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January 9-13, 2012
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Alumnus Robert Frank to succeed Schmidly
Robert Frank
by Luke Holmen holmen@unm.edu
The UNM Board of Regents unanimously selected Robert G. Frank on Jan. 4 to replace David Schmidly as the next president of UNM, but the decision elicited mixed responses from the UNM community. Frank graduated from Mayfield High School in Las Cruces and received three degrees from UNM, including a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He said during a press conference that he is glad to return home to his alma mater. “To have the opportunity to return to this University is a very satisfying moment and I want to thank the regents and the faculty and staff for their vote of confidence,” he said. “This is not a homogeneous place, as you all know. This is an opportunity to see the new America, and I look forward to shaping that and showing the rest of the nation what we can do as a diverse University.” Faculty Senate President-elect Amy Neel and current Faculty Senate President Tim Ross said that faculty at the presidential forums expressed concerns about the selection of Frank. Both Ross and Neel said they will lend their support to Frank in the upcoming months. “If you look at the faculty responses, Dr. Frank was not on the top of their list, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a good choice, he was,” Ross said. “He is extremely savvy in the running of a complex university, and he has a strong background in the medical field, where 50 percent of our budget is.” Ross said that during the forums, some faculty reacted negatively to a comment Frank made about “dropping the hammer” as an administrator, a reference to using his administrative powers forcefully. “One of the biggest concerns was the way he handled himself in
the forum,” Ross said. “I think the negatives had to do with his style … but I don’t think this necessarily reflects his leadership.” Ross said faculty received mixed reviews when they contacted colleagues at Kent State University, where Frank has served as provost and senior vice-president for academic affairs since 2007, to ask about Frank’s leadership. “I think for any upper administrator you are going to get mixed results from the school they are at,” he said. “Right now, most universities are cutting programs and laying people off and you are not really popular, but that is just something he had to do.” Interim provost Chaouki T. Abdallahw said he is working with Frank to evaluate new programs that would improve student success through increased preparatory classes. Abdallah said Frank hopes to work with faculty to address their concerns. “In my one-on-one meeting, he indicated he would be supportive of shared governance,” Abdallah said. “So far he has met with faculty members and other organizations. In [regard to] the ‘unacceptable’ comment in the (Albuquerque) Journal, I think this was a group of faculty leaders that had concerns. I think there were two of them that had concerns, but regardless of what the faculty think, he (Frank) needs to meet with them and see what those concerns are, and see how he can address that. I think he is mindful of that, and of the role of the faculty and the students.” Regent Don Chalmers said Frank was selected for his outstanding leadership skills and strong ties to New Mexico. “When it all comes down to it, his experience has to do with dealing with issues. We don’t know what the issues will be in the next five years, but I think the strength of his character can carry us through those times,” he said. “I like the fact that he is coming home. We may have picked a president that will be here not just for the next five years … but may serve this University for even longer.” Frank said his primary goal as president is to maintain and improve the wide variety of educational opportunities at UNM. “I am comm itted to leading the University, in a collaborative and thoughtf ul manner, to realize its full potential,” he said. “There is richness in this campus that is unappreciated by the outside, maybe not appreciated even in
the Albuquerque community, but the complexity and breadth of programs is staggering.” GPSA President Katie Richardson said she is pleased with the selection of Frank, but said she intends to ensure student input is a part of future administrative decisions. “I think that there is an old attitude that is becoming rarer on campus that faculty, staff, and students can be brought in to cosign at the last minute,” she said. “We intend to hold Dr. Frank to the
promise that he is going to be a listener on campus.” Frank takes office June 1, and will earn $355,000 a year, which is $102,000 less per year than Schmidly’s current salary. The Board of Regents said the salary cut will help support academics. Frank said he will also receive benefits including health insurance and residence at UNM’s University House on campus. He also receives $100,000 in deferred compensation, a $12,000 car allowance and could receive as much
as $25,000 in annual bonuses if he can produce “measurable improvement” in UNM’s graduation and retention rates, according to his contract. Schmidly earns $587,000 a year, plus benefits. At Kent State, Frank increased student retention rates by more than 6 percent, streamlined promotion and tenure rules and improved tracking of students to ensure graduation, according to
Intercollegiate Chess Championship in Fort Worth, Texas, which came as surprise to team members who said they didn’t expect to place at all. “We placed higher than schools like Yale and Princeton,” chess team captain Dante Archuleta said. “It was pretty exciting because the competition was really high. Most of [the teams] were a lot better than us. Some of the teams had Grand Master
(chess players) and International Masters (chess players).” Albuquerque’s Wired Kings Chess Club reported the UNM Chess Club finished 13th out of 28 teams from across the nation, which is “impressive given the caliber of the teams in the tournament.” Archuleta said the team hasn’t competed in previous years because they haven’t had enough members.
