Meredith Hay
UNM presidential candidate
Daily Lobo: What do you think is the most important issue facing higher education?
Meredith Hay: There are four issues across the country facing higher education, and they include access, transparency, accountability and innovation. Those are all very important to advancing higher education and insuring the public confidence in higher education.
DL: How are you qualified to run an institution of UNM's size and diversity?
MH: It's a great question. I currently serve as vice president for research at the University of Iowa. In that capacity, I am responsible for all the creative and scholarly and research activities at a university that's $2.3 billion in revenues - which is twice the complexity in terms of activities than UNM. And yet, there's a number of similarities between the universities, if you will, and I think there's a true value at the University of New Mexico from what I've seen in valuing the humanities and the arts, as well as valuing sciences. That's something I hold very dear. I think (at) a truly great university, you can't be one or the other. You need to advance those disciplines together - the arts and the humanities with the sciences and medicines together to truly advance new knowledge. So, I'm very excited about the University of New Mexico. I think it very fundamentally fits with who I am in my own values.
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DL: What, if anything, would you do to prevent tuition increases?
MH: Do more fundraising, private fundraising, for endowed scholarships, scholarships for students.
DL: What experience do you have that has prepared you for the unique aspects of New Mexico?
MH: Lots of different experiences. I think running a complex research university gives me kind of a depth and breadth of experience that most people don't have. An academic medical center at a university this size is very important to the University.
DL: Do you think longevity is important for a university president?
MH: Absolutely.
DL: How can UNM be sure that you'd be here for a reasonable amount of time?
MH: Well, hopefully I'd be doing a good job, and you won't get rid of me.
DL: If you're chosen, what would you do to keep faculty and staff happy to be working at UNM?
MH: Well, I think the first thing that really has to be looked at is what I articulated here, is a long-range vision, a plan. People get excited and enthused and ready if they know who they are and where they're going to go and what they're working toward. So, I think a long-range vision strategy, a planning strategy, for the University is absolutely essential for the future.
DL: How are you prepared to balance the various interests of different parties at UNM, including faculty, staff, students and the surrounding community?
MH: I think that's what makes it so exciting, and working in public, higher education, especially at a research university, balancing the competing interests is what I really enjoy, because the complexity is what makes it truly unique. It truly is not a factory. It's not Intel. It's not Monsanto, and it's not a private hospital. It is all three missions. It's advancing teaching. It's the students. It's advancing research and the knowledge, and it's servicing and community engagement. It is that aspect of higher education that is unique in all society, which I truly love and embrace.
