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After electing an interim president two weeks ago, the UNM Parent Association is working to keep the organization up and running.
At an Oct. 10 meeting, the remaining members of the Parent Association Board of Directors voted Angie Gonzales Carver to be interim president. The association’s administrative officer Bernadette Jaramillo-Peck said Carver will keep the position until the association holds its next election for officers and board members.
The election of an interim president followed a mass resignation of board members in August, although the association began having problems in May, when newly elected president Suzanna Ausborn resigned a few weeks after she was elected.
Ausborn was then replaced by David Garrett in June, but he resigned along with a number of board members before the beginning of the fall semester.
At the time, members said the reason behind the resignations was that UNM wanted to have a say in the election of the association’s next president. Past members insisted that the association is independent from UNM, and that the University does not have the right to intervene with the election process of their officers.
The University tried to hold an emergency meeting on Aug. 17, but the association denied the request.
After denying the University’s request, then-treasurer Francis Page organized a separate meeting on the same day with the remaining members to discuss the possibility of disbanding.
Instead, they decided to elect a new Board of Directors that will work closely with the University.
But by Aug. 20, all members of the Board of Directors had resigned.
In another emergency meeting the University organized Aug. 21, remaining members decided not to disband the organization. But the decision in the meeting was not formal, because too few members of the board attended, so the meeting didn’t have quorum.
Former board members denied the Daily Lobo’s requests for comment.
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Although the date of the next election has not yet been set, Jaramillo-Peck said the board will vote to elect a treasurer, vice president and president. She said the association will also elect as many as 25 people to serve on the Board of Directors.
Jaramillo-Peck said a number of parents have been supportive of the association’s current initiatives.
“We’ve had parents express their interest through letters, phone calls and emails,” she said. “There’s progress every day in getting the group in action.”
Although only five members were present at the Oct. 10 meeting to select Carver for the position, Jaramillo-Peck said the association was able to elect an interim president because there was quorum, which means there were a minimum number of members present in the meeting to elect an officer.
But Jaramillo-Peck said the association is moving forward and away from the conflict.
“That happened, but that’s in the past,” she said. “We’re starting fresh with a brand new slate.”
Associate Provost for Curriculum Greg Heileman said the board members’ resignation would not have a significant impact on the future of the association.
“What happened a month ago was that a lot of people resigned,” he said. “That’s just what happened. They’re being replaced. It didn’t crumble in the sense that it’s already not working.”
Heileman said the association decided to hire an interim president to find people who would want to serve on the executive board. He said about 10 people have already inquired about becoming involved in the association.
He said that although an election is sure to happen within the board in the future, it will not take place soon.
“It doesn’t look like we could have that because they’re looking for people to represent the Parent Association first,” he said.
To prevent the association’s previous problem from happening again, Heileman said the University hired Jaramillo-Peck as a program coordinator. He said she will bridge the gap between the association and the University.
“What we’re trying to do is to get the Parent Association to work more with the University and those other groups on campus,” he said. “If they want to work, we’re here to work with them. We’re putting resources into this.”
Jaramillo-Peck said that despite the resignations, the association’s funding was not affected.
She said the association will continue to host major fundraisers, such as its annual golf tournament, and will continue to sell holiday ornaments to fund its scholarship programs.
“Of course, with the hiccup last month, it has had an impact, however we are going for the golf tournament and a tailgate is happening on Saturday,” she said. “(The mass resignation) did not affect the funding. There’s still an endowment for scholarships the people who had agreed to donate just continue.”
Jaramillo-Peck said she is optimistic the association will not experience a mass resignation again in the future, and that the re-formed association will be helpful to the University community.
“The mission of the Parent Association is to promote student success,” she said. “And I don’t think that some conflict should tarnish the reputation of the association.”
