I am grateful to the University's Board of Regents for choosing me as president of UNM, and I am humbled by the quality of my fellow finalists; each is uniquely qualified to serve. I wanted to take this opportunity to say hello and to extend to each of you an invitation.
During my tenure here, I need your input, and I invite you to join me in working together to make a historic commitment to excellence. Let us become the premier academic institution that we all know our University can be.
During my many visits to UNM over the years, I have always been impressed by the faculty, staff, students, facilities and location. Let's now have the commitment, the energy and the drive to make UNM America's flagship university for minorities and women, a place of signature research and scholarship, whose degrees are respected in every part of the world, whose graduates stand tall in every walk of life.
We can do it by making diversity, equity and inclusion central priorities of this institution, as important as any other mission. We can do it by rewarding outstanding faculty with tenure and career enrichment and by improving retention and graduation rates. After all, the goal of any great university must be to help students complete their studies, not merely begin them.
I propose that we can achieve great things, but only if we work together in a structure and atmosphere of shared governance, imbued with mutual respect.
I especially look forward to working with the diverse, vibrant ethnic communities of New Mexico. For years now, I have studied and admired the rich natural and social history of this magnificent region and its rich cultural heritage. I have come to know you and value your culture and points of view. I look forward to learning more and getting to know you better, so that we can develop a shared vision of what this University is and what it can become.
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I did much of my scientific research in the Southwest, studying the environment, species and habitat of this region. My wife Janet and I made a decision to live in Albuquerque long before this opportunity presented itself, and I see this appointment as a chance of a lifetime: the prospect of working with you to preserve the rich culture of this state and to embark together on a mission to study and celebrate its culture, history and resources, at what, without question, is the premier institution for its study.
As much as I've come to know and love New Mexico, however, I realize I have more to learn.
That's why I will be conducting a listening tour, holding town hall meetings on the UNM campuses and at locations throughout the state, so I can learn how best to serve you in this complex and challenging job. I intend to maintain a blog to take your questions and comments on a continuing basis, and I will regularly reach out to the news media across the state.
On a personal note, this has been the most transparent, most open search process in my memory, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
We will continue that openness, creating a culture of transparency and shared governance in this administration. Toward that end, I want you to know that we are already taking steps toward the formation of a transition team, whose composition I hope to announce in the coming week.
Once discussions about the dates of my departure from Oklahoma State and the official commencement of my presidency are concluded, I also expect to be able to tell you when I will be coming to New Mexico permanently, but I assure you it will be no later than June 1.
In the meantime, be assured that during this period of transition, I intend to be in regular contact with the University community through several personal visits in the coming months - dates to be determined - as well as periodic updates like this one. I also want to take advantage of advances in telecommunications technology by reaching out to the UNM community in new ways, including webcasts. I intend that our first webcast should be with students, so I can see what's on their minds, and I expect we'll be able to announce a date and time in the coming week, so watch the UNM Web site, Unm.edu.
In addition, I invite your comments, thoughts and concerns during the transition period, as I will throughout my time at UNM. I assure you, they will be reviewed carefully. A special e-mail is being set up just for that purpose. Again, watch the UNM Web site for my contact
information.
I pledge to each of you that my doors, my eyes, my ears and my mind will always be open - to faculty, staff, students, taxpayers and their representatives alike. I commit my best efforts for our University and for the people of New Mexico.
I look forward to the challenge.
David Schmidly
UNM president
