CSF "FAQ"

[Nick Thompson]

Dear Local  Friam members,

 

What follows is personal answers to the personal questions I took into the Task Force Meeting on Monday.   I am sorry it is not better than it is.  I had wanted to write something less personal, more authoritative, but I ran out of time. 

 

WHAT IS THE  GOVERNOR’S TASK FORCE?

 

A group of educational heavy hitters in the state plus some local stake holders.  Press release describing the Task Force is at

 

http://www.governor.state.nm.us/press/2009/march/032409_01.pdf

 

It’s goal is to do something about the “hole” [sic] that the collapse of CSF will leave in Santa Fe’s economic, cultural, and intellectual life.   

 

I was struck by the quality of this state wide group and by their dedication to the well-being of Santa Fe.  But they have very little time.  Their report is due in two weeks.  And, more importantly, the human resources of the College are being disbanded at warp speed as we speak.

 

WHAT HOLE?  I THOUGHT CSF WAS ALREADY PRETTY MUCH MORIBUND!

 

This situation is much more hopeful than I thought.  CSF as an institution may be doomed but some of its units … those having to do with the arts and technology … are very lively, have excellent facilities,  and, in some cases, making a healthy profit.   The problem is that the College has an insurmountable debt obligation which is dragging down the healthy units.  How do we separate the healthy units from the debt?  How do we find a fair market value for the CSF’S troubled assets?  Sound familiar?  Where is TARP when we need it?!

 

ISN’T THAT WHAT BANKRUPTCY IS FOR?  

 

Well, ideally yes. And this may be the only way out.  But remember, a bankruptcy judge’s responsibility is to the creditors, not to the wellbeing of the City of Santa Fe.  Unfortunately, some of the assets on the campus are secured separately, so that one creditor might get off with some crucial piece of the campus, leaving only a non-viable residue.  There is no guarantee that bankruptcy will result in the highest and best use of the campus.    

 

 I THOUGHT HIGHLANDS WAS GOING TO BAIL CSF OUT?

 

Alas, that train may have left the station.  Highlands ran the numbers back in February and figured at that time that they could make a go of it.  But at that point, CSF was still a going concern.  Since then, many of the faculty have left and the students have been pastured out to other institutions. 

 

WHERE COULD THE MONEY COME FROM?

 

There are three entities with bonding authority that might participate: Highlands, the Community College, and the City of Santa Fe.  All three have advantages and disadvantages.  The legislature might be cajoled into creating a “learning center” in Santa Fe where all the higher education institutions in NM could compete for  SF students and resources. 

 

Editorial Opinion:  I HATE the learning center idea.  It is throwing the giraffe to the hyenas.  Santa Fe needs a Santa Fe-ish solution to this problem.  Santa Fe is a place where people would come to study art, theatre, technology, government, the environment, anthropology, and all the other things that people in this city do well.  Hence my dream of a City University of Santa Fe whose job it is to clabbor all the educational resources in the City into a Santa Fe-ish place of learning. 

 

AT THE TASK FORCE MEETING, A COUPLE OF SPEAKERS OFFERED THE RUMOR THAT ST. JOHNS WAS SERIOUSLY RETRENCHING.   DO I NEED TO ADD THIS TO MY LIST OF WORRIES?

 

Emphatically, no.  St. Johns is in real good shape.   Their response to the economic crisis has been to make a strong effort to hold down tuition costs.  To this end they have reduced non-academic budget by 15 percent and are not hurrying to fill any open positions.  I wish I could say the same of my own University which seems to be considering unpaid holidays for faculty, and such.  The  St. Johns rumor was the result of some terrible headline writing in an Albuquerque paper summarizing an interview with the President of the College.  Something like “St. Johns Slashes Budget”.  I wish my endowment were down only 19 percent. 

 

WHERE AND WHEN IS THE NEXT MEETING OF THE TASK FORCE?  

 

THIS Friday morning at 10 am.  [Yes, during the FRIAM meeting:  How DARE they?!]   The meetings are held at the Museums of New Mexico Resources Building in the Stuart Udahl Room.  The building is the first you encounter, on your right, as you enter the Museums Complex off of Santa Fe Trail.  Go into the main entrance, up the stairway, and turn left at the end of the hall.  There is an elevator just to the right as you enter the building; if you use the elevator, you will turn right as you leave it to enter the conference room. 

 

“SHOULD” I ATTEND THE MEETING? 

 

My answer is a qualified, “Yes”.   The reasons to go are that the City of Santa Fe was NOT represented at the last meeting:  they were invited but they just didn’t send anybody, leaving the impression that Santa Fe doesn’t give a fig.  Also, the situation is too complicated for the New Mexican to understand: the more of us who understand what is going on the better .

 

Reasons NOT to go include a desire on your part to speak your peace.  With 30 plus members and a two hour meeting, the Task Force Members have all they can do to exchange crucial information amongst themselves.  They do feel obligated to take some public comment, but by the time they get around to it, they are too tired to hear and you are likely to set back any cause you advocate.  There is some hobnobbing before and after the meeting, and perhaps  you could exchange greetings and opinions then.  Otherwise, I would expect to speak only if spoken to. 

 

 

 

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology,

Clark University ([hidden email])

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

 

 

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