New Mexico State University Chancellor Dan Arvizu will no longer head the university when his contract expires in June 2023. The announcement came from a statement sent out late Wednesday morning on Dec. 28 from the Board of Regents.  

“Today, the New Mexico State University Board of Regents authorized and instructed the university’s administration to begin working with the board on a search process for the university’s next chancellor,” the statement read. “The board thanks Chancellor Arvizu for his service to NMSU, and looks forward to continuing our work with him over the next six months to ensure a smooth transition.”

The Board of Regents outlined various accomplishments that Arvizu oversaw during his tenure from student enrollment increases to strengthening the university’s research and development initiatives. The statement also recognized the costly expenditure to move NMSU Athletics into Conference USA which will take place in 2023. 

“Our great university is stronger and better positioned today than it was five years ago thanks to the tremendous work done by the chancellor and by so many others in our NMSU community,” the statement read. 

Arvizu was inaugurated as chancellor in 2018 along with former university president John Floros, who stepped down earlier this year in January.

Arvizu currently serves as the head of the NMSU system and head of the Las Cruces campus. He has faced recent criticism over many issues including the university’s handling of the graduate student workers unionization to the school’s response in the fatal shooting of a University of New Mexico student by an NMSU basketball player.

Arvizu’s five-year contract will expire on June 30, 2023.