Manuel T. Pacheco says he’s not looking to shake things up as interim president at New Mexico State University, but he has been asked to help improve the school during what he and others plan to be a brief tenure.
“I want to be very proactive in ensuring that the university continues to move forward in those areas where it has terrific strengths,” Pacheco said today in a phone interview. “During my time there, the board has asked me to look at where the institution is, from my perspective.”
As expected, the NMSU Board of Regents unanimously approved a one-year contract with Pacheco today that can be amended to end earlier if the board hires a permanent president sooner than that. He’ll receive a base salary of $325,000 plus be allowed to live in the president’s residence on campus.
Pacheco will not be allowed to apply for the permanent president job. The regents hope to name a new president by January.
Pacheco, who is 67, has an extensive background in higher education. Prior to his retirement in 2003, he was president of the four-campus University of Missouri System. Previously, he was president at the University of Arizona, the University of Houston-Downtown and Laredo State University. In 2006, he also served as interim president at New Mexico Highlands University.
So this is the second time he’s been brought in to help stabilize and improve a New Mexico school following a rough patch. He was brought in at Highlands after the school’s Manny Aragon era ended.
At NMSU, he’s stepping in to replace Waded Cruzado in the interim job. Some say last year’s botched search for a new president — which was scrapped after more than $100,000 was spent — was hampered because campus support for Cruzado created an appearance of a done deal and discouraged potential outside candidates from applying.
Regents say moving Cruzado out of the interim job is an attempt to ensure a strong field of applicants and give all, including Cruzado if she wants to apply, an equal shot at the permanent job.
Pacheco said he hasn’t yet spoken with Cruzado, who is moving back to her previous job as provost, but he has heard good things about her and looks forward to meeting her.
“From everything I’ve heard, she’s a very professional individual,” Pacheco said. “She’s going to be critical to the ongoing success of the university, and I expect to be professional with her and we’ll work out together just fine.”
A number of legislators are upset that the regents chose to move Cruzado out of the interim president job. They say they sense the governor’s influence in the matter, though regents say that is not the case. Pacheco said he has dealt with politics and controversy in the past.
“The most that a president can do is to keep legislators as informed as possible and be as honest with them as you can be, and not play into the purely political dimensions of it,” Pacheco said. “That’s for somebody else to be involved in.”
Pacheco, who grew up in New Mexico and earned his bachelor’s degree from Highlands, said he considers himself a New Mexican even though he lives in Arizona. He was on faculty at the University of Texas-El Paso in early 1980s, so he’s somewhat familiar with the Las Cruces area.
His contract begins June 1. Pacheco said he hopes to be in Las Cruces late next week to familiarize himself with the campus.