By Dr. Kevin Beardmore
A new front lot, solar covered parking spaces, and an HVAC system replacement have been major improvements at Southeast New Mexico College in 2024. In 2025, we will begin working on the Trades x Technologies Building and renovations to the Main Building. This will allow us to add programs in Oil & Gas, Electrical, and Radiation Co
trol, as well as create a new entrance and improve accessibility. It is an exciting time to be at SENMC!
This is, however, only the beginning. Over the next six months, we are creating a strategic plan for 2025-2030. We need your input. Please accept this invitation to a Community Forum on Thursday, November 7, in Room 252 of our Instructional Building from 6-7p.m. Our strategic planning partners from the Southern Regional Education Board will assist with gathering your ideas for the future, including the strengths we need to build on, opportunities to improve, and new directions we can take together.
Knowing that this date will not work for everyone, there is a faster and easier way to share your vision for SENMC in 2030. You can visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SENMC and complete a five-minute survey. A key element of the survey is learning what you see as our priorities. Below is a listing of 15 items that you can rank when you respond, including a little more information about each so you can make an informed decision.
• Dining Hall: Our Early College students have breakfast and lunch provided on campus by Carlsbad Municipal Schools. The food is prepared in their facilities and transported to SENMC to be served in our gym. A Dining Hall would be a space designed specifically for serving meals, ones that could be available to our students and employees.
• Residence Hall: Housing for students and individuals taking advantage of our expanding workforce and industry programming.
• Childcare on campus: Care and early childhood education for children from birth to age two. Open to the public with spots reserved for dependents of SENMC students and employees.
• Preschool on campus: For students aged three and four. Open to the public with spots reserved for dependents of students/employees and siblings of those receiving childcare at SENMC.
• Early College Building: More classrooms and space for a growing Early College.
• Additional Workforce Development/Industry Training: More opportunities for students looking for non-credit training not tied to a traditional semester schedule and for those currently employed in industry who want to upskill.
• Additional Community Education: More classes for kids and adults who want to learn more.
• ESL (English as a Second Language) for children and adults: More instruction for students of all ages seeking to improve their English.
• Family Programming: Programs to support parents in learning together with their children.
• New Transfer Partnerships with Universities: More partnerships in addition to those with New Mexico universities and current out-of-state partners such as Arizona State, Texas Tech, and Western Governors University.
• New Transfer Pathways with Universities: More pathways for baccalaureate programs (for example, Computer Science Education, and Social Work).
• New Career-focused Degree Programs: More two-year degrees for employment in Eddy County, such as Waste Handling, HVAC, and Environmental Safety.
• Paved Campus Exercise Trail: A paved trail on campus to complement the gravel Ocotillo Trail.
• Stoplight at University Drive and Pierce: Ensuring the safety of traffic arriving and departing campus, particularly left turns.
• Other: A suggestion of your choice!
We look forward to hearing from you. A few minutes of your time will help us to be all you want to see at SENMC!
Kevin Beardmore, Ed.D., is the President of Southeast New Mexico College. He may be reached at kbeardmore@senmc.edu or 575.234.9211.
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