{"id":9576,"date":"2009-11-20T02:24:38","date_gmt":"2009-11-20T09:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=9576"},"modified":"2009-11-23T00:32:15","modified_gmt":"2009-11-23T07:32:15","slug":"meet-the-new-nmsu-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/11\/meet-the-new-nmsu-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the new NMSU president"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Barbara

Barbara Couture (Photo by Darren Phillips\/NMSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018I will work tirelessly to assure that NMSU fulfills its promise as the state\u2019s great\u00a0land-grant university,\u2019 Barbara Couture says<\/h4>\n

New Mexico State University\u2019s new president \u2013 the school\u2019s 25th \u2013 is the first woman to hold the job, at least on a permanent basis.<\/p>\n

Waded Cruzado held the job on an interim basis after Michael Martin left the university last year.<\/p>\n

The Board of Regents introduced new President Barbara Couture<\/a> on Thursday at a morning meeting in Las Cruces. She hit the ground running, making a quick trip to Santa Fe to meet with legislative staffers and the governor, then buzzing back to Las Cruces for a reception at the home of Regent Laura Conniff.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will work tirelessly to assure that NMSU fulfills its promise as the state\u2019s great\u00a0land-grant university, promoting educational access and\u00a0cultural diversity, strengthening relationships across the university\u2019s campuses and extension sites, and achieving excellence in teaching, research and engagement with the communities, businesses and industries across the state of New Mexico,\u201d Couture said in a news release.<\/p>\n

The immediate reaction to the regents\u2019 selection of Couture was positive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the appointment of Dr. Barbara Couture, NMSU is embarking on a new day — one that brings a permanent president who brings proven experience and the promise of a brighter future for our beloved university,\u201d NMSU Regent Javier Gonzales said in an interview. \u201cHer experience has made her the right fit for our university.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish<\/a>, who will meet with Couture today in Las Cruces, sounded equally impressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer understanding of the mission and challenges facing land-grant institutions like NMSU make Dr. Couture uniquely qualified to lead the university,\u201d Denish said in a news release. \u201cI know that she will take NMSU to new heights and make sure that each year our state has a new class of educated, hard-working and motivated leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018She immediately took to our campus\u2019<\/h3>\n

Couture is the senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and a professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Couture will start\u00a0her job at NMSU on Jan. 1 at an annual salary of $385,000. Her contract also includes use of the presidential residence, a car, a country club membership and, at the end of five years, a $500,000 retention bonus funded by the NMSU Foundation.<\/p>\n

Blake Curtis, chairman of the board of regents, said the retention bonus came \u201cin response to the many stakeholders who expressed a desire for a long-term leader.\u201d As I\u2019ve reported before<\/a>, the foundation doesn\u2019t publicly release donor lists, so the funding behind that hefty bonus probably won\u2019t be made public.<\/p>\n

Curtis also praised Couture in a news release from the university.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe immediately took to our campus, and her interaction during the open forums demonstrated an ability to relate to our students, faculty, staff, community members and statewide partners,\u201d he said. \u201cShe will bring valuable insights from her experience at land-grant universities. We are confident in her leadership skills and value her commitment to being a long-term participant in NMSU\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her position in Nebraska, Couture \u201cinitiated efforts\u201d to create an outcomes-based general-education program that was nationally recognized, the release states. Also from the release:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 she has led efforts to engage UNL in international partnerships, developing targeted partnership degree programs in China and increased global research opportunities. She is currently the principal investigator on a $3.8 million National Science Foundation-funded ADVANCE grant, and has led campuswide efforts to increase the recruitment and retention of a high-quality, diverse faculty. Nationally, she chairs the Executive Committee for the Council on Academic Affairs for the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Couture has a bachelor\u2019s degree from the\u00a0University of Michigan,\u00a0where she also earned her master\u2019s and doctorate degrees\u00a0in\u00a0English language\u00a0and literature. An award-winning writer, Couture received the Outstanding Book Award at the 2000\u00a0Conference on College Composition and Communication\u00a0for \u201cToward a Phenomenological Rhetoric: Writing, Profession and Altruism.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Sheep dip, chile, calves and weed control\u2019<\/h3>\n

Even Michael Swickard<\/a>, an educator and columnist for this site who has long been involved with NMSU, expressed optimism about the hiring of Couture. Swickard had previously authored a commentary<\/a> stating that \u201conly professionals who have worked closely with agriculture and engineering for their entire professional lives are really qualified to lead NMSU.\u201d<\/p>\n

But on Thursday, Swickard had this to say after the regents announced the hiring of Couture:<\/p>\n

\u201cI was quite surprised in 1970 when Dr. Thomas<\/a> was selected, a little-known ag dean. He became the best NMSU president ever. Could happen again. I hope our new prez values sheep dip, chile, calves and weed control as much Dr. Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Board of Regents introduced new President Barbara Couture on Thursday at a morning meeting in Las Cruces. She hit the ground running, making a quick trip to Santa Fe to meet with legislative staffers and the governor, then buzzing back to Las Cruces for a reception at the home of Regent Laura Conniff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[133],"class_list":["post-9576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-nmsu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9576","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=9576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9576\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}