Cruzado, shown during last week’s Domenici Public Policy Conference at NMSU. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
New Mexico State University Executive Vice President and Provost Waded Cruzado visited the the University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) today to interview for that school’s president job.
Cruzado, according to a news release, is one of four finalists for the job at UTPA, located in Edinburg, Texas. The school plans to interview its last candidate on Wednesday but has not set a date to have a new president on the job.
UTPA didn’t release Cruzado’s name to the public until Friday.
Today, according to the news release, Cruzado had “a daylong schedule of forums, meetings and lunches.” From the release:
“During the morning forum at the Student Union Theater, Cruzado shared with the audience stories about her childhood and how she went from living in Puerto Rico, the ‘Island of Enchantment’ to New Mexico, the ‘Land of Enchantment.’ She touted her interactions with people while growing up led her to a life in academia.
“‘I really loved interacting with people and that is why I decided to devote my entire life to the classroom. I never anticipated that I would end up in administration. That was not my goal. That was not my career path. That is how life just happened,’ she said.”
Cruzado interviewed for the provost/vice president for academic affairs job at UTPA in 2006, but was not offered the position.
NMSU’s provost has recently been on the hunt for a new job. Earlier this month, Montana State University announced that she was one of three finalists for its top job. She’s scheduled to visit that school Sept. 30 for an interview, public forum and community reception.
MSU plans to have a new president in place by Jan. 1.
Cruzado’s history at NMSU
Cruzado’s job searching comes months after she was ousted from the interim president job at NMSU.
After former President Michael Martin left NMSU in 2008, the regents named Cruzado interim president while they searched for a new leader. But after spending $90,000 on the search to replace Martin, the regents scrapped the process late last year, saying a state law that required them to publicly name five finalists hampered the process.
Gov. Bill Richardson responded by replacing three of five regents.
In restarting the search in May, the new board ousted Cruzado from the interim president job, saying they wanted to ensure the integrity of a new search. Cruzado is popular among students and faculty, and some said a move to make her the permanent president during the previous search created the appearance of a done deal and hampered the university’s attempts to draw other qualified applicants.
Many Cruzado supporters were angered by the regents’ decision to move her back to the provost job.
After removing Cruzado from NMSU’s top job, the regents named a new interim leader, Manuel Pacheco, and said Cruzado could apply for the permanent president job. Cruzado has not said whether she is interested.