Dear Northern Community,
Having spent the first 100 days of my time as President listening to the feedback of students, faculty, staff, and community members, I am excited to enter our Soaring to New Heights planning and implementation of the Northern’s next chapter. There are several exciting things happening in the coming weeks that I want to share with you. First, this email is the first of a developing newsletter that will come from me on a monthly basis. I hope to highlight pertinent information to our entire community, and communicate directly with you on the details of our strategic priorities and other news impacting our community. So please be on the lookout for future communications, and I look forward to an increased dialogue about the great work happening at Northern!
Capital Improvements
This month, I would like to highlight the launch of our capital improvement and campus infrastructure initiatives. Recently, the New Mexico Board of Finance approved Northern’s request for $3 million in funding to address critical infrastructure investments. These investments will go to high priority capital projects, specifically roofing and campus beautification. You may have noticed that some of the beautification efforts are already underway, with our Facilities team starting to lay gravel on the Española campus. I want to give a special thank you to Gabriel Martinez and GM Emulsion for donating the gravel, as well as to all of the members of the Facilities team for their hard work and dedication to making sure that we have a safe, beautiful campus to support our mission.
One Stop Student Services
In this vein, I would also like to let you know that Northern is progressing with a renovation in the Administration building to create the long awaited, and very much needed, “One Stop” for student services. I want to thank all of the people who have led this initiative and the Northern community for its valuable input on the need for this important project. As we finalize the One Stop plan, we will communicate more of the details. We are excited to advance this critical project to enhance the student experience at Northern.
FY 2024 Budget
Finally, I want to be sure that staff and faculty are aware that with the Legislature’s appropriation for our Fiscal Year 2024 budget, all staff and faculty who are eligible will receive a 6% increase to their base pay. This is a much deserved investment in your success, and a direct acknowledgement of how critical you are to supporting our students and ultimately the State as a whole. I want to give a special thanks to Human Resources and the unions for instituting this well-deserved increase.
Sincerely,
Hector Balderas, JD, CFE President