UL Lafayette presidential semifinalists share vision for university and its financial woes
The three semifinalists vying to become the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s next president shared their vision for the school’s future Monday and addressed its financial woes during interviews with faculty, staff, students and community leaders.
Interim President Ramesh Kolluru, who has been serving as the university’s former vice president of research, innovation and economic development, outlined a four‑pillar vision focused on student success, faculty excellence, research growth and operational efficiency.
He projects growing enrollment from 16,100 to 27,500 students and annual research funding growing from $254 million to $500 million within a decade. He said he’d grow enrollment by emphasizing recruiting, along with retention and graduation rates, making sure every graduate has “two competing job offers that they can select from” by the time they walk across the stage.
Kolluru acknowledged how difficult the past several months have been as the university’s bleak financial reality came to public light — a $50 million total deficit, with $25 million of that being a recurring structural deficit — and the resulting staff and budget cuts. The university will be in the black by the end of this fiscal year on June 30 and will establish a budgeting process next month that will take the university into a more fiscally responsible future, Kolluru said.
He believes that by addressing the budget shortfall internally, the university can rebuild trust with state lawmakers to get funding in the future, such as the $15 million he’s seeking from the Louisiana Legislature to support student success efforts on campus.
“We’re not asking them to bail us out because of our financial mismanagement of the past,” Kolluru told faculty and staff. “We are asking them — here is what we’ve done. Invest into us.”
Hitesh Rai Kathuria, a tenured professor and former provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Empire State University in Saratoga Springs, New York, focused on being fiscally disciplined, increasing enrollment and retaining existing students in his vision for UL.
He expects to generate additional revenue and make up for the existing structural deficit through creating additional online degree programs and improving retention rates. He also emphasized the importance of maintaining the university’s Carnegie R1 research classification and pursuing public-private partnerships to maximize regional opportunities, such as energy production and coastal restoration.
Kathuria, who also has worked as provost of a Connecticut university system and as director of collaborative academic programs at Indiana University, shared his history of creating new online degree programs and opportunities for nontraditional students to increase enrollment and revenue. During his time in Connecticut, Kathuria was also responsible for deficit mitigation planning and addressing a deficit within the college system.
“So I fully understand the anxiety this current situation may be causing,” Kathuria told faculty and staff. “But this is transient, and this is manageable, and UL Lafayette is not the only university in this situation. A lot of public universities are in this situation.”
Richard Ludwick, former president and current president emeritus of the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, shared his vision of cutting costs strategically, growing enrollment and generating revenue from non-enrollment sources at UL.
He also shared the steps he took to cut 22 of the 170 faculty positions at the University of St. Thomas during financial problems and said he doubled undergraduate enrollment, doubled gross revenue and increased the school’s endowment by more than 80% during his tenure.
Ludwick, also a lobbyist who is legally blind, said he would focus on building relationships with politicians, donors and lawmakers to bring more money to UL. Such relationships, he said, allowed him to secure the largest single state appropriation for student aid in Indiana history during his time at the Independent Colleges of Indiana.
“That was built off of the development of trust,” Ludwick told faculty and staff. “Trust is absolutely essential in any of these kinds of endeavors. The relationship matters.”
A 21-member presidential search committee selected the three semifinalists last week from a list of 12 candidates.
The semifinalists interviews Monday were split into three sessions — one led by faculty and staff, one led by students and another led by community members.
The presidential search committee will conduct interviews Tuesday on campus and decide on finalists to recommend to the full UL System Board. The board is scheduled to interview finalists Friday on campus.
The university has been without a permanent president since last July when then-President Joseph Savoie abruptly stepped down. Since then, the board has named two interim presidents, first Jaimie Hebert, who has since returned to his position as provost, and Kolluru.
The decision to form a search committee came last fall after speculation the UL system board would forgo a search and install a president without any input from faculty, staff or students. Professors and the public pushed back against initial plans to install Kolluru into the job without a search.
The next president of UL will be tasked with tackling the school’s financial struggles.
After being named interim president, Hebert announced job eliminations and other cost-cutting measures to try to make up for a $25 million deficit. Kolluru announced in December that the deficit had been reduced to about $10.5 million.
Staff writer Ashley White contributed to this report.