MCC to request $1.88M for programs

The Mesalands Community College board of trustees approved a total of $1.88 million in funding requests to the New Mexico Higher Education Department for the college’s rodeo, wind, nursing and commercial driver’s license programs.

The board heard details on the Research and Public Service Project funding application during a special meeting on Sept. 10. The college faced a Sept. 15 deadline to submit the application.

The funding request for fiscal-year 2026 includes $212,900 in rodeo program recurring funds, $116,200 in wind-energy program recurring funds, $550,620 in nursing program expansion funds, $596,800 in wind expansion funds and $401,100 in CDL program expansion funds.

Mesalands President Allen Moss said he didn’t expect to receive all of the funding it requested, but every bit helps.

“If we get some of that money, that will relieve the budget,” he said.

Mesalands initially was going to request $805,403 for the nursing program, but Josh McVey, vice president of student affairs, removed some items to cut it to $550,620 — about the same amount the college spends annually on the program.

“We went to come with a number that’s realistic,” he said.

The nursing program also will receive about $80,000 a year in interest income from a $2 million endowment.

Moss said the Mesalands nursing program needs supplemental financial support like other higher-learning institutions that offer one.

The application states “nursing is serious workforce need in our region” and that “we are committed to addressing the nursing shortage in New Mexico.”

Mesalands’ nursing program will graduate its first cohort this spring, with 12 students admitted each fall.

With the CDL funding request, McVey noted the college provided testing to 104 applicants for such licensing. Mesalands’ CDL program had been suspended two years ago.

Moss noted local city and county governments recently gave several of its employees CDL training.

“We’ve got a lot of people in the area with that need,” he said.

The wind-energy program’s expansion would include a mobile classroom that would allow Mesalands to provide more training for wind-turbine certifications, McVey said.

The mobile classroom would enable the college to expand its offerings to low-risk inmates in state prisons, he said.

Mesalands states in its application that wind energy will be the fastest-growing industry in the nation, with 60% growth expected in the next 10 years. Wind-energy production in New Mexico also is expected to double in the coming years.

In other business, the board approved a $35,109.38 bid from JQ Air & Electric in Texico to replace two HVAC systems in Building A.

The other bids were $38,687.10 from Fought Mechanical & Electric in Tucumcari and $36,838.31 from WT Denton Mechanical of Clovis.

A couple of board members voiced reservations of hiring a non-local contractor, but Moss said Fought likely would have other opportunities at the college.