LSU’s Memorial Tower on Monday, March 20, 2023, on Tower Drive in Baton Rouge. (Matthew Perschall for Louisiana Illuminator)
The committee handling the search for LSU’s next president has again accelerated the timeline for hiring someone for the job, with the goal of having someone picked by the end of the month.
Christel Slaughter, chief executive of SSA Consultants, said her contracted firm will deliver the names of candidates Oct. 10 to the search committee, which will then conduct interviews through Oct. 20. By Oct. 21, the committee will recommend finalists to the LSU Board of Supervisors, Slaughter said.
The board could then vote to hire a president at its Oct. 24 meeting.
The university is filling its top job vacancy after William Tate left Baton Rouge to become president of Rutgers University.
LSU Board chairman Scott Ballard initially said the committee aimed to hire a president by the end of the year, then modified the timeline to have a new leader chosen by Thanksgiving. Even if the next hire is made a full month earlier than that, the next president likely would not start until the spring semester begins in January.
Slaughter said about 30 people applied for the position, with 20 meeting the qualifications and five to nine highly qualified.
LSU can withhold the names of its presidential applicants until they become official candidates, who will then be made public after SSA Consultants whittles down its list to present to the search committee.
Search committee member James Williams, a former LSU Board chair, pushed back on that process. He raised concerns about the search firm determining candidates’ qualifications without consulting the search committee.
The committee intends to hold public interviews with the finalists. These interviews typically take place over two days, during which the candidates meet with various campus constituencies, such as students, faculty and alumni. The exact dates of the interviews have not yet been announced.
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