Amid circulating reports of Chancellor Sean O’Keefe’s job being on the line, his future role at the University is still unknown but may be decided as early as Thursday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Ray Lamonica, general counsel to the LSU System, said O’Keefe can be dismissed by either the Board or the System president, although O’Keefe said he serves at the pleasure of the Board. “Termination without cause is by the president or the Board,” Lamonica told The Daily Reveille on Jan. 11. Lamonica clarified a statement made by Board Chairman Jerry Shea. The Daily Reveille questioned Shea for incorrectly saying the president “has the sole authority over [the chancellor’s] employment,” in an e-mail Friday. Although O’Keefe’s contract states his term will “continue at the pleasure of both the President and the Board,” and the Board’s Bylaws and Regulations state the “chancellor for each campus […] shall hold office at the pleasure of the Board,” Lamonica said O’Keefe may be dismissed without cause by either the Board or System President John Lombardi. No matters regarding O’Keefe’s job security are on the agenda for the Board meeting Thursday, according to Charles Zewe, System vice president of communication. He said it is possible for new items to be added before the meeting, but he could not comment on the likelihood of an amendment to discuss O’Keefe’s job security being added because it is a personnel matter. “The agenda is in the process of being sent out to the Board, and there is no such item [regarding O’Keefe’s employment] on the agenda,” Zewe said. “The agenda speaks for itself.” O’Keefe’s job security came under scrutiny earlier this month when Jonathan Martin, chairman of Roy O. Martin Lumber and a large donor to the University, sent a Dec. 31 e-mail to statewide business leaders alleging Lombardi told O’Keefe he “should be looking for another job.” “I had a reliable source tell me that there was a move afoot to get rid of the chancellor, and that was disturbing to me because we’ve been strong supporters [of O’Keefe],” Martin told The Daily Reveille earlier this month. Martin said he could not disclose who informed him of the possible resignation request. O’Keefe was tight-lipped when asked if Lombardi had spoken with him about the future of his job as chancellor during a Jan 4. interview with WAFB Channel 9 and The Daily Reveille. “I serve at the pleasure of the Board, and I will serve as long as they like,” O’Keefe said from the Sheraton New Orleans lobby. John George, Board member, said he believes O’Keefe’s performance has been strong. “I am of the opinion that Sean O’Keefe is in charge of the destiny of this,” George said. “I think … this will be his choice of what he wants to do.” George said he has not heard of any items regarding O’Keefe’s employment being added to Thursday’s agenda. “I don’t think anything that’s been in the media lately is going to affect the Board meeting one way or another,” George said. “But obviously Lombardi is looking at all his people.” Ben Mount, Board member at large, said he thinks O’Keefe has done “an excellent job.” He said if there is an effort to dismiss O’Keefe, he wishes somebody would come forward and say what O’Keefe has done wrong. Only seven of the current 16 Board members served during 2005 when O’Keefe’s contract was unanimously approved. Lombardi’s contract with the Board was unanimously approved in July, and by September, he succeeded System President William Jenkins, who approved O’Keefe’s contract. O’Keefe was awarded the rank of professor with tenure in the Public Administration Institute of the E.J. Ourso College of Business Administration concurrent with his appointment as chancellor, according to his contract. O’Keefe’s contractual tenure allows him to assume “full-time teaching duties in lieu of [his] administrative duties,” but he is not given the absolute right to participate in summer research or teaching, according to his contract. It is unsure at this point if O’Keefe would accept the tenured position should he be dismissed as chancellor, but he has taught at the University before. According to O’Keefe’s contract, if he accepts the tenured position after serving as chancellor, he will receive $425,000 on an academic-year basis until 2010 when he has worked for the University for five years. He currently makes $425,000 per fiscal year for serving as chancellor. In the tenured position, O’Keefe will be paid a $337,500 salary after 2010, when he has received $425,000 annually for five years, according to his contract. Should he no longer serve as chancellor and opt out of the tenured position, O’Keefe will be given a one-time payment of $87,500, the difference between what his tenured faculty salary would be and $425,000, according to his contract. He will also be paid an additional $75,000, amounting to $25,000 for each year of O’Keefe’s three years serving as chancellor. If O’Keefe serves as chancellor for five or more years, the former NASA administrator is entitled to $25,000 for each year of service whether he accepts tenure or not. O’Keefe is currently in his third year. If O’Keefe is not retained, Lombardi will put together a national search committee to find the best person available to pursue the Flagship Agenda, Shea said in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille. Shea said an interim chancellor could be appointed by the president if there is a lapse before a new chancellor is found. Jenkins served as both System president and chancellor in 2004 when former Chancellor Mark Emmert left the University, and O’Keefe was not yet hired. LSU-Alexandria Interim Chancellor Rouse Caffy was appointed in August by Jenkins, who was System president. Jenkins advised the Board of his action after the appointment, Zewe said. Caffy was given the job through an appointment letter as opposed to signing a contract. George said he has witnessed a professional relationship between O’Keefe and Lombardi and does not know of any ill feelings between the two. “LSU is bigger than any one individual, be it the coach, be it the CEO, be it the president,” George said. “As great as LSU is, it seems to keep steamrolling no matter what kind of problems it runs up against.”
—-Contact Nicholas Persac at [email protected]