After nearly ten years working at the University, Executive Director of Auxiliary Services and the Student Union Jason Tolliver has accepted a similar position at the University of Arizona.
Tolliver’s last day at the University will be March 28, and he will officially begin his new job as Arizona’s director of student unions on April 2.
Tolliver’s current responsibilities include overseeing the Student Union, LSU Dining, the bookstore, the childcare center, the Tiger Card office and campus mail.
He said he wasn’t looking for a new position, but when a search firm hired by Arizona contacted him in November, he began considering what the new opportunity would add to his skillset.
Unlike LSU’s Student Union that has business partners like McDonald’s and Jamba Juice, Arizona’s two unions are self-operated, Tolliver said.
“Self-operated means University of Arizona-created, University of Arizona-branded, University of Arizona-run,” Tolliver said.
The models have significant differences, especially the number of employees Tolliver would oversee. Arizona’s model has roughly 1,200 employees, whereas LSU’s has only 250, he said.
“When I looked at where I was trying to go professionally, and I looked at the opportunities that the position presented that I could not get here, that really is what tipped the scale. There are not that many institutions that still have self-operated facilities,” Tolliver said.
A search is not yet underway for Tolliver’s replacement yet, although Tolliver said he hopes the position is filled soon so he can work with the new hire before he leaves.
Tolliver’s successor will take his place as the authority for multiple auxiliary services initiatives, namely the Union Square project that aims to create a student-friendly string of restaurants and other venues on campus.
“We’re so far along with these,” Tolliver said. “We’re now down to the details of trying to refine what it’s going to be and then begin work.”
Tolliver said he has a great team in place to see the changes through.
“They have the requisite skills to make sure those projects continue,” Tolliver said. “It’s somewhat sad that I won’t get to see them come to completion, but I will always know that I was a part of that.”
“When I looked at where I was trying to go professionally, and I looked at the opportunities that the position presented that I could not get here, that really is what tipped the scale.”
