You know you’re in the right place when students are making outstanding suggestions on how the college can handle instruction delivery during the current COVID crisis. In one of my periodic meetings with our student leadership in E-Council, the feedback I received resembled one that a family member would receive from extended family member. The constructive feedback on how online courses are working in the college, and the understanding our student leaders showed toward the untested instructional processes, indicates the maturity of NMSU engineering students.

 You know you’re in the right place when a faculty member contemplating voluntary retirement is insisting that he be allowed to come back to help students and engage them in outreach projects. Entertaining metaphor, of course, but the actual quote from the faculty member was, “I’ll mop the floor if I should…, but please find a way to allow me teach a class and be engaged with NMSU students.” NMSU engineering is blessed to have faculty members in its ranks who view teaching and student-engagement not as a paying job but as a life-long passion well beyond retirement.

 You know you’re in the right place when researchers step up to apply their knowledge and solve societal problems, not to build their CVs but to sincerely help communities. Two of our associate deans are actively engaged in developing tools to mitigate COVID spread. Our research faculty are self-motivated to effectively manage their laboratories and prioritize safety above all else.

 You know you’re in the right place when good behavior does not need to be legislated.