Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Zach Gould / Daily Lobo Jamie Reed works with cell cultures at the Mechanical Engineering building Nov. 12. More research is now done in the Centennial Engineering Center, which opened earlier this semester.

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.

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.

Continued...

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