Interim president takes the helm at embattled Laurentian University

Dr. Tammy Eger has been named interim president at Laurentian University, with Dr. Robert Hache stepping down from the role following the university’s insolvency process.

Edger is taking on the role for the next few months. It’s expected another interim president will take over to lead a recruitment process for a permanent president.

Eger steps into the role after months of financial crisis and the loss of confidence in the community that the school is headed in the right direction.

While times have been tough since the insolvency declaration in February 2021, she said there’s much to look forward to.

“Laurentian has a lot to be proud of right now,” Eger said.

“Certainly there is lots of opportunity to engage with the community and I look forward to doing that work.”

Eger has been working at the university for more than 25 years as a lecturer and researcher. As LU emerges from insolvency, she said the next step is a strategic planning process that will involve student leaders, facility and external stakeholders.

“Where do they see the growth opportunities? What are the strategies from an international perspective?” she said.

“We really need to hear from the community and that will guide any future growth and programs for the institution.”

As part of the insolvency process, more than 60 programs were dropped and hundreds of employees lost their jobs. LU Faculty Association president Fabrice Colin said trust needs to be rebuilt under new leadership.

“Regardless of who the next president is, we intend to hold the new administration to account to ensure that these college government processes would be respected as they are vital to a university,” Colin said.

He said Eger has a unique perspective because she has worked at the university for so long.

“She is well-respected and well-known by the Laurentian community and we hope this marks the beginning of a new era of responsible governance at Laurentian university where we see more transparency and consultation,” Colin said.

The process for recruiting a new permanent president is expected to take up to a year.