By Bill McCamley
“It might be right, it seems; the wrong decision will spoil all our dreams; don’t change horses in the middle of a stream.” – Tower of Power
“You love gives me such a thrill, but your love won’t pay my bills; I want money, that’s what I want.” – The Flying Lizards
After reading all of the articles recently regarding the search for the next New Mexico State University president, the decision on moving forward seems clear. Current Interim President Waded Cruzado-Salas should be given the opportunity to show that she can take on the position permanently.
I have been lucky to have a rapport with Dr. Cruzado-Salas since she became the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. I have found her to be supremely qualified to take over the reins at NMSU. She is extremely intelligent, and has the experience and understanding to manage the complicated logistics of a Division 1 institution.
From conversations I have had with both faculty and students, I know that she has garnered the respect of both groups. As she has been promoted to the role of provost and now Interim president, she has grown in to the more public role needed of her, becoming a whirlwind of activity. Recently, I have seen her representing the university well at such diverse events as the Model United Nations dinner and the Aggie Volleyball WAC championship presentation. She also has something recent new presidents have lacked — an established connection to NMSU before taking on the president’s position.
In addition to all of these other qualities, though I would never recommend anyone purely because of their background or gender, appointing an extremely qualified person to be the university’s first ever female and minority leader can only send a positive message to an institution where a majority of students are both minority and female.
A possible stumbling block
There is only one possible stumbling block that I can see to this appointment. When I was elected president of the NMSU student government in 2000, Jay Gogue entered his first year as university president. Before Gogue, the president’s main job was overseeing the day-to-day operations on campus.
Gogue recognized, however, that universities receive funding from three main sources: state government appropriations, tuition and private donations. With declining government support of state universities and the ability to raise tuition every year being limited, he viewed the most important role of a state university president in today’s society, for better or worse, as being a fundraiser for the institution.
Therefore, he changed the way NMSU ran, creating the provost position to deal with most of the smaller management situations. That allowed him to set overall university administrative policy while leaving time to focus on raising money from public and private sources. Mike Martin followed this pattern when he assumed the office, and both were significantly more successful than their predecessors in garnering funds. That’s one of the main reasons both were courted successfully by other, larger institutions.
So, given that the current state budgetary situation in New Mexico will lead to even more cuts in funding from the state, the importance of this ability will be magnified even more for the next permanent president. Therefore, the question is simple for the NMSU Regents: can Cruzado-Salas raise the money?
The solution
Personally, I have no doubt that she can. Fundraising isn’t rocket science, and a hard-working, passionate person who understands a university’s needs should be able to perform the task. However, it can be exhausting and frustrating, and sometimes academics more used to the pleasures of pure research and teaching find the process tedious and may find themselves lacking the stomach to raise money on a sustained basis.
So, NMSU Regents, why not try the following? Allow her five to six months to show she has what it takes to bring big money to the university. If she can, and given all of her other qualities, there should be no reason to spend another $150,000 on a further search when the best option is already here.
McCamley is the outgoing District 5 Doña Ana County commissioner.