NMSU's top leadership is shifting this week as new interim president is appointed

The top leadership of New Mexico’s second-largest research university is undergoing a partial changing of the guard this week.

After scrapping its slate of candidates vying to be the next president of New Mexico State University, the board of regents of the Las Cruces-based institution announced a new interim president on Thursday — another of its top officials, Chancellor of NMSU System Community Colleges Mónica Torres.

Torres, who said she’s spent around a collective 21 years with NMSU, will take over from Jay Gogue, who has served as interim president since last April.

“I love the institution, and I actually have a history with the institution before that — I was a student here,” she told the Journal. “So I’m excited to be in this position.”

While Torres said she has “more than just a passing familiarity” with NMSU, she said she still needs to get acquainted with the school’s challenges.

“It’s a serious responsibility,” she said.

Torres officially will start the position May 1 and will have a brief transition period before fully taking the ball — Gogue’s last day will be May 10.

It was not immediately clear on Thursday how much she would be paid — the school’s Office of General Counsel did not respond to a request for pay information or Torres’ contract.

That said, the board approved an initial contract for six months, or until someone is hired to the full position. As of right now, Torres said she doesn’t know if she’s interested in pursuing the permanent position.

The move comes after the board of regents earlier this month decided not to move forward with any of the finalists it found through a nationwide search and began its quest anew.

“Finding the right leader is paramount,” said board Chair Ammu Devasthali in a March 11 letter to the school community. “While the presented candidates possess impressive qualifications and are assets to their respective institutions, we have yet to see the next leader of our university.”

Torres’ appointment also comes on the heels of the seemingly abrupt retirement of NMSU’s provost and chief academic officer, Alan Shoho, which he announced to the school community in a message sent on Monday — three days after his official last day, March 22.

“I came to NMSU knowing of the many challenges that lay ahead. But I saw great potential for this institution as well, and you helped me realize it was not an illusion,” Shoho wrote. “... And while it has been a tremendous honor to serve as your provost and chief academic officer, I felt this was the right time for me to begin the next chapter in my life.”

In his place, Gogue announced NMSU’s dean of the College of Engineering, Lakshmi Reddi, would serve as interim provost and chief academic officer effective immediately. Reddi, Gogue said, will serve in that role until the school’s new, permanent president is at the helm.

The board of regents plans to relaunch its search in April, have candidates visit the school’s campus in August, and have a new president in place by the beginning of the 2025 spring semester.

Eleven people, including staff and student representatives, are working as part of a search committee to find the university’s next official leader.

The board will partner again with WittKieffer, a search firm tasked with helping NMSU find its next president that, to date, according to a school spokesperson, has been paid $212,530.