Four candidates have been selected to interview for executive director of the University of New Mexico-Gallup. All will visit Gallup over the next two weeks to determine which best fits the campus and the community. The candidates are Robert A. Anderson Jr., Sylvia Rodriguez Andrew, Anselm G. Davis Jr. and Homer Garcia.
“I think we have some strong candidates, and I’m excited about that,” said Kate O’Neill, executive director of UNM-Taos and the chair of the search committee.
UNM-Gallup employees, the Gallup community and the search committee will meet each candidate at the Gallup branch during a series of meetings. The candidates will tour the campus as well as Gallup, and will also travel to Zuni for a tour of the south campus. Following, they’ll go to Albuquerque to meet with O’Neill and UNM administrators, branch directors, deans and Extended University administrators.
“The candidates that emerged are strong professionals and I think they bring a range of backgrounds and experiences from two- and four-year schools. They also have experience in the Southwest and in a range of programs, and have focused on student success,” O’Neill said.
Anderson, of Heber, Ariz., has been in private business since 2005. He was vice president for student services at the Community College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas from 2002-04, prior to that, president of Colorado Northwestern Community College in Rangely from 1995-2002. Other administrative positions he’s held include executive vice chancellor from 1991-95 of the Houston Community College System in Texas; superintendent from 1987 to 1991 of Sevier Valley Applied Technology Center in Richfield, Utah; and president from 1978-87 of New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs. He received a Ph.D. in educational administration and an M.S. in educational psychology from the University of Utah, and a B.S. in elementary education from the College of Southern Utah.
Andrew, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Antioch University Los Angeles since August of 2008, has a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work, and a J.D. from Lincoln Law School of San Jose, Calif. She was dean and professor of the College of Social Work at San Jose State University (Calif.) from 1994-2006. She was also interim chancellor of San Jose/Evergreen Community College District from 2004 to 2005, and acting president of Evergreen Community College from August to September of 2004. Andrew held teaching positions at Texas Lutheran College in Seguin and our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio.
Davis, of Gaithersburg, Md., holds an Ed. D. from Pennsylvania State University in University Park, and an M.A. from Northern Arizona University. Of Navajo-Choctaw descent, he was the executive director of the White House Initiative in Tribal Colleges and Universities for the Department of Education, Washington, D.C., from May of 2008 to January of this year, and prior to that, was special assistant for the same organization from 2004 to 2008. Other positions he has held include program director for the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va., for the Rural Systemic Initiative; principal investigator for an RSI grant for the Navajo Nation; associate director for the North Central Association-Navajo State Office; and dean of instruction and assistant to the executive director of Navajo Preparatory School, Farmington, from 1991 to 1997.
Garcia currently resides in Pearland, Texas, where he has been a consultant since 2006 to tribes, churches, and the League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He was president/professor of general studies at Henry Cogswell College from 2004-2006, and dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and professor of sociology, University of Texas-Pan American, from 2001-04. Other positions he has held include vice president for academic affairs, University of Saint Francis from 2000 to 2001 and professor of sociology at Baylor University from 1990 to 2000. He has a Ph.D. in sociology, a master of philosophy and a master of sociology from Yale University.
Schedules for the four candidates are as follows:
Anselm G. Davis Jr.
Arrive in Gallup Wednesday, April 29, 9 a.m., for a series of meetings and a community forum in Calvin Hall 248A at 5:15 p.m. Davis will travel to Zuni on Thursday, April 30 for a tour and a meeting with faculty, staff and students. He will participate in a community forum in the commons area from 1 to 2 p.m. and will return to Albuquerque that afternoon, and meet with UNM administrators, branch directors, deans and O’Neill on Friday, May 1.
Robert A. Anderson Jr.
Arrives in Gallup Monday, May 4, for a series of meetings with faculty, staff, administrators, students and the search committee, starting at 9 a.m., with a community forum set for 5:15 p.m. in Calvin Hall 248A. Anderson will travel to Zuni on Tuesday, May 5 to meet with faculty, staff and students and will participate in a community forum from 1 to 2 p.m. in the commons. He will depart for Albuquerque at 3 p.m., and on Wednesday, May 6, will meet with UNM administrators, branch directors, deans and O’Neill.
Homer Garcia
Arrives in Gallup Tuesday, May 5 at 9 a.m. for a day of meetings with faculty, staff, administrators, students and the search committee with a community forum set for 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. in Calvin Hall 248A. Garcia will travel to Zuni on Wednesday, May 6 for a meeting with faculty, staff and students and will participate in a community forum from 1 to 2 p.m. in the commons. He will depart for Albuquerque that afternoon and meet on Thursday, May 7 with UNM administrators, branch directors, deans and O’Neill.
Sylvia Rodriguez Andrew
Arrives in Gallup Wednesday, May 6 at 9 a.m. for a series of meetings with faculty, staff, administrators, students and the search committee with a community forum set at 5:15 p.m. in Calvin Hall 248A. Andrew will travel to Zuni on Thursday, May 7 to meet with faculty, staff and students and will participate in a community forum from 1 to 2 p.m. in the commons. She will depart for Albuquerque that afternoon and on Friday, May 8, to meet with UNM administrators, branch directors, deans and O’Neill.
“I hope the campus will turn out for this,” O’Neill said. “Everyone is encouraged to fill out evaluation forms, which they can turn in and which will be tabulated carefully. The more specific people can be about why they think a particular candidate would be a good director, the more helpful their opinions will be to the hiring officer.”
Marc Nigliazzo, vice president of Rio Rancho operations and branch academic affairs, will be the hiring officer. He will make his selection in consultation with the UNM Gallup Local Board.
Media Contact: Linda Thornton, (505) 863-7565; e-mail: lthornton@gallup.unm.edu