UNM administration has a lot on its plate this semester, from renovations and marketing to the University’s budget and the upcoming legislative session.
President Bob Frank said one of the big issues facing administration is working on the University’s budget for next year, which determines salary decisions and funding for programs. He said all those things will happen between now and May.
“I’m optimistic, I feel like UNM’s always working to improve itself,” he said. “We have great students here right now, we have good faculty, we’ve got hardworking regents and I think we’re facing the challenges that every university is facing about funding, but I feel like we’ve got the team here that can work through these hard issues together and come to joint decisions about it.”
The legislative session, which begins the same day as classes, is very important, Frank said. “What the legislature gives us, or doesn’t give us, impacts how we construct our budget.”
He said the administration will spend a lot of time working on the budget with the state legislature, “talking to them about what the University’s needs are and what would make better outcomes versus not so good outcomes in the way they construct the things they’re working on.”
Aside from monetary spending, the administration has big plans for renovating some of the older structures around campus, Frank said. After meeting with two bond rating agencies, he anticipates going to the bond market for $50 million, which would go toward the various improvement projects.
University spokeswoman Dianne Anderson said the decision was made to break up the projects into two stages, the first being Anderson School of Management, Johnson Gym and the beginning of Smith Plaza.
“All those are projects we’ve been working on for quite awhile, but they’ll move from a discussion phase to actual building, planning and hopefully some actual work on the buildings during this semester,” Frank said. “So, we have a lot of design work to do on those projects.”
Anderson said the second phase, which would include Astronomy and Physics along with possibly the Children’s campus and additional work on Smith, will come into play only after the state legislative session has commenced.
At that time, they will know what the funding from the state will be, then it will go into a General Obligation Bond vote in November for approval by voters.
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The UNM administration will be rolling out the work that’s gone on over the last five or six months with branding agency 160over90, Frank said.
According to the UNM Marketing and Communication website, in September, 160over90 was awarded a contract with UNM. The agency was sought “to enhance the institution’s brand and increase global awareness of its offerings,” according to the website.
Frank said since that time the agency has visited on campus and met with 300 people, returning four or five times for meetings to get feedback on their ideas.
“Within the next few weeks they are going to actually come to us and say, ‘here’s the way we think you should tell UNM’s story. Here’s what we think you should emphasize and not emphasize,’” Frank said.
The brand rollout will happen on Thursday at 10 a.m. in the SUB Ballroom C, and is open for students to attend.
The results of this partnership will lead to a number of other projects in which the administration will begin to decide how to brand the University with social media, TV commercials and so on, Frank said.
Frank said he has been working with a developer at Innovate ABQ for a seven-acre plot of land on the northwest corner of Central Ave. and Broadway NE.
“We’re actually close to getting into the final phases of a conversation that would lead to the first building at Innovate ABQ,” he said.
The Board of Regents approved a development framework in Spring 2015, he said, and the site will be reshaped into an area that is more welcoming to students and other small business entrepreneurs.
“We really want you to focus on moving your degree, use the tools we have with our advisors, the degree map, and take advantage of our ‘aim to achieve’ program. So if a student graduates in four years, that last semester is no tuition,” Frank said. “Everything we do focuses on how to improve student success.”
Matthew Reisen is the news editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @dailylobo
