ENMU president search officially under way

With the posting of a want ad in “The Chronicle of Higher Education” June 15 the search for the next president of the ENMU campus in Portales and chancellor of ENMU, ENMU Roswell and ENMU Ruidoso is underway.

Patrice Caldwell, president and chancellor of the ENMU system, announced her retirement this past February. She said she would stay in the position until the university’s Board of Regents found her replacement.

The search for the new chancellor is being handled by the executive search firm EFL Associates. The person leading the search is Wynn Goering of Albuquerque, Senior Consultant for the higher education practice with EFL.

“I interview the candidates,” Goering said.

Goering explained that search firms are hired to find good potential candidates for the job that needs to be filled.

Goering says he helps decide who the search firm is serious about and helps the committee make good choices.

Goering will be working with the search committee that was drawn up by the ENMU Regents. The committee is made of members of that board, people from the Portales community and campus people.

How is the response so far?

“It’s so early in the process,” Goering said.

He said it was not possible to officially apply before June 15 when the application process began. The deadline is August 19, “it’s about a two-month application period.”

Goering says after the deadline the search firm gives the members of the committee password protected access to materials on the candidates.

“We do semi-finalist interviews and pick at least five candidates,” Goering said. By New Mexico state law five finalists must be chosen. Goering said by law, when the finalists are coming to town, it must be publicized that they are coming so the public will know.

Is it an “easy sale” to get people to consider moving to eastern New Mexico?

“Anyone in the world can figure out where Portales is by using the Internet,” Goering said. “So by the time they’ve applied for the job they know about ENMU, Portales and eastern New Mexico.

Goering says it’s not a matter of “selling” the position to a candidate, it’s about finding the candidate who is a fit for the position, for the community.

“Portales has a lot to offer,” Goering said. “There are people out there willing to take on challenges and we’re going to do our best to find them.”