Editor: Time to right the ship at LSU’s flagship

The recent loss of Eli Jones, dean of LSU’s business college, in a lateral move to the University of Arkansas is, sadly, just the latest wave in a rising tide of evidence that Louisiana’s flagship institution is listing badly, says Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball. “Jones will soon be calling the Hogs home because he sees the future for LSU—and it’s not pretty,” Ball writes in his latest column. “Even more disturbing: He’s not alone in that view.” Ball says you can spin Jones’ departure any way you want, but “there’s no denying LSU’s main campus is hemorrhaging leadership.” Jones is the third dean over the past 16 months to make a lateral move away from LSU. Meanwhile, the vice chancellor for research and economic development post—arguably the No. 2 position on campus—has been vacant since Brooks Keel left more than two years ago. To stem the tide, Ball says, “It’s time to focus resources on the main campus while repurposing the LSU System. Several schools—including LSU-Shreveport, LSU-Eunice and LSU-Alexandria, for certain—need to follow in the footsteps of UNO and transfer their flags to either the University of Louisiana or the Louisiana Community and Technical College systems. The LSU campus in Baton Rouge, its law school and research centers—including the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, which is struggling to tread water due to a lack of funding—should be the system’s epicenter. What remains should function to enhance and support the flagship agenda.” Read the full column here; and send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.