Cloie Sandlin
News Editor

The talk around campus is about Mesa State’s new facelift. Returning students have come back to school and have noticed many changes. For some, their home away from home will become even more different as they progress through their college years. Mesa State has come a long way in terms of enrollment, technology and academic programs and there are no signs of slowing down.
According to a story by KUSA TV in Denver, enrollment at Mesa State has gone up 13 percent from last semester and 15 percent since the 2008-2009 school year.
“I think it’s great that the college is growing,” said sophomore Colin Ratcliff. “There’s more people and it actually seems like a college.”
President Tim Foster said it depends on how you count, but overall, there are 16 buildings on campus. The storefronts in North Avenue student housing have been filled and the demolition of Medesy Hall has left an easily accessible outdoor path in between construction and the Wubben Science Center. The Wubben Science Center is also a new addition to campus. It has been modernized in order to accommodate new technological additions such as a geothermal system and has been remodeled to expand classroom space.
The new Hamilton Recreation Center has already seen major energy-saving improvements since it opened last year. Several exercise machines in the recreation center are designed specifically to produce energy for the rec center as you burn calories. According to an article in the Daily Sentinel, “a 30-minute workout can produce enough electricity to power a laptop computer for an hour.” It isn’t much but out of the 10 colleges using ReRev technology, Mesa State is believed to be the first to implement it.
The bookstore has relocated from the Maverick Pavilion to its permanent home in the completed portion of the new student center.
Like most students, sophomore Carl Kishbaugh is excited for the opening of the student center. The new home to students is scheduled to be move-in ready by mid-October over Fall Break. Foster said the student center will be large enough to hold nearly every student organization on campus, from the Criterion and Associated Student Government to other miscellaneous clubs and more.
“I can already say that I’m going to be there a lot,” he said. “I want to play pool.” According to Foster, the west side of the building will be dedicated to student study time and the south side will be an activities room that will include everything from pool tables to TVs.
The renovation of Houston Hall has come about as a minor inconvenience to both professors and students. The renovation of Houston Hall is inconvenient but manageable with the modulars, Foster said.
Not including the two percent tuition increase used to fund the renovation; many students find themselves rushing across campus to get to and from class.
Kishbaugh said he recently switched into a class that is located in a modular. “Houston didn’t need to be remodeled,” he said. “I’m not very happy about it.”
Though only temporary, students like Kishbaugh said that Houston didn’t need to be remodeled. “With all these new buildings, Houston could have waited,” said Radcliff.
Houston Hall is due to be finished by next fall.
Due to student feedback in previous semesters, two residence halls, Rait and Pinon, have now become coed and construction has begun on a new residence hall on the west side of campus. Due to rising demand for student housing, the residence hall is being built to house an approximate 300 students.
Mesa has also implemented new programs of study and concentrations this year. These include a bachelor of applied science degree in hospitality management, a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering technology, a business administration concentration in managerial informatics, insurance and a law enforcement concentration for criminal justice majors. Mesa State has also implemented its first doctorate degree in nursing.

ccsandli@mesastate.edu