Timeline set in search for UL System president

The University of Louisiana System presidential search committee is scheduled to select the finalists for the vacant position on Nov. 1 with the full UL Board of Supervisors expected to make a final choice by the middle of next month.

The board has tentatively scheduled a one-day interviewing session to be held on either Nov. 9, Nov. 13 or Nov. 15. The system’s next president will be named the same day, spokeswoman Jackie Tisdell said Tuesday.

The UL System has been without a president since Sept. 15, when Randy Moffett retired after a 41-year career in higher education, including four years at the top of the largest of Louisiana’s four college and university systems.

Moffett’s successor will be responsible for more than 92,000 students enrolled at nine public colleges, including Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the University of New Orleans, McNeese State University in Lake Charles and Louisiana Tech University in Ruston.

The UL Board of Supervisors started what they hoped would be an expedited search for Moffett’s replacement in July when he first announced his intention to retire. At the time, board Chairman Wayne Parker said he hoped to have someone in place by mid-September.

After receiving only eight applications by late August, the UL Board shifted strategy and hired the Washington, D.C.-based R.H. Perry and Associates firm.

A status report issued this week detailing the search firm’s methodology shows the group has been reaching out to sitting university presidents, chancellors and other administrators.

By going after so-called “traditional” candidates with strong academic backgrounds, the UL System appears to be sidestepping a growing trend in higher education where universities recruit outside of the traditional model and pursue business executives and politicians.

The report from R.H. Perry said firm officials have corresponded with more than 31 people who have shown varying levels of interest in the job.

The search firm has received a total of six completed applications submitted by candidates whose names have been added to the pool of 12 who applied directly to the UL System.

Parker told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday that R.H. Perry will continue recruiting new candidates and vetting existing applicants even as the search process nears its close.

The UL System Presidential Search coincides with a least a dozen other searches being conducted nationwide at major research institutions including at LSU, the University of Florida and the University of Georgia.