Bond to benefit nursing program

Funding for improvements for the UNM-Valencia’s nursing and allied health programs is on the November ballot.

The $1 million for a renovation of the University of New Mexico-Valencia campus health sciences building is part of General Obligation Bond question 3, which totals $230,258,400. GO Bond 3 is intended for capital improvement of higher education, special and tribal schools statewide.

Since UNM-Valencia’s nursing and allied health programs is a high-demand program for Valencia County students, the campus is asking taxpayers to support the bond question so it can begin renovations to expand the programs.

“The goal is to take our nursing program to the flagship level. It’s what we are known for. It stands out as our big program,” said UNM-Valencia Chancellor Samuel Dosumu. “We have a good, strong cohort right now. When I came on board, there were 16 (students) per cohort. With the nursing expansion money, we are pushing that to about 20 to 22 per cohort. We’ve got some more work to do on that, but it’s going well.”

As the program has grown, the campus was able to secure funding to hire additional faculty members in order to maintain the faculty/student ratio required by the nursing program’s accrediting bodies. With more students and faculty, the program has outgrown its physical facility, which was originally designed to accommodate a cohort of 16.

The $1 million in GO bond funding will pay for the renovations, which will allow the program to grow to a cohort of 28 students. Classrooms, simulation labs and testing spaces will be renovated to handle more students, updated resources and equipment more conducive to today’s learning environment can be purchased, and there are plans for the inclusion of a community clinic students can use for clinical experiences.

The campus’ allied health programs are also crowded due to their popularity, with the space originally designed for the EMS program, now being used for the nursing assistants, personal care attendants, medical assistants and phlebotomy programs.

Those programs need their own, specialized space, Dosumu said, adding that the renovations will give students space to meet with professors between classes as well as provide office space for allied health faculty.

“The GO bond money will help us co-locate our health sciences programs, including our allied health programs and the nursing program, in the same kind of complex,” said Dosumu. “Phase I of the renovation of the Valencia nursing and health sciences will house an expanded nursing and allied health program ...”

The plans for UNM-Valencia will use two existing buildings on campus. The Health Sciences building, which has cadaver labs, will be converted into what the chancellor called “a true health sciences complex,” and another classroom building, which currently houses UNM-Valencia’s adult-based education program, will be relocated to create space for faculty and students for advisement and coaching. The adult-based education program will be relocated to another building on the campus.

“Along with specialized classrooms designed specifically to work towards nursing and allied health programs, UNM-Valencia is utilizing existing space and not adding any footprint,” said Rick Goshorn, UNM-Valencia director of business operations. “It’s just a redesign of what we’re doing. We’re not really making ourselves bigger. We’re just retooling the campus in the direction it needs to go. We’re keeping ‘UNM 2040: Opportunity Defined’ in mind.”

The last two GO bond projects for the campus were in 2020 and 2022. The 2020 funds were used for a fire suppression project, that included installing wet fire sprinklers in buildings on campus that didn’t have those systems.

The project total was $2.4 million, with $1.8 million coming from the bonds, Goshorn said. It is 90 percent complete at this time.

The 2022 bonds were used for a new roof and solar array on the learning resource center. The roof is finished and the solar array is under contact with completion set for early 2025. That project totaled $1.2 million with $900,000 from the bonds.

Goshorn said the campus is required by state statute to contribute 25 percent of capital costs, which has to come from non-state funds, which means the campus has to do some kind of fundraising or issue local bonds.

“We have a bond authorization on the ballot for November for $15 million in local bonds that will be used primarily for that local match on this and future projects,” he said.

Since GO bonds are repaid by local property taxes, Goshorn said the campus has tried to hold rates for local bonds at .85 mills over the years.

“Due to property assessment levels in Valencia County, we dropped that rate down to .49 (mills) for this past year, but I don’t expect to exceed the .85 mills after the bonds are authorized again,” the director said.