Introduction

New Mexico State University was founded in 1888 as Las Cruces College. In 1890 it became the land-grant educational institution for the Territory of New Mexico, and its name was changed to New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. Under the provisions of the Morrill Act of 1862 and subsequent federal legislation, the special mission of such institutions has been to provide a liberal and practical education for students and to sustain programs of research, extension education, and public service.

In 1960, New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts became New Mexico State University. Since that time, while sustaining excellence in those programs traditionally associated with land-grant institutions, New Mexico State has become a comprehensive doctoral level university offering a wide variety of programs through the Graduate School and the colleges: Agriculture and Home Economics, Arts and Sciences, Business Administration and Economics, Education, Engineering, and Health and Social Services.

Overall responsibility for the university resides in an autonomous Board of Regents appointed by the Governor of the State and confirmed by the State Senate. The Board delegates authority for the internal management of the institution to the President. The faculty of the university elects a Faculty Senate which has legislative jurisdiction over policies affecting the academic mission of the university.

General Mission Statement

The mission of New Mexico State University is to serve the people of New Mexico through education, research, extension education, and public service, with special emphasis on preserving the state's multi-cultural heritage, protecting its environment, and fostering its economic development in an interdependent world. New Mexico State University is an equal opportunity institution welcoming all within our community, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Education

The first responsibility of the university is to provide quality education. As the state's land-grant institution, New Mexico State is committed to serving the educational needs of a student body of various ages, interests, and cultural backgrounds. The university seeks to educate each student not only in how to earn a living but also in how to live a meaningful life.

Research

Advancing knowledge and enriching culture are the goals of education, so they are primary objectives of the university. From its beginnings as a land-grant university, New Mexico State has endorsed the concept that strong programs of research and other creative endeavors provide the basis for strong academic programs. Faculty, professional staff, and students engage in creative activities and conduct and propagate the results of basic and applied research in virtually every discipline, often under external sponsorship and with the assistance of numerous specialized campus institutes, centers, and laboratories.

Extension Education

A unique responsibility of a land-grant university is providing informal, off-campus educational programs through the Cooperative Extension Service. New Mexico State University, in partnership with federal, state, and county governments, is committed to extending research-based knowledge throughout the state.

Public Service

A major tradition of land-grant colleges is dedication to public service. New Mexico State University is committed to providing specialized assistance, information, and programs designed to meet educational, cultural, and economic needs of the state.

Implementing Our Mission: University Goals

New Mexico State University, the state's land-grant institution, is committed to creating an environment encouraging excellence in our student body, faculty, administration, and staff.

To support our general mission, the university will

-- provide formal and informal educational experiences equipping our students for additional graduate or professional education, for entry into professions, trades, occupations, or for other endeavors, both domestic and international.

-- provide an environment fostering the ethical as well as the intellectual development of our students.

-- recognize through our rules and regulations the growing maturity of the student body, encouraging all students to exercise complete individual responsibility in their private lives to the degree permitted by the university's legal responsibility.

-- provide opportunities for intellectual, personal, and professional growth of the faculty, administration, and staff, and an environment encouraging optimal performance of their duties.

-- promote an institution-wide commitment to the academic ideals of collaboration, free and open communication, and reasoned scholarship, which require critical review of findings and proposals before they are endorsed by the academic community.

-- encourage open discussion and critical review of university policies and procedures through the Faculty Senate, the university's primary academic legislative body.

-- undertake periodic review of university policies and organization to assure that they reflect institutional priorities.

-- encourage international contributions in teaching, research, extension education, and service.

-- promote equal educational and employment opportunities for all

Education

The university's responsibility is providing quality education. New Mexico State is committed to serving the educational needs of a student body of various ages, interests, and cultural backgrounds. The university seeks to educate each student not only in how to earn a living, but also in how to live a meaningful life in an interdependent world. We educate the whole person, in formal and informal settings, in order to help our students realize their full intellectual, ethical, aesthetic, social, and physical potentials.

