Cruzado, right, with NMSU Interim President Manuel Pacheco last month. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
Months after being ousted from the interim president job at New Mexico State University, Executive Vice President and Provost Waded Cruzado is one of three finalists for the president job at Montana State University.
MSU named Cruzado one of three finalists for its top job today in a news release. She will visit the campus on Sept. 30 for an interview, public forum and community reception.
The other finalists for the job are Steven Angle, provost at Wright State University, and Steven Leath, vice president of research and sponsored programs at the University of North Carolina.
“I think the students, faculty and staff of MSU, as well as our alumni and the state at large, will be very excited by these three candidates,” said Clayton Christian, chair of the MSU Presidential Search Advisory Committee and vice chair of the university’s Board of Regents.
MSU plans to have a new president in place by Jan. 1.
Cruzado has been near the center of controversy at NMSU for some time. 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 hurt 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 that happened, 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.