Although both LSU and Southern University in Baton Rouge are searching for new chancellors, each school is taking a different path to find someone for the job. Southern is using an open application process. Those interested in the position apply directly to the institution, and their resumes are part of public record. LSU called on Dallas-based R. William Funk & Associates, a private firm, to search for candidates for the position. This process keeps the names of those chosen confidential until it submits the names to the Chancellor Search Committee. Southern is currently narrowing down applicants in its search for a new chancellor and plans to have someone appointed by June. Southern’s former chancellor Edward Jackson took a leave of absence in July and was given the opportunity to retire or remain at Southern as a tenured faculty member. Robyn Merrick, director of public affairs at Southern, said Jackson approached the Southern University System and Board of Supervisors about taking the leave. “This was all his choice,” Merrick said. Jackson was not interested in returning as chancellor after his leave. There is currently no word on whether he will retire or return as a tenured professor, Merrick said. Once Jackson stepped down at Southern, Executive Vice Chancellor Margaret Ambrose was appointed as interim chancellor and also applied for the chancellor position. Southern took applicants for chancellor since Jackson’s leave. The deadline was Feb. 29. “Where we are right now, we’ve got 27 applicants,” Merrick said. “We should have somebody appointed by the end of June.” During a Jan. 16 interview with The Daily Reveille, LSU System President John Lombardi said he hopes to talk with a finalized list of chancellor candidates by the end of the semester. Although both universities are using different methods to fill the vacant chancellor position, Merrick thinks both will be successful. “Those universities take different routes but usually end up in the same place,” Merrick said. LSU acting Chancellor William Jenkins said this process is sometimes appropriate. “I believe in open searches,” Jenkins said in a Feb. 27 interview with The Daily Reveille. “But there are occasions when to attract the best candidate and manage the search, your success will depend on confidential conversations.” Although LSU used private search committees to hire former chancellors, such as Sean O’Keefe and Mark Emmert, it has used the open process before. Former LSU Chancellor James Wharton, currently a chemistry professor, was hired in 1981 through an open-search process and served in the position until 1988. “There is a theory that people who have good jobs won’t apply because it might damage them in their job,” Wharton said in a Feb. 20 interview with The Daily Reveille.
—-Contact Ben Bourgeois at [email protected]