Chancellor Mark Emmert is entering into negotiations to become the president of the University of Washington after the UW Board of Regents voted to offer him the position at a Friday afternoon meeting.
In an e-mail Sunday afternoon, Emmert said the search firm handling the UW presidential search contacted him about the position.
Emmert said the UW Board of Regents voted to enter into discussions with him and he will be talking to the regents more in the next couple of days.
“It is my hope that we can resolve this matter within the first part of this week,” Emmert said in the e-mail.
Emmert said if he accepts the UW offer, he would likely remain at LSU for the rest of the spring semester. But, he said that matter has not yet been discussed.
Emmert said his connections to Washington make the UW offer very tempting.
Emmert is a native of Tacoma, Wash. and received his bachelor of arts degree in political science from the UW.
“Growing up in the Seattle area and attending the University of Washington instilled in me the same affection for the UW as loyal Tiger fans feel for LSU,” Emmert said in the e-mail. “It has been a lifelong dream to lead my alma mater. The UW is an exceptional university with great academic strength. When one also considers that all of DeLaine’s and my family is in the Seattle area, it is a very compelling opportunity.”
Emmert said he has confidence that LSU officials can continue making academic strides, should he accept the UW position.
“Given the commitment of the Board and the System, as well as the strength of the campus leadership, I am very confident that LSU can continue its remarkable progress,” he said in the e-mail.
The news first broke that Emmert may be leaving LSU in an article in Friday’s issue of The Seattle Times, in which LSU System President William Jenkins said there would be an evaluation of Emmert’s qualifications for the position.
Throughout the day Friday, as word spread of Emmert’s candidacy for the UW position, many expressed surprise at the reports and hoped Emmert would remain at LSU.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco issued a statement on the situation early Friday afternoon.
“I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the strategic vision and focus that Chancellor Emmert has brought to LSU,” she said in the statement. “I am committed to helping him enhance LSU’s status as the state’s flagship university. And I am hopeful that he will remain in his job and help me as I work to improve our state’s higher education system.”
Also on Friday, LSU Student Senate Speaker Michael Busada sent Emmert an e-mail asking him to remain LSU’s chancellor.
“I understand any desire you would have to return to your home and become president of the Washington system; however, know that we need you here at LSU to continue the great and unprecedented steps we are making,” Busada said in the e-mail. “As you weigh this great and monumental decision, please know that myself and thousands of other Louisiana students hope that you stay and continue the fight for a better LSU.”
However, late Friday evening, members of the UW Board of Regents emerged from their regular meeting with an offer for Emmert to become the next UW president.
In an official statement, Emmert said the offer is appealing because of his connections to Washington.
“Two years ago I told the LSU Board of Supervisors that there is only one job in the country I would consider leaving LSU for, and that’s the presidency of the University of Washington,” Emmert said in the statement.
In the same statement, LSU officials said they understood why the offer is tempting to Emmert.
“In this instance, the call from the University of Washington is the one offer I hoped would never come,” said LSU Board of Supervisors Chairman Roger Ogden. “I have been aware for some time that Chancellor Emmert has made a commitment to LSU that was unassailable, with the possible exception of a call from his alma mater.”
Jenkins also said the offer may be tempting to Emmert because of his Washington ties.
“The possibility of leading one’s alma mater is a once in a lifetime opportunity and one that most academic leaders would find very enticing,” Jenkins said in the statement.
In a telephone interview Saturday, Jenkins said it was “very unlikely” that LSU would make a counter-offer to keep Emmert as chancellor.
“This is a position that Chancellor Emmert really did want,” Jenkins said. “This is his decision.”
Prior to the UW offer, the closest Emmert came to leaving LSU was in March 2002, when the University of South Carolina contacted him about a position as system president.
According to a March 12, 2003 Reveille article, at the time, the offer intrigued Emmert because USC and the South Carolina legislature were prepared to make a commitment to help make USC a flagship university. In the article, Ogden said Louisiana’s Board of Regents and the Louisiana Legislature had not followed up on similar promises.
Soon after, the LSU Board of Supervisors decided to match the amount of the salary package USC was prepared to offer Emmert. In addition, Ogden said the Board of Supervisors and other officials spent the next three months discussing how to give Emmert more support in building a flagship university.
