UNM will receive $17 million if General Obligation Bond D is passed on Nov. 4.
Two million dollars will go to UNM's South Campus Student Success Center; $5 million will go toward renovating and expanding the Biology building; and $4 million will be given to the Film and Digital Media Building.
The College of Education will receive the largest amount of funding from the bond - about $6 million.
Diane Gwinn, College of Education administrator, said the funds will be used in part to demolish and replace old classrooms and facilities.
The College of Education classroom building, Travelstead Hall, needs repair, she said.
Groundbreaking for the building will begin Nov. 21, Gwinn said. It will house eight new classrooms that simulate elementary and secondary school settings.
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"Our teachers who are going to go out into the classroom actually learn in a space that is comparable to where they are going," she said.
Student Ernesto Montano said many students might vote against Bond D because they don't want Student Services to move off campus.
"The center helps a lot, but if it moves, it is going to raise the dropout rate," he said. "I think a lot of people are going to stray toward the side of voting against it. All that money that is going to the Student Success Center - couldn't it be used for other programs?"
At a forum held Oct. 15, Carmen Alvarez Brown, vice president of enrollment management, said the Student Success Center will conservatively budget the funds it is given.
"But the president has told me and promised me that if I need to hire people that I could, but I'm trying to minimize that as much as I can," she said.
Gwinn said Bond D needs to be passed because it will aid the College of Education and benefit the state.
"It is important for the future educational system for the state of New Mexico . that our students who are going to become teachers, educators and administrators to have state-of-the-art classrooms for learning," she said.
Gerald Burke, chairman of the Executive Committee for Education, said Bond D will probably pass, as every New Mexico bond has since 1992.
However, he said it is possible some bonds will be vetoed because of the U.S. financial crisis. Voters might be concerned about the Legislature's ability to supply the proposed funds, he said.
"The economy - that's the only concern we have," Burke said. "There has been no organized opposition to Bond D."
Burke said no matter how much money the Legislature receives this year, the bonds are already paid for. He said enough money from property taxes has been set aside and that funding for the proposed bonds will be reverted back to the Legislature if the bonds are not passed.
