A year after a controversial hiring process and a new consolidation of administrative powers, LSU’s Board of Supervisors extended University President F. King Alexander’s contract to 2019 at their Friday, Sept. 12 meeting. Alexander’s salary will remain at $600,000 per fiscal year.
Following Alexander’s presidential address, board members heaped praises on their 2013 hire.
“You impress me every day. We’re just so lucky to have you,” said board member Chester “Lee” Mallett.
Outgoing board chairman Robert Yarborough quoted lyrics to an Eagles song when asking Alexander to continue at the University.
“You can check out, but we’d rather you didn’t,” Yarborough said.
Newly appointed Chairwoman Ann Duplessis also jumped in on the commendations and said the board had “found a gem” in Alexander.
LSU’s Board of Supervisors, selected by Gov. Bobby Jindal, hired Alexander on March 27, 2013.
At the meeting, Alexander gave a presentation to the board detailing the University’s current rankings in a variety of fields, such as graduation rates and graduate student loan defaults.
Compared to 45 other flagship schools, Alexander said the University had the 29th highest first-year retention rate and the 19th highest starting salaries for graduates.
Alexander also said the University placed 42nd on the amount of funds spent on students, and stressed the idea of LSU as a university with low inputs and high outputs.
Alexander’s data followed rankings from earlier this month by U.S. News and World Report, which named LSU 63rd overall among public universities in the nation.
Alexander questioned how accurately U.S. News and World Report reflected the status of LSU.
“[The organization’s rankings are] kind of like having a preseason football ranking,” Alexander said. “No matter what happens throughout the season, the ranking stays the same.”
In his address, Alexander announced the Journey to College initiative — a program providing online resources for parents long before their children go to college.
At www.journeytocollege.org, parents can find information on higher education institutions across the state, as well as specialized checklists for each grade of high school.
“We want more to enroll in LSU, but we want them to be college-ready when they graduate high school,” Alexander said. “Believe me, parents yearn for this information. We have an obligation to go to them.”