On Thursday, the Western New Mexico University Faculty Senate unanimously passed a vote of no confidence in the University’s Board of Regents.
The vote came after a controversial separation agreement between WNMU’s President Joseph Shepard and the Board of Regents that, among other provisions, would award Shepard with $1.9 million as he departs on January 15, as well as a $200,000 per year tenured position in the WNMU college of business.
Joel Blaxland, the Faculty Senate Representative from the Department of Social Sciences, said that the board violated WNMU’s policy when creating the separation agreement.
“In disregarding the foundational elements of the principles of shared governance at WNMU, the regents have clearly signaled that we can’t trust them to select our next president,” he said.
The separation agreement came after a November report from the Office of State Auditor Joe Maestas, which reported over $350,000 of, “wasteful spending and improper use of university funds,” by WNMU management and the Board of Regents.
Additionally, The New Mexico Department of Justice is investigating the separation agreement, and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham has called on the remaining regents to resign.
Faculty Senate President Phillip Schoenberg said during the meeting that he does expect all members of the Board of Regents to resign, including Board President Dr. Mary Hotvedt.
“I spoke with Dr. Hotvedt just before this meeting and she made it clear to me and wanted me to convey to the Faculty Senate that the remaining members of the board have every intention of complying with the governor’s request to resign, [which] we should expect today.”
KRWG reached out to WNMU for an interview with Dr. Hotvedt , President of the Board of Regents, although we’ve not received a response as of the publication of this story.
