With no finalists left in the hopper, New Mexico State University’s governing board voted on Monday to terminate the search for a new president, the Associated Press reports.
A search committee had settled on five finalists. But state law requires that their identities be made public 21 days before a hiring decision. Four of the candidates pulled out because they did not want their names disclosed. The fifth was hired elsewhere.
The university had paid a search firm $90,000 to find a replacement for Michael V. Martin, who in May was named chancellor of Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. The search yielded a list of 43 candidates, which was trimmed to five by the committee.
The disclosure requirement was adopted after a 1998 presidential search at the University of New Mexico resulted in a lawsuit and a canceled search, according to the AP. University officials said Waded Cruzado would continue in her role of interim president until a new search could begin.
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5 Responses to Privacy Worries Cancel New Mexico State U.’s Presidential Search
wbgleason - July 12, 2011 at 1:34 pm
The only thing I’d add is the Grover connection. Post up at Brainstorm on the Chronicle: Macalester College President Calls Out the Grovers ( link: http://bit.ly/orcNQs )
There is a stubborn GOP faction – some DFL also – that have signed the no new taxes under any circumstances whatsoever Grover Norquist pledge. Fortunately the president of Macalester College has called them out in an essay in the Star-tribune. Link is in my post.
You’ve done an excellent job in describing the horrible situation at Minnesota’s public higher ed institutions.
Bill Gleason, U of M faculty and alum
matt_l - July 12, 2011 at 3:43 pm
I teach at a MnSCU institution. Summer session one finished up just as the shut down started. Summer session two started as scheduled and students are in class. I had spoken to some people in administration who were worried that the shut down would scare students off for Fall term. There are rumors that students are choosing out of state schools because they do not know if MnSCU is going to be up and running at the start of Fall term.
The school has money in the coffers and is finishing up the remodeling and repainting projects that started before the shut down, so things should be ready for students in the Fall term. The continuation of those projects mean that the local contractors and their employees are collecting their checks, spending money in the community, etc. I think the impact of the budget crisis would have been much greater in my community if these projects had been cancelled. Fewer people working and spending money would have had a significant impact on the local community.
One last thing I’d like to point out: in 2000 the state budget covered 59% of the cost of a MnSCU education and 41% was paid by the student in the form of fees and tuition. In the coming year, fiscal year 2012 the state budget is supposed to cover 29% of the cost and the students will pay 71%. The legislature has spent the last decade cutting the higher education budget in both good times and bad. This is a long term trend and my institution’s budgeting assumes that it will continue.
physioprof - July 12, 2011 at 8:09 pm
State legislators are the worst dregs of american society: delusional lazy greedy fucken assholes with just enough sick cunning to get themselves elected so that they don’t have to earn an honest living. And in backwater hick states like Minnesota, they are the worst of the worst.
hnneditor - July 13, 2011 at 4:42 pm
Minnesotans aren’t hicks, and you do many in this state a great disservice by slurring us as such.
As for the shutdown, I’m out of college and I don’t teach, so I can’t comment on the effect on the U of M or MnSCU, but what I’m hearing is not good (but, as Bill Gleason pointed out, the situation in Minnesota’s public higher ed institutions has been grim for a while).
Obviously state parks are shut down, as is the DMV. There’s a shortage of health inspectors, a problem during fair season. The DNR is no longer testing soil or water in the state’s lakes and rivers. The capital city of St. Paul is suffering, too, since one of the largest employers in the city (if not the largest), is now shuttered.
Then there’s the personal toll. Several members of my family, as well as many friends, are state employees who are now jobless and living on unemployment.
But there may be light at the end of the tunnel. I was listening to MPR this morning when some joker came on and talked about how he hadn’t really noticed the shutdown and wished it would go on forever.
That was before news came that MillerCoors will no longer be able to sell beer in the state due to improperly-filed forms that, due to the shutdown, cannot be fixed. Goodbye, Miller, Coors, PBR, and even Pilsner Urquell! My brother informed me that the city of St. Paul is already pulling the stuff from golf courses.
theoncominghope - July 16, 2011 at 5:08 pm
Hello! Just de-lurking to say that I love your blog, and have added it to my reader :) I cannot understand the whole attitude of the Republics this year. David Koch and ALEC are true nutjobs.