NEW ORLEANS — The Southern University Board of Supervisors said Friday it would not be able to appoint an interim president to replace Dennis Shields, but it did find a job for a former football coach it removed amid what is so far a 1-10 season.

When setting out its agenda for this week's meeting, the school said Shields would step down at the end of the year. The Iowa native, who was the chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville for 12 years before moving to Baton Rouge, joined the Southern University System in 2022.

The school said a formal announcement would be made at its meeting Friday, but it opened the session by saying it couldn't name an interim president until its Dec. 19 meeting. The item wasn't added to Friday's agenda in time for the panel to consider it, the school said.

Southern's board did approve retaining former Terrance Graves, who was removed as football coach last month, when the Jaguars had a 1-6 record. They are now 1-10 going into the Bayou Classic game Saturday against Grambling.

"As it relates to our separation with Coach Graves, we entered into a negotiated mutual separation agreement providing for an opportunity for him to stay employed at Southern beginning January at the conclusion of his term in December of this year," board member Domoine Rutledge said.

According to the school's agreement, it will pay Graves at least $75,000 a year as an at-will employee in the athletic department. It also has an option to pay $75,000 in a lump sum.