The theme song of the LSU administrators right now is the ‘80s hit “Another One Bites the Dust,” and we can’t blame them.
The news of CFO and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administrative Services Eric Monday jumping ship was disappointing, but not at all surprising to anyone who’s been watching the upper deck of LSU’s administration crumble over the past few months.
LSU has a serious leadership deficit right now. With a system president fired, a chancellor leaving, a provost stepping down and now a CFO departing, who’s actually running this university? Is there anybody left?
We’ve suspected that, titles aside, Monday has been running this University since the semester began. With an interim system president and a brand-new provost, Monday is the person in the highest leadership position who is most familiar with the way the University runs. Our suspicions have been confirmed more and more as the semester has progressed and as we’ve seen Monday bring real leadership and solutions to the University.
There’s never been a doubt that Monday is great at his job — he sits in interviews with the chancellor to explain the intense number crunching that must have made the CFO position hellish throughout these past several years of budget cuts. His friendly and approachable demeanor is well-suited for a college administrator.
Monday deserved to be recognized for his tireless work, whether that came in the form of a title change or a promotion or a pay raise. Instead, LSU embraced the status quo that consisted of complacency and mediocrity and let him run off to Kentucky, where he will make nearly $100,000 more.
We’ve seen this happen before — E.J. Ourso College of Business Dean Eli Jones left LSU last spring for a huge pay raise in the same position at the University of Arkansas.
Same song, second verse.
How can LSU possibly keep or attract good administrators like Monday when state appropriations keep falling and their salaries are nowhere near the salaries of their counterparts at our so-called peer institutions? We’ve said time and time again that Louisiana residents must make higher education a priority if we want the world of higher education to make LSU a priority.
LSU prides itself on being the flagship university of the state, but is this how a flagship should act? Letting the dust settle as its best and brightest leaders sprint toward other places?
More than anything, LSU needs leadership and vision right now. Monday had those qualities, and he’s walking out the door. He will be missed and his loss will be felt as the University braces for another possible round of midyear financial cuts.
LSU’s leaders, if there are any left listening, should learn from their missed opportunity with Monday and hope that he comes back one day to possibly lead the University and the system. Until then, the leaders behind the scenes need to step up and fill the huge void that Monday will leave behind.
