Candidates make their case to be the next New Mexico State University leader

Feb. 26 through March 1, New Mexico State University and the Las Cruces community heard from five candidates for NMSU president through forums hosted by the president search committee and student government.

The Board of Regents commissioned a search committee to find candidates for the next system-wide president in July 2023. Finalists were made public on Feb. 2, 2024.

More: NMSU Board of Regents select five finalists for next university president

Faculty and students questioned candidates on their approach to shared governance, experience with executive leadership challenges and how they would elevate the NMSU experience. In-person attendance at the forums was scarce, but it didn’t stop participants from getting down to business with their questions.

One takeaway from the forums was clear among all candidates — whoever is chosen, building campus community and understanding institutional relationships would be a priority.

Full recordings of the forums can be accessed on the president search website.

Here are highlights from each candidate's forums.  

Wayne Jones emphasizes need for new NMSU strategic plan 

Wayne Jones was the first candidate in the forum lineup. He opened with a message of gratitude to be considered for president and said he’s ready to make the next step in his career to help NMSU brace for future challenges in higher education like enrollment and funding cliffs.

After giving his remarks, discussion of strategic planning and shared governance was an area he led with. He talked about building a new plan that would create a clearer vision for NMSU that stakeholders and the community would recognize. He said a new plan would also identify target areas that need support regarding faculty, the university system and students.

“It's time for us to look at the next five years, what I’m interested in doing is taking a close look at your vision statement to try and set something that is aspirational, a goal that we can all agree to that we're trying to achieve,” Jones said. “There's nothing wrong with your [current] mission statement. The bullets that are in it are all solid, but many of them are … strategic imperatives, any university that isn't already talking about student success today, is in trouble.”

Jones was referring to LEADS 2025, the current plan that was adopted in 2019 with some goals still not being met like diversifying and creating competitive salaries for faculty and staff. Faculty and staff representatives Gaylene Fesenko and Susanne Berger asked Jones what his approach would be to solving that issue.

“One of the things that we did in New Hampshire … is we put together a small team that's responsible for equity calculations across job types,” Jones said. “We set a goal that all our salaries will be between the 50th and 60th percentile within that field, within our space, within our competition, and so we regularly go out and we look at that equity question.”

Jones also addressed the question of shared leadership and a solution to turnover challenges which NMSU has heavily experienced throughout the years. He explained that leadership development, providing people with skills and resources to advance, is key to leveraging and uplifting campus departments. When people are given the right resources and support, those turnover concerns are less damaging, he said.

“Regular communication and engagement are absolutely critical because when shared governance is most valuable it is in a crisis, and if you haven't already built those relationships, it's not going to work,” Jones said.

Richard Williams highlights Utah Tech’s successes, credits NMSU education 

Richard Williams said the doctorate he obtained from NMSU paved the way for him to enhance curriculum development and enrollment increases at other institutions, especially in his last role as chancellor at Utah Tech University. His experience with building programs and planning are traits he would bring to NMSU if chosen.

“To me, New Mexico State has really laid the foundation for my career. I started three programs at Northern Iowa, 15 programs as a dean,” Williams said. “[I had been with] Utah Tech University for nine and a half years and the call there was to build a brand-new university and we just got university status [while I was there].”

“I was so intrigued about the unity you want to build, the consistency, and I want to go somewhere where I can be in 10 years, and I just see all the opportunities [here],” Williams said.

In the faculty and student forums, Williams mostly spoke about the importance of following data and community input to address institutional challenges such as enrollment, student and campus engagement and staff pay.

He gave the example of Utah Tech’s previous identity problem and how he led efforts to shift away from the historical confederate affiliation that university once had. He said that data showed how the former identity of Dixie State University had impacted academic retention and community support. It preempted the need for unity which he oversaw.

“I knew that if we couldn't do this, we would have to solve many of our problems over a 30-year period of time,” Williams said. “[as a result of the rebranding] we had the best legislative funding year that we had ever had, we had a very large increase in enrollment, a very large increase in our philanthropy, we have more attendance at athletic games and so what I learned from that is when there's a problem, get the data, really look at the data and ascertain if it's a problem, and then communicate and get those constituents behind you.”

While Williams stuck to his most recent experiences at Utah Tech, he didn’t provide specifics to how he would do the same progress at NMSU.

At the time of publishing this story, Williams has since accepted the position to be president of Missouri State University, dropping him from NMSU’s shortlist.

John Volin says he’s committed to NMSU, no plans to leave

John Volin said that he would not “reinvent the wheel” when it came to NMSU’s strategic planning.

