Behind sturdy fences, the former UNM student housing units, located on Buena Vista Avenue, await their future.
The units are located on a 13-acre parcel, that was recently sold by UNM to CNM. CNM has approved the acquisition for a price of 1.5 million, and UNM has approved the sale, according to CNM.
When the CNM Governing Board approved the acquisition in July, CNM officials said that they had not determined how they would use the property. At recent CNM meetings the idea that has been presented is to demolish the housing units, and build a state-of-the-art space for the applied technologies and trades programs.
But, as pictured on September 28, from Buena Vista Avenue, these unoccupied housing units, will have to wait to find out their precise fate.
UNM shuttle bus on University Boulevard, on its way to pick up UNM students who park for free at the massive University Stadium parking lot.
University Stadium parking lot is brimming with cars, as UNM students park for free and catch a shuttle bus to their main campus. Two shuttle buses are visible in the background at a pickup point.
While CNM students have seen the imposition of paid parking for their campus lots, UNM students are able to skate on charges by parking at the massive University Stadium parking lot, south of the CNM campus.
Of course, if there is an athletic event, like a home Lobo football game, paid parking goes into effect, according to lot attendants.
But on a beautiful weekday afternoon, the University Stadium is brimming with cars, whose drivers had to pay nary a farthing for their place in the sun. Shuttle buses are ready to ferry UNM students to their main campus as soon as the students park. It is about a mile walk that some students might not want to endure in the afternoon sun.
The red Lobo shuttle busses are highly visible as they go to and from the Stadium lot to Main campus, via University Boulevard.
Lot attendants are scooting about in their golf carts to monitor the situation, but everything seems peaceful and calm. There may be no such thing as a free lunch these days, but for UNM students there is free parking.
On a brilliant sunny afternoon of September 15th, at the UNM Duck Pond, the duck population is growing, and calling itself to order.
In midsummer, the duck population had fallen below 20 ducks. Now ducks are returning from their summer vacations in northern latitudes, and beginning to settle in for fall and winter.
Today there are more than forty ducks, paddling about, or watching from the pond’s edge, where they naturally line up in rows to observe the turtles, sunning on pond rocks, and humans who recline in the shade of trees, or sit on benches surrounding the water.
It’s a far cry from the hundreds of ducks the pond regularly hosts in the winter, and certainly not enough to impress the turtles, who are rock-solid residents of the pond year around. Yes, indeed, the turtles are hard to impress.
Catering/Brewery moves into light blue construction phase at RPM.
Skies are blue–albeit a bit hazy– as the Fall Semester at CNM kicks into gear.
The parking lot is full in front of the Student Services center. Meanwhile, students are able to get directions and information from a booth set up as part of “Suncat Days,” by the stairs near Max Salazar Hall.
Across University Boulevard, construction on the Catering Services/Brewery at Robert P. Matteuchi Hall continues, and is going through a light blue phase (as if to match the skies). On the North side of Main Campus, a billboard on E Building beams out a strong message in blue: it looks like “E” stands for being “exceptional” at CNM.
The CNM Dental Assisting Program has a positive impact for students and dentists alike.
When Dr. Fielfer Murga bought his practice, Dental Wellness, he knew that the staff he would be hiring would need to be a good fit for the team, so he reached out to CNM to help him.
“When I purchased the practice, the previous doctor told me that he had some connections with CNM. Then a graduate of the program came in to apply and we liked her and her work, so we contacted CNM that we wanted to work with their students,” Dr. Murga said.
One such student is 2018 CNM graduate Leyra Leyva. She said that it wasn’t until after she started attending CNM that she decided to enter the Dental Assisting Program.
“Once I started the program, I really realized how important it is to take care of your teeth,” Leyva said.
Leyva was sent to Dental Wellness for her second clinical assignment, and she has been employed there since that time, she said.
Dr. Murga said, “That’s why I like the program, because sometimes you can tell if a potential employee is a good match for you. Every dentist is different, so sometimes there is a match for me and sometimes not. If it is definitely a match, we will hire them on the spot!”
2019 CNM graduate Gladis Sanchez, said she knew before she started taking classes that she wanted to complete the Dental Assisting Program.
Her first clinical assignment brought her to Dental Wellness, and she was hired.
“I have learned a lot here. I love it!” Sanchez said.
Dr. Murga said that the people he likes to hire are those that love to ask questions and who are curious.
CNM graduate Jennifer Medina received her certificate just a couple of weeks ago and is happy to be a part of the team at Dental Wellness, she said.
“Once I took the dental science class at the beginning of the program, I thought it was really interesting and I knew that this was the program for me,” Medina said.
When it comes to staffing his practice, Dr. Murga said that CNM has been, and will continue to be, a great resource for him.
The signs are up for the new Starbuck’s at CNM’s Marketplace, but the store has not announced an opening date, as the campus prepares for the onset of the Fall Semester. While the Marketplace Bookstore is open to patrons wearing masks, construction was continuing on the interior of the Starbucks, as of Friday, August 27. Signage on the Starbucks University Boulevard entrance indicates that Starbucks will be “coming soon.” Outdoor tables are already placed on a patio, marked by the familiar Starbucks emblem on a wall clearly visible from University Boulevard.
The Zoom Governing Board meeting held on Wednesday August 8th which consisted of Chairman Thomas Swisstack, Pauline Garcia, James Chavez, Annette Chavez y De La Cruz, Nancy Baca and Robert Schoenfelder voted, in a roll call vote, to approve CNM President Tracy Hartzler’s plan for a vaccine and mask mandate as presented on the CNM website– A Vote to Affirm the Mandatory Covid Vaccination Policy for Faculty Staff, and Students.
In casting his vote, Swisstack said the measure was necessary to protect folks at CNM from “the more contagious Delta Variant” (of the Covid-19 Virus.)
Baca applauded President Hartzler for her hard work in putting together the policy.
No other questions, comments, or discussion, on the mandate were discussed at that time measure.
At its Public work meeting of August 4, the board had asked President Hartzler to consult with legal counsel as to whether a board vote was necessary to make the mandatory vaccine policy effective, or whether she had authority to implement the policy on her own.
The meeting on August 8th was originally scheduled for in person at Smith-Brasher Hall, but Swisstak said he switched it to remote, because, under President Harztler’s policy, the board members would have been required to wear masks, and that he has a hard time hearing people speaking through masks.
The electronic sign in front of CNM’s Security Building was flashing a forward looking message on Thursday, August 12, to passers-by on University Boulevard: “Create Your Future at CNM.” Currently “about 14,000” students are enrolled at CNM, according to President Tracy Hartzler–which she told the Governing Board on August 10, is down approximately 11 percent from this time last year. Enrollment was 25,760 in the Fall of 2015, according to the CNM Fact Book–off a peak of more than 29,700 students in 2011.
Franken Construction workers install artificial grass.
The soon-to-be sculpture garden at Ken Chappy Hall on Main Campus is getting some drought protection in the form of artificial grass, as workers under the supervision of Franken Construction of Albuquerque wield their gardening tools on July 27th. The artificial grass is pretty green, but that’s true of most grass on the other side of the construction fence.
Construction of the Catering Faculty/Brewery at Robert P. Matteucci Hall on CNM’s Main Campus has solidified to a temporary yellow phase, as workers, under the supervision of Brycon Construction of Albuquerque, make the turn for the homestretch of the project. This photo shows progress as of July 21st.
