By Piper Hutchinson, Louisiana Illuminator
The president of the University of Louisiana System wants to lead one of the system’s nine schools, but state law and board rules might keep him in his current job.
Jim Henderson confirmed in an interview Sunday that he has expressed interest in applying for the job of president of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, where current president Les Guice is set to retire at the end of the year.
“Louisiana Tech is an exceptional institution and potentially succeeding President Guice as president is enticing, both professionally and personally,” Henderson said.
The Ruston Daily Leader first published the speculation that Henderson is being considered for the Louisiana Tech presidency, after the UL System Board of Supervisors sent out a vague public notice related to the search for the next president.
The potential of Henderson’s candidacy for the Tech job is unusual — and complicated. Both state law and the board’s own rules and bylaws ensure the system president is heavily involved in the selection of a university president, serving as the non-voting chair of every search committee. Henderson has served in the role for multiple president searches during his tenure, including two this year.
Henderson said the board will discuss whether it is even possible for him to seek the position at Louisiana Tech and, if so, how it will be done when it meets tomorrow.
If the board determines it is not possible without him leaving his current position, Henderson said he is committed to staying on as system president. The board approved a five-year extension to his contract earlier this year. At his request, his contract includes a buyout, meaning he would have to pay the system tens of thousands of dollars if he wanted to take a job outside the UL System. Henderson said he requested this to show his commitment to the work the system is doing.
Board bylaws require that a search committee be appointed by the chair of the board. The committee must be made up of at least six members, one of which must be a faculty member of the institution appointed by that school’s faculty senate president.
Because the UL System does not employ search consultants for this process, Henderson has taken on much of the work to ensure diversity in the pool of candidates, including directly emailing minority and women candidates to ask them to apply for the positions. It has resulted in Northwestern State University selecting its first Black president and the University of New Orleans selecting its first woman president.
When asked why he would consider leaving his position, which pays significantly more than any of the nine university presidencies, Henderson said it was always his plan to return to a job where he could work more closely with faculty and students than he does in his current position.
Henderson told the Illuminator he is ready to return to his roots. He has served as the head of the UL System since 2017. Prior to that, he was president of Northwestern State in Natchitoches.
Henderson also said he has a deep personal connection with the Ruston campus. His parents attended the university, and his youngest son is currently a sophomore there.
When pressed, Henderson said his decision to seek the Louisiana Tech presidency has nothing to do with the shifting political climate around higher education. In his current role, Henderson often works with politicians and can be seen at the State Capitol nearly every day the legislature is in session. He’s the only one of the state’s four system presidents to take such a hands-on role.
“I can work with Gavin Newsom or Ron DeSantis,” Henderson said. “I’m politically celibate.”
The UL System’s search committees generally hold public meetings at which the public is allowed input, but most of the actual deliberation and work of selecting a president is done behind closed doors.
If a search committee is selected Monday, it will likely take several months for it to complete its work.