An executive order calling for a “limited hiring freeze” signed by Gov. Bobby Jindal may hamper vacant University positions from being filled. The order was one of four signed by Jindal on Jan. 15, his first day in office. According to the executive order, “no vacancy in an existing or new position of employment … shall be filled without the express written approval of the commissioner of administration.” The hiring freeze was enacted to save more than $25 million in the state’s general fund. Along with the hiring freeze, the executive order states all agencies and departments must file a report to Administration Commissioner Angele Davis showing the projected savings caused by the order. “What the governor, with the hiring freeze, is telling us not to get our expectations out of line,” LSU System President John Lombardi told The Daily Reveille in a Jan. 18 interview. Lombardi said Jindal has an agenda that will require significant investment, and for the agenda to take place, the state cannot spend all its money on the first day. “While the revenue estimates are OK, they are not terrific,” Lombardi said. “[Jindal] is trying to freeze everything until he understands what the revenue possibilities are.” The Louisiana Board of Regents recently applied to the Department of Administration for a blanket exemption so Louisiana colleges and universities can hire faculty and staff without going through red tape. Davis denied the schools’ latest proposal Monday. New hires are allowed only with case-by-case approval from Davis. The Board of Regents deals with policy and fiscal issues in four university systems – Louisiana State University System, Southern University System, University of Louisiana System and Louisiana Community and Technical College System. Kevin Hardy, Board of Regents communication director, said the reason university systems need the exemption is because universities have a different situation. He said there is a high turnover rate for faculty and staff, especially this time of year when everyone is settling their contracts for next school year. LSU System Vice President Charles Zewe said student instructors, teachers, administrators, graduate and undergraduate recruiters, safety and health officials, development and research employees and principal investigators are all important employees to the state institutions. “They are all very critical to the progression of LSU around the state,” Zewe said. “It is an interwoven matrix of critically important jobs throughout the state.” The hiring freeze will have no effect on the hiring of a new chancellor for the University, Zewe said. “We may be able to find a way to make our critical hires – most of which are our faculty and staff that are part of the ongoing program – without too much difficulty,” Lombardi said. The governor’s press secretary, Melissa Sellers, did not respond after repeated attempts to contact her.
—-Contact J.J. Alcantara at [email protected]