If birds of a feather flock together, then LSU administrators have been taking notes.
First, the LSU System Board of Supervisors fired former System President John Lombardi last
April; then the chancellor left for a similar position at Colorado State University last spring; then the executive vice chancellor and provost stepped down from his two-year stint over the summer; and now, CFO and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administrative Services Eric Monday announced Tuesday that he accepted a similar job at the University of Kentucky. Monday has been one of the most visible leading players as the University has waded through a budget crisis for the past several years.
Monday has seen both sides of the coin at the University — he earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from LSU and served as Student Government president before joining the ranks of the University’s administration. He’s been working on his Ph.D. in human resource education and workforce development.
“This is a tremendous career opportunity that was best for me and my family,” Monday said in a statement Tuesday. “I have developed professional and personal relationships at LSU that will last a lifetime and I will always maintain a deep passion for LSU and for the people that make it great. Forever LSU.”
He declined to comment further when approached by The Daily Reveille on Tuesday.
The executive vice president for finance and administration position at the University of Kentucky also comes with a steep pay increase for Monday — nearly $100,000. At LSU, Monday’s compensation package is $254,000, according to University Relations. Of that, $220,000 is his base salary, $22,000 is additional compensation and $12,000 is his car allowance.
At Kentucky, Monday’s starting salary will be $350,000. His predecessor, who recently retired, was paid $464,000 when he was working full time, according to Jay Blanton, University of Kentucky spokesman.
Monday’s office has been responsible for leading LSU through deep cuts to state funding and midyear cuts, though the two most notable people he worked with — former Chancellor Michael Martin and former Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Jack Hamilton — are no longer University administrators. Monday and his staff bore the responsibility of filling budget gaps as state appropriations for the University were cut by more than $90 million since 2009.
“Eric’s stellar performance in a multitude of roles at LSU will be felt for many years at this institution,” reads a statement released Tuesday by interim System President and Chancellor William “Bill” Jenkins. “His deep dedication to LSU and tremendous knowledge of the University will be sorely missed.”
D’Ann Morris, chair of the Emergency Operations Center’s core committee and executive assistant to the chancellor, worked alongside Monday in many capacities, including leading EOC briefings together during Hurricane Isaac. Morris called the news of Monday’s departure Tuesday “a disappointing loss for LSU.”
No information has been released on who will fill Monday’s role in the interim or if a search firm will be hired, but he will begin working in Kentucky in either late December or early January, according to a University of Kentucky broadcast email. A search firm is currently looking for LSU’s system president and chancellor, and the University hired a firm last year for Hamilton’s replacement.
Vice Provost for Equity, Diversity and Community Outreach Katrice Albert is another administrator who could be leaving the University, as she was recently named a finalist for the vice president of equity and diversity position at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Monday’s departure also comes on the heels of a possible LSU System re-organization, which would combine the system president and chancellor roles and bring each university in the LSU System underneath the flagship Baton Rouge campus.
