CS/SB 74 UNM DEPT. OF HEALTH FACULTY

Sen Martin E Hickey

Actions: [1] SCC/SEC/SFC-SCC [2]germane-SEC [4] DNP-CS/DP-SFC

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 Senate Bill 227198 (SB) appropriates twenty-two million eight hundred thousand dollars ($22,800,000) to the Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico for development and faculty hiring for the School of Public Health  

 Senate Bill 227198 (SB )  appropriates twenty-two million eight hundred thousand dollars ($22,800,000) from the General Fund (GF) to the University of New Mexico (UNM) for expenditure in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 through FY 2028 for development and faculty hiring for the School of Public Health. 

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2028 reverts to the GF. 

 The University of New Mexico’s College of Population Health (COPH) is transitioning into an accredited School of Public Health. The process is a lengthy one, so the target is to stand up the School of Public Health by 2026.  Construction on the facility that will house the College of Nursing and Public Health Excellence and the College of Population Health started in 2022.
As a first step toward the goal of accreditation by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), the COPH has begun a cooperative PhD program with New Mexico State University in Health Equity Sciences. Accreditation by CEPH is a rigorous process that includes multi-level review to establish that the program meets national standards created by public health professionals, including both academics and practitioners.  According to the dean of the College of Population Health, accreditation will make more resources available and provide a stronger appeal to students considering UNM’s public health offerings versus those of other universities. Accreditation will also, according to the COPH, give prospective employers of UNM public health grads the confidence that its graduates have the essential skills and knowledge that are required for today’s public health field given the rigorous review required for accreditation.
 

 The Senate Education Committee introduced a committee substitute for SB 74 (SEC CS/SB 74) that appropriates eleven million three hundred eight thousand eight hundred dollars ($11,308,800) dollars from the General Fund (GF) to the University of New Mexico (UNM) for expenditure in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 through FY 2027 for development and faculty hiring for the School of Public Health.
SEC CS/SB 74 limits the spending of the appropriation as follows:
•	One million four hundred sixty-five thousand dollars ($1,465,000) to be expended in FY 2025;
•	Five million one hundred sixty-seven thousand dollars ($5,167,000), in FY 2026;
•	Four million six hundred seventy-six thousand eight hundred dollars ($4,676,800), in FY 2027

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2027 reverts to the GF.