Henderson talks president search, vision for Tech at campus town hall

The Louisiana Tech University community heard firsthand from University of Louisiana System President Jim Henderson Thursday for the first and likely only time before he is expected to be named Tech’s next president.

Henderson met with representatives of Tech faculty, students and athletics in private sessions Thursday before holding a 90-minute, town hall-style public meeting on campus with a mixed crowd of university stakeholders.

He is set to interview with the UL System Board of Supervisors Wednesday for the Tech president role after the board decided last week to suspend its typical search procedure and invite Henderson as the sole candidate.

“This institution is not just another institution for me, personally or professionally,” he said, citing that both his parents graduated from Tech, and his son is a current student.

A former Northwestern State president who’s served as UL System chief for seven years, Henderson was asked repeatedly to explain the lack of an open search to replace the retiring Les Guice and to defend his qualifications.

He also fielded a litany of questions, mostly from faculty, ranging from funding challenges and research priorities to athletics and freedom of speech.

“All those conversations were very encouraging,” he told the Leader after the public forum. “They were about what (stakeholders) see at this institution and what its potential can be… This did nothing but increase my enthusiasm to help move this institution forward.”

When the floor was opened up to the public, Bill Jones, a former state senator and Tech alumnus, grilled Henderson on the process that has led to his presumably being named Guice’s successor with no competition.

He also cited Henderson’s online graduate degrees compared to Guice and former Tech president Dan Reneau’s engineering degrees from top-tier research programs.

“How can we possibly have any confidence that you’re the best person for the job?” Jones asked.

Henderson said his track record has been “nothing but a steady stream of success” and said the university presidents under his purview regularly seek his advice in governance.

“My track record is without blemish in empowering every organization I’ve led to be a better iteration of itself,” he said.

As far as the search process, he said he’s “not afraid” of competition, but his being named the only candidate was the board’s call. He said a full search wouldn’t be fair to anyone but him because of the nature of his current position.

Tech lecturer and University Senate President Louis Reis, who invited Henderson to visit campus, said faculty hoped the move would restore a portion of the typical search process that the system board has waived.

“It at least gives us a chance to meet the person,” Reis said. “If he is chosen, our faculty and staff now have an idea of what his vision is… we can get to work day one and not waste any time. 

“We tried to restore a little bit of the process by at least bringing him in. I hope the board may consider looking at other candidates, even if they do have him on their minds.”

When asked about athletics, Henderson described it as a primary connection point between the community and a university, but said it cannot take budget priority over academics at an aspiring top-tier research university like Tech.

“You can tell a lot about an institution by looking at its budget, what it prioritizes,” he said. “The priority at this institution is scholarship and research. Athletics has got to be a supplement to that. It cannot be a drain to that.”

He made hints that if appointed, he would be eyeing landing an unrestricted endowment for research at Tech upwards of $150 million.

Read more on Henderson’s presentation in the weekend edition of the Ruston Daily Leader.