LSU executive goes to Kentucky

Financial chief to accept job with University of Ky.

LSU’s chief financial officer, Eric Monday, is leaving the Baton Rouge campus to join the University of Kentucky as its executive vice president for finance and administration, LSU announced Tuesday.

Monday also serves as LSU’s executive vice chancellor for finance and administrative services and is responsible for overseeing the university’s annual budget of more than $800 million.

“This is a tremendous opportunity that was best for me and my family,” Monday said in a statement. “I have developed professional and personal relationships at LSU that will last a lifetime and I will always maintain a deep passion for LSU and for the people that make it great. Forever LSU.”

LSU System President and Baton Rouge Chancellor William Jenkins congratulated Monday in a prepared statement.

“Eric’s stellar performance in a multitude of roles at LSU will be felt for many years at this institution. His deep dedication to LSU and tremendous knowledge of the university will be sorely missed,” Jenkins said.

The former student body president has two degrees from LSU and is working on a third. He graduated from LSU in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

He earned a master of public administration degree in 2005 and is currently working on a doctorate in human resource education and workforce development.

He was named Master of Public Administration Alumnus of the Year by the LSU Public Administration Institute in April.

University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto, on Tuesday, praised Monday’s 15 years of experience in higher education in a statement released to students praising him for his work overseeing 1,200 employees at LSU.

Capilouto said Monday will start his new job late next month or in January.

UK spokesman Jay Blanton told The Associated Press that Monday would be paid $350,000 annually.

He had a $254,000 pay package at LSU.

However, Monday will not receive an administrative perk that faculty and staff protested earlier this year.

The school pays the equivalent of 15 percent of administrators’ salaries directly into their retirement accounts, but Capilouto ended it for new employees after the protest.

For everyone else, UK matches an employee’s 5 percent retirement contribution with a 10 percent allocation, according to the AP.

Comments

1) Comment by Stephen - 28/11/2012

Jindal is slowly but surely destroying LSU. When he went to Brown University as a college student, he had begun his resume building for national office. He has never looked back. If he did, he would see that Louisiana is drowning from his incompetence. Salaries matter, yes. These salaries flow from how much support a governor gives the university. The LSU Medical School will be shambles when he leaves. It will take years to rebuild.

2) Comment by Whatchange - 28/11/2012

Y'all think that jump from $254,000 to $ 350,000 a year has anything to do with his decision.

3) Comment by brycan - 28/11/2012

Vice Chancellor Eric Monday was the executive overseeing the LSU Student Health Center at the time of the recent audit. He was informed by long time administrative director Art Goulas of the established policy of allowing their physician employees, time off with pay, during holiday breaks. This policy had been in effect for 37 years and had been approved by all the previous vice chancellors, going back to 1973, according to Art Goulas. When the audit came out and wrongfully blamed the physician employees for this policy, Monday acted as though he had never heard of it. Art Goulas told his employees he would testify under oath as to the fact that he informed Monday of this long established policy. The auditors who had accused the physician employees of “cheating” and were unprofessional in their behavior toward several people on the staff, held several meetings with Eric Monday. It’s interesting that they did not include any remarks or explanations from Monday in their report. He was the invisible man. The accusation of cheating levied by the auditors against the physicians was a total falsehood. LSU Policy Statement 50 on Responsibilities and Concerns of University Personnel, states that employees (whether physicians or otherwise) hold no policy making authority. As stated by Jennifer Normand in the LSU HR department, employees are not authorized to make nor held responsible for policy decisions. Art Goulas and his boss, Eric Monday were the two responsible for this policy. The auditors refused to talk with Art Goulas, telling the physicians they couldn't, because he had recently retired. This turned out to be a lie. The physicians pressured the audit department head, Chad Brackin, on this issue and sure enough on the last days before the audit came out, Brackin called Goulas and spoke to him by telephone. They didn't mention speaking to Vice Chancellor Monday at all. Brackin, by the way, was not one of the two original auditors who told the staff they could not interview Art Goulas because of his retirement. Those two were senior auditor Jeremy J Guillory and Melissa Cedatol. Monday was definitely the one where the buck should have stopped and despite his close involvement with the audit process, he was totally ignored by the auditors, who put the blame of the policy on the employees. He had a chance to step up and lead and support the good men and women who worked under him. He failed to do so. So long Monday, you won’t be missed.

4) Comment by barmart - 28/11/2012

These departures are not about what Jindal has done. This state is ranked at the bottom of too many national lists--poverty, health, education. Where's the incentive to remain?

5) Comment by Stephen - 27/11/2012

Thanks, Jindal. You have taken another step toward destroying LSU.

6) Comment by DMJ - 27/11/2012

LSU is losing its executives to Kentucky and Arkansas. Let's just take a moment and let that sink in....