Committee Accelerates Nicholls Presidential Search

Committee Accelerates Nicholls Presidential Search – Feb 6, 2003

UL System, Nicholls Officials Among Applicants as Feb. 10 Deadline Nears

BATON ROUGE, La. – The committee charged with selecting a new president for Nicholls State University is accelerating its timeline and expects to name a new president by the end of March, the committee chair said today.

University of Louisiana System President Sally Clausen said the presidential search committee decided to step up its selection process upon the recommendation of James Fisher, a renowned author in higher education leadership, who has been commissioned to conduct an institutional review of Nicholls.

“With the end of the academic year in May fast approaching, the best candidates are eager to finalize their new positions. Finishing our search one month earlier than we planned will allow us to accommodate more candidates, yet still maintain community access to the process,” Clausen said.

At its public forum on Jan.28, search committee members agreed to move the search forward about a month.

The deadline to apply for the Nicholls presidency is Feb. 10. According to the new timeline, the presidential search committee will immediately begin promptly assessing candidates and narrowing the field based on stated criteria and input from two public forums. The timeline is as follows:

Feb. 27 – the committee interviews semifinalists in Thibodaux at a public meeting

March 20 – the committee may conduct further semifinalist interviews, depending on results of Feb. 27

March 28 – the committee interviews finalist(s) at a public meeting in Baton Rouge. Clausen makes her recommendation to the full UL System Board.

Clausen also released the names of six new applicants for the Nicholls presidency. They include:

David E. Boudreaux, Ph.D., Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux

William R. Fannin, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Management, University of Texas of the Permian Basin, Odessa, Texas

Carroll J. Falcon, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Academic Officer, University of Louisiana System

Larry F. Lemanski, Ph.D., Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida

Moses Newsome, Jr., Ph.D., Vice President for Research, Planning, Community and Economic Development, Mississippi Valley State University, Itta Bena, Mississippi

John F. Richardson, DBA and JD, President and Founder of ILAR Systems, Inc., Newport Beach, CA

Clausen said Falcon will take leave from his duties at the system office for the duration of the search.

Nicholls President Donald Ayo announced his retirement from the university in October. The UL System promptly began a national search process to replace him.

A complete list of candidates as of today is available on the UL System website at www.ulsystem.net.

“We are expecting additional applications between now and the end of the day on Monday,” Clausen.

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