Q & A

Daniel L¢pez

UNM presidential candidate

Daily Lobo: What do you think is the most important issue facing higher education?

Daniel L¢pez: In a generic sense, the most difficult issue that we're dealing with is the level of preparation of students coming into universities across this country - not just the University of New Mexico.

There's a lot of reasons for that. Some of them have to do with socioeconomic issues. I say that also the cultural learning has shifted today from what it used to be, on a general level.

There's still pockets of students that have the same thirst and passion for learning. But the numbers have diminished - or at least the percentages have diminished. We don't seem to be quite as competitive - especially at the undergraduate level - as we were in an international context.

I tell you this because when we do international testing, you begin to see that the United States has fallen further and further from the top rank that we have enjoyed for so many years.

I still think we have great institutions. I think that there are still ways to reinvigorate the culture of learning with our institutions.

We do need additional financial support. We have to deal with the ever-escalating tuition rates. That is a big problem, especially for the middle class and lower-economic-level students.

It may not be the single, major problem. But it is a problem in terms of students having to work one or two jobs in order to support themselves, or to accumulate such a large debt by the time they graduate that they take the first 10 years of their life to pay off the debt.

These are major problems, and not just for students, but for society. If we send out a whole generation with that level of debt, then they can't buy a house or buy a car or any of the economic stimuli that we have within the economy.

DL: How do you think you're qualified to run an institution of UNM's size and diversity?

L¢pez: After 14 years of being successful at running an institution of science and technology where they said only a scientist could be successful - I went and I proved my critics wrong. And in the end, I've made a big difference in bringing that school to another level.

That doesn't speak to size, but it does speak to going with a background that people think isn't specifically what you needed.

More specifically to your question, I'll give you a reason why I think I'm qualified.

I've run large organizations. This is not the first large organization I would be dealing with. When I was DFA (New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration) secretary, we were the control agency for all of state government - both in terms of budget as well as issues

dealing with personnel. We had over 22,000 employees at the time (and) a $1.2 billion budget. Actually, when you took the federal portion, it was $2.8 billion, so larger than the budget of the University of New Mexico.

So, I've been in big organizations.

The size, to me, simply does not raise questions of my ability to deal with it.

DL: What, if anything, would you do to prevent tuition increases?

L¢pez: The two most important things are zero tuition credit, and the second set of things is trying to get the formula fully funded. The formula has enough things in there that it would generate enough revenues for the University where you really wouldn't have to look to the students, in an immediate sense.

You're always going to have to have some inflationary adjustments to tuition over time, but we shouldn't have to see this 10 (percent) and 12 (percent) - these huge increases that really have a very, very definite impact on students and families and makes it less affordable for students to be here.

DL: Do you think that longevity is important for a university president?

L¢pez: Of course. If you don't have stability of leadership, and you don't have consistency of direction, you're going to have problems over time. No organization, private or public, can long survive by having a revolving door.

You send mixed messages. You have a learning curve for new people coming in. You have change on the leadership team.

It's a very destabilizing force when you don't have longevity.

Longevity can be described as something more than five, maybe less than 10 years. Anything in there, you've been able to make a difference and institute changes that are going to stay there even after your tenure.

DL: Can UNM be sure that you would be here that long?

L¢pez: Well, I'm 60 years old. My contract at New Mexico Tech runs until 2011. My intention is to up that contract, and my goal is to work until I'm about 70. So, I have a window of seven to 10 years that I would be looking at, provided that the community would accept me and that the Board (of Regents) would support me.

~ Caleb Fort