By Kyle Roberts
University of Louisiana System president Jim Henderson stood at the lectern Thursday afternoon in Howard Auditorium on the campus of Louisiana Tech in efforts to answer questions from faculty, students and community members regarding his bid to be the next president of the university.
For nearly 90 minutes, Henderson was unwavering in answering questions ranging from his three-year vision for Louisiana Tech to faculty and staff governance to his qualifications to take the helm following Dr. Les Guice’s upcoming departure at the end of this calendar year.
“There’s no script for this,” Henderson said in an opening statement. “Today, we’re going to be very, very conversational. But I want to introduce myself and then open the floor for some questions, and we will stay here as long as you want to stay here to answer questions.”
Leading up to Thursday, faculty and staff submitted questions that were read by moderators, while audience members were able to approach an open mic.
During the first part, Henderson addressed the rationale for the Board of Supervisors of the ULS suspending board rule Chapter 3, Section 2, which reads “for all appointments to vacancies in the chief executive position at any institution under the jurisdiction of the Board, three months’ written notice, or less at the option of the Board, shall be provided to the Board through the System President in order that all applicants who qualify may be given an official application and that the proper committee, after interviewing such applicants, may make recommendations to the Board for final selection.”
“It’s a great question, and one that deserves candid answers,” Henderson said. “I report directly to the board and the nine university presidents in our system report directly to me. And so for the last seven years, I’ve been the direct supervisor for all of our university presidents and in the direct chain of command for every employee in our system. So when I expressed interest to our board in succeeding President Guice, it created some procedural and some practical implications that they had to address. One of the challenges is that for seven years I’ve been the guy in the room with the board of 16 appointees that helps them process these complex questions, especially those that are outside of the room and ordinarily laypeople would deal with. And so that wasn’t available to us at this point. So they started thinking through what the process could look like.
“In state statute, The Board of Supervisors is empowered to select presidents of universities. It’s their power alone, and it’s subject to the recommendation of the system president and beneath our bylaws is a set of rules that the board has developed, which is their process for filling these these vacancies. And it has the system president throughout it. So for seven presidential searches, I’ve been the guy to lead the search. I’m the guy who developed the process and the guy who developed the questions. I’ve been in every interview session with faculty, staff, with the board, and with others. I’ve been in every executive session as the board deliberates through this process and at the same time, for seven years, I’ve led a system through multiple natural disasters, the pandemic, through periods of financial scarcity and periods of reinvestment. And I’ve worked directly for a board that has had seven years to evaluate my work. So they made this decision that to be transparent and to be open, that this was the process that they would want to pursue. It’s a decision that’s certainly subject to rational criticism and a spectrum of opinions on whether it’s the right decision, the wrong decision, or somewhere in the middle. But it is the decision of the board.”
Henderson was then pressed on a project three-year plan if he indeed becomes president.
“My approach to leadership is one that development of vision is a collaborative exercise because it’s the process of having the conversation around that vision,” Henderson said. “It develops ownership of every component part of the organization. Every person has a stake in that vision. And so that’s one that we would be creating together.
“But certainly there are some elements that I’ve been thinking about for for losing the first group is essential. We are in an era where institutions have to be financially self-supporting. That requires growing this institution to be self-sufficient really needs 15,000 students enrolled, 15,000 active, academically prepared students, and they do exist. You’ll hear myths of the enrollment cliff. You’ll hear all kinds of reasons why there’s no reason to grow. This institution is positioned for growth. But if you’re going to grow, you have to have the capacity to grow. You have to have the physical infrastructure to grow. You have to have good faculty infrastructure to grow. And right now, you don’t. Those are legitimate concerns that have to be addressed. And the problem is you can’t do one before the other. It has to be a thoughtfully planned and executed approach to develop that capacity. As you grow and respond to the needs of this region, the needs of the state and the needs of the nation.”
Prior to applying for the president position at Louisiana Tech, Henderson had tried and was ultimately unsuccessful to become the latest president of Louisiana State University. Recently, Henderson also signed a five-year contract extension with the ULS, and was asked why, given all of these facts, he would be beneficial to Louisiana Tech.
Henderson’s response was that he was strategic in signing the extension with a buyout clause that would only apply if he were to leave for any school outside the ULS system before he addressed the LSU pursuit.
“I had about 140 legislators reach out to me and asked me to pursue the LSU president position and actually had eight board members from LSU reach out to me and ask them to pursue the election process,” Henderson said. “Problem is, it takes nine board members to elect a president of an institution, and eight is very, very close. But it’s not nine.
“Professionally, I believe the experiences that I’ve had in the state of Louisiana and the connections that I have at every level of the state, the 18 years of scholarly implementation of management theory in complex organizations makes me qualified to lead this institution. And I’m so bullish on the future of this institution; the future could not be brighter provided we do the things necessary, especially in the short run, to right the ship, to build on a foundation that Dr. Guice and his predecessors laid. And I have no doubt we’re going to be able to do that.”
When the mic was opened to the public, Ruston resident and 1969 Louisiana Tech graduate Bill Jones questioned Henderson’s credentials, citing the Dr. Guice and former president Dr. Dan Reneau both earned a Ph.D from “top tier academic and research institutions.”
“I didn’t go to a Tier One institution,” Henderson said. “I was part of the U.S. Military Academy. When I was 18 years old, three days after graduation, I got on a plane to New York and was part of the most prestigious class that was admitted to that esteemed institution. But things happen, and I had a severe head and neck injury. It took me about a year away from being able to read and function as a student. The ability to overcome those types of disappointments and derailments of your path forward is a characteristic that leads to success in leadership.
“If you look at my track record in leading institutions across the board, there’s been nothing but a steady stream of success. Today, I serve as the direct supervisor for nine university presidents. One is a Carnegie Research I institution in UL-Lafayette. He calls me at least twice a week for my advice and guidance on how to operate his institution. Dr. Guice for seven years has worked closely with me in every aspect of advancing this institution. You have a faculty and staff devoted to research and scholarship. And I bring a skill set that empowers them to do that at a level they have never done before.”
Henderson was also asked about how he would propose shared governance for both faculty and staff.
“Shared governance is essential and something a little boring to those outside of academia,” Henderson said. “I’m one that believes directly in empowerment. I surround myself with people that are very knowledgable and competent, and I charge them with responsibilities. That can be a little challenging to be a direct report to me because we move at a pretty rapid pace and the expectations for performance are quite high. So, you get the joy of empowerment, but you also get the expectation that comes with that. And that’s the only way for an institution that is this complex with this potential for performance can succeed.”
Stay tuned to the Lincoln Parish Journal for more coverage on Henderson’s path to possibly becoming Louisiana Tech’s next president.
