The New Mexico Tech community is rallying to face the unprecedented challenge of COVID-19. There is still much to learn about the virus and the disease, and the unknowns that come with it present a challenge to our community. What we do know is that all of us at New Mexico Tech have pulled together to help meet the challenge and be part of finding a path forward.

New Mexico Tech’s administration, faculty leaders, and support staff personnel are working diligently with the leadership of New Mexico, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization to ensure the health, safety, and security of our community. This is our top priority as we navigate the issues presented by the global COVID-19 pandemic. We especially appreciate the communication and cooperation that our university has experienced with the Mayor and his office as well as key Presbyterian Hospital staff here in Socorro. Our community is blessed to have an outstanding, local hospital with rigorous standards and professionalism that are invaluable especially in times of crisis. Collectively, we have worked to safeguard all of our citizens, students, faculty, and staff.

NMT is an educational and research institution, but it also serves as a critical resource for the Socorro community. We are proud to bear that responsibility, and we work daily to safeguard it.

The university’s leadership meets daily to discuss and enact the appropriate measures to maintain a safe environment. We have instituted a number of measures to best protect the health and well being of the campus and the community at large in full compliance with executive orders from the Governor’s Office and the New Mexico Department of Health.

All of New Mexico Tech’s employees who are capable of working from home have been instructed to do so. Employees whose job function requires their presence on campus are exempted from this order on a departmental basis or on a case-by-case basis. Furthermore, anyone who has business on campus is urged to use email or phone. Please do not visit any staff offices to conduct business that can be handled remotely.

Most buildings will be locked and occupancy will be limited to five people. All buildings will be closed to the general public. The Fidel Center will be open for those remaining students who have meal plans to get lunches and dinners and to retrieve mail.

As a reminder, spring break has been extended for an additional week, and classes are now scheduled to resume on April 6 in an exclusively online format. We also continue preparations for the highest quality online education model for both undergraduate and graduate programs, and we are working to secure continuity of future business operations.

For the most up-to-date information about New Mexico Tech’s efforts, please visit https://nmt.edu/covid19/.

Our university and our community are in this together, and I appreciate your continued support through these trying times.

Best regards,

Stephen G. Wells

New Mexico Tech President

Stephen G. Wells, New Mexico Tech President