by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
Depending on the results of a survey conducted this month, UNM might get new residence halls and renovate old ones.
It's important to improve on-campus housing in order to compete with other universities, said Chris Vallejos, planning officer in the Department of Business Development and Auxiliary Enterprises.
"We've probably fallen behind a little because of not having an aggressive plan to keep our facilities modern," he said. "A lot of other institutions have embarked on new housing projects. We have to be competitive."
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The newest housing on campus is Redondo Village Apartments, built in 2001.
Other dorms, such as Hokona and Coronado, were built in the 1950s.
Randy Boeglin, dean of students, said that is a cause for concern.
"We have very aging facilities," he said. "Even if we don't build new facilities, we need some serious renovation. We are the state's flagship institution, and our facilities should reflect that."
The online survey, which was open to all students, asked why students decided to live on or off campus, and what changes could be made to the dormitories to make them more attractive.
It also asked how much students would be willing to pay to live in the dorms.
"If you have a wish list of what students want, they're going to have some pretty big demands - which they should," Boeglin said. "But if you put their wallets into the equation, they're going to become much more pragmatic."
Student Tyra Dillenschneider said she doesn't live on campus, because she didn't want to be at school all the time.
"I just really wanted my own house," she said. "I have dogs, so I don't think the dorms would really work out for me."
She would be more willing to live on campus if there were more apartment-like units, she said.
The results of the survey, which are due in early December, will be used to determine how much demand there is for more housing on campus, Vallejos said.
"We've never really done a comprehensive market study of our housing situation," he said. "We've always added residence halls in pockets without looking at it from a bigger picture."
About 2,100 students live on campus.
Student Robbie Mayes said he likes living in Coronado.
"I like being on campus with all my classes and the library right there," he said. "I like the convenience of it, but they should definitely be renovated."
Provost Reed Dasenbrock said making on-campus housing more appealing would help students do better in school.
"There's no question that we want to increase the quality of the dorm experience," he said. "We believe that a good dorm environment would contribute to
academic student success."
Boeglin said students who live on campus do better, because they feel more connected to the University.
Vallejos said it is too early to say how the renovations and construction would be paid for, but there are a few possibilities.
One is that UNM would pay for the buildings using an institutional bond or other funding. Under this scenario, UNM would own and run the housing.
Another possibility would have a private company lease land from UNM and build housing on it. The company would run the housing for 20 or 30 years.
It's important not to pay for residence halls that students won't use, Boeglin said.
"This is not a 'Field of Dreams' moment, where if you build it, they will come," he said. "We need to make sure there's sufficient demand to add new space."
