Adopted Date: 09-12-1996
Amended: 09-09-2003
Amended: 08-10-2004
Amended: 12-14-2004
Amended: 03-14-2005
Amended: 10-10-2006
Amended: 12-14-2010
Amended: 09-12-2014
Amended: 06-12-2015
Amended: 08-14-2015
Amended: 03-14-2016
Amended: 02-16-2021
Amended: 10-19-2021
Appointment of Members
The Board of Regents is composed of seven (7) members who are appointed by the Governor of New Mexico, with the consent of the Senate, for staggered terms of six (6) years except for the student regent who is appointed for a two (2)-year term. The Governor and the Secretary of Education are designated as ex-officio, non-voting members, and the Presidents of the Faculty Senate, Staff Council, Associated Students of the University of New Mexico, Graduate and Professional Student Association, Alumni Association, UNM Retiree Association, UNM Parent Association, and the Chair of the UNM Foundation are non-voting advisors.
Removal of Members
Members of the Board of Regents shall not be removed except for incompetence, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. A member may not be removed without notice of hearing and an opportunity to be heard. The New Mexico Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over proceedings to remove a member of the Board of Regents in accordance with such rules as the Court may promulgate, and its decision in such matters is final.
Officers
The Board of Regents is required by statute to meet in Albuquerque on the second Monday in March of each year to elect a president, who shall be chair of the Board of Regents, and a secretary-treasurer. At this time the Board shall also elect a vice chair. The Chair presides at all meetings of the Board and signs all instruments required to be executed by the Board. When the Chair of the Board of Regents is absent, the Board of Regents hereby appoints the Vice-Chair to serve as chair pro tem.
Compensation
Members of the Board are not remunerated for their services, except for the student regent, who is eligible for a leadership stipend. Regents are eligible for travel reimbursement, pursuant to the University's travel reimbursement policies. (See, RPM 7.7 and UAP 4030.)
Conflict of Interest
Members of the Board are subject to the "Regent Code of Conduct and Conflicts of Interest Policy." (See, RPM 1.8.)
Orientation of New Members
When a new member is appointed to the Board, the member may choose to receive hard copies of the Faculty Handbook and the Regents' Policy Manual, or elect to access the manuals online at http://handbook.unm.edu and at http://policy.unm.edu/regents-policies/index.html, respectively. New members also will receive a compilation of current New Mexico statutes pertaining to the Regents. The President and Chair of the Board of Regents will arrange briefing sessions for newly appointed Regents.
Standing Committees
In order to facilitate the work of the Board of Regents, the Chair of the Board of Regents appoints members to standing committees each year and appoints chairs and vice-chairs of each committee. The Chair of the Board of Regents may become a self-appointed member of any standing committee. The Chair of the Board of Regents shall consult with the Board of Regents concerning such appointments to committees.
Consistent with the requirements of the University Research Park and Economic Development Act (“URPEDA”), the Chair of the Board of Regents nominates members to serve on the various boards of directors of URPEDA corporations in which the University is a member following the approved bylaws of each URPEDA corporation and nominees will be appointed to each such Board upon the vote of a majority of the Regents.
The standing committees of the Board of Regents are Audit and Compliance; Finance and Facilities; Student Success, Teaching and Research; Governance; and the Health Sciences Center (HSC). The Chair of the Board of Regents may name other standing committees with the consent of the Board of Regents.
Each standing committee shall consist of three (3) Regent members. A quorum of a Regents' committee consists of a majority of the appointed members of that committee. The Chair of the Board of Regents may self-designate, or designate other Regents to serve as alternate voting members of standing committees or boards when the Regent members are not present.
Each standing committee shall have a designated vice-chair responsible for assisting the chair of the committee. The chair of each committee shall be responsible for preparing the agenda for the committee meetings, in consultation with the University President, the Chair of the Board of Regents, and committee staff. The University President may submit agenda items for the committee to the Chair of the Board of Regents and the chair of the committee. Action items for the Board of Regents are typically reviewed first by a standing committee.
The duties and responsibilities of the HSC Committee are set forth in RPM 3.5. The duties and responsibilities of the Audit and Compliance Committee are set forth in RPM 7.3. The other standing committees’ duties and functions are determined by the Board of Regents, and shall include at least gathering information; conferring with members of the administration, faculty, staff, student body, and public on the topics within the committees’ duties; and making recommendations for action by the Board of Regents. The chairs of the standing committees (or vice-chairs in the absence of the chairs) shall report the committee recommendations to the Board of Regents at its meetings. Standing committees do not constitute a quorum of the Board of Regents and have no authority to act for the Board of Regents except with regard to disposal of surplus property per RPM 7.9. All standing committees will abide by the New Mexico Open Meetings Act, except that in addition to the exclusions listed in the Act, the standing committees may close meetings, when less than a quorum of the Board of Regents is present, in the following instances: (1) to meet with internal or external auditors to discuss any examination or audit prior to the release of an audit report; and/or (2) to meet with attorneys from the Office of University Counsel and/or hired outside counsel to discuss any matter that is protected by the attorney-client privilege.
Consent Agenda Matters
Certain matters, or categories of matters, may be referred by the Board of Regents for discussion and recommendation by a standing committee and thereafter placed on the Board of Regents' consent agenda for approval by the Board of Regents without further discussion. All matters, or categories of matters, within the subject matters regularly assigned to a standing committee shall be deemed to have been referred by the Board to that standing committee. Upon request, any member of the Board of Regents shall have the right to remove an item from the Board's consent agenda and place the item on the Board's regular agenda for discussion.
Ad Hoc Committees
From time to time the Chair of the Board may appoint ad hoc committees consisting of two (2) or three (3) Regent members to gather information and make recommendations to the Board of Regents about specified matters. Public notice of such meetings will be given and public attendance and participation permitted as deemed appropriate by the committee chair.
Quorum for Meetings of the Board
Four (4) of the seven (7) members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
Agenda for Meetings
Items are typically considered by the appropriate Board of Regents' committee before going to the full Board of Regents. The University President is responsible for preparation of the written agenda for Board of Regents meetings; the President consults with the Chair of the Board of Regents about each agenda. Copies of the agenda are distributed to the Regents, the University President, other administrators, representatives of the news media, other interested parties, and posted on the University's website.
Additions to the agenda may not be made less than seventy-two (72) hours prior to the meeting, except in the case of an emergency as defined in the Open Meetings Act. The Board of Regents will consider such emergency changes to the agenda at the beginning of each meeting, but once the Board of Regents formally approves the agenda, it will be followed.
Persons or groups wishing to place an item on the agenda of the Board of Regents, whether for possible Board of Regents’ action or for purposes of addressing the Board of Regents about an item, must submit a letter to that effect to the Chair of the Board of Regents via the University President normally not less than ten (10) business days prior to the scheduled meeting. Final decisions to place items on the agenda or to refer items to committee will be rendered by the Chair of the Board of Regents after consultation with the University President.
Conduct of Meetings
Parliamentary procedure shall be governed by the most current revision of Roberts' Rules of Order, except that New Mexico law or other applicable Regents' policies will govern if there is a conflict with Roberts' Rules of Order.
References
N.M. Const, art. XII, § 13 ("Board of regents")
N.M. STAT. ANN. §§ 21-1-9 ("Expenses of members of boards of regents"), 21-1-13 ("Ex officio board memberships of governor and superintendent of public instruction"), 21-7-5 ("Annual organization meeting of board; election of officers; bond of secretary-treasurer; conditions"), 21-7-6 ("President; secretary and treasurer; duties and powers") (1978)
