Tag: CNM

Vacant Homes Now Belong to CNM

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Story and Photos by

Mark Graven

Staff Reporter

  • All Quiet at Former UNM Student Housing Parcel.
  • Peeking into the Future.

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.

Free Parking for UNM Students

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Story and Photos by

Mark Graven

Staff Reporter

  • 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.

UNM Pond starts to Get Ducks in a Row

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By Mark Graven

Staff Reporter

  • Turtles are hard to impress
  • Paddling fun
  • Ducks in a row

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.

Blue Skies Canopy Fall Semester Opening

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Story and Photos by

Mark Graven

Staff Writer

  • Message in blue: “Be Exceptional.”
  • Full parking lot at Student Services Center.
  • 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.

Career Connections That Keep People Smiling

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Story by Angela Harrington

Staff Reporter

Photo provided by Dental Wellness. Pictured: Leyra Leyva (CNM graduate), Viridiana Murga, Dr. Fielfer Murga, Zoila Murga, Gladis Sanchez (CNM graduate), Jorge Gastelum

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.

Vaccination Mandate Approved by CNM Governing Board

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By Daniel Johnson

Editor in Chief

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 American Families Plan: Colleges Wait and Wonder

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Story by Angela Harrington

Staff Reporter

As the American Families Plan moves closer to legislative action, CNM, like many community colleges across the U.S., will be watching and waiting to see what happens, said CNM’s Interim Vice President of Student Services, Ann Lyn Hall.

 The bill proposes to make two years of community college free for students according to Fact Sheet: The American Families Plan | The White House

CNM leadership is continuing to monitor this bill because students, staff, and faculty all want to know what is going to happen with it, she said.

“We do believe that making community college free, or more affordable, will really help our community and our students. We definitely see a major impact in New Mexico if this bill is passed,” she said.

According to Fact Sheet: The American Families Plan | The White House, the legislation also proposes an increase of $1400 to the amount awarded through the Pell Grant.

Having a larger Pell Grant would also help students because that not only pays for tuition and fees but also helps students pay for other costs as well, said Hall.

According to Hall, this could help students to stay in school and be able to finish a degree because finances would be less of a barrier.

“Nobody comes to school to not complete. People come to school because they have something that they want to do. So, my sense is something like this legislation would really allow some additional resources to help students meet those goals,” stated Hall.

For the school, according to Hall, the benefits proposed in the plan could equate to higher enrollment rates and better student retention.

Daylight at Max Salazar

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Photos by Mark Graven

Staff Writer

(slide show)

Daylight positively impacts the mental health and well-being of students according to CNM officials.  This supposition is reflected in the myriad of windows incorporated in the newly renovated Max Salazar Hall, and incorporated in a hallway sign.  
Welcome to our photographic tour of the wonderful world of windows from the third and fourth floors of MS, as the early July sunlight shines in. 

Here comes the sun!

RIO RANCHO CAMPUS BEGINS TO BLOOM

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Story and Photos by

Mark Graven

Staff Writer

Two huge “CNM” block-letter signs and a large solar panel welcome visitors to the CNM Rio Rancho campus, located near the edge of the desert, at the end of a road that passes by Rio Ranch City Hall. 

About a 30-minute drive due north of Main Campus, the Rio Rancho campus, at 2601 Campus Boulevard, Northeast, has won recognition for its energy-efficient design.  It consists of one 62,000 square foot, mostly red-brick building, with many large windows that afford spectacular views of the desert.

Rio Rancho takes advantage of nature’s gifts.  Solar panels are placed strategically around campus to provide power.   A deep-well system brings up water from the earth at a temperature of 68 degrees, Fahrenheit. The water then heats the building in winter, and cools it in summer, according to a CNM website.

(slide show)

A concrete path by the north parking lot puts a person right at desert’s edge, and a sign explains what kind of flora an fauna one is likely to find in the area.   Personnel at the front desk say they sometimes have to shoo rattlesnakes from the parking lot.   Hawks, ravens, spiders, and coyotes also enjoy this environment.

And now more people are returning, after a Covid-induced drought of more than a year.  CNM employees at the front desk, say that students are beginning to trickle in to register and receive academic coaching, as Fall Semester approaches.

Today, a group of prospective electric linemen are seen on the grounds east of the main building, addressing a set of utility poles, undeterred by a few raindrops on this cloudy day of June 30, 2021.  A mobile unit parked east-side enables welding students to pursue their craft outside.

Inside the building, class-room chairs are still stowed on the top of desks.  Tables and chairs in RR building’s central courtyard, and various alcoves around the building await users.

The Rio Rancho campus, when it is going full-bore, may serve upwards of 1800 students who come to attend classes in general studies, but also receive specialized training in nursing, paramedics, teaching, business, and more.

Built more than a decade ago, the Rio Rancho campus seems adjusted to its place in the desert.  The campus provides a comfortable venue for a student to find a spot to sit and observe the desert as it comes to bloom again.

Food and Water in Supply at Smith-Brasher

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Photos and Video by

Mark Graven

Staff Writer

  • Hydration station fun fact.
  • Fully stoked vending machine on Main Campus at Smith-Brasher Hall.
  • The new hydration stations at CNM’s main campus.


A vending machine off the main lobby of Smith-Brasher Hall on Main Campus is fully stocked with candy, chips, and other goodies, on Friday, June 25th, as it awaits the arrival of hungry students. The bottled water vending machines are depleted of their stocks, but two drinking fountains nearby are fully operational. They are now part of what is called a “hydration station,” as a sign clearly indicates.