The University of New Mexico

NEWS RELEASE

 


Media Contact: Susan McKinsey, UNM, 277-1989
362-5530 (cell), mckinsey@unm.edu

October 13, 2006

MEDIA ADVISORY

UNM, State Land Office To Formalize Rio Rancho Agreement

Members of the University of New Mexico Board of Regents and acting UNM President David Harris will host State Land Commissioner Patrick Lyons for a signing ceremony that will formalize the Rio Rancho land exchange. The signing ceremony will take place on Monday, October 16, 2006, at 1:30 p.m. in ballroom C of the Student Union Building on the UNM campus.

Under terms of the land exchange, UNM will receive 216 acres of property next to the future Rio Rancho City Centre for a full service campus. Commissioner Lyons is expected to detail plans for the parcels of land coming to the State Land Office under terms of the land exchange agreement.

Harris will report on negotiations currently underway to map out the academic offerings that will be available at the future Rio Rancho campus. He chairs a nine-person working group, with representatives from the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University and Central New Mexico Community College, that is focusing on extensive curriculum planning as well as land use.

Harris envisions that this working group will develop a template for future collaborations among institutions and says New Mexico Secretary of Higher Education Beverlee McClure has been invited to play a major role in the planning.

Harris will also report on plans for a master planning charrette for the Rio Rancho property.

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The University of New Mexico is the state's largest university, serving more than 32,000 students. UNM is home to the state's only schools of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture and operates New Mexico's only academic health center. UNM is noted for comprehensive undergraduate programs and research that benefits the state and the nation.

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