LSU System interim president William Jenkins came face-to-face with faculty concerns at two town hall meetings in Shreveport Tuesday. The discussion addressed the forthcoming structural changes at LSU. Faculty at LSU Health Shreveport voiced fears of losing their autonomy and budgetary control under the proposed changes. Jenkins said this realignment must be done because LSU is facing its own kind of "fiscal cliff." This restructuring could save millions of dollars once completed.
"We are running out of time. We are are in a serious financial predicament," Jenkins said, during an interview before his LSU Shreveport town hall meeting. It's going to get worse before it gets better."
Jenkins said LSU faculty seem to think that he’ll dictate all of the details about how the reorganization will go down. He said he refuses to do that because this is an inclusive process to be led by a Transition Advisory Team, comprised of stakeholders from around the state.
"Everybody thought I'd arrive and give them details about how this is going to be," Jenkins said. "Although I clearly have ideas, nothing could be worse than me standing up and saying how to fix it."
LSU Board of Supervisors representative Raymond Lasseigne said people are afraid of the unknown, but campuses should be able to retain their individuality.