News Reporter
It’s hard to miss the massive new building beside Monument Hall. Escalante Hall is one of a string of buildings that has arisen with the university’s rapid expansion.
This past weekend, the man behind much of the momentum on campus celebrated 10 years of leadership here at CMU.
Tim Foster, CMU president, came to the school back in 2004, straight out of the Colorado Commission of Higher Education. Since that time, the school has more than doubled in enrollment.
When Foster arrived, the school was not in the best shape.
“It had not been well managed,” Foster said.
This was compounded by the fact that Western State, Metro State and Adams State all belonged to a consortium, which made it very difficult for the college to get ahead.
“Whatever successes [the school] had were siphoned to the other institutions,” Foster said.
A self-governing board of trustees was formed to help the college grow, a goal he set about reaching from the very beginning. When he took over, only 800 students lived on campus.
“That [800 students] a campus community does not make,” Foster said.
His administration went to work building dorms to make room for more students. North Ave., Bunting, Grand Mesa and Garfield have all been built since Foster took office. The extra space allowed twice as many students to live on campus, which completely transformed the atmosphere. The student population steadily increased to nearly 10,000.
“The influx of students has been handled extremely well, with foresight into the needs of the students and preparing services. The fact that CMU remains one of the most affordable universities in the state but is also one of the fastest growing speaks to this,” student body president Ariel Diamond said.
In 2011, the college became a recognized university, a change that has recently been followed by ramping up the admission standards.
“The change from Mesa State College to CMU only brought the institution’s name up to the caliber of its education, students and services,” Diamond said. “The change was an accurate reflection of what already existed here.”
These changes cater to a trend of better students being attracted to CMU over the last few years. This rise in quality has also been seen in the faculty and staff coming into college since Foster took over.
“We attract the best faculty,” Foster said. “[And] the strength of the institution is a common goal [among the staff].”
The growth in faculty and staff has opened doors for the college to add several new programs to the academic departments. Some of the bachelor degrees created recently include hospitality management, radiologic technology and public administration.
Expansion has been part of the school for the last 10 years, and even now the campus continues to grow. Construction is almost finished on the new academic building on Elm Avenue, and the newest dorm is expected to be open for the fall semester. A revenue estimate from this past weekend will help determine whether plans for the renovation of the library begins this summer. The interior of Elm will be completely redone to create space for the new language program coming to CMU in June, and the landscape west of the University Center will undergo a complete transformation with the addition of a amphitheater-like plaza and a rugby field between Escalante and Dominguez Halls.
“I think that the construction is absolutely necessary, although at times not the most pleasing to look at,” Diamond said. “But I think the truth holds that lots of students hear when on college campuses that if there is not construction happening, then it is not a thriving school.”
All this new construction has taken place along with the renovation of the older buildings. Much of the renovation in academic buildings included placing consistently uniform technology in all the classrooms. When Foster arrived, there were several different types of technologies being used. Not all professors knew how to use them adequately enough to effectively teach their classes.
“Give really good people good technology, and the quality goes up,” Foster said.
CMU definitely looks different than it did 10 years ago with the addition of dorms, the University Center and new academic buildings. These are the result of the management of Foster and the quality of the students and professors that have come onto the campus.
“People, technology and facilities are what make this place go,” Foster said.
armcbroo@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
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