UNM is preparing for major campus renovations, but the University may not be able to afford all the buildings it has planned.
The University has spent about $14 million this year on 34 renovation projects expected to be completed by 2009. The most expensive project is the Castetter Hall renovation, which benefits the Biology Department, at $7.3 million.
Other departments that have seen an increase in student enrollment are looking to expand their facilities. While the Centennial Engineering Center opened this fall, the nursing school still hopes there will be enough resources available to continue funding the Domenici Center for Health Sciences Education, an expansion that would benefit the program.
Steve Beffort, vice president of Institutional Support Services, said UNM has devised a master plan that outlines future updates to all of its campuses and that the plan should be available by the end of the year.
However, Beffort said because of current economic turmoil, the master plan may need to be revised.
"When you're looking at the current legislative situation, and they're looking at a $500 million shortfall . that certainly limits their ability to provide funding to us and all other state entities, and until that number becomes stabilized, that's certainly going to have a negative effect on our ability to build new buildings," he said.
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Arup Maji, chairman of Civil Engineering, said the new engineering building houses a growing community of undergraduate and graduate students and serves as a beacon of hope that the program has room to expand further.
"We have close to a 20 percent increase in student credit hours this year as compared to last, and we have twice as many full-time graduate students coming into the department here as well," he said.
Maji said the increase in students is due in part to the opportunities the building provides through new equipment and updated classrooms.
Karen Carlson, nursing professor and interim dean of the College of Nursing, said she and the entire nursing program have been eagerly awaiting the opportunities that the Domenici Center for Health Sciences Education will provide.
According to an article in UNM Today, the $49 million, three-phase Domenici Center project was planned to be
completed in phases as funding became available. The first phase began in 2005, and the second phase is scheduled to cost $20 million and be open for classes in spring 2010, said University spokesman Steve Carr.
Carlson said the nursing program has seen a spike in student enrollment and needs more space.
"We have essentially doubled our undergraduate student enrollment over the past five years," she said. "In terms of a facility, space is at a premium . everywhere on campus, and, actually, we have the new education center going up over here on North Campus."
Carlson said UNM's nursing program is growing due to the increased need for nurses in the community.
Carlson said a new building, combined with the influx of student interest in UNM's nursing program, might encourage another growth spurt within the University's nursing community.
This would increase the formula funding for the program on top of the funding already received, she said.
"We have been able to hire some faculty based on funding that was awarded to us by the Legislature last year, and both the Legislature and then the money that came to us through the University from our formula (funding) because we have been increasing," she said.
Beffort said the University weighs all its options before deciding on construction or renovation.
The Institutional Support Services Department assists in doing the legwork to determine the space, cost and timeframe necessary to construct a building, Beffort said.
"We help in that decision-making process by helping to find costs and size and building locations and those kinds of things, but we're not the decision-making department," he said. "Those decisions are made based upon University priorities."
Beffort said the final decision to go forward with construction must be approved by the programs' deans after they have seen an outline of the plan and costs.
The president's office will review the proposal, and then it goes to the regents for final approval, he said.
