The chancellor search committee will meet for the first time Monday, LSU System officials announced in a press release. Bill Funk, of Dallas-based search firm R. William Funk and Associates, will help recruit candidates for the job. Funk will be present at the first meeting “to help the committee set its course in selecting the next chancellor of LSU’s flagship campus,” according to the release. The meeting will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. in the board room of the Louisiana Emerging Technology Center on East Parker Drive. Funk’s firm has conducted searches resulting the selection of more than 65 presidents and chancellors at universities across the nation, including the presidents of Florida State, University of Mississippi, Tulane University and the University of Arkansas System, according to its Web site. John Hamilton, dean of the Manship School of Mass Communication, has been selected to chair the 21-member committee. He said the involvement of a private search firm will help the committee save time and effort. He said Funk’s networking, knowledge and experience with similar searches will expedite the hiring of a chancellor. Six LSU Board of Supervisors members will serve as ex-officio liaisons between the Board and the search committee to follow the search’s progress and communicate with the Board. These Board members are Chairman Jerry Shea, Chairman-elect James Roy, Alvin Kimble, Laura Leach, Hal Hinchliffe and Stanley Jacobs. The remainder of the committee comprises “a cross-section of faculty, students and staff as well as community representatives.” According to a System news release, the search committee will narrow a pool of applicants to three or four finalists. These candidates will be invited to LSU for interviews, and the committee will submit their recommendation to Lombardi. He then will recommend to the Board whom should be hired. The Board ultimately hires the chancellor. During a Jan. 16 news conference discussing former Chancellor Sean O’Keefe’s resignation, Lombardi said he hopes to talk with a finalized group of chancellor candidates by the end of the spring semester. O’Keefe relinquished his administrative duties Feb. 1 to Acting Chancellor William Jenkins. Jenkins is also serving as System president emeritus and has previously served as both chancellor and provost of the University.
—-Contact Nicholas Persac at [email protected]