The UL System, which oversees nine Louisiana universities including the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, is meeting in special session this morning in Lafayette.
UPDATE: After an executive session that lasted around an hour, the board came out and voted to appoint a new interim president.
Board President Mark Romero said the board will be establishing a search committee and establishing a timeline.
And then Jaimie Hebert, interim president, asked to be returned to his previous position.
"I wanted to thank the board for the honor of being able to serve my alma mater for the past three months. can't say it wasn'ta trying time but the folks behind me right now and on our campus are some of the most extraordinary people i've worked with in my career. They care about our uniersity, the success of our university," Hebert said. "At this point, respectfully request I be allowed to return to the provost position. I've given my skill set to assist the university as best as I possibly can in these trying times. I would request that you allow me to return to that position," Hebert said.
He said he was recommending that the board place Ramesh Kolluru, UL's vice president for research, innovation and economic development, as interim president.
The rumors were that Kolluru would be appointed president today; but this is what happened after the closed-door discussion.
Both actions were unanimously approved by the board.
Kolluru said he is "fully committed to lead this institution through it's current challenges," and promised a plan that will create a culture of "service, accountability and innovation. This will become our branding cry."
Kolluru said he plans a faculty-first, student-centered focus.
"Students are the mission of our university, and it is the faculty that makes that possible," he said.
He also promised focus on research.
"I intend for this university to grow. During financial challenges it's easy to say we should step back, but we will continue to push forward," he said.
In terms of the financial "turbulence," Kolluru promised a plan after Thanksgiving to grow revenue for the university.
He spoke directly to the staff, faculty and students.
"It's not our people who have failed our systems. It is our broken systems, in some part, that have failed our people," he said.
He promised to change the systems that have been "holding us back," Kolluru said, adding that "together, faculty, staff, and students, we will reset and rebuild."
Also during the meeting, the board appointed an interim president for McNeese State University - because that school's president recently was hired as president of the LSU System. Wade Rousse recommended Kedrick Nicholas, who currently is senior vice president of student affairs at McNeese State University. The board appointed Nicholas unanimously without discussion.
You can watch the meeting here:
First on the agenda of the meeting was "University of Louisiana at Lafayette Presidential Search"
The board went into executive session.
UL currently has an interim president, who was appointed after President Joseph Savoie went to emeritus status earlier this year; yesterday Savoie announced he was retiring.
In recent weeks, UL has made public some financial struggles and the cuts and layoffs made to address those.
We'll update this story as things progress.