He said he would expand and reevaluate, as needed, the current strategic initiatives to address higher education needs while staying true to the university’s missions. Ultimately, he said it was alignment of values that drew him to apply for the position.

“One of the big challenges that we have, is that this decrease, decline, in the value of higher education by the public is growing,” Volin said. “They're losing the faith of the commitment that higher education is a public good and so I actually think that Land-Grant universities who have this statewide initiative, this very strong connection to the community, can play a big role in how to transform those communities [and that perception].”

In his closing remarks, Volin addressed a sought-after question about leadership saying he would be committed to NMSU in the long run, explaining he didn’t see the university as a stepping stone to other opportunities.

“My career isn’t focused on that, I want to make a difference and have no plans to move on,” he said during the faculty forum.

“I truly see the strengths, the opportunities, the challenges, that New Mexico State University has but that’s from an outside perspective … and so, this seems to be a place to me that that is making a difference and continue to even make a greater difference as we move forward,” he said during the student forum.

Michael Galyean: NMSU ‘is a great university now, can be even greater’ 

Michael Galyean said his NMSU education shaped a desire to work in agriculture but also as a professor and administrator. Ultimately, he said he was interested in the position because of the chance to enhance the reputation of the institution and further the Land Grant mission.

“My interest in this position is certainly based on a lot of things but it relates to the fact that I really love the institution for what it did for me,” Galyean said. “I think Mexico State University is a great university now and it can be even greater, so I’d like to be part of the process of helping it to achieve that next level.”

In the questions he addressed related to faculty pay and turnover rates, Galyean focused on an inclusion approach citing the need to support them, students, and graduate workers, because they are drivers for the university. He said they significantly contribute to the quality of education that students can obtain and in the long run will play a role in metrics and retention.

“The one thing you don't want to be as a university is a place that prepares people for success somewhere else,” Galyean said about pay and resource inequities in higher education.

Focusing on the effort to expand the overall value of NMSU, he said building a network across the state to bring in innovation and financial resources would be one of his priorities. To attract new students and qualified faculty, he explained positive attention and collaboration is needed.

“We have to continue to follow down that path of making sure that when students come to this campus their welcome, their respected and they do very quickly gain that sense of belonging to the university, that's what's going to keep them here, that's what's going to help them to ultimately be successful, and play into those metrics that everybody wants us to improve,” Galyean said. “I certainly would be committed to that if I am the person selected to this role.”

Austin Lane: My career has been about faculty and students; I’ll prioritize them at NMSU 

Austin Lane told faculty and students that he’s committed and excited to serve the unique landscape of NMSU — emphasizing that he is not participating in any other national searches.

He reflected on his career, stating numerous accomplishments like helping students at his current institution, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, secure resources to afford college, and creating a strategic plan to address long-term needs of the institution.

“It comes back to leadership, comes back to the stability and the leadership and really making sure that we get in front some of those issues that can impact the institution negatively, whether it's enrollment or perception in terms of how people perceive the institution,” Lane said when addressing a question about shared governance.

Lane mostly focused his forums on questions related to student and faculty experiences. He explained that it would take community and legislature involvement to get the necessary funding to make the desired changes, and he is willing to make those connections.

In terms of strategic planning, with LEADS 2025 expiring next year, he said he is ready to listen and help create a mindful plan that targets core needs like equity and inclusion to innovation.

“We have a great opportunity... to really engage those stakeholders like we're doing now, to try and repair.” Lane said. “It doesn't mean we throw away anything that happened in the LEADS, we close the loop, set whatever went well...that we will hold on to and continue to advance.”

“It's very rare to have a system that has community colleges inside of it and if you heard from my background, I've spent a lot of years in the community college systems as president or vice president, so to have that inside this system, to me was very attractive,” Lane said. “The designation as a Hispanic, minority-serving, Land-Grant, Space-Grant, institution was also very attractive, you're not going to see that in many places across the country, I think we can leverage that tag [here].”

When talking about why he was most interested in the position, he said his background has been dedicated to working with students and faculty to deliver results and stability. At NMSU, it would be no different.

“I've never worked at an institution where an administration can do anything by themselves. It doesn't work. The faculty and others stay around a lot longer than administrators and I think you know that right you've had a few come through here,” Lane said. “I'm excited as I mentioned, I love where I am, but I'd love to be here even more.”

When will NMSU have a new president?

Regents will select the next president during a regular scheduled meeting on March 10, 2024. Information to attend or watch the livestream can be found on the regent's website.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: NMSU Regents will choose among 5 candidates for president next week