Slightly more than one week into his new position as dean of the E.J. Ourso College of Business, Eli Jones has had to overcome navigating campus, homesickness and personal tragedy while transitioning into office.
Just a few days after Jones’ first day in office, his father suddenly died.
“He was 86 years old,” Jones said. “It was a car accident. He was pulling out of his driveway and a truck hit him.”
Jones said he was able to use the misfortune to gain perspective on his goals for his career at the University.
“I had a chance to see over 300 people show up at his funeral,” Jones said. “So one way to look at impact is to see what happens when you pass. Did you make a positive difference? That’s what I want throughout my life, especially my career.”
Jones said he wants his impact on the University to be one of excellence.
He referred to the quote, “Excellence is not a destination; it is a continuous journey that never ends,” as a motto for his life.
“It’s a journey I’ve been on, especially since becoming an academic, toward excellence,” Jones said. “I try to hold a very high standard, and I work with quality people to build quality programs to achieve excellence.”
Jones was also able to build such a program at his previous position at the University of Houston, the Program for Excellence in Sales.
“I introduced the curriculum, hired the staff and faculty,” Jones said. “We introduced the students to the science of selling. We would certify them at the end and place them in major corporations.”
Jones said the program is now highly regarded.
“After 11 years of hard work, it’s now known around the country by recruiters and students looking to join the institution because of the focus on excellence in selling,” Jones said.
Jones said his experience will be vital to making sure business undergraduates are getting the correct education. Jones said he would like to see more emphasis on entrepreneurship at the University and preparing students for “the real world.”
“We have to take a careful look at the education of our undergraduates,” Jones said. “We want to make sure they’re productive business people and ultimately top leaders.”
Jones said acquiring the funds to build the new business college will be a top priority. He said his first impression of the business college left him wanting more.
“Frankly, when I walked into this building, it didn’t come across to me as a flagship business school,” Jones said. “We’ve got to have a place that represents that.”
Jones and his administration, along with the Louisiana Business Building Oversight Committee, need to raise $13.2 million by Nov. 1 to fund the new building. Jones admitted this task will be challenging.
“We still have a long way to go,” Jones said. “But we’ll get there.”
Jones said he has a plan to handle the challenge of raising the $13.2 million while still presiding over a nationally-ranked business school.
“I position myself as 60 percent external and 40 percent internal, and that’s what I said coming in,” Jones said. “That’s who I am. I spend more time on the external side.”
Jones said this perspective matched what University officials had in mind for the new business college dean.
“The fit was there,” Jones said. “At this particular juncture, the senior administrators were looking for someone who could do that.”
Jones said the new building was a main topic during the interview process.
“Frankly, the new building kept coming up. There was an emphasis there,” he said.
Jones said the interview process also focused on undergraduate education and increasing enrollment.
“Increasing enrollment is a priority,” Jones said. “So it’s a matter of how do we maintain excellence and keep the bar high, but admit the number of students we want to participate in the Ourso experience?”
Jones said he has already started having conversations with department heads on how to accomplish this task. Charles Wilson, vice provost of the Office of Academic Affairs, said Jones will be an excellent addition to the University.
“His resume is incredibly impressive,” Wilson said. “We’re extremely fortunate to have someone of his caliber come to LSU.”
Jones said he was hesitant about leaving Houston.
“Houston is home,” he said. “We left our children there to come here. But they’re adults, and they’re not far away.”
Jones also said he left a higher paying job to join the University.
“All things considered, I’m making less money here than I was [at the University of Houston,]” Jones said. “It’s not that I was looking to leave. The opportunity came about, and it seemed to be a good fit.”
According to Jones’ contract, he will be making $299,999 a year. His contract also includes a car allowance of $1,000 per month and a one-time relocation incentive of $25,000.
Jones said the terms of his contact show the high expectations the administration has for him.
When asked if he thought he could live up to these standards, he simply said, “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
—-Contact Katie Kennedy at [email protected]