The Board of Supervisors approved Emmert’s new salary package at its July 2002 meeting. The new package paid Emmert $490,000 a year, with a $100,000 annual bonus if he stayed with the University for five more years. If Emmert accepts the UW offer, he may have to repay the annual bonuses.
According to Sunday’s issue of The Seattle Times, the UW Board of Regents is expected to offer Emmert a salary package as early as Wednesday.
Lee Huntsman, the current UW president, makes $340,000 a year plus $65,000 in deferred compensation. However, according to the Times, some members of the UW Board of Regents have said the new president could make more than $500,000 per year.
For UW officials, hiring Emmert as the university’s new president would mark the end of a lengthy search for its next leader.
The UW presidency has been open for nearly a year and a half, after members of the Board of Regents encouraged former President Richard McCormick to leave in November 2002 because of an inappropriate romantic relationship with a female member of his administration.
Huntsman served as interim president until November 2003, when he was named president for the duration of the search.
In a statement issued Friday evening, UW officials said Emmert would be a good fit for the position of president.
“Mark Emmert is a dynamic, forward-looking, energetic leader who has the skill, experience and character to accelerate the University’s already considerable momentum,” said UW Board of Regents president Gerald Grinstein. “We are excited about his appointment and confident that he will provide the kind of leadership this great university requires in the coming years. As an alumnus of UW, he has the added benefit of already knowing where the president’s office is. It’s a good match.”
Paul Ramsey, chairman of the UW presidential search committee, said committee members became more enthusiastic when Emmert appeared as a candidate.
“He brings great leadership skills and considerable knowledge and experience to this position,” Ramsey said in the statement. “I believe the many constituencies represented on the committee will be served well by him, most notably our students, faculty and staff.”
Emmert’s Accomplishments
Should Emmert decide to accept the UW presidency, it will mark the end of a successful tenure as LSU’s chancellor.
The LSU Board of Supervisors named Emmert as chancellor on April 16, 1999. At the time, Emmert said he thought LSU was in a position to become one of the great universities in the country.
As part of his vision, Emmert launched the Flagship Agenda in fall 2002, a strategic plan to improve education and research, and make LSU a nationally prominent university.
In a letter to The New York Times in January, Emmert praised the accomplishments of the LSU community, citing the University’s strong information technology initiative, coastal science and engineering programs and Honors College. Emmert also has been instrumental in hiring new faculty members and increasing faculty pay.
Emmert also is responsible for hiring LSU football head coach Nick Saban, who led a successful football program to win the national college football championship in January.
According to The Advocate, Saban spoke out about Emmert’s possible departure in a press conference Saturday.
“We are obviously hopeful that the University will do everything it can to keep the chancellor here,” Saban said. “Chancellor Emmert is absolutely the best boss I’ve ever had. He’s the most significant reason I was interested in this job. Never once has he disappointed me.”
While working to make LSU nationally prominent in both academics and athletics, Emmert also has worked with students to address questions and concerns.
Last year, Student Government began the Chats with the Chancellor program, in which Emmert meets with students about once a month to answer questions about classes, faculty and other issues. In February, Emmert shared king cake with students in Free Speech Alley while discussing public safety, class scheduling and other concerns.
Emmert also has sponsored the Chancellor’s Midnight Pancake Breakfast each semester, in which students are treated to free pancakes in the dining halls and talk to Emmert in a casual setting.
Although many have expressed surprise at Emmert’s possible departure, they said they have confidence that the University will find a suitable replacement.
Guillermo Ferreyra, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said although he was initially in disbelief and shock when he heard of Emmert’s possible departure, he soon realized the University will be able to find another quality chancellor.
“Chancellor Emmert accomplished many great goals at LSU, and overall he raised the morale and the quality of the institution,” Ferreyra said in an e-mail. “LSU is stronger than it has been for many years and is steady in its course for improvement. LSU will surely miss Chancellor Emmert’s leadership and vision, but it will attract another exceptional chancellor.”
Saban also told The Advocate he has confidence that the University can find a suitable replacement for Emmert.
“If that happens, I think they will do an outstanding job of hiring someone who will continue what we have tried to start here,” Saban said.