Staff Report
Provost Brian Foster, UNM's No. 2 man and a self-proclaimed academic, says President Louis Caldera's external nature will help the University fulfill its most important commitment - serving the community.
"The University can't just sit here and be this alien thing," Foster said. "We have got to link up to entities and build relationships in the community. Louis's business focus will really help that."
Caldera, who signed on as UNM's 18th president Aug. 1, is the third president Foster has worked with. Bill Gordon and Chris Garcia, Caldera's predecessors, came from academic backgrounds - a marked difference from the new president.
Caldera's "external focus will be on things like legislative relations and fund raising, which is neither a negative thing nor a positive one," Foster said. "It's just different."
Foster said the focus of his job has always been on the internal, academic workings of the University, which won't change under Caldera. Foster's external business includes provosts' conferences and other academic gatherings, he said, which will relate to UNM's day-to-day classroom activities.
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Communication between the two University leaders has been good during the first three months of Caldera's term, Foster said.
"We talk quite a bit when we need to, and I haven't had any problems gaining access to him," he said.
Foster praised Caldera for coming to UNM with an open mind about the University's role and future.
"To his credit he hasn't come in half-cocked and proclaimed a bunch of things," he said. "He's taking his time in setting his agendas, which I think is positive. But he is still deciding on what structural changes he needs to make."
Foster said it's still too early to tell whether his job will change in the Caldera administration.
"That will be a good question to ask in another three months," he said.
