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| Barbara Couture |
The NMSU board of Regents held a public meeting Monday announcing
a mutually agreed upon separation with Dr. Barbara Couture. Couture initiated
the separation by requesting annual leave last week with an official
resignation yesterday afternoon.
Couture is leaving NMSU
to take a Senior Advisory position with The Association of Public and Land
Grant Universities.
Dr. Couture stated, “I have great respect for
this university and all of the people I have worked with at NMSU. My
experience here over the last three years has convinced me of the importance of
affecting policy at the national level so that colleges and universities can do
a better job of assisting students through scholarship and loan programs.
This will be the focus of my work as senior adviser for APLU. I thank the
Regents, my staff, the faculty and the State of New Mexico
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| NMSU Board of Regents (Photo-Vanessa Dabovich) |
Details of the resignation are considered a
personnel issue and will not be discussed publicly. However, Regent Javier
Gonzales hinted at possible reasons saying, “We've seen falling enrollment, decline
in our research dollars, unreliable and inconsistent state funding, an athletic
program that's in danger of finding itself with no conference to play in, a
nursing school that just lost its accreditation and much more.”
Regent President Mike Cheney says an interim president will be
selected by October 15th. Cheney says there are standards in
mind for the next leader of NMSU.
"We're looking for leadership in terms of the ability to
connect with donors, connect with our alumni, connect with students, faculty,
staff all the stakeholders. We need someone strong to represent this university
because it's a fantastic university with a story to tell.", Cheney
said.
Couture will be on
administrative leave until December 31st and will be paid $450,000 per terms of
mutual contract separation.
Reporting for News New Mexico- Vanessa Dabovich.
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