CUTLINE: Corwyn Shaughnessy, an industrial engineering graduate student at New Mexico State University, is a tutor at the Eloy Torrez Family Learning Communities in Engineering located on the third floor of the Foreman Hall. Tutors help students with studying, homework, or other classes they may have. It is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the work week and is open to all students. (NMSU photo by Allison Brady) Description: A tutor and student are discussing coursework on an iPad.
WRITER: Allison Brady, engr_media@nmsu.edu
Located on the third floor of Foreman Hall in Engineering Complex III at New Mexico State University, the Eloy Torrez Family Learning Communities in Engineering is the College of Engineering’s center for fostering student success. It offers tutoring, study rooms and aplace for engineering students to build a sense of belonging.
“Our goal is to build community among our students,” said Jimi Ickes, program operations director of undergraduate studies. “We know that students who study together develop a cohort group. They go to class. They study. They go to exam reviews. They're more likely to succeed. They're more likely to finish their degree. We’re here to help cultivate that process and be the hub for this student community.”
During the 2025-26 academic year, the tutoring center had almost 5,500 visits among 967 individual students, averaging more than five visits per student. From 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, tutors are available at the ELC to help students with their engineering coursework. No reservations are needed; anyone can walk in at any time to receive assistance with homework, studying or any other classwork.
“The Engineering Learning Community plays an important role in student retention, particularly in challenging 100- and 200-level courses,” said David Jáuregui, the dean of the College of Engineering. “The ELC helps students get over those early hurdles and continue in their engineering major. Just as importantly, many students who receive tutoring later become tutors themselves, strengthening the communication, listening and leadership skills that are essential to becoming successful engineers.”
Lizbeth Silva Chavez, a senior studying mechanical and aerospace engineering and a tutor at the ELC, said she has seen the impact the ELC has on the academic life of students who attend.
“It’s interesting because you see one person coming in for the first time and then once they start, they like to be here because they know we can help them,” Silva Chavez said. “For example, if students do better in a class or they figure out how to do an assignment way faster, it’s easier to see them coming back each time. It’s super nice because they feel safe here in the engineering community, and they start becoming friends with other people.”
The ELC not only aims to build a community among engineering students, but also between students and leaders in the professional engineering world. Throughout the school year, the ELC partners with the College of Engineering Office of Outreach to bring industry partners such as Intel, Cummins, Raytheon, SpaceX, Exxon, Chevron and Sinclair Oil, to name a few.
Those partnerships allow engineering students to have companies evaluate their resumes and even have a mock interview with the employer.
Ickes said the point is to build a pipeline between students and employers, so that students can go on to build a pathway for future employment.
“The whole goal is to build internship pipelines with employers, so that students go on internships in the summer, get hands-on experience, hopefully build a pathway to future employment,” Ickes said.
Ickes said a part of building community is offering students a safe space to do their work. Unlike other study areas offered across campus that cap their study room rentals from one to three hours, the study rooms offered by the ELC have no time limits. Students can use the ELC’s fully equipped computer room or private study rooms with a whiteboard from the beginning of the day till closing if they need.
Students can also help themselves to the ELC's variety of amenities while they are there. It includes a kitchenette equipped with a fridge, microwave and coffee maker. They also allow students to use their black-and-white printer free of charge.
Corwyn Shaughnessy, industrial engineering graduate student and frequent visitor turned tutor, talked about how having a space like the ELC allowed him to reach his full academic potential.
“I would say my favorite thing about the ELC is the learning environment,” Shaughnessy said. “It’s having a dedicated space to focus. When I was at NMSU the first time, there was no ELC and I was a 1.9 (GPA) student. I came back, and there was an ELC, and I turned into a 3.9 student. A lot of it is just being able to sit in a room with a whiteboard and no distractions and work through it."
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CUTLINE: Lizbeth Silva Chavez, a mechanical and aerospace engineering student at New Mexico State University, is a tutor at the Eloy Torrez Family Learning Communities in Engineering, located on the third floor of Foreman Hall. Tutors help students with studying, homework, or other classes they may have. It is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the work week and is open to all students. (NMSU photo by Vladimir Avina)
Description: A young lady who is a tutor at the tutoring center is writing an equation on the white board.
CUTLINE: Lizbeth Silva Chavez, a mechanical and aerospace engineering student at New Mexico State University and a tutor at the Eloy Torrez Family Learning Communities in Engineering, demonstrates an Optimal Subsonic Cruise equation to mechanical and aerospace engineering student,Ana Benavides and mechanical engineering technology student, Luis Saldaña. (NMSU photo by Vladimir Avina)
Description: A tutor at the tutoring center is demonstrating an equation labeled “Optimal Subsonic Cruise” to two students on a whiteboard.