To support our educational mission, the university will

-- support and defend academic freedom, the keystone of American higher education.

-- help students realize their intellectual capabilities by teaching rational inquiry within the disciplinary methodologies of the arts, humanities, and natural and social sciences.

-- help students develop critical self-awareness and cultural awareness by encouraging them to understand their own values and beliefs, to appreciate the values and beliefs of others, and to understand the rich and varied traditions of mankind and the complexity of international and global issues.

-- provide extraordinary support for the activities of American Indian, Asian, Black, Hispanic, and other American racial and ethnic minority students, as well as for veteran students, international students, and students with disabilities.

-- promote excellence in teaching, research, and service in the professions served by New Mexico State University, in agriculture, arts, business, education, engineering, health sciences, home economics, humanities, and natural and social sciences.

-- emphasize the humanities and the fine arts as important studies central to the university's educational mission.

-- promote scientific, technical, and professional pursuits and offer vocational and technical programs appropriate to New Mexico's needs.

-- improve the quality of teaching by providing seminars, sabbaticals, grants, and other faculty development activities and by rewarding superior teaching performance.

-- develop educational programs in the university and its branches responding to the unique needs and opportunities offered by the geography and cultural heritage of New Mexico.

-- enhance offerings of the branch colleges in response to the educational needs of their communities.

-- offer various nondegree, continuing education, international education, and off-campus programs in direct response to the interests and needs of the state.

-- conduct a program of outcomes assessment and use the results for improvement of academic and student support programs.

-- provide leadership in improving education at all levels, kindergarten through graduate school and beyond, in recognition of the concept that public educational institutions are closely interrelated and share common goals and objectives.

Research

Advancing knowledge and enriching culture are the goals of education, so they are the first objectives of the university. New Mexico State University has been and will continue to be deeply committed to basic and applied research and development, to creative activity, and to the extension, application, and dissemination of knowledge. Research and creative activities, whether basic or applied, are academic activities; the university strongly encourages and rewards individuals involved in research and creative activities. Strong research programs are essential to effective graduate education, and they invigorate undergraduate teaching.

To support our research mission, the university will

-- encourage research and free inquiry to advance our understanding of the universe, the environment, the society, the culture, and the individual.

-- support research in various disciplines, addressing the social, humanistic, cultural, and economic needs of the people.

-- meet the university's land-grant obligation to help solve problems confronting the people of New Mexico, the Southwest, the United States, the Americas, and the world.

-- support creative activity and inventiveness as distinct areas of endeavor equal in importance to other forms of research.

-- support research investigating the developmental and programmatic needs of students.

-- provide graduate and undergraduate students opportunities to participate in research and development programs and creative activities consistent with their abilities and interests.

-- support libraries and other information dispersal agencies as required and expected of a major research institution.

Extension Education

A unique responsibility of a land-grant university is providing informal, off-campus educational programs through the Cooperative Extension Service. New Mexico State University, in partnership with federal, state, and county governments, is committed to extending research-based knowledge throughout the state.

To support our extension education, the university will

-- work with people of New Mexico to identify their needs in agriculture and natural resources, economic development, home economics, community and youth development, and extension education, and communicate these needs within New Mexico State University.

-- develop local, regional, and state-wide educational programs to disseminate research-based technology and information to the people of New Mexico consistent with the requirements of state and federal legislation, rewarding those who exert superior leadership in such programs.

Public Service

An integral part of the mission of the university is public service. New Mexico State University is committed to providing specialized assistance, information, and programs designed to address educational, cultural, and economic problems in order to improve the quality of life in New Mexico, the United States, and the world community.

To support our public service mission, the university will

-- encourage university students, faculty, administration, and staff to play leadership roles in identifying and solving the economic, social, and cultural problems of the people of New Mexico by providing rewards for such leadership.

-- support museums, creative performances, sports activities, and other cultural and entertainment activities.

-- develop service activities which emphasize the unique features of our border environment.