The Southern University Board of Supervisors is expected to vote at its monthly meeting this morning to merge the positions of the university’s system president and the chancellor of its Baton Rouge campus. If the board votes to consolidate the positions, the move would become effective July 1.
According to the agenda for today’s meeting, which was scheduled for 9 a.m., the board was also to consider hiring a national firm to facilitate the search for the new president/chancellor position.
The action, which is expected to pass, mirrors a similar move the LSU Board of Supervisors took in 2013, when it consolidated its system president and chancellor positions and hired F. King Alexander to fill the newly created role. Proponents of the move say it has better unified the system, and increased efficiency and effectiveness across the campuses.
Southern’s leadership system has been in flux since early last year, when a sharply divided board failed to extend the contract of former chancellor James Llorens.
