{"id":4544,"date":"2009-05-07T23:34:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-08T05:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/05\/regent-says-guv-not-involved-in-cruzado-resignation\/"},"modified":"2009-05-07T23:34:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-08T05:34:00","slug":"regent-says-guv-not-involved-in-cruzado-resignation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/05\/regent-says-guv-not-involved-in-cruzado-resignation\/","title":{"rendered":"Regent says guv not involved in Cruzado resignation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Javier Gonzales and Lt. Gov. Denish say community should give regents a chance to set up a fair process for picking NMSU\u2019s next president<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

New Mexico State University Regent Javier Gonzales says Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> and his staff had no involvement in the resignation of Interim President Waded Cruzado<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

And Gonzales and Lt. Gov. Diane Denish<\/a> both said in interviews that the NMSU community should give the Board of Regents<\/a> a chance to put in place a process for selecting a new president that is fair to all who want to apply, including Cruzado.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Gonzales\u2019 comments followed news that, as the regents restart the search process<\/a>, Cruzado is moving back to the executive provost and vice president job she held before being named interim president last year. It\u2019s a move three influential state legislators who support Cruzado quickly condemned<\/a> and said had the governor\u2019s fingerprints all over it.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Not so, Gonzales said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had no discussions with the governor or any member of his staff regarding this issue,\u201d Gonzales said. \u201cThis is an issue for the board, to try to create the absolute best environment for a search that will bring us a president.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Denish, a former regent at New Mexico Tech, also said people shouldn\u2019t assume that an outside influence is behind the NMSU regents\u2019 decision on Cruzado.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to give them the benefit of the doubt,\u201d she said of the regents. \u201cI think they\u2019re trying to do what\u2019s best for the university.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The history<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Cruzado was named interim president last summer after Michael Martin left to be chancellor at Louisiana State University\u2019s main campus in Baton Rouge. 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 search.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Some also said campus support for Cruzado created an appearance of a done deal and discouraged potential outside candidates from applying. A brunch held before the regents called off the original search last November fueled that speculation.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The brunch in Cruzado\u2019s honor was hosted by Regent Laura Conniff. Invitations called Cruzado the \u201cfirst female president of NMSU.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Regents say moving Cruzado out of the interim job is an attempt to ensure a strong field of applicants and give all, including Cruzado, an equal shot at the job.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2018Hold the search committee accountable\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Denish has long been a supporter of Cruzado, and she said she is hopeful that the regents will set up a process that allows Cruzado, should she choose to apply for the permanent job, to be on a level playing field with other applicants.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t encourage legislators or anyone else to pre-judge the process,\u201d Denish said. \u201cThe community should watch and see what the makeup of the search committee is and hold the search committee accountable. Certainly, I as lieutenant governor will hold them accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Search committee members should be named Friday. Gonzales said he wants to make two things clear as the search process begins anew: Cruzado has done a great job as interim president, and the regents will set up a search process that is fair to everyone.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Denish also praised Cruzado.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that Dr. Cruzado has done yeoman\u2019s work as interim president, and that\u2019s why I would insist that she have a fair opportunity to apply for the job,\u201d Denish said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2018Give the board an opportunity\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Gonzales said he wants to select a new interim president who \u201chas the experience and the distinction of running a large university.\u201d And, while he declined to discuss specific candidates he might have in mind, Gonzales also wants it to be \u201cclear from the beginning\u201d that the interim president has no interest in applying for the permanent job.<\/p>\n

He said that will help ensure a fair process.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cMy hope in going forward is that the people who love the university and who care about its future give the board an opportunity to lay out a process that will yield the best president and, through that, allow us to be held accountable for making that important decision,\u201d Gonzales said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The regents have announced no timetable for naming a new interim president or completing the search for a permanent president.<\/p>\n

\n

A prior version of this posting incorrectly stated that search committee members would be named next week.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Javier Gonzales and Lt. Gov. Denish say community should give regents a chance to set up a fair process for picking NMSU\u2019s next president New Mexico State University Regent Javier Gonzales says Gov. Bill Richardson and his staff had no involvement in the resignation of Interim President Waded Cruzado. And Gonzales and Lt. Gov. Diane […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4544\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}