While outlining the goals of his one-year term, UNM president Chris Garcia gave a tentative thank you to the Faculty Senate for helping push him into the interim presidential job during the senate's first meeting Tuesday.
"I think I want to thank you," Garcia said.
He said that even though he never sought the position, "fate and the Faculty Senate would have it otherwise."
Garcia was selected president by the Board of Regents during the summer for one year while a presidential search begins this semester. Faculty senators lobbied heavily for the political science professor, circulating a petition last spring for him to be selected for the position.
He started his term at the beginning of August when former president Bill Gordon left to be provost at his alma mater, Wake Forest University. In Garcia's first official address to the senate, he assured faculty and staff that his top legislative priority will be salary compensation.
Garcia added that despite only 20 percent of UNM's $1.3 billion budget being funded by the state Legislature, it is still a vital "slice of the expenditure pie because that slice provides compensation for faculty and staff."
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He said that UNM is a "people-intensive institution," and if high-quality faculty can't be recruited due to uncompetitive salary offers, then the University will never be able to compare to other higher education institutions.
Garcia pointed to increasing figures for freshmen, undergraduate and graduate enrollment as a boost to the University. He added, however, that although he looks forward to a good year, one main obstacle remains to be tackled - New Mexico's economy.
He said that no matter how much lobbying takes place in Santa Fe, only so much can be done if the state's economy remains poor.
"What we need to do is raise the economic well-being of the state," Garcia said.
He said he is meeting with representatives of federal agencies to help increase communications between UNM and the government. Garcia added that working with the business community to see how UNM and local business can "enhance each other's goals" is another priority.
Garcia said that everyone in the University community also needs to be involved in seeking funds from places other than the state, adding that progress has been made on that front with University development offices setting fundraising records this year.
He added that the work being done to reexamine the state's university funding model, established by the Commission on Higher Education, could help UNM's financial situation.
Garcia said that the University has advanced in many ways in the past few years under Gordon, thus making it a fortunate time to be a faculty member.
The Faculty Senate will next meet Sept. 27, at 3 p.m. in the Kiva Auditorium.
