Chancellor Michael Martin has officially been named a finalist for the chancellor role at Colorado State University, after the Board of Governors in Colorado met this morning to discuss the position.
Martin was the only finalist named.
In a broadcast email sent to the LSU student body, Martin said that he has not made a decision about accepting the job and that he still hasn’t been made a formal offer.
“I have not received a formal offer.  If I do, I will carefully consider it,” the chancellor wrote. “My single criteria for deciding what to do at this stage of my professional life is this – where do I have the best chance of making a positive difference?”
Kyle Henley, CSU Denver’s director of public relations, said  that formal offer will come soon. 
From this point onward, Henley said CSU will craft an employment contract for the chancellor to sign. Colorado state law requires 14 days from the time a person is declared a finalist until they can sign an employment contact.
The contract will include things like compensation and pay, but Henley said it is premature to speculate on what Martin’s proposed salary would be. Martin’s current salary is $400,000, according to The Daily Reveille’s salary database.
“We’ll make sure he has an offer that’s attractive to him,” Henley said.
The CSU chancellor position is different from the LSU chancellor position. The CSU chancellor would oversee all three CSU campuses, similarly to how the LSU System President role operates.
Though Martin said in his email that he is still unsure of his decision, Henley said CSU is confident in their ability to make him a strong offer. He did not say what would happen if Martin declined the job.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Henley said.
CSU used a search firm to find candidates for their chancellor role, but LSU alumnus and Colorado innovator Patrick McConathy is the chairman of the Board of Governors and also served as the search committee’s chair. Though McConathy has LSU ties, Henley said those ties probably did not have a bearing on the selection of Martin as the sole finalist.
“I don’t think so,” Henley said about the situation. ”If you look at Chancellor Martin’s background and record, he fits perfectly with CSU.”
Martin confirmed Tuesday night that the Colorado State University System’s Office has approached him about a leadership position, but emphasized that nothing has been finalized and no formal offer had been made at the time.
“There is nothing at this point to consider,” Martin wrote in a text-message to The Daily Reveille Tuesday night. “We have talked at their invitation. No offer has been extended, no decision has been made.”
Members of the CSU Board of Governors are praising Martin’s leadership at LSU and vision for CSU.
“While there were certainly many excellent candidates, Dr. Martin quickly rose to the top of the committee’s list because of the clear record of leadership and results he has demonstrated throughout his career in public higher education, particularly at multi-campus systems,” McConathy said in a news release. “In addition, Dr. Martin truly has a steadfast commitment to building a stronger Colorado through the CSU System’s core mission of learning, discovery, access and engagement.”
Like LSU, CSU has been battling state budget cuts for years now, though the CSU cuts have not been as drastic.
“We’re coming out of a difficult period, as I think most states are, as we’re seeing our economy rebound,” Henley said.
During the past four years, Henley said the CSU campus has seen $39 million in state budget cuts. CSU’s cut this year was $2.25 million.
Contrarily, LSU has seen $92 million in state appropriations cut since January 2009. This year, LSU took a $1.9 million cut to its operating budget at the beginning of the year and an $8.1 million midyear cut. 
Thus, Martin has been tasked with cutting more at LSU than he might be at CSU. However, he wrote in his email that budget cuts have not tarnished his relationship with LSU.
“Despite the considerable fiscal challenges faced by LSU over the past four years, Jan and I have developed a deep affection for the people of LSU, Baton Rouge and Louisiana.  This is a truly great university and I am proud to serve it,” he wrote.
On Tuesday morning, Martin said that he did not go hunting for the position. He re-emphasized that in his latest email.
“I have not sought other professional opportunities, but a few have approached me,” Martin wrote. ”It has been my plan to finish my career at LSU.  Sometimes plans change. I was first informally contacted by Colorado State in December and then formally contacted in January.”
This is the first time the chancellor has spoken of the timeframe in which these events have unfolded. Henley said CSU’s formal search began in December.
“I was approached by another university about a leadership position and agreed to listen to what they had to say,” the chancellor said in a prepared statement on Tuesday. ” I have not received nor have I sought an offer from any other university.”
Martin has been up for a top leadership position at CSU in the past. Before the chancellor came to LSU, he was up for the role of CSU’s president in 2003, CSU’s Rocky Mountain Collegian reports. According to The Collegian, the other finalist Larry Penley filled the position until 2008 when he resigned amid criticism about his administration.
This announcement comes about two weeks after LSU System President John Lombardi was fired with a 12 to 4 vote.
In his email, Martin emphasized that the Colorado job is unrelated to the LSU System.
Additionally, LSU announced three weeks ago that Stuart Bell, dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Kansas, will fill the role of executive vice chancellor and provost pending Board of Supervisors approval on August 1.
If Martin accepts this job offer, that will mean that LSU’s three highest administrators will have left this year. However, universities frequently seek administrators across the country to fill their own roles. When LSU was searching for a provost to replace current Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Jack Hamilton, the search firm approached hundreds of potential applicants, many of whom held leadership roles at other universities.
Martin has been serving as LSU’s chancellor for four years and the majority of his time in the role has been spent battling state budget cuts to higher education. If budget projections for the next year are correct, the state will face yet another budget shortfall that could result in more cuts for LSU and higher education across the state.   
 
 
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Contact Andrea Gallo at [email protected] and Brian Sibille at [email protected]