High-paying vice president positions were among those cut at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette this week as the school’s new interim president works to close a financial deficit he inherited.
The changes were announced Friday afternoon in an email from interim President Ramesh Kolluru to faculty and staff.
Three vice presidential positions were eliminated — vice president for enrollment management, vice president for student affairs and vice president for university advancement.
DeWayne Bowie, who oversaw enrollment, will retire, according to the email. Patricia Cottonham, who oversaw student affairs, will become the dean of students. John Blohm, who was over university advancement, will solely focus on overseeing the UL Lafayette Foundation.
The changes are part of an organizational restructuring, Kolluru said in the email and are “ focused on improving efficiency and streamlining administrative functions” while ensuring “our structure aligns with our financial realities while furthering our academic and R1 mission, positioning us for sustainable future growth.”
Kolluru said he asked that his interim president’s salary only be $1 more than when he served as vice president of research, innovation and economic development.
He also said the vice presidents of academic affairs and intercollegiate athletics were asked to take temporary 15% salary cuts.
The 2025-2026 budgeted salary for Bryan Maggard, who oversees intercollegiate athletics, was $472,962. A 15% salary cut would bring his pay to about $402,000.
In addition to the staffing changes, Kolluru said in his email that there must be reduced spending through the end of June, when the fiscal year ends. Without that reduced spending, he threatened that “additional budget reductions may be required.”
Kolluru said he and other UL leaders are developing a “comprehensive revenue generation plan and exploring additional strategies to strengthen our financial position.” More information about that plan will be released in a meeting scheduled for next week.
“These personnel actions affect colleagues and campus leaders who have contributed to our University in meaningful ways, and I am deeply grateful for their service,” Kolluru said in his email. “These changes are difficult – but they are necessary to ensure that our University emerges stronger and is positioned for long-term success.”
This week’s cuts are the latest in a series of position eliminations, retirements, resignations and reassignments that have happened since July, when UL President Joseph Savoie stepped down before his contract was up.
Since then, the university’s bleak financial reality has come to public light along with faculty and staff frustration over the lack of transparency surrounding cuts and the search for a new president.
The first wave of positions was eliminated under former interim President Jaimie Hebert, who served in the role from Aug. 1 until Nov. 13, when he asked the UL System Board to return to his role as provost of the university. That’s when Kolluru took on the role of interim president.
While serving as interim, Hebert announced that the university had a $25-million deficit on top of a $25-million recurring annual budget shortfall.
Layoffs, position eliminations and shuffling of staff to help alleviate the university’s budget issues have been ongoing since September, when six positions were eliminated and the Office of Sustainability closed. In October, another 51 people were laid off, and 19 positions were eliminated. Among those laid off were professors, assistant coaches and police officers whose annual salaries ranged from $16,153 to $171,600.
However, signs of financial issues surfaced earlier in the year.
In January, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office released its annual audit for UL’s athletics department and noted a $12.6-million deficit for the department. And in March, the LLA released its annual audit for the university as a whole and noted four findings mostly related to timely billing and proper controls surrounding grants. Two months later, then-Vice President for Administration and Finance Jerry Luke LeBlanc resigned from his position.
High-paying VP positions among latest cuts at UL Lafayette this week