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Presidential search nears completion

New Mexico State University's presidential search will wrap up soon, with the fifth finalist interview scheduled for Nov. 15-17. A final decision is expected at a special meeting of the Board of Regents at 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, in the Regent's Room of the Educational Services Building.

The interview process for each of the finalists has included forums for students, staff, faculty and the public. Many of these forums were webcast for the benefit of those who could not be there in person.

"Technology is part of our lives; we know our clients have a desire to connect from a distance," said Shaun Cooper, NMSU associate vice president for information technology. "Many people were able to see the presidential candidates in a session without the expense of traveling to campus."

The webcasts are averaging more than 100 views a session, with some of the sessions receiving as many as 200 views. Cooper said webcasting is one of many tools that ICT uses to communicate with the community.

Wendy Hamilton, a professor of evaluation and accountability for the Cooperative Extension Service, said she viewed many of the webcasts, not just the forum specifically for faculty.

"I feel like I benefitted from getting to hear the candidates respond in many different forums," she said. "The webcasts also allowed me to participate without taking time away from meeting my deadlines."

Hamilton said she sent in five different questions to the forums.

Webcast forums are available at http://mediasite-server.nmsu.edu/ictmsite5/Catalog/pages/catalog.aspx?catalogId=93fcbbbd-4cdb-4cbe-b376-dd29d634ba45.

NMSU's presidential finalists are:

• Barbara Couture, D.A., senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of english, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Interviewed Nov. 3-5.

• Richard Herman, Ph.D., special assistant to the president, professor, recently chancellor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Interviewed Nov. 1-3.

• James Oblinger, Ph.D., professor, recently chancellor, North Carolina State University. Interviewing Nov. 15-17.

• Michael Ortiz, Ph.D., president, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Interviewed Nov. 8-10.

• Lisa Rossbacher, Ph.D., president, Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Ga. Interviewed Nov. 5-7.

Biographies, vitas, complete interview schedules and input forms are available at http://www.nmsu.edu/presidentialsearch/finalists.html.

Written by Julie M. Hughes.