The University has hired Greenwood/Asher & Associates, Inc. as the search firm to facilitate the hiring process for Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Jack Hamilton’s replacement.
The nearly finalized contract with the Florida-based company stipulates that the University will pay 33.3 percent of the amount of the new provost’s salary to Greenwood/Asher.
That means if the University’s provost earns around $300,000, which is about $20,000 more than Hamilton earns, the University will pay the search firm around $100,000. In addition, the University will reimburse Greenwood/Asher for travel and advertising expenses and travel expenses for finalists who are invited to the University.
Eric Monday, vice chancellor for finance and administrative services and CFO, said the provost’s salary will be contingent upon his or her position qualifications. He said he anticipates the University will spend between $75,000 and $150,000 on the search firm.
That money is outlined in the University’s $441 million operating budget in state funds, where the University budgeted $90,000 for both the last fiscal year and this fiscal year for search firms, Monday said. He said when there is a dean search, the individual college pays for it, but when there is an executive vice chancellor or provost search, the money comes from the institution.
When money budgeted for search firms is not used, Monday said that money is rolled up with other accounts to fill their deficits.
If the University or the LSU System were to have additional job openings within the contract’s three-year timeframe, the search firm could extend its services to that search as well, Monday said. The maximum amount the University would pay Greenwood/Asher is $1.5 million, according to the contract.
Monday likened the process to hiring a law firm, saying choosing a search firm is a competitive process that the University does not want to repeat.
“This is an operating service,” he said. “We want executive search