President Renay Scott today announced that Dona Ana Community College (DACC) will cease operations at the Hatch Learning Center (HC) as of June 30, 2017.
As DACC continues to look for efficiencies, being able to utilize facilities that have not shown growth in enrollment as rental properties is being explored by the community college, specifically the HC.
“The recession and resulting market declines have negatively impacted overall DACC enrollment and utilization of the HC,” Scott said. “With or without the center, DACC will continue to provide classes for the Hatch community and are committed to offering classes to students from the school district and community that lead to a certificate or associate degree.”
In fall 2014, a DACC faculty member who is a Hatch resident was assigned as coordinator of the center. The goal was to identify and initiate educational offerings, both credit and non-credit, to increase the utilization of and enrollment in Hatch. Unfortunately, no substantial initiatives were successful.
As of April 2017, continued State funding reductions, continued enrollment declines, and the inability to generate non-credit utilization of the facility combined to require DACC to take measures to address the inability of the center to generate the resources necessary to sustain itself. DACC is proposing to close the facility effective June 30, 2017. DACC is working with New Mexico State University Real Estate and will sell or close and shutter the building.
In 2012, HC opened for classes and in 2013 the Center was awarded LEED Silver, a designation developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, that provides third-party verification that a building was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance in energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. LEED certification provides a third-party, independent verification that a building meets the highest green building measures.
The closure will affect two employees. DACC will continue to operate learning centers in Gadsden, Sunland Park and Chaparral.