Governor balks at new regent process

Two Board of Regents positions remain available after Gov. Susana Martinez rejected a regent selection process proposed by the UNM Faculty Senate.

Martinez rescinded the process and said it added an “additional and unnecessary requirement not specified in the New Mexico Constitution.” She said in a statement Friday that the process was convoluted.

“I believe in the need for a fair regent selection process that is free of politics, but I do not find it necessary to add another layer to an already bloated bureaucracy,” she said.
Under the proposed process, universities would form an advisory committee to recommend potential regents for the governor to select. Former Gov. Bill Richardson signed the process in a last-minute executive order Dec. 17, just weeks before leaving office.

According to Article XII, section 13 of the New Mexico Constitution, “The governor shall nominate, and by and with the consent of the senate, shall appoint the members of the Board of Regents.”

Despite the end of their terms, Regent President Raymond Sanchez and Vice President Jack Fortner will remain on the board until replacements are named or their terms are extended.

In searching for those replacements, Martinez said the process outlined in the N.M. Constitution is sufficient.

“The advisory committee is just another symbol of big-government excesses that serve little purpose,” she said.

UNM Faculty Senate president Richard Wood said the Faculty Senate’s suggested selection process wouldn’t introduce extra bureaucracy.

“Right now, there’s no bureaucracy involved in regent selection,” he said. “We’re not proposing bureaucracy. We’re proposing a group of people from the University to offer their best advice, and we look forward to working with governor Martinez to do that.”
Wood said he thought Martinez’s decision to rescind the selection process was solely about politics and her administration’s relationship with Richardson’s administration.

Still, he hopes she seeks advice when it comes to selecting the new regents.

“I think the crucial thing is that the governor choose the next regents in a way that really serves the interests of the state of New Mexico and the University, and that she is in consultation with people with the expertise about higher education to really help advise her on regent selection,” Wood said.