UL Lafayette Presidential Search Committee to Narrow Candidate Field on Nov

UL Lafayette Presidential Search Committee to Narrow Candidate Field on Nov. 26 – Nov 13, 2007

Lafayette, LA – The search committee charged with recommending the next president for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette will meet in Baton Rouge on Nov. 26 to narrow the field of candidates. Today’s decision followed public interviews with five candidates at the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE) Center on the Lafayette campus.

Search committee member and local business leader James Prince made the motion to defer action until “we’ve had a chance to confer with our constituents about their interactions with candidates over the last two days.”

UL Lafayette SGA President Candace Urbanowski seconded the motion stating that she needed more time to get feedback from the students she represents.

The search committee spent the last two days interacting with the five candidates including interviews in which each candidate was questioned by the committee and the public. The process also afforded the candidates an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the institution through campus and city tours, as well as meetings with university faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members.

At the conclusion of the interviews, the public was invited to ask questions or provide comments to the committee. “You’ve given the faculty, the staff, the student body, and the Acadiana community the opportunity if they so chose to make comments at one of the many public hearings you’ve had here now,” said Carl Bauer.

“You’ve given us five distinguished candidates, and I thank you for the obvious homework you’ve done over a period of time…preparing for these hearings. They’ve been very informative, and, again, on behalf of all of us I thank you so much for bringing a very open process to this campus, to this area, to this university, and to this state,” said Bauer.

The next round of public interviews will be conducted in conjunction with the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors committee meetings in Baton Rouge on Dec. 6. After a recommendation is made by the search committee, the UL System Board holds the authority to make the final decision on who will become the university’s next president during its meeting the following day.

Voting members on the presidential search committee are ULS Board members Paul Aucoin, Elsie Burkhalter, Jeffrey Jenkins, Renee Lapeyrolerie, Jimmy Long, Sr., Wayne Parker, Olinda Ricard (student member), and Winfred Sibille, as well as UL Lafayette Faculty Senate representative John Meriwether.

Serving on the search committee in an advisory, non-voting capacity are community member and UL Lafayette Foundation representative James Prince and UL Lafayette Student Government Association President Candace Urbanowski.

The UL System Board of Supervisors launched an extensive, national search after President Ray Authement announced April 17 his plans to retire. The search committee held public hearings in Lafayette on June 14 and Sept. 12. The committee selected five candidates to interview out of 38 public applicants during an Oct. 3 public meeting in Baton Rouge.

Videos of all three meetings and Monday’s interviews can already be viewed at www.youtube.com/ulsystem. Today’s interviews will be available Wednesday.

Visit www.ulsystem.net, to access a special search website that includes candidate applications, meeting information and opportunities to submit questions and comments to the search committee.

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For More Information Contact:
Jackie Tisdell
225-342-6950
jtisdell@uls.state.la.us