NMSU narrows search for next university president to five candidates

The New Mexico State University Board of Regents has announced five finalists to become the university’s next president, and one is Arsenio Romero, the state’s secretary of public education.

The announcement came Monday following a monthslong timeline during which several candidates nationwide were recruited and evaluated for the job. Selections were made by an internal committee led by Regents Chair Ammu Devasthali, with assistance from search firm WittKieffer.

The search began March 11 and a finalist is to be selected in late September.

NMSU already had candidates in place in March, but decided to scrap what it had and start over with the search. In the meantime, the board of regents announced new interim president, Chancellor of NMSU System Community Colleges Mónica Torres.

Romero was appointed to lead the state’s Public Education Department by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in February 2023, becoming the fourth person in four-plus years to hold the high-profile job. A former Los Lunas Schools superintendent, Romero said during his Senate confirmation hearing in March 2023 that New Mexico is “going to be stuck with me for a long time.”

As PED secretary, Romero has led the agency’s efforts to require New Mexico public schools to spend at least 180 days with students per school year, but a coalition of school districts and superintendents filed a lawsuit challenging the department’s rule, leading to the proposed July 1 implementation date being put on hold.

The other finalists

• Valerio Ferme, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, University of Cincinnati
• Brian Haynes, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, University of California Riverside
• Monica Lounsbery, Dean, College of Health and Human Services, California State University Long Beach
• Neil MacKinnon, Professor, School of Public Health, Immediate Past Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Augusta (Ga.) University

The president serves as the chief executive officer of the university system and is charged with the responsibility of providing strategic direction and general supervision over all affairs of the university. The president is selected by, and reports to, the Board of Regents.

To prepare for the candidate search, the search prepared a 30-page leadership profile, highlighting key qualities sought from each candidate, including “the skills, preferably, experience — to manage a culturally diverse, and complex academic and research institution.”

The next phase of selection includes each candidate visiting the campus between Sept. 9 and Sept. 16, where the NMSU community will have the chance to speak with candidates about their goals for the school. Schedules for visits and forums will be available online at nmsu.edu-president-search, along with information about each finalist. The committee welcomes the public to attend and provide feedback to the board.

Devasthali and the Board of Regents declined to comment beyond the contents of a press release.

“We look forward to getting to know each of the candidates and learning how they fit our vision for the next leader of the NMSU system,” Devasthali said in the statement. “We cannot complete this process without the help of all our Aggie community.”