Now that students are nestled snugly in their dorms, they might not have given thought to the improvements that the UNM Housing office put into their new homes away from home.
But upgrading and maintaining the dorms that thousands of students call home is of the utmost importance to the university and its employees in the Housing Department. The department reinvests 100 percent of its revenues after expenses into student dorm projects.
“Over this past school year, nearly 50 projects totaling $1 million were completed to improve and repair dorm halls at UNM,” said Dupuy Bateman, director of UNM Housing and Food Services.
Improvements include roof replacement to Hokona, Santa Clara, Santa Ana, Laguna and DeVargas Halls; enhancements to the emergency lighting and exit signs to dorms throughout campus; upgrades to electrical systems at Coronado, Alvarado, Santa Ana and Santa Clara Halls; and fixing potential dangerous problems to sidewalks and stairways. Additionally, Housing has provided wireless internet access to all of the dorms on campus.
A significant investment was also made in Laguna and DeVargas Halls – a new fire alarm system, costing approximately $540,000.
At the Student Family Housing apartments, located on Buena Vista near Central New Mexico Community College, employees repaired and upgraded much of the landscaping while installing new, code-compliant, playground equipment.
“The care and well-being of our students is my highest priority,” said Bateman.
There are plans to refurbish all of the dorm rooms on campus. But, like many departments, UNM Housing is a self-supporting department – meaning that the Housing Department earns all of the money needed to maintain the dorms and dining areas on campus from dorm room revenues.
“As other major projects come online the housing department will continue to complete work on dorm projects as time and resources permit” Bateman said.
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu