As the search for a new executive vice president and provost draws to a close, LSU administration now hopes to fill another vacant position: vice president for Strategic Communications.
Former Vice President for Strategic Communications Linda Bonnin vacated the office at the end of October.
After Bonnin’s departure, LSU Executive Director of Policy and External Affairs Jason Droddy stepped in as interim vice president Nov. 1. The office was familiar territory for Droddy as he filled it before, from August 2013 through October 2014 following Herb Vincent’s leave.
“I told [LSU President F. King] Alexander I would be willing to serve as long as he would like,” Droddy said.
In addition to overseeing the Division of Strategic Communications and overall LSU communication efforts, the consolidated position leads the public relations, marketing, media relations, web, social media and email communications for LSU. It also molds the multi-institutional, cohesive brand of LSU, said LSU Media Relations Director Ernie Ballard.
In his interim position, Droddy said he is working on improving LSU’s communication with parents and advertising research endeavors.
While his external affairs job encompasses one-on-one governmental work, Droddy said strategic communications involves interacting with larger constituency groups. He said he divides his time between the two offices evenly.
Because administration is still wrapping up the provost search, Ballard said he is not sure when the vice president for Strategic Communications search will officially commence.
“I think once the provost search is finished, we may get more information on the VP of strategic communications position,” Ballard said. “I think it’s still kind of up in the air.”
Ballard said Alexander’s office will lead the search committee. The hired candidate would join the provost, general counsel and vice president of finance and administration as one of LSU’s senior leadership positions that report directly to the president.
Cope said Faculty Senate hopes administration considers in selecting a candidate: allowing faculty evaluations of the candidates and picking a candidate who will project the image of LSU in a new way.
He said the faculty is generally unsatisfied with the look of the website, along with the extreme emphasis on the undergraduate experience and recruiting and the underselling of LSU’s research experience and greater service functions.
“We want somebody who is going to be responsive to faculty input, generally, and help the faculty advertise its activities,” Cope said.
Though looming budget cuts may hinder the hiring process, Droddy said LSU’s financial future takes precedent to job searches.
“There’s a number of things that the president has to deal with. Like everybody else, he has to prioritize those things,” Droddy said. “If he feels that he needs to handle the budget before moving to fill this position, then that’s what we’ll do.”