Campus housing underwent upgrades and renovations this summer in time for incoming students.
But some students say the upgrades only scratched the surface of what the dorms need.
Walt Miller, associate vice president of Student Life, said the renovations are the first phase of a larger renovation process.
"This summer we spent about $2.5 million on improvements to the residence areas," Miller said. "Over the next five years, we have many more projects planned and will probably end up spending about $14 million on renovations overall."
As a part of this process, Coronado Hall received new furnishing, which residents got to help choose, Miller said.
In 2007, earlier in the project, the renovations were halted when several dorm rooms flooded as heavy rains interrupted a roofing project, Miller said. The property of several students was damaged, and UNM reimbursed them for the damage.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"It hopefully won't happen again," he said. "Unfortunately you can't predict the rain during a roofing project."
Other improvements include new air conditioning units for the Student Residence Center.
Jenny Cochran, a freshman who lives in Alvarado Hall, said there are a lot of repairs that need to be done in the dorm.
"When I first moved in, the outside door was broken. I had to bring my tools in and fix it so it would work again," she said. "Another door in my room has already had the handle fall off of it."
Rachel Perovich, a junior, moved from Coronado Hall to Hokona Hall this semester. She said that although Hokona is nicer, there are still many long-overdue upgrades, such as new furnishing.
"I don't think the cabinets or curtains have been replaced since the '60s. They're really kind of gross," she said.
She said the bathrooms are not too bad, except for the sinks and the showers.
"All the sink knobs turn the wrong way, and the showers aren't very private," Perovich said. "All you have to keep you hidden is a flimsy curtain."
Miller said Hokona Hall will have permanent shower doors in the bathrooms very soon. "We want to give the students more privacy," he said.
Perovich said some of the most necessary renovations are not getting enough attention.
"There's so many areas that should have received improvement long ago," she said. "Things have fallen into disrepair and have been neglected too long."
Miller said improvements are on the way but are slower because the majority of larger jobs have to be done while students aren't living in the dorms.
"During the semester we'll be doing less-invasive projects, such as some security upgrades, as well as fire safety upgrades," he said.
Miller said future plans for the dorms include adding new beds, new facilities and improving common areas where students congregate.
"We want to put big screen TVs in La Posada so students can gather to watch sports events if they don't have access to them on their own TVs," he said.
There are renovations planned for winter break, when students are gone between semesters, Miller said. There are also plans to refurnish another building during the summer of 2009.
