| Colorado Mesa University | |
| Former Names: | Grand Junction Junior College (1925–1937) Mesa College (1937–1988) Mesa State College (1988–2011)[1] |
| Motto: | Success Starts With Heart |
| Type: | Public university |
| Academic Affiliations: | Space-grant |
| Endowment: | $42.19 million (2022)[2] |
| President: | John Marshall[3] |
| Students: | 8,995 (fall 2023)[4] |
| Undergrad: | 8,711 (fall 2023) |
| Postgrad: | 284 (fall 2023) |
| City: | Grand Junction |
| State: | Colorado |
| Country: | United States |
| Campus: | Urban, |
| Free Label: | Newspaper |
| Free: | The Criterion |
| Sports Nickname: | Mavericks |
| Colors: | Maroon, white & gold |
| Athletics Affiliations: | NCAA Division II – Rocky Mountain |
| Logo Upright: | 1.0 |
Colorado Mesa University (CMU or Mesa) is a public university with its main campus in Grand Junction, Colorado. Originally established in 1925 as Grand Junction Junior College, the school was renamed Mesa College in 1937. The college began offering bachelor's degrees in 1974, and in 1988, changed its name to Mesa State College to reflect its growing educational programs. In 2011, the school officially attained university status and adopted its current name of Colorado Mesa University.[5]
CMU's main campus sits on 141 acres in central Grand Junction. Its other locations include the Bishop Campus, which houses CMU Tech in northwestern Grand Junction, and a satellite campus in Montrose, roughly 60 miles south of Grand Junction. The university offers over 100 undergraduate programs, as well as graduate programs in business administration, education, and nursing.[6]
Colorado Mesa University enrolled nearly 9,000 students in 2023, making it the largest university in Colorado outside of the Front Range urban corridor.
The Board of Trustees has 13 trustees (11 voting and two non-voting). The voting members are appointed by Colorado's governor and confirmed by the Colorado State Senate and serve staggered terms. The Colorado Mesa University Student Trustee is elected by the student-body and is considered one of the most influential positions in the university and college system. The Senatus Academicus names a member from its ranks to serve as the eleventh member.[7]
Colorado Mesa University offers programs leading to awards in five levels: technical certificates, associate degrees, baccalaureate degrees, master's degrees and professional doctoral degrees. The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
As of 2023, half the student body were first-generation college students.[8]
Colorado Mesa University offers options for students to live on campus. Over 2,000 students live on campus in 11 residential buildings, consisting of traditional rooms, suites and pods, and apartments. Several of the residence halls are named after area landmarks and notable CMU figures:
Residence halls and apartments are governed by the Residence Hall Association (RHA). The Residence Hall Council (RHC) is an extension of RHA and acts as the governing body for each residence hall. The RHC of each building is composed of an elected executive board and an RHA representative.
In the Fall 2024 semester, CMU accepted its largest freshman class in school history, welcoming over 2,400 freshman students.
Built in 2018, the 68,700 square foot Confluence Hall is home to CMU's various engineering programs, including civil and mechanical engineering. The hall also houses the Eureka! McConnell Science Museum.
Dominguez Hall was built in 2011 and is home to the Davis School of Business and the Center for Teacher Education. This building has several classrooms, including four large semi-circle lecture rooms, computer labs, small study rooms, study open spaces (indoors and outdoors), faculty offices, a coffee shop, and a boardroom.
The three-story, 76,000 square foot Escalante Hall houses CMU's Departments of Literature, Languages, and Mass Communications. Built in 2014, Escalante Hall is one of CMU's newest buildings.
Known by the acronym "FIRS", this facility consisting of a laboratory building and a fenced-in body farm is located just south Grand Junction, near the community of Whitewater.[11] As of January 2018, the decomposition of 11 bodies was under investigation with a focus on identification of microbial clocks, collections of microorganisms that appear and change in a predictable manner during the course of human body decomposition.
Formerly the home of Community Hospital, the Health Sciences Building now features classrooms, laboratory space, and a simulation center for students studying in health-related fields.
Houston Hall has the reputation of being the first building on campus. Built in 1940, it is named for the college's first president, Dr. Clifford G. Houston. Before its construction, the college had occupied an abandoned school building (the old Lowell School) in the city's downtown area. During the 2011 expansion and renovation project, delicate care was taken to match the new wing's ornamental brick facade with that of the original building. Houston Hall houses the university's Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, as well as many general education classes.[12]
Built in 2002, the hall was renamed the Jac Kephart Fine Arts Building in 2021, in honor of Jac Kephart, a local artist and alumnus of Mesa State College. This hall houses the university's arts departments, including studio art and graphic design. It comes complete with art studios, covered outdoor areas for kilns, and a bronze foundry. The hall also features a television studio, which is used by the Department of Mass Communications and is home to KRMJ-TV, Grand Junction's affiliate of Rocky Mountain PBS.
Originally built in 1967 to house the college library, previously located in Houston Hall, Lowell Heiny Hall now houses University Authorities offices, Registrar's Office, President's Office, HR, Marketing, and faculty offices.
