The president of the Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico has agreed to step aside from his leadership role “to avoid being a distraction” as the state’s governor works to improve relations between faculty members and the institution’s leaders, Gov. Bill Richardson announced today.

The move comes two weeks after faculty members overwhelmingly voted no confidence in the university’s president, David J. Schmidly, along with its chief operating officer, David W. Harris, and the board’s president, James H. Koch.

Among other things, the faculty members called for an outside audit of various university finances and criticized Mr. Koch’s stewardship of university resources. His tenure on the board “coincided with the substantial diversion of millions of dollars away from instructional funds and toward the payment of golden parachutes, executive salaries, bonuses, housing and automobile allowances, and other types of compensation,” one motion read.

Governor Richardson met with faculty members earlier this week to discuss their concerns. In today’s statement, he said he would seek to facilitate their request for an audit and would recommend that the board “consider more faculty input into regent committee assignments, particularly the committee on finance and facilities.”

He added that Mr. Schmidly, Mr. Harris, and the Board of Regents, including Mr. Koch, had his “full support.”

“It is important that the university community, including the faculty and students, work with the regents and the administration to restore trust and establish a productive working relationship,” he said. —Charles Huckabee