"John Q. Public has not only a chance to witness the change, but to affect it."
by EDITOR - News Star (excerpt)

Want an earful?

An earful and then some should be available when the University of Louisiana at Lafayette hosts meeting No. 2 of the presidential search committee at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 12 on campus.

That meeting was announced this week by the University of Louisiana System office, and consider the guest list: The meeting is hosted by ULL alums, but it will include the Economic Development Authority, the Cajundome Commission, the Chamber of Commerce, and others.

Among those others is John Q. Public — that's you, if you care to go — and that makes this meeting special. It's special because in an era when government secrecy is decried, the ULS leadership believes the public ought to have a front-row seat to the decision-making process. That's a good thing.

ULS President Sally Clausen said the ULL search process would mirror earlier searches familiar to northeastern Louisiana. The University of Louisiana at Monroe and Grambling State University have both conducted open, successful searches for president. The process has a track record — a good one.

Clausen concedes that some potential candidates shy away from such publicly open searches. That, she says, is a concern. But the advantages to an open search far outweigh the disadvantages.

For starters, community members, faculty, staff and students — students ... remember them? — can characterize what matters most to them in a new president. Oftentimes, John Q. Public is both perceptive and wise.

It won't be easy for the next president of ULL to replace Ray Authement, who, with 33 years at the ULL helm, is the longest-standing president of an American public university. But change is coming.

John Q. Public has not only a chance to witness the change, but to affect it. He has a seat at the table.

It's a seat he has earned. And paid for.