The Louisiana Tech presidential search committee meets today. The committee consists of 18 members, including Tech faculty, students and alumni as well as UL Board members and members of the Ruston community. Among those on the committee is State Representative Chris Turner, who says the search will begin with an open forum meeting today.
“People from the campus and around the community can come and talk about some of the things they’re looking for that we should focus on during the search; and then we’re opening it up to a national search and, hopefully, we find some good candidates,” Turner explained.
Turner says while the search will stretch coast to coast, he would like to see the next president to be hired from within, so to speak.
“We would love to see somebody from Louisiana Tech be there, but if there’s another qualified candidate that we can check off all the boxes in the search, I think we’re wide open to any candidate coming in and applying and seeing who’s the best fit for our college and our city,” Turner said.
In order to receive full consideration in the initial review, candidates should submit their applications by November 6th. The board expects to select Tech’s new president less than two weeks later, on November 19th, with the new president taking office January 1st. Turner says he would like to make the process more confidential.
“We’re one of the only states in the nation that, when you get down to your top few candidates, it’s public; and sometimes that keeps candidates from out-of-state or somewhere where they’re established from putting in their name,” Procopio noted.
The new president will succeed Dr. Jim Henderson, who’s retiring on December 31st.