LSU has selected McNeese State University President Wade Rousse as its new president. Almost six months after former President William Tate IV left for Rutgers, leaving the position, the university has a permanent leader.

Here’s what to know about Rousse, as well as the goals and ideas he’s shared for LSU throughout the search process.

He reversed enrollment decline at McNeese

When Rousse took over at McNeese, it was in the midst of a 14-year decline in enrollment, a trend which he has now reversed. McNeese’s enrollment increase this fall was its largest in 22 years. He also increased fundraising at the university.

McNeese was hit hard by Hurricane Laura in 2020, along with the rest of Lake Charles. The campus is still seeing repairs from that, including to the president’s house. Rousse and his wife, Angela, lived in the university dorms among students both years he has spent at McNeese as its president.

He reportedly has Gov. Jeff Landry’s support, but has reservations about the governor’s involvement at LSU

It’s been reported and rumored that Rousse was the frontrunner for weeks and was Gov. Jeff Landry’s preferred candidate for the job.

Those rumors were intensified by Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Lee Mallett’s full endorsement of Rousse as the next president. Mallett has donated thousands to Landry and is a friend of the governor.

Landry has had an increased involvement in LSU matters since taking office last January, but particularly in the last few months. He’s called for the university to build a statue of deceased conservative influencer Charlie Kirk to protect free speech and had a heavy hand in the athletic program’s decision to part ways with football coach Brian Kelly and Athletic Director Scott Woodward.

Rousse has pushed back on his connections to Landry. He told student leaders Monday he thinks the governor’s current level of involvement in LSU is “not healthy” and undermines university leadership. He said he understood why Landry and others would want to step in, given the university’s current vacuum of leadership, but said he hoped to say “we got it from here” if named president.

“I think once we have strong leadership in place that you’ll see the governor not being so worried about micromanaging this university,” Rousse told students at a public forum Monday afternoon.

He wants to restructure the LSU system

Throughout the search process, Rousse’s vision for LSU that he shared included seeking more corporate partnerships. He said Monday that it would help LSU fill the gap made by a loss in federal funding.

Rousse has also advocated for a restructuring of the LSU system in several ways: for one, he was a proponent of splitting the president role into a system president and a chancellor over the Baton Rouge campus, which was the case until 2012. That idea won over the Board, with Jim Dalton now assuming that chancellor role per the Board’s vote.

Dalton was the provost at the University of Alabama and had also applied for the presidential position.

Rousse, and many others in recent years, have made the argument that the Baton Rouge campus is too large for one person to effectively preside over the whole system and give adequate attention to the main campus.

Rousse has also said he’ll seek to make LSU system schools more accessible to the entire state, establishing a way for students to start at LSU satellite schools and transition to the main campus. In addition, he’s said he’ll prioritize deferred maintenance at LSU and “fix the aesthetics” of the campus.

Overall, Rousse has emphasized structure as one of his strengths. He said he wants to limit duplication of effort and streamline across the LSU system.

He’s faced criticism for lack of experience and research background

Rousse also has received some criticism for his lack of experience at a higher-tier university. McNeese has an enrollment of around 6,000 students, while the other two finalists had experience as top administrators at schools of similar size to LSU.

Others were concerned about Rousse’s lack of research background, as LSU is an R1 university, the highest research activity designation. McNeese has no designation, and Rousse personally has a limited history of research.

“I do have the experience in research,” Rousse said in defense of that perception Monday. “I think I understand the faculty way more than it appears from the outside… this is about leadership.”

Under former President William Tate IV, LSU made it a top priority to make the university a top-50 research university in the country and gain membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. LSU’s research spending grew to a record $543 million in the 2023-24 academic year during Tate’s tenure.

In his interview with the presidential search committee before being named a finalist Wednesday, Rousse said he wasn’t sure that those goals were a priority for the school and would need to consult faculty and the Board of Supervisors to see if they thought they were. The noncommittal answer frustrated some, which was clear when faculty had the chance to speak with him at a public forum Monday.

Rousse clarified Monday that his intention was to say that from the outside, he didn’t think LSU’s goals were communicated clearly or put into a proper plan. He said that there would need to be restructuring to make the goals more central and get everyone pulling in the same direction. He also said that goals should be issued by the Board of Supervisors and that research was a top priority for him.

Rousse said Wednesday he knows his biggest challenge as LSU president would be gaining the trust of the faculty.

LSU Interim President Matt Lee was faculty’s preferred candidate, according to Faculty Senate President and professor Daniel Tirone, who called not advancing him as a finalist “extremely disappointing” and a “mistake” in his report at the most recent Faculty Senate meeting.

He faces a vacuum of leadership at LSU

It’s unclear when exactly Rousse will begin in his position at LSU, but when he does, one of his first jobs after getting acclimated will be steering the school’s search for several key leadership positions.

LSU is without a permanent provost, chief financial officer, chief data officer, head football coach and multiple deans.

Rousse will need to fill those positions, but he said he’ll first evaluate the overall structure and release a new organizational chart within 30 days, potentially eliminating or combining positions.

“We’re going to see those interim positions and open positions and see if we really need them as we redesign them, and think about efficiencies throughout the entire organization,” Rousse said. “I am a structure and efficiency junkie.”

Rousse also said “he’ll be very involved very quickly” in the search for a football coach, which began without him. That search is led by Athletic Director Verge Ausberry, who reportedly was named the full-time AD Tuesday after a few days as the interim, a decision made by Rousse.

The search for a new coach could last months, particularly as some coaching targets seasons’ may not be over until January.