ENMU encouraging direct involvement in selection of president

Eastern New Mexico University is looking for direct involvement of the Portales/Roosevelt County governments in the selection of ENMU’s new president.

In a letter to Roosevelt County Commission chair Shane Lee, Portales mayor Ron Jackson, Roosevelt County manager Amber Hamilton and Portales city manager Sarah Austin are invited to have the county commission and city commission to each suggest someone to be on the search committee. The ENMU Board of Regents will then choose one of those two people to be on that committee.

The search committee does not decide who the new president of the university will be, that is a decision made by the Board of Regents.

The letter to the commissions, signed by Regents president Lance Pyle and vice-president Phillip Bustos, describes how the communities will be invited to a “meet and greet” reception in Portales for the five finalists for the job and the community will be invited. Feedback from the reception will be passed along to the regents.

The actions are part of a drive by the Board of Regents to have community involvement in the search for the new university president.

The present head of the university, chancellor Patrice Caldwell announced in February that she would be retiring after a 42-year career at the university.

The search for Caldwell’s replacement is a nationwide effort and involves an executive search agency according to information Caldwell shared at last week’s Roosevelt County Commission meeting.