Staff Report
The UNM Board of Regents unanimously approved the position announcement for University president Tuesday.
The announcement will be published in at least 100 publications, including journals about higher education and national newspapers such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Virginia Shipman, president of UNM Faculty Senate, said she is disappointed that the announcement does not require applicants to have tenure.
"The president really needs to understand where the University is going," she said. "I think tenure's an important thing, because it means they (candidates) have spent some serious time at an educational institute."
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The announcement requires applicants to have a doctorate or similar academic achievements.
Shipman said not requiring tenure could allow the University to hire an unqualified candidate.
"They're probably trying to make available as big a pool of applicants as they can - which has its benefits," she said. "But I think it's very important that we make sure we get an exceptionally qualified president."
Applications for president are due by Nov. 15. The regents should select the president in March 2007, according to a tentative schedule.
Regent Raymond Sanchez, chairman of the presidential search committee, said requiring tenure would make it harder to find minority candidates.
"We want the pool as wide as we can, because when looking for underrepresented persons applying - the smaller that gets when making tenure a requirement," he said.
The committee will not have a problem selecting qualified candidates, he said.
"We have 12 people associated with UNM who are going to be picking (the president)," he said. "I'm sure the person they are picking is going to be extremely well qualified."
About 130 faculty members approved a resolution Sept. 19 that they would not accept a president who did not have tenure.
Sanchez said the committee took the resolution into consideration while deciding the standards for applicants.
Shipman said faculty members need to stay involved in choosing the president.
"We'll work hard, and once we know who the finalists are, we have to really examine their credentials and speak up about what we think," she said. "The big thing is to think positively and have high expectations."
There are nine faculty members on the 23-person search committee.
Louis Caldera, former UNM president, announced his resignation in January.
