The drive to maintain a strong, positive vision for UNM's future ultimately nudged President Bill Gordon out the door after 24 years at the University and four in its top job.
Gordon announced in an e-mail to all faculty and staff Thursday that he is retiring to accept the provost job at his alma mater, Wake Forrest University, which begins Sept. 1.
"It's like anyone who spends a very long time in one place, you look at it and wonder what you can do next," Gordon said. "I would rather walk out of here reflecting on positive things I was able to do rather than be forced out after overstaying my welcome."
He added that the window of opportunity for a university president to be effective is finite.
"I was proud that I could always approach problems with creative solutions, and I was beginning to worry that, because things run in cycles, that I just couldn't do that anymore," he said.
Board of Regents President Larry Willard said the regents will set up a presidential search schedule during the next two weeks, according to a University statement.
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Gordon is expected to leave sometime in August for Wake Forrest, a private university with an enrollment of about 4,000 students who pay roughly $30,000 in tuition annually. Gordon earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the university, a school that is much closer to his extended family on the East Coast.
The change also means Gordon will leave severe budget constraints behind in New Mexico.
"It's a new set of problems and a whole new environment that is very exciting and challenging," he said.
While the decision shocked some within the community, Gordon said he has received a lot of support.
"It's just natural for people to move on after spending this much time in one place," Gordon said of the feedback he received. "It was just time for me to go."
Gordon worked his way through the ranks, starting as a professor in the Psychology Department in 1978.
He went on to work as the Psychology Department Chairman, interim provost, provost, interim president and president.
Reflecting on his four-year tenure as president, Gordon says he is proudest of his relationship with faculty and staff, improving employee salaries and revamping the undergraduate experience so that it emphasizes student retention and graduation.
He added that it was an uphill battle to start some of the freshman outreach programs during his tenure, but is proud of the way inspired faculty and staff have rallied around it.
"Half of our freshman next year will be in some sort of learning community that will help them adjust to college life and make it clear that they are a priority at this institution," he said. "That's something to be proud of that I hope people can build on in the future."
Gordon said that the 40 percent growth in private donations during his term helped counter that problem.
Funding shortages remained one of the tougher obstacles for Gordon during his term, but he said that he was pleased with the way the University lobbied the state Legislature for support.
"We didn't always get what we wanted in terms of salary increases that we desperately needed, but I am happy that we had at least some success in that area," he said. "I could not find another back-to-back, three-year substantive increase like the one we experienced during the past three years."
Gordon added that he hopes the University will continue to work on reaching out to people so that they continue seeing UNM in a positive light.
Despite having several months left in his term free of the consequences that once steered his decision-making, Gordon says he will apply the same logic he always has until he leaves.
"When I was interim president, I made decisions as though I was the president - in the best interest of the University," he said. "As a person about to retire, I will do the same thing, continuing to keep the University on what I consider to be a very positive track for the future."
While speculation has begun over who the interim president filling Gordon's shoes will be, the outgoing president says he is grateful that he does not have to make that decision, deferring to the Board of Regents. He did offer one piece of advice to UNM's next leader.
"I continue to have tremendous faith in UNM," he said. "It is a tremendous place to me that has been able to accomplish great things because of the great people here. So, the advice I would give is to recognize that the people here are the greatest resource UNM has and anything that can be done to support them and make them feel as though they are respected is of the utmost importance. That sort of relationship is what is going to move this University forward."
