Mesalands board of trustees fires president

The Mesalands Community College board of trustees fired its president April 21 and hired its vice president of academic affairs as an interim replacement.

After a closed executive session of less than 10 minutes near the start of its regular meeting, the board without discussion unanimously voted to terminate John Groesbeck's contract after less than two years at the helm of the college.

Groesbeck had been placed on paid administrative leave at the end of the board's regularly scheduled March 17 meeting.

After the closed session, board member Liz Estrada made a motion to terminate Groesbeck’s contract and appoint Natalie Gillard as interim president with a 10% pay raise as compensation. Board member Teresa Stephenson seconded. It passed unanimously. Board member Craig Currell was absent from the meeting, which was held by videoconference because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The motion also included the reappointment of board Chairman Jim Streetman and Estrada to the Mesalands Community College Foundation’s board.

Board members did not provide a reason Groesbeck was placed on leave, nor did they comment about it last month. Board members and administrators remained tight-lipped during last week’s meeting except for Aaron Kennedy, vice president of student affairs, who briefly congratulated Gillard for her interim promotion.

Attempts to reach Groesbeck for comment were unsuccessful. No one answered the door Wednesday morning at the college-owned home where Groesbeck resided. Looking through the front door’s window, it appeared the furniture had been removed.

The Quay County Sun has filed an open-records request on Groesbeck’s severance or contract-buyout agreement. The documents were not received before deadline.

The board placed Groesbeck on paid leave last month after meeting behind closed doors with several administrators at the end of an otherwise routine meeting. Afterward, Groesbeck was not allowed on campus and not allowed contact with the college's staff, faculty or the Mesalands Community College Foundation. Groesbeck also was forbidden access to his computer system at the college during the leave.

“He can only access his office to get personal items, and there must be two college representatives with him,” the administrative-leave motion approved by the board last month stated.

Groesbeck quickly left at the conclusion of the March meeting without comment.

Groesbeck was hired as Mesalands president in July 2018 after the retirement of Thomas Newsom. The board gave Groesbeck a two-year contract extension in June. He was paid $170,000 a year.

Groesbeck shepherded the college’s acquisition of a closed New Mexico National Guard armory in Tucumcari so it could be converted into a student center. He also planned an expansion of Mesalands’ sports programs, on-campus housing and a possible name change to Mesalands College.

In other business:

• The board approved tuition increases of 5% for in-state students and 5.45% for out-of-state students for the 2020-2021 school year.

Amanda Hammer, vice president of administrative affairs, said it would be an increase of $3 per credit hour to $63 for in-state students and a $6 increase to $116 per credit hour for out-of-state students. The increase does include fees. Streetman expressed general reluctance to raise tuition but said he favored incremental hikes instead of large increases later.

“If we can do it in small doses, we don’t hit them all at once,” Streetman said, citing the University of New Mexico’s double-digit percentage increases a few years ago as an undesirable option.

Streetman asked for a motion to approve the tuition hikes. A long pause occurred before board member Jimmy Sandoval made the motion and Estrada seconded. It passed unanimously.

• The board unanimously voted to postpone the college’s planned May 8 spring graduation so a virtual graduation would be held at a later date. The board also had the option of cancelling graduation but never discussed that. The postponement was because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gillard recommended postponing the ceremony so Mesalands could have more time to plan “a good, virtual graduation” in the coming weeks.

• The board tabled action on a proposed revision to the personnel handbook on its public health paid leave policy. It would give full-time and part-time workers up to two weeks of paid leave during public health emergencies, including coronavirus.

Streetman said he was inclined to delay action on the policy because the school’s fiscal year ends in June and wanted “to see where we stand on this” financially at that time. Gillard said she also was unsure whether federal COVID-19 relief funds would compensate the college for paid-leave expenses.

Streetman said Mesalands may endure a difficult fall because of repercussions from the virus.

“We’re liable to be clobbered,” he said. “We’ll have to campaign to draw students.”

• The board approved a budget of $10 million in expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year. Hammer said personnel paychecks account for about half of the budget.

• The board approved an audit contract with Atkinson & Co. in Albuquerque for $45,84.