© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. These are interesting times at New Mexico State University as the NMSU Regents are set to select the next president. Smart money says they already have a choice but must go through the entire selection process for legal reasons. So there will be five people selected from which they select one.
Is there anything wrong with some Regents in their heart of hearts knowing right now who they want for president? They have to put on a show and there is a slight chance someone could come in and wow them such that they would reconsider who they already want.
But knowing already who they want is a good sign to me because the last NMSU President was a puzzle in that I could not understand what those Regents had in mind in their selection. What is most important in my mind is the question of institutional identity and that is at the forefront of any decision.
The Regents get hundreds of people interested in guiding NMSU in the coming years so they must select someone who reflects and will defend NMSU’s tradition and missions. Unless the Regents want to change that mission in the future, the next president needs to know their way around the Ag Barns.
In the pool of candidates for president there will be several possible identities for the institution. If a person with a background in Hotel Management is selected president, it would surprise me, and it would mean a sea-change for the institution compared to if they selected someone who knows how to milk a cow. I stay in hotels and drink milk so I have interest of both. And do not get me wrong, the NMSU President does not have to milk cows; I just want someone who knows how.
The NMSU president is the outside person. There is someone in the administration who keeps a close eye internally so the NMSU president can focus outside the institution. Example: this person selected as president will be the face of NMSU to the legislature.
There have been about 21 presidents heading the institution with several interim presidents thrown in. In the last 90 years or so the president has known his way around a barnyard and most were not troubled by the sight or smell of cow pies and horse apples.
It seemed to me that the last selection of NMSU president took a long leap at recreating the university in the image of the University of New Mexico. The top two people at NMSU recently had backgrounds in English. I spoke a couple of times about institutional identity to the last president, Barbara Couture, to no effect. While a pleasant person, she did not know into which end to put the hay, as they say.
As luck and chance would have it, as an undergraduate I participated with the presidential search in 1970 when then NMSU President Dr. Roger Corbett retired. I knew nothing about institutional identity and was trying to advocate for someone who would favor Journalism, my department. Several of us were won over by one of the applicants, an Agriculture Dean from Texas Tech who seemed quite able but did not seem as political as other applicants.
Luckily the regents of that day liked this Dr. Gerald Thomas and hired him. Three NMSU presidents, Corbett, Thomas and then James Halligan were at the helm of NMSU for 40 years which provided a huge stabilizing influence. In the last 20 years there have been eight NMSU presidents, counting interims, with an abundance of politics.
NMSU needs three things: a clear identity, a stable strong leader and at least six to ten years of leadership including developing institutional leaders within the university. It is my hope that whoever is selected already is involved in a Land-Grant university, already understands agriculture and does not have any interest in lessening NMSU traditions.
To clear up a point: milking a cow is a skill that has no administrative value, but just understanding how Agriculture and Engineering function are core to the NMSU mission. We will find out soon what identity the Regents have for NMSU by their presidential selection. Let’s see them milk a cow.
Dr. Michael Swickard is co-host of radio talk show News New Mexico 6 to 9 a.m. Monday - Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. Email: michael@swickard.com