This year, with members Silas Perry, Lara Armas, Douglas Thigpen and himself, Archuleta said the team was finally able to compete. Archuleta said the competition was especially fierce against the University of Chicago chess team, but the UNM team won. “Eventually Silas walked away with a win, and I felt a lot more comfortable if I had to take a loss that
we could at least tie the match-up,” Archuleta said of the match with the University of Chicago. “Suddenly Lara gets up with a win and Doug is crushing and I’m crushing and before you know it, we’re walking out with a near sweep.” Archuleta said the team practiced for the championship by
Public comments on Frank’s presidency “He has the extensive academic and research experience that UNM needed for the next president. And the fact that he has ties to New Mexico and was very passionate about returning to New Mexico is very desirable because I feel that means he will probably be here for the rest of his career, as opposed to hopping off somewhere else.”
— Staff Council President Mary Clark
“I think some of the faculty were concerned with his leadership style, but he had a lot of support and we look forward to working with him in the future.”
— Faculty Senate President-elect Amy Neel
“The faculty worked very hard to provide our best input to the regents during the presidential selection process; it was perhaps the most intense and serious involvement I have witnessed over my 32 years of service at UNM. The faculty is now eager to work closely with the new president to continue our common mission of making UNM a better place of investigation, learning, and service.”
— Mathematics and statistics professor Evangelos Coutsias
“I do hope for a respectful and open dialogue between the new administration, all UNM employees, and students. Together we will elevate the stature and the success of all in our university community.”
— Anderson School of Management faculty Steven Yourstone
“The GPSA is looking forward to working with Dr. Frank as the incoming UNM president, and we are hopeful to see if this ushers in a change in the typical attitude at Scholes Hall in administration. Decisions formerly were made primarily behind closed doors, and then student and faculty leadership would be called in to cosign on a decision that had already been made.”
— GPSA President Katie Richardson
“I was really impressed by the five finalists that wanted to be UNM’s next President and we are all excited to work with Dr. Frank. We are looking forward to the changes he will bring to our University.”
— ASUNM President Jaymie Roybal
“I heard what he (Frank) had to say at the forums and his answers were good, but I think he still has a lot to learn about what issues are affecting students now and how the University has changed since he was a student. He made a lot of change happen during the four years he was Provost at Kent State, so I can only imagine what he will accomplish as president of UNM.”
— student Jessica Duncan
“Frank was the weakest candidate of the lineup. Despite the fact that he is a UNM alumnus, he was the least knowledgeable of all the candidates regarding current concerns raised by students. What concerns me more, however, is that he was the least able to articulate a vision for the University’s future and, let’s face it, we sorely need some vision at the moment.”
— graduate student Ilse Biel
“A big issue is getting a hold of the president and actually seeing him, so I hope his election is a new horizon or stepping stone for things to come. I’d like to see how he’s going to address students as a whole and be seen and known.”
— Black Student Union President D’Andre Curtis
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President page 2
Chess club pawns Yale, Princeton for national title by Ashley McElroy
ashleymcel@gmail.com
The UNM Chess Club competed in its first intercollegiate championship in December and checked back into New Mexico with a Division III title. Along with the title, the fourmember chess team placed 13th overall at the Pan American
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