10 to help pick new AD for UNM
They will work with external search firm
A 10-person committee and a well-respected search firm have formally been announced by the University of New Mexico to help fill its vacant athletic director position.
As reported earlier this week by the Journal, UNM announced Thursday it has retained the services of Atlanta-based firm Parker Executive
Search, which facilitates higher education and college athletics job searches.
The search will officially begin in July, the school confirmed, though the search firm is already familiar with a large pool of candidates in the field and will work with the search committee to identify needs specific to UNM before collaborating on a list of finalists.
The AD position is vacant after Paul Krebs announced June 1 that he will retire later this month after 11 years on the job as the most senior AD in the Mountain West Conference. UNM Deputy AD Janice Ruggiero is acting as the department’s interim AD. Krebs is using vacation time until his official June 30 retirement date.
The Journal has requested a copy of the contract and has learned the agreement with
Parker will be for $50,000 before travel and other search-related expenses.
UNM Board of Regents President Rob Doughty will chair the internal committee and be the primary local point of contact during the search process. He also recently served on the committee that selected Paul Weir as UNM’s new men’s basketball search. That committee included Executive Vice President David Harris, who is also on the newly formed AD search committee.
Parker’s services will identify and vet candidates that will then be filtered through the 10-person UNM internal committee, which also will include:
Marron Lee, Vice President of UNM
Board of Regents
Craig White, Interim Executive Vice
President and Provost
Alfred Mathewson, Dean, School of
Law
Amy Neel, NCAA Faculty Athletic
Representative
Michael Rocca, Faculty, Athletic Council
Ronica Martinez, Faculty, Alumni
Letterman
Garrett Adcock, Student Regent,
Alumni Letterman
Elena Garcia, Student, ASUNM
Senator
With the help of the search firm, the search committee will identify a candidate to recommend to UNM Interim President Chaouki Abdallah. He will make the final decision, though he will not be part of the search.
“… The right leader is very important for us,” Abdallah said in a UNM press release. “I’m especially interested in continuing the academic success of our student-athletes.”
The search will proceed while an ongoing investigation from the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office and a special audit called for by the state auditor’s office are conducted in the wake of revelations about spending on a June 2015 golf junket to Scotland that athletics used public money on, including for non-university employees.