Interim System President and Chancellor William “Bill” Jenkins is filling both former Chancellor Michael Martin’s and former System President John Lombardi’s positions.
Stuart Bell is the University’s new executive vice chancellor and provost, filling the seat once occupied by former Manship School of Mass Communication Dean Jack Hamilton.
Jenkins previously worked as the University’s chancellor twice and system president once. He retired in 2007.
Citing being tired after constant budget cuts and finding another good fit, Martin accepted a $375,000 a year offer from the Colorado State University System in May to serve as its system president. LSU was paying him a $400,000 annual salary.
The Board of Supervisors voted to remove Lombardi from his position in April as a result of his tumultuous relationships with Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office, legislators and campus leaders, according to Daily Reveille reports.
Bell comes to the University as the former dean of the University of Kansas School of Engineering.
As the budget crisis has taken a toll on administrators, Jenkins said “there’s not a doubt” that the budget crisis is pushing faculty to seek employment elsewhere.
While Jenkins serves his interim term, the Board of Supervisors appointed a six-person team and hired the Dallas-based search firm R. William Funk & Associates to find a new system president and chancellor. The Board of Supervisors is paying the firm $120,000, along with expenses.
Jenkins said he did not know if the two positions would be merged, but did say a nontraditional candidate — a person from a background other than academia — is a “possibility.” He added a non-traditional background can only work for a system president, not a chancellor.
“To be a chancellor on a campus, you need academic experience,” he said.
Though he acknowledged that administrative changes can cause anxiety, Jenkins said he is hopeful about his time serving the University once again.
“The demands have to be met and will,” he said. “This happens and institutions endure.”
