by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
UNM Regent Raymond Sanchez announced the members of the presidential search committee Friday.
The 22-member committee includes nine faculty members, two students and one staff member.
"I'm very relieved to have the committee put together," said Sanchez, chairman of the committee. "I'm very excited to begin looking for qualified candidates."
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Brittany Jaeger, ASUNM president, said she had mixed feelings about the composition of the committee.
"I think that based on how many faculty people will be on the committee, they could have given another seat to a student," she said.
Sanchez said he didn't know students wanted more than two seats.
However, students' concerns will be given all the consideration they deserve, he said.
"I think that students will be represented, not only in the sense that they have two members on the board, but there a lot of graduates from UNM on the committee that know and recognize what students need and want," he said.
There is one undergraduate student and graduate student on the board.
The committee is responsible for selecting presidential candidates. The Board of Regents will make the final selection in March, according to a schedule released by Sanchez.
Jaeger said the committee will serve its purpose.
"I think it's good for the time that they'd like to announce a new president," she said. "But I think the time frame is a little bit short."
There are nine women and 13 members of minority groups on the committee.
John Geissman, chairman of the faculty's Committee on Governance, said he is happy with the number of faculty members on the committee.
"This is a very difficult endeavor - there's no doubt about it," he said. "The regents on the committee did an outstanding job selecting the members of the committee."
Sanchez said it was important to give faculty a strong presence on the committee.
"I really wanted to engage them (the faculty)," he said. "I felt it was really essential to give them a choice as to who will make the final cut. The faculty represents a very important part of the University."
He said the committee should be easy to work with.
"I feel very comfortable with the committee," he said. "I'm pleased with its diversity. I'm pleased with the number of people from the University who are willing to volunteer their time to make the institution better."
The three regents on the committee met with more than 150 people during the summer to discuss what qualities are important in the next UNM president.
Louis Caldera, the former UNM president, announced his resignation in January.
