Just how big of a change is the restructuring at LSU?
System President Wade Rousse has said it amounts to title changes to “push the LSU system to new heights.” But, for institutions not in Baton Rouge or New Orleans, some fear it means a loss of independence and funding in an increasingly centralized system.
State Sen. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport, and Sen. Sam Jenkins, D-Shreveport, condemned a recent reorganization at LSU that removed the position of chancellor from LSU Health Shreveport and renamed the head of the health sciences university “senior vice chancellor.”
“It’s incredibly disappointing that LSU chose to take away the Chancellor position of the Health Sciences Center in Shreveport without any conversation at all with the community, elected officials, business leaders, and even their own students and faculty about doing so,” Pressly said in a press release Monday morning.
Under leadership changes approved by the LSU Board of Supervisors last week, the senior vice chancellor now reports to Executive Vice President James Dalton, who is also the chancellor of the flagship campus in Baton Rouge. Leaders at the LSU AgCenter, LSU Health New Orleans and the Pennington Biomedical Center have also been named senior vice chancellors and placed under Dalton.
Previously, those jobs all reported to the president, who was in charge of both the system and the flagship campus. The Board of Supervisors last month split the job into two, with Rousse as system president and Dalton as Baton Rouge campus chancellor.
“My understanding from the administration is that the goal is to enhance the ability for the LSU system to get more research dollars, being grants and other opportunities,” Pressly said in an interview. “The question is how will that be divided up? Will LSU Baton Rouge get the first dibs at that?”
Disagreement over significance
LSU spokesperson Todd Woodward said the amendments to the organizational chart have been the plan “right from the beginning,” and that the composition and compensation for the jobs are not changing.
“This was an acknowledgment that one person trying to do two jobs at the same time needed to change,” Woodward said, adding that the system’s bylaws say a chancellor cannot report to a chancellor. “The title and the reporting structure are all that is changed.”
The title revisions allow LSU to report its aggregate research numbers, according to Woodward.
“We have been focused on growing our research enterprise at LSU and to be in that game we need all the research dollars to roll up into one area,” Woodward wrote. “I would add they are reporting to an amazing Chancellor.”
The senators called the reorganization an “abrupt decision” that endangers leadership autonomy at LSU Health Shreveport. The new structure raises concerns about potentially being sidelined in favor of the Baton Rouge campus and LSU Health New Orleans, they said.
LSU Health Shreveport generates $600 million in direct economic impact on the Shreveport region and $3 billion overall in North Louisiana, according to its website.
“If anything were to happen to the Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, it would be catastrophic for our region,” Pressly said.
The senators said the move clashes with the Louisiana Legislature’s intent when it created LSU Health Shreveport as an autonomous entity. They said it recalls past administrations’ favoring of institutions in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
“In the past, we saw LSU disproportionately send resources and funding to the main campus in Baton Rouge and the Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, while LSU’s institutions in Shreveport and elsewhere in the state didn’t receive their fair share,” Jenkins said in the release. “While we’ve made tremendous progress since then, it’s safe to say that we will always be vigilant, because the mission of this campus is too critical not to be a top priority for our region.”
Woodward said LSU legal counsel does not believe the system is statutorily required to maintain the position of chancellor at LSU Health Shreveport.
What happens next?
In response to questioning at the LSU Board of Supervisors meeting on Thursday, Rousse disagreed with Pressly’s characterization of the restructuring as a “seismic shift.” He insisted the changes are necessary for LSU to realize its ambitions for robust state and federal funding and recognition as a Top 50 research university.
“Shifts in titles and clear lines of reporting should not be viewed as threats,” Rousse said at the meeting. “They should be viewed as opportunities.”
Rousse and Dalton will meet with the senators on Wednesday about the future of LSU Health Shreveport, Pressly said.
A statement Monday from LSU Health Shreveport said the institution is confident in its “position and relevance within the LSU System.”
“It has always been the goal, no matter structure or title, to help LSU become a Top 50 Research University, and this new organization alone moves us up 18 spaces in that ranking,” spokesperson Lisa Babin wrote in an email. “We look forward to and anticipate further communication from LSU leadership as to the implementation of the newly announced structure and its statewide impact.
This story has been updated.