On March 11, the New Mexico State University Board of Regents unanimously voted to restart the presidential search process after reaching the final selection phase and deeming none of the candidates suitable to fill the position. The search began in late August of last year and was set to have concluded last month with a candidate selected.
Mónica Torres was named the next interim president and will be taking the position in May, replacing Jay Gogue who has served as the interim president over the past academic year. Less than two weeks after the Board of Regents restarted the presidential search, Provost Alan Shoho announced on March 22 that it was his last day serving his post with NMSU. The Dean of the College of Engineering, Lakshmi Reddi, will serve as the interim provost in his stead. The Round Up reached out to Shoho regarding his departure, but he was unable to comment.
This continues the “revolving door” of leadership that the university continues to face. The new tentative plan to fill the presidential position, proposed by the Board of Regents, is to begin the search in April, with campus visits from the candidates in August, then to have a permanent president in place by the beginning of the spring semester in January 2025. The board will continue to work with the hiring firm WittKieffer, and also reduce the size of the search committee in an attempt to streamline and speed up the search this time around. According to Board of Regents Chair Ammu Devasthali, “Finding the right leader is paramount.”
The Round Up will provide updates as this story develops.
