News Briefs
The
Independent
05-31-06
CHRIS WILLIAMS HIRE UNPOPULAR WITH L.T.C. FACULTY
Lafayette City-Parish
Councilman Chris Williams’ approval rating from faculty members at the campuses
he oversees appears to be in the tank. Williams was recently promoted to the
newly created position of regional director — part of an administrative
streamlining of the state’s community and technical college system — but
another candidate was the overwhelming favorite among members of the
eight-campus faculty senate.
For the past five
years, Williams has served as vice chancellor of the Louisiana Technical
College’s Acadiana region, a position that has been eliminated, but faculty
members wanted the dean of the Lafayette campus, Phyllis Dupuis, to direct
their institutions.
Jerrylene Fontenot,
who teaches at the Charles B. Coreil campus in Ville Platte and is president of
the faculty senate for Region IV (the Acadiana area), says of the 129 votes
cast, there were 13 abstentions, 11 votes for Williams and a whopping 105 for
Dupuis. “The vote just came out very lopsided,” she says. The senate then sent
the results to Dr. Walter Bumphus, president of the Louisiana Community and
Technical College System, but was aware its vote may not influence the outcome.
“I think they were hoping it would,” notes Fontenot, “but we knew it was not
part of the selection process. The faculty wanted an opportunity to voice an
opinion.”
Williams did not
respond to a call for comment by press time.
Fontenot also served
on the committee that interviewed the four candidates for the position and
forwarded the top two applicants, Williams and Dupuis, to Bumphus. Bumphus, who
had the authority in naming the new regional director, recommended Williams to
the system’s board of supervisors, and the board approved his choice.
“There are a lot of
people disappointed that it wasn’t Phyllis,” says Fontenot, who declined to
speculate on Bumphus’ decision. “I really hate to get into that.” Bumphus, who
is recovering from surgery, could not be reached for comment.
— Leslie Turk
The appointments of Williams , Meaux and six other administrators is the latest in a series of moves aimed at consolidating the state's 42-campus technical college system into a single institution.
Before taking the job , Williams served as assistant director of community and governmental relations at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He previously worked as an instructor/counselor at Lafayette Regional Technical Institute from 1987 to 1990.