New Mexico Highlands University announces five finalists in presidential search
Nov. 30—New Mexico Highlands University has narrowed its search for a new president to five finalists, a shortlist that includes a top official at the school and senior administrators at universities in Oregon, California and Texas.
The next president of the small Las Vegas, N.M., university will succeed Sam Minner, who is retiring after serving in the position since 2015. His contract is set to expire in June 2024.
Minner has had an annual base salary of $281,000 since July 2022, according to his latest contract.
The finalists for the top job include Roxanne Gonzales-Walker, the provost and vice president of academic affairs at Highlands. She has served as the chief academic officer and a tenured professor there since 2017, according to her résumé.
During her tenure, her résumé states, she's worked with fellow administrators to secure $20 million in endowments from the Legislature to support faculty positions, and expanded graduate and undergraduate degree programs at the Las Vegas campus and online.
Other finalists are Gerardo Ochoa, vice president of enrollment management and student success at Linfield University in Oregon; Michelle Rogers, former vice president for administration at University of Redlands in California, whose role was eliminated in June; Adolfo Santos, assistant provost at Texas A&M University's McAllen campus; and Neil Woolf, executive vice president at Southern Oregon University.
The person selected to fill the president's job should be public-facing; active among students, community members and state lawmakers; and ready to represent Highlands at the state, regional and national level, said Brandon Kempner, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and chairman of the presidential search committee.
"The board of regents is looking for a highly visible and engaged leader who can help bring New Mexico Highlands University and the Las Vegas community to the next level of success," he said in an interview Thursday.
Much of the future president's work will involve rebuilding Highlands' community in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, which turned much of higher education upside-down and largely halted in-person learning at the university for more than a year.
Now, Highlands must address the needs of students in the post-pandemic era, including mental health initiatives and other student-retention services. The next president, Kempner said, will be responsible for "really rebuilding a sense of community and connection after what was lost due to the missing years of COVID."
The other recent seismic shift in higher education — at least in New Mexico — came in the form of the state's Opportunity Scholarship, now in its second year of offering qualifying New Mexico residents tuition-free higher education at any in-state college or university, including Highlands.
Kempner said the president will be tasked with ensuring Highlands students have access to the Opportunity Scholarship.
Minner oversaw the creation of academic programs, such as the university's master's degree in nursing, and expanded student activity and outdoor recreation offerings, and Kempner said the next president will carry on this work by advancing growth in academic programs, including training students for emerging careers.
The five final presidential candidates will visit Highlands and participate in public forums with students, staff, alumni and members of the community from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Monday through Dec. 8 at the Student Union Building and via Zoom. Electronic and paper feedback forms will be distributed on the day of the forums.
"We encourage anyone in the community to participate by coming to one of the Zoom forums," Kempner said. "People in Santa Fe are welcome to log on and hear these [candidates] and give feedback."
The board of regents is scheduled to host a meeting Dec. 15, when it may select the university's next president.
