Group to find provost

Provost Suzanne Ortega will resign from her position in June, and a committee to find her temporary replacement will publicly interview applicants starting next week.

President Schmidly announced in his April 4 Monday Morning Message that Ortega opted out of a renewed contract with UNM to take a job offer back East. Schmidly appointed Faculty Senate President Richard Wood to chair the internal search committee for an interim provost.
Wood said the committee will replaceme Ortega with a UNM faculty member. He said a joint effort between faculty and administration is crucial to the selection process.

“That’s a really important improvement in shared governance of the University — to have the faculty and administration deeply connected as we look for a new provost,” he said.

Applicants will hold open forums next week, where they will give presentations and field questions from faculty and students. Wood said the committee hopes to make a recommendation to Schmidly by May 6.
The faculty member chosen to replace Ortega will serve as provost until Schmidly’s contract

expires in June 2012. A temporary appointment will allow the University’s next president the opportunity to appoint a provost.

“The idea would be to have someone who bridges between the current president and the next president,” Wood said. “Typically a provost is appointed permanently and serves at the pleasure of the president.”

Because of time constraints, the search committee isn’t accepting applicants outside UNM, Wood said. He said appointing an interim provost from within won’t take more than two months.

“Usually when you search for a provost, you look outside, within and beyond the University,” he said. “Typically that takes a year to do. But what do you do in the meantime? You can’t leave the University rudderless.”
The search committee is made up of 19 members, including Wood.
Schmidly and Wood worked together to select committee members who adequately represent the UNM community.

ASUNM Sen. Caroline Muraida and GPSA President-elect Katie Richardson serve as student government representatives on the committee.
Muraida said student representation is invaluable to the selection process.

“We advocate for the priorities of students because we represent those who are directly affected by the quality of academic affairs within this University,” she said.

To be considered, applicants must have a doctorate or terminal degree and experience in a leadership role. April 20 is the deadline for applications for best consideration.

Wood said the provost appointment is one of the most important decisions the University will make this year.

“It’s not a political appointment; it’s an academic appointment requiring intellectual judgment,” he said. “And our belief is that the faculty are in the best position to have a strong voice in that. But that we need representation from the key student groups, the staff and the administration.”