Three days after firing New Mexico Highlands University President Neil Woolf, the school’s board of regents acknowledged it had ousted him without cause and would comply with the terms of his contract, which includes “separation pay.”
Woolf, who was hired in 2024 at an annual salary of $290,000, was put on paid administrative leave in early May, preceding a series of high-profile departures that took out the Las Vegas, N.M., university’s provost, several vice presidents and the men’s basketball coach.
The board officially fired Woolf on Tuesday after he filed a lawsuit a week earlier accusing the regents of violating his contract and retaliating against him for refusing to redirect the remaining funds in a construction contract to a local firm. He alleged in his complaint a regent had ordered the action to benefit a firm with ties to both the regent and a local politician.
The board didn’t provide a reason for Woolf’s termination in a statement issued Friday, citing “privacy rights of public employees” in New Mexico law. However, the regents said they would “honor all contractual obligations arising from this separation, including applicable separation pay, final compensation and accrued benefits.”
Woolf’s contract was not available for review Friday. A contract for Woolf’s predecessor at Highlands, Sam Minner, says in the event of termination without just cause, he would receive his salary for another six months.
The board of regents named Vice President of Student Affairs Kimberly Blea interim president when it placed Woolf on paid leave.
In its statement Friday, the board noted other interim appointments to positions left vacant by recent high-level terminations: Ian Williamson was named interim provost and vice president of academic affairs, and Joseph Dominguez is the interim vice president of student affairs.
Doajo Hicks is overseeing several departments at the university, according to the statement: “Advancement Department and Foundation Relations, University Relations, Government Affairs, Marketing and University Relations, and the other areas also reporting to him (Human Resources and Payroll, and NMHU Police Department and Security).”
State Auditor Joseph Maestas informed the regents Tuesday he had launched a special audit into the university’s financial management in mid-May.
He cited “substantial concerns indicating systemic failures in procurement, contracting authority, financial management, and governance that collectively create significant risk to public funds and the financial stability of the University.”
He also noted in a letter that the issues “raise the potential for fraud, waste, or abuse of public funds entrusted to the University.”
A day later, Higher Education Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez sent a letter to Blea requiring a corrective action plan to address financial irregularities.
“Given the higher education institution’s recent history of declining solvency, indicators of potential fraud, and significant weaknesses in internal controls, it is essential that current leadership remain fully engaged in addressing these issues,” Rodriguez wrote in the Wednesday letter.
Despite the turmoil, the board of regents said business at the university will continue as usual.
“This institution belongs to its community, and the Board does not take lightly the trust that community has placed in its hands,” the board’s statement said. “We carry that trust with humility, with purpose, and with an abiding commitment to governance that reflects the highest standards of accountability, transparency, and integrity.”
