The University of New Mexico announced yesterday that Brian Schmidly, son of University of New Mexico President David Schmidly, will not accept a job offer to promote energy conservation at the university. The $94,000 annual salary raised eyebrows among faculty and staff when the hire was announced last week, during the university’s fall break.

According to the UNM press release, Brian Schmidly said:

I care too much about sustainability in this State and at the University of New Mexico to operate in an advocacy role in which I would not be effective, and my wife has convinced me that my integrity and reputation are too valuable to continue in an environment where they will be questioned indefinitely.
 
It is important to both of us that I assert once and for all that I applied for this job in good faith, and took part in an open hiring process that I was assured and believe to this day was proper and scrupulously fair.

Nevertheless, I have notified the Director of the Physical Plant Department that while her choosing me was a great honor, my wife and I have decided that it is in our best long term interests and those of the University of New Mexico to withdraw my name from consideration.

The UNM President said:

My wife and I have always been and continue be proud of all our children, never more so than now.

I had nothing to do with Brian’s getting this job, and I had nothing to do with his and his wife’s making this difficult decision, but my wife and I both respect their wishes.

That was the extent of the statement–a headline “Brian Schmidly withdraws application for employment” and these two sets of quotes.

When contacted this morning, UNM spokesperson Susan McKinsey said, ” (Physical Plant Director Mary Vosevich) will have to weigh options about where this will go. It happened quickly.”

When asked if issues raised by faculty regarding faculty pay scale and perception of favoritism would be addressed by the president in a later statement, McKinsey said she had been out of town for the past several days and “was not sure what faculty had been saying.”

Often times, an imbroglio of this nature becomes a matter of perspective. From what I read in the aforementioned statements of Brian and David Schmidly, these fellas are feeling like they have been the victims of unfair treatment. Being an optimist, I’m hoping this is not the case.

In my opinion, UNM President David Schmidly looks like the victim of his own cluelessness and if the physical plant director and hiring committee actually believed that young Schmidly was the most qualified person for the job, I can’t help but wonder if these folks are incompetent as well.

As the Albuquerque Journal reported this morning:

The university turned over all 33 applications to the Journal in response to a request under the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act. A review of those applications and resumes found that Brian Schmidly beat out engineers, award-winning environmentalists and state and UNM employees who have been working in sustainability fields for years. …

Many of (Schmidly’s) credentials directly related to sustainability were obtained in September, the same month he applied for the job.