ulty/staff salaries against those of other two-year schools, but there are some comparisons with
the four-year schools in New Mexico as well.
The study showed NNMC's mean salary for faculty was $39,508--which was $20,109 less than
the mean salary at other New Mexico universities (including both two- and four-year institu-
tions). Additionally, the report showed NNMC faculty salaries averaging $25,300 for those with
a bachelor's degree; $29,100 for those with a master's degree; and $30,800 for those with a doc-
torate.
NMHED also indicates that its data shows salaries based on rank cannot be compared with other
institutions since NNMC reports only salaries for all faculty (without designation of rank) and
salaries of staff. NMHED used Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data
to compare NNMC faculty rank and salaries against those of the four-year state institutions that
serve rural populations (Western New Mexico University, Eastern New Mexico University and
New Mexico Highlands University). These data show the following:
NNMC
WNMU
NMHU
ENMU
Degrees
Bachelor's 5 12% $35,289 1 1% $30,024 0 0%
0 0%
Bachelor's 10 24% $32,016 3 4% $32,837 2 2% $41,000 2 2% $47,527
Master's 20 49% $40,138 23 28% $42,620 21 20% $44,832 23 28% $45,038
Doctorate 6 15% $38,894 56 67% $48,458 83 78% $48,787 101 80% $51,545
Mean Salary
$39,429
Mean
Salary
$44,820
Mean
Salary
$44,873
Mean
Salary
$50,294
NMHED concludes that based on these comparisons, the mean salaries of the comparison four-
year institutions are higher due to the higher number of faculty with advanced degrees who con-
sequently receive higher salaries. Salaries for individuals with bachelor's or lower than bachelor's
degrees at WNMU are comparable to those of faculty at NNMC. Mean salaries for individuals
from NNMC, WNMU and NMHU are comparable. Some adjustments may need to be made for
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Senate Bill 177 – Page
3
individuals with bachelor's and doctoral degrees at NNMC. The comparison institution with the
highest salary for faculty according to rank is ENMU. Across the institutions the significant dis-
parities reported by the NMACC are not apparent.
The comparison of faculty salaries also cannot be made without distinguishing the curricula
taught by the different faculty. For example, at NNMC, faculty are primarily teaching lower di-
vision courses, whereas the faculty at the comparison institutions are teaching a combination of
lower division, upper division, and graduate courses. Finally, research and other faculty require-
ments, including the number of students served (teaching and advising), need to be considered
when comparing faculty salaries.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
SB177 is companion to HB342 and relates to, HB2/aHAFC, as well as SB1.
ALTERNATIVES
NMHED suggests that NNMC can submit a salary adjustment plan for study and review by
NMHED, the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC), and the Department of Finance and Ad-
ministration (DFA). Given the significance of this increase, a study is recommended to deter-
mine the financial impact not only on the NNMC salary structure, but on the overall higher edu-
cation funding formula. NMHED will be initiating a complete salary study of faculty and staff at
all institutions.
NMHED recommends that the submission of a salary adjustment plan by NNMC not occur until
the salary study is completed by NMHED.
NMHED recommends that the bill be amended as follows:
Delete "State School" and add the word "College" as the official name of the institution is
Northern New Mexico College (NNMC). During the 2005 legislative session, Governor
Richardson signed into law duplicate bills (SB594) Laws 2005, Ch. 304, 47th Legisla-
ture, 1st Session and, (HB461) Laws 2005, Ch. 308, 47th Legislature, 1st Session, that
changed the name to signify the transition from a two-year to four-year institution begin-
ning in FY06.
GM/mt