Executive Vice-President/Provost
Dr. Waded Cruzado
Dr. Waded Cruzado was appointed Executive Vice President and Provost at New Mexico State University on September 1, 2007. In this role, she will continue to bring her vision, dedication to the land-grant mission, strategic planning and thinking, commitment to diversity, and focus on students and academic excellence that she applied in her current and past positions at the institution. NMSU is a comprehensive research, liberal arts and sciences institution, home to a multicultural population of more than 31,000 students. NMSU is the only land-grant, Research Extensive and Hispanic Serving Institution in the United States.
Dr. Cruzado had served as Interim President of the university from 2008-2009. During that time, she instituted many new programs and led many initiatives. Significant achievements during that time included the designation of 2009 as the Year of Sustainability at NMSU; efforts that resulted in record student enrollment; a substantial increase in funding for research; gains in the university’s Comprehensive Campaign despite a troubled economy; full-term reaccreditation of the university by the Higher Learning Commission for the first time in NMSU history; initiation of the “Amazing Aggies” program of recognizing excellence; launch of the “Monday Morning Memo” method of communicating regularly with faculty, staff and students; success at the 2009 session of the New Mexico Legislature that included $5.5 million in additional funding for the Center for the Arts, and many more steps to move the university forward.
Previously Dr. Cruzado served a four-year term as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, providing oversight and leadership to the largest academic unit at NMSU. Dr. Cruzado has also served as an ex-officio member of the NMSU Foundation Board, a co-PI of the ADVANCE Program for Institutional Transformation, sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and a member of the Investment Committee, the Audit Committee, and the Board of Directors for the Paso del Norte Health Foundation.
As Executive Vice President and Provost, Dr. Cruzado provided leadership for the accreditation visit by the Higher Learning Commission in 2008, which resulted in the institution receiving full accreditation for a ten-year term. Dr. Cruzado revamped efforts and initiatives in regards to the First Year Experience and Student Learning Outcomes Assessment. Working with the academic deans, the institution registered student enrollment that qualified NMSU for additional state funding for two consecutive years, the only university in New Mexico to accomplish such growth. Dr. Cruzado increased the number of faculty positions and oversaw an institution that has expanded its efforts to encourage student success, research productivity, and civic engagement.
During her tenure as Dean at NMSU, the College of Arts and Sciences obtained a $4.5 million grant from NSF for the establishment of the Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics. Dr. Cruzado procured public and private funds for various expansion and renovation projects, including Foster Hall (Biology), Gardiner Hall (Physics and Geological Sciences) and the Arts Complex. Dr. Cruzado has been involved with NSF-AGEP, The Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate Program and the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP). In 2005, Dr. Cruzado provided leadership to establish the J. Paul Taylor Symposium of Social Justice at NMSU. She was actively involved with NSMU’s first Comprehensive Campaign that includes as its priorities the construction of an Arts Complex and a Native American Cultural Center, the enhancement of teaching and research capabilities of academic departments and units, and the establishment of scholarships, endowed professorships and chairs. During her tenure as Dean, the College of Arts and Sciences received the first two endowed chairs in its history: the Michael L. Johnson Endowed Chair on Geological Sciences and the Richard Hedden Chair on Advanced Philosophical Studies.