by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
About 130 faculty members approved a resolution on Tuesday expressing their desires for University presidential candidates.
The resolution will be sent to the Board of Regents.
The candidates must have achieved tenure and have a doctorate and upper-level administrative experience in higher education, according to the resolution.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The resolution was written by the faculty's Committee on Governance.
The faculty will not accept a president who does not meet the minimum requirements, according to the resolution.
John Geissman, chairman of the committee, would not say what the faculty will do if the candidate does not meet the requirements.
"I don't like to speculate at this point," he said. "What I will say about that is to stay tuned."
Regent Raymond Sanchez, chairman of the presidential search committee, said he is glad the committee made the resolution.
"Not having seen it (the resolution), I'm hard-pressed to give a comment other than that I will respect whatever they send off," he said. "They have every right - a duty in fact - to let us know what they think."
Sanchez said the members of the presidential search committee will be announced some time this week. The committee is in charge of recommending candidates to the regents. The regents make the final decision.
"The faculty will be well-represented on the search committee, which is a really good way for them to voice their concerns," he said.
That also means the resolution will not be taken lightly, he said.
"I believe the regents will give the resolution all the respect it deserves," he said. "By the virtue of the people sitting on the search committee, the search committee will also respect their opinions."
The resolution will be presented to the regents at their October meeting, Geissman said.
Cynthia Radding, a professor who attended the meeting, said she was happy with the resolution.
"I think the academic background and comprehension of the University's mission are the most important things to look at," she said.
Geissman said the resolution sends an important message.
"We're doing our best job possible of getting it on the record what we want," he said. "They (the regents) can't say anything about UNM not being involved with this process."
Geissman said the number of faculty who attended shows how much they care about the presidential search.
"I was really impressed with the number of faculty who turned up," he said. "This is the most contentious thing that's happened here in a long time. I think that the faculty are very concerned about this process."
Radding said the meeting went well.
"I think everyone here discussed the resolution really intelligently," she said. "I hope they (the regents) will take this as faculty concern and contribution to the search for a president."