Formerly known as Saunders Field House, the Maverick Center houses all athletic facilities in one building, except for football and baseball. Facilities include Brownson Arena, El Pomar Natatorium, Hamilton Recreation Center, and Monfort Family Human Performance Lab. Adjacent to the Maverick Center are the Walker Field soccer and lacrosse stadium, Elliot Tennis Complex, Bergman Softball Field, and the Maverick Pavilion.
The Maverick Center also features the Foster Field House, completed in 2023 and named for former CMU President Timothy Foster, who oversaw CMU's transition from a state college to a university.
The Moss Performing Arts Center, named for local Colorado Mesa University supporters John and Angie Moss, provides music, dance and theatre students with the facilities needed to let their creativity shine. The center, which recently underwent a $5.1 million renovation and expansion, is home to the 600-seat William S. Robinson Theatre, a 300-seat recital hall, the Walter Walker Reception Area, the Mesa Experimental Theatre, a design studio, numerous music practice rooms, smart technology classrooms, faculty offices and a dance studio.
Moss is the home to the Theatre and Music Departments which offer a variety of entertainment for the campus and local community throughout the year.
CMU's Student Wellness Center offers basic medical resources, as well as mental and behavioral health resources, to all CMU students. The center also is home to the Campus Safety office, which houses a substation of the Grand Junction Police Department dedicated to providing a police presence on campus.
By 1984 the library's collection had outgrown Lowell Heiny Library and plans were made to build the collection a new home. The new library was dedicated in 1986. Recognized as an architectural gem in American School and University magazine, the library was named for outgoing college president John U. Tomlinson in 1988 to honor his commitment to improved library services at the college. Tomlinson Library contains over 190,000 volumes, including a large government documents collection, and a geology library. It also houses the Ethridge Pottery Collection of prehistoric southwestern ceramics.
The University Center was built in 2010 to replace the aging W.W. Campbell College Center. It houses the main campus dining facilities, including the on-campus Dining Hall (known as "The Caf"), the Flattop Grill, Starbucks Coffee, Chick-Fil-A, and a small convenience store. The center also houses the Maverick Store (a combination merchandise shop and bookstore), Associated Student Government, The Criterion campus newspaper, KMSA 91.3FM, Ballroom, student lounges, MAV Card Office, and the Student Life office, which contains some club offices.
Constructed in 1962, Wubben Hall houses the university's departments of physical sciences, life sciences, computer science, and mathematics. In 2010, the three-story, 31,900 square foot science center was added to the hall to make room for more classrooms and research spaces. The hall is named for Dr. Horace J. Wubben, CMU's fourth president.
See main article: Colorado Mesa Mavericks. CMU's athletic teams are known as the Mavericks; their mascot is symbolized by a rearing bull's head with flaring nostrils. Official colors are maroon, white, and gold. Student body fans are known as the Herd.
The Colorado Mesa Mavericks have 28 varsity teams[13] that compete in NCAA Division II athletics, as part of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). CMU fields teams in men's football, men's baseball, men and women's basketball, women's volleyball, men and women's cross country, men and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, men and women's golf, men and women's soccer, men and women's cycling, men and women's lacrosse, women's softball, men and women's swimming, men and women's tennis, and men and women's wrestling.
In 2019, CMU was offered the opportunity to ascend to NCAA Division I athletics and join the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). However, the university ultimately turned down the offer, citing the expenses which would be required to make the jump, including a $1.7 million Division I application fee and a $100,000 penalty for leaving the RMAC, in addition to increased salaries for coaches and athletic staff. The open Division I spot was ultimately given to Utah Tech University, located in St. George, Utah.[14]
CMU is one of the first schools to utilize geothermal energy throughout its campus. The project, known as CMU Geo-Grid, was well established by 2024.[15] The system heats and cools 1.2 million square feet of academic and auxiliary buildings, reduces CMU's carbon footprint reduced by 17,742 metric tons of CO2 per year, and provides CMU cost predictability, allowing it to offer the second lowest tuition rate in Colorado.
As of 2024, CMU Geo-Grid is connected to 16 of the campus's buildings. The university is planning to connect the geothermal system to nine additional buildings. The latest expansion is expected to happen from Colorado General Assembly bill SB23-250,[16] passed by Barbara Kirkmeyer, Kyle Mullica, Marc Catlin, and Shannon Bird, which secured $6 million for further implementation of CMU's geothermal exchange system.[17] The bill was signed into law by Governor Jared Polis on April 28, 2023.
In 2021, Western Governors Association launched the Heat Beneath our Feet initiative at CMU's Campus. The initiative's purpose is to "examine opportunities for and barriers to the increased deployment of geothermal energy technologies for both electricity generation and heating and cooling systems in western states, which contain the vast majority of high-yield geothermal energy capacity in the U.S."[18]
CMU's Compost Facility is student-run organization providing education, training, and selling compost to the public.[19] The program takes university generated food waste and converts it nutrient-rich soil additive, thus reducing the university's overall waste product.[20] The compost facility is run by CMU's Sustainability Council, founded by Dr. John Heideman in 2013.[21]