photo and story by Desiree M. Cooper
ENMU Communication Services

"I couldn't have asked for a better staff to inherit." – Benito Gonzales

Benito Gonzales started his position as Eastern New Mexico University's Human Resources Director on Jan. 5.

The ENMU alumnus earned his bachelor's in business administration in 2004.

"I decided to study business because of the diversity of the programs. I liked working with people, working on projects, and even with numbers" he said. "I ended up getting a minor in computer information systems as well."

After graduating from ENMU, Mr. Gonzales enlisted in the US Army and decided to utilize his degree and pick a job in the communications field as a network switching systems operator/maintainer. During his enlistment, he was deployed to Iraq, where he spent six months in Mosul providing telecommunication and internet support to our forces and six months in Baghdad providing force protection.

"I took classes and received my master's in business administration with an emphasis in human resources during my enlistment. It helped during my deployment so I had something to keep me occupied during down time as opposed to playing Xbox," explained the director, who spent his last year as a non-commissioned officer working in the HR shop for his battalion. He also stated that, "One of the best benefits that came from my enlistment was that the army paid all my loans off, on top of paying for my master's degree through various programs."

While working in HR for the army was slightly different than his career afterwards. "It was a good learning experience," said the Colorado-native.

Mr. Gonzales, who graduated from Farmington High School, lived in Washington and Georgia during his time with the army. He then moved to Albuquerque with his ENMU alumnae wife, Jennifer, to be closer to his family in Farmington and her family in Jal.

The couple has a four-year-old son, Elijah, who is looking forward to moving to Portales, starting school and playing sports.

"Elijah's sports will probably be my main hobby soon," said the father. "I enjoy hiking, camping, fishing, riding my motorcycle and atv, and anything else I can do outdoors."

The former human resources manager of Albuquerque's Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute said his previous workplace had "a wide array of positions requiring different levels of education and experience from a PhD to a high school diploma, much like ENMU does. So there are some similarities between the university and my past work."

As the director of Human Resources, Mr. Gonzales is responsible for the oversight and administration of personnel policies, payroll, employee relations, benefits, billing and other reports to state and federal agencies, hiring and orientation, training and the development of staff.

"In HR you are involved in a lot of different areas; as a generalist, you cannot just specialize in one area," he explained. "I'm learning payroll and state-reporting side of things in this new role. I like being part of projects where you can see the result at the end of the day. In HR, every day is different and presents new challenges and opportunities, and that is what I like most about it."

The alumnus has "enjoyed returning to ENMU and seeing how it's grown and changed. I couldn't have asked for a better staff to inherit. They know their roles and I learn from them every day."

"Becoming a director was an aspiration of mine" he said. "My next career goal would be VP of HR or Chief HR Officer someday."