Despite his term ending as a UNM regent, David Archuleta will remain chairman of the Presidential Search Committee.
Archuleta, whose term expired early this month, has been the chairman of three different search committees since 1997.
He said that the search is progressing very well, with 55 applications already in.
"I'm not disappointed in that because the applications we have are very, very good," Archuleta said.
He added that despite not reading all the applications yet, the committee members he's spoken to who have seen all the applications have narrowed their lists down to 20 or 25 possible candidates.
Archuleta said that he will most likely close the application process Jan. 31, and then the committee will narrow the candidate list down to 10 or 12. So far, he said, the committee's pool of applicant includes former university presidents; presidents of smaller institutions; provosts from large institutions or systems; vice presidents from various areas; and deans.
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He said that the committee has also received applications from those who "have not shown a lot of interest in attempting to understand what we're about or where we're going."
Those advocating for a Hispanic UNM president might have some hope. Archuleta said he can't tell what the search committee or the future Board of Regents will do, but that some very good Hispanic candidates have applied.
Archuleta was not willing to commit himself to much detail, but said that some of those Hispanic candidates are likely to be interviewed by the committee, but said he doesn't know if they will advance to the top five.
"I'm not prepared to make that assessment," he said.
