While students walk through campus, the sight of cranes, construction crews and work zones make it clear that big changes are coming to The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).

Following the opening of the Aerospace Center in April, Texas Western Hall is the next building set to open in January 2026. According to Vice President of Student Affairs and Interim Vice President of Business Affairs, Catie McCorry-Andalis, Ed.D., the building will offer innovative spaces with roughly 30 classrooms and areas for students to better engage with their peers.

“This is going to be a transformational change when we do classroom and teaching, which will be super exciting,” McCorry-Andalis said. “There‘s also a space for clubs and orgs (organizations) where they can come together and have small group discussions and work on projects.”

The building will include indoor and outdoor seating options, a food venue and a rooftop deck for students to enjoy. Once the current Liberal Arts building is demolished, the building will be more connected to Centennial Plaza and the arroyo that is set to be restored.

Mabel Caraveo, a junior majoring in digital media production shared that not only would a new building bring a modern and technologically advanced learning environment, but it would feel like recognition for Liberal Arts majors.

“It‘d be a lot easier to stay up to date with the new technologies and to learn in a better environment,” Caraveo said. “It feels good because it‘s always [felt] like the lower end of the straw…but I‘m glad that they‘re paying attention to everyone now everyone gets an equal experience.”

Demolition for the Liberal Arts building is scheduled for summer 2026 with the goal to have it down before classes begin in the fall.

Texas Western Hall is just one of the many projects the university has outlined in the 2024 Campus Master Plan. Another big project is the Union West replacement and Union East renovation, which students voted to increase the student union fee for in September 2024, and the University of Texas System Board of Regents approved on Aug. 21.

While there is no set timeline for the start of the project, the master plan states that the project will add new space including a new food court and/or recreation facilities. They plan to re-organize the existing space  and update the Union building systems such as heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical and even the  plumbing.

This project will cause a phased fee increase which will begin in spring 2026 at $70 per semester, go up in fall 2026 to $120 per semester and reach $150 per semester beginning fall 2027 through spring 2028. While some students may be wary over the increase, McCorry-Andalis shared that these new and renovated spaces will provide resources and support that students  are in need of.

“I think having this space, especially with our population, where you can come in and relax and take a break during the day. Whether that’s to study or catch up on homework or just hang out with friends. We don’t have a lot of spaces for that right now, because available space over the years has been used for other things, and this is going to be their space that they can have, which I think is a really exciting opportunity,” McCorry-Andalis said.

The Board of Regents also awarded UTEP with $118 million for campus revitalization. According to McCorry-Andalis, this funding will specifically target the $348 million worth of deferred maintenance the university has.

“There’s conversations right now about what we prioritize over the next three years, and so that will include a lot of different things. That set list is going to be confirmed very soon, but they generally fall into categories like updating roofs, envelopes of buildings, things that if you don‘t do, it can cost more,” McCorry-Andalis said. “But we have three years to spend that, which is such a great gift from UT System, and I think really speaks volumes of the system’s commitment to maintain the buildings on our campus to continue ensuring that they have proper upkeep and are long lasting.”

Each semester, parking remains a major concern for UTEP students as many struggle to buy a parking permit before classes begin, and even with a pass, finding a spot during the first weeks of school is often a challenge.

Caraveo said she and her friends have experienced issues with parking in the Sun Bowl garage, especially when coming to the university later in the day.

“I came in at 10:30 a.m. because one of my classes was canceled, so, I came in a little bit later and there was no parking until the fifth floor, which one of my friends was telling me about how it had happened to him when he comes in at that time too,” Caraveo said.

McCorry-Andalis acknowledged the issue and stated that UTEP is determining what the next steps for more parking spaces will be.

“I can tell you it will most likely be another garage. You can either flatten out, and we are sort of at the edges of that right now, or you start going vertically,” McCorry-Andalis said.

Junior computer science major, Carlos Gonzalez, shared that additional parking would be helpful for students due to the university’s growth.

“Parking garages or lots were established or built with a less populated university…, UTEP has broken their own record of registrations every year,” Gonzalez said. “So, it’s like every time we’re just growing [with] more students and faculty so definitely growing parking should help.”

An additional challenge for the university is the specific regulations about how parking can be funded as tuition cannot be used.

“It’s an auxiliary service, so it has to fund itself. So trying to manage keeping costs low while the same time, ensuring there’s parking is always going to be a challenge,” McCorry-Andalis said. “…But we are looking at that, and we’re aware that it needs to happen.”

Projects like the Texas Western Hall, the new Union, and new housing as well as a potential Student Success center will change the way students engage on campus as the university is already seeing a shift in how students spend their time at UTEP according to McCorry-Andalis.

“We already see a big uptake in students not leaving this campus,” McCorry-Andalis said. “We had more than 20,000 students last year engaged on this campus, and the trend is now more in the evenings than during the day, so they’re staying longer, which means we‘ve got to have the space, we’ve got to have the activities [and] we have got to have the events to make that happen.”

That shift is expected to grow even more as there is an expected increase in students living on campus. The university currently has about 1,000 students on campus, which will potentially go up to 1,500, affecting not only housing but dining, student activities and the pathways to get around campus.

Students can expect many changes at UTEP between now and 2030, according to McCorry-Andalis. The projects are designed to put students at the center by addressing enrollment growth, expanding learning and research opportunities, and creating innovative spaces for engagement.

Ximena Cordero is the web and copy editor for The Prospector and may be reached at [email protected].edu and on LinkedIn @ximenacordero