st. mary, construction, building
Update 7:20 p.m. on 3/15/21 “new Physician’s Assistant (PA) program” was changed to “Physician Assistant (PA) program.”
With three new buildings erected on Colorado Mesa University’s (CMU) campus in the past year, it’s no surprise that a new academic hall is in the works. St. Mary’s Hall is set to cater primarily to CMU’s Physician Assistant (PA) program.
That’s right. If you park in Bunting’s dirt lot, find yourself drowning in student debt, or eat low-quality Sodexo food, that’s where your money is going right now.
Maybe that came off a bit too harsh. But here’s the thing: I am all for CMU’s expansion and quest to become the best Colorado state school, yet I feel the students here now are being left behind.
The most recent additions, the Maverick Hotel, Aspen Hall and The Center for Reflection are undoubtedly beneficial to CMU students for many reasons. St. Mary’s Hall, however, seems to be more focused on recruiting more students when there are plenty of things that should be prioritized.
Rather than building a new academic hall for a program, we have yet to launch, CMU’s administration should focus their money on any one of the plethoras of issues Mavericks are dealing with today.
Some of these issues are aforementioned, such as tuition, sub-human cafeteria food and meal plans and the obvious potential for upgrades around campus. This is without mention of the financial stress the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic already puts on public colleges.
It is certainly arguable that the new academic hall would drive new students in, and consequently more money for campus improvements. This argument is flawed, however, as the school would, or at least should be, only be making enough money to support each additional student paying.
Considering this, it only makes sense that CMU’s administration should slow down on its expansion, and instead focus on improving our campus and current academics. Fully paved lots, gourmet cafeteria food, and abnormally lower tuition costs would provide much more of an incentive for higher enrollment than a new PA program that has yet to gain any traction.