by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
New Mexico Tech President Daniel L¢pez, a candidate for president of UNM, visited campus Tuesday to meet with students, staff and faculty.
Candidate Meredith Hay will visit campus Thursday.
Here's a look at each of Tuesday's meetings:
Students
About 70 students attended the meeting with L¢pez, where he discussed diversity and his successes and failures.
Minorities should have full access to education, he said.
"The issue is, how do you utilize human capital?" he said. "Not so long ago, we really discouraged women from going to college and getting careers. Can you imagine what would have happened to the country's work force if we had a system that disenfranchised half the population?"
In order get more diverse faculty members, UNM has to graduate more minority students, he said.
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"Fixing the graduate number is paramount," he said. "If you don't have that pool of graduates, you don't have a place to get faculty. You have to fill the pipeline."
One way to increase the number of minority faculty members would be to set aside money to hire promising minority students as faculty after they graduated, he said.
L¢pez said it was challenging to be president of New Mexico Tech without a science degree.
"I think my greatest success was to take a science and math faculty that viewed me very negatively, and within a few years, turn them to the point where if they're not supporters, they'll at least go along with you for the good of the institution," he said.
His biggest failings have come from impatience, he said.
"I'm sometimes a little quick to the draw, and I realized later that I may have made a poor decision," he said. "I've learned from that that I should try to get sufficient information - not all the information, because then you'll never make a decision - before taking action."
Staff
More than 100 staff members attended the meeting with L¢pez in the SUB.
L¢pez, president of New Mexico Tech since 1993, said being a New Mexico native is a mixed blessing in his bid
for president.
"On the one hand, I know an awful lot about this institute - more than you may realize," he said. "On the other hand, a lot of you know me and may know my weaknesses as a result. That's just an equation I'll have to deal with."
L¢pez has a bachelor's, master's and doctorate in political science from UNM.
He answered several questions from staff members.
Ken Carpenter, associate director of International Programs and Studies, asked L¢pez about preparing students for an international economy.
L¢pez said it's important for students to have some international experience before they graduate.
"We do need to be involved in internationalizing the education process, at least for a significant number of students," he said. "When I'm talking to high school students, I always tell them they shouldn't be worried if their neighbor's a little better than them. That's not who they'll be competing with. They'll be competing with people from across the world."
David Groth, president of the Staff Council, asked what L¢pez thought about flexible schedules and health programs for staff members.
L¢pez said UNM should keep employees satisfied with their jobs.
"The most effective work force - it's almost a clichÇ - is a happy work force," he said. "People have extraordinary demands on their lives now. Somehow, there has to be some recognition of that. We should try to do whatever we can to make people's lives better - not easier, because everyone needs a challenge - but better."
Faculty
L¢pez met with about 100 faculty members in the SUB to discuss topics including his vision for UNM, the role of a university president, and the role of faculty in guiding an institution.
Instead of coming to UNM with a plan for change, L¢pez said he will spend his time talking to people to find out what they want UNM to be like.
"One of the biggest problems with visions is that they can quickly become hallucinations," he said. "The worst thing that can happen to any institution or organization is to have different, beautiful, conflicting visions. The only effective vision is one that has a buy-in from all the constituencies."
It is not the job of a president to dictate the needs of the University,
he said.
"A president can articulate. A president can encourage. A president can lead," he said. "But he can't make the constituents drink. You have to engage the community. One of the big priorities for any president ought to be to find out what people are thinking."
The president also has to make sure the University has enough money, he said.
"The president has to be able to bring in resources," he said. "It's a very mundane assignment, but very necessary."
L¢pez said he would bring more money to UNM through private gifts and entrepreneurial efforts.
It's important to give faculty a voice in guiding the University, L¢pez said.
"Universities, more than any other organization, are in the business of intellectual capital," he said. "It would be a mistake for the institution not to take
advantage of the tremendous energy and abilities of the faculty to help the University."
Faculty should be involved through traditional structures, such as Faculty Senate, because trying to revamp the system would cause more harm than good, he said.
He is also against having a faculty regent, because having someone in the governing body of the institution who would vote on things directly related to them, such as wages, would be unethical, he said.
When faculty members asked L¢pez about his scholarly achievements, he said he has no right to brag.
"I would not be very sincere if I came here and tried to sell you that I've been on the cutting edge of scholarly pursuits," he said. "I've never tried to sell myself as a scholar. What I am is an effective administrator, and I'm effective in a university environment."
Daniel L¢pez
President of New Mexico Tech since 1993.
Has served as director of the Terminal Effects Research and Analysis Research Group, now the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center, which performs weapons and explosives research.
Has served as chairman of the New Mexico Council of University Presidents.
Experience in New Mexico state government, including chief of staff for the Senate Finance Committee, senior staff analyst for the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration and secretary of the Employment Security Department.
Bachelor's, master's and doctorate in political science from UNM.
