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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Friday, June 19, 2009
Northern's President Says He's Retiring
By Martin Salazar
Journal Staff Writer
Northern New Mexico College President José Griego notified the school's regents Thursday that he will retire effective Aug. 1.
Griego's decision was announced at a regents meeting in Española. The board has yet to appoint an interim president to take over when Griego steps down.
The board voted to award Griego the title of president emeritus. It also plans to hire Griego as a consultant to assist the next president with the transition and to continue his work on developing the college's El Rito campus as a treatment center for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Northern spokesman Tom Alvarez said the terms of Griego's future work with the college are being worked out.
In his letter to the board announcing his retirement, Griego thanked regents for their support during the 4 1/2 years he served as president.
“NNMC has a strong foundation on which to build its future,” he wrote. “The communities we serve stand to increase their quality of life, community and economic development as a result of NNMC's higher education services.”
Griego has served as Northern's president since Feb. 1, 2005. He presided over the school as it transitioned from a community college to a four-year college.
During his presidency, Northern's enrollment increased steadily and the college added 12 bachelor's programs. Northern has campuses in Española and El Rito in Rio Arriba County.
“I advise future boards and presidents to safeguard NNMC's constitutional authority, and never allow itself to be considered anything less than an equal with the other constitutional normal schools (i.e., New Mexico Highlands University, Eastern New Mexico University and Western New Mexico University),” Griego wrote. “I also advise the Board of Regents to commence graduate programs at NNMC as soon as possible in order to generate the level of funding necessary to operate the college with ample budgets.”
But Griego's work to transform Northern into a four-year institution also had its problems.
In November, he claimed support from two officials for a plan to impose a tax on Rio Arriba County residents to help support the college. Both officials denied endorsing the plan.
Also this fall, Griego acknowledged that, in a report to accreditors, he accidentally inflated the number of full-time faculty for its bachelor's degree in nursing.
And in September, the college drew a stinging rebuke from its accrediting agency for advertising bachelor's degrees that had yet to be approved.
According to a Northern news release, Northern's board of regents “reluctantly” accepted Griego's letter of retirement.
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