December 3, 2008 — Wrapping Up
Dear Faculty & Staff,
The final days of the fall semester are upon us. I would be remiss if I didn’t express my thanks to you for a wonderful first semester. Since I last emailed you, we’ve made progress on several important items including:
Strategic Plan
Following our last discussion of the strategic plan for the university, several forums have been conducted to discuss and modify the proposed plan. In attendance at these sessions were faculty members, department heads, research center directors, deans, vice presidents, directors, coordinators and students. As a result of the feedback gathered, the plan underwent over 10 iterations to reach its present state. In addition, an invitation for comment and the actual plan were posted for public review on the Faculty Senate website in October. The plan will be brought forth for review by the University Council and will be presented to several community and constituent groups in early 2009. In the spring, as we develop our budget proposal for 2009-10, the strategic plan will guide investment decisions. If you haven’t reviewed the plan yet, please do so by clicking on the following link: http://www.louisiana.edu/Faculty/Senate/Bruderfiles/Strategic.pdf
Student Enrollment and Success
An important area of focus for the university is student enrollment and success. To move this agenda forward, we’ve entered into a multi-phase partnership with Noel- Levitz, the nation’s leading enrollment management consulting firm and I have appointed Dr. DeWayne Bowie as Interim Vice President for Enrollment Management. Enrollment Management will coordinate the efforts of Enrollment Services, Scholarship Office, Financial Aid, Admissions, Registrar, Veteran Affairs, and Orientation. Dr. Bowie has proven leadership in this area and we look forward to exciting advances in our recruiting, admissions and retention efforts and the resulting improvements in student success.
Administrative Changes
With the guidance and approval of UL System President, Dr. Randy Moffett, and our Board of Supervisors, we’ve updated the university’s organizational chart and made some key administrative appointments. To view the organizational chart online, please click on this link:
http://www.louisiana.edu/Faculty/OrganizationChart.pdf
Dr. Steve Landry’s promotion to Provost has added several new responsibilities to his office.
Dr. Carolyn Bruder will assume additional duties and has been named Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. I am also pleased to announce that Ellen Cook has accepted the position of Interim Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs.
We have begun the search for a Chief Information Officer (CIO) who will assume responsibility and coordination of a full range of advanced voice and data technologies. A key focus will be the selection and implementation of a modern data enterprise system.
Other items you may find of interest are:
Governor’s Executive Order
As you probably know, Governor Jindal issued an Executive Order recently that establishes a hiring freeze for state agencies. The language in the Executive Order allows individual system boards of post-secondary education to determine appropriate action relative to this Executive Order.
Our system office is currently gathering employment information from campuses and early indications are that the freeze will have limited impact on critical positions, at least in the short term. State budget projections due early next year will be clarifying, but I remain hopeful. In the meantime, we are continuing to make important strategic investments including $200,000 in travel funds for faculty professional development. We are also planning to increase the professional development budget for staff.
Commencement
Fall 2008 Commencement Ceremonies are scheduled on Saturday, December 20. For a complete list of commencement ceremonies by college, please click on this link:
http://admissions.louisiana.edu/registrar/Commencement_Schedule.shtml
I am certainly looking forward to my first commencement as president and am particularly pleased that the university will honor internationally renowned singer, songwriter and poet Mr. Zachary Richard with an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts. Mr. Richard’s nomination by Dr. Barry Ancelet was recommended to me by the Graduate Council for approval by the University of Louisiana System.
There are so many good things being done by our students, faculty and staff across campus that it would be difficult to mention them all. Here are just a few I’d like to share:
- Congratulations to our debate team that has been in the national spotlight recently as the recipient of several honors. They’ve competed against and took top honors against some of the best debaters in the country in several tournaments. Congratulations go to Alease Scott, Brettly Wilson and Chapman Matis who took 1st place honors in their respective divisions in recent tournaments.
- UL Lafayette is one of 20 universities chosen worldwide to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. This international design and building competition will feature teams from Cornell, Virginia Tech, Penn State and several other distinguished institutions. Our students, whose team name is BeauSoleil, must design, build, and operate an attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar powered house. Next fall teams from around the world will meet in Washington, D.C. to assemble a “solar village” on the National Mall. Take a moment to view a short video that tells about the project by clicking on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsuziBrNeO4 This wonderful video, produced entirely by our students, faculty and staff, is a fine example of outstanding interdisciplinary collaboration.
- UL’s B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration is among the best according to The Princeton Review. The New York-based education services company is featuring our program in the recently published 2009 edition of its “Best 296 Business Schools.”
- The International Conference on College Teaching and Learning and the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning honored Anita C. Hazelwood, professor of Health Information Management, as a recipient of the 2008 Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology.
- Dr. Carl A. Brasseaux, professor of History, director of the Center for Louisiana Studies, and director of the Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism, was awarded an Archibald Hanna, Jr. research fellowship at Yale University following an international competition. The other research fellows were drawn from Harvard University and Cambridge University.
- Architecture Professor Michael McClure has been chosen as a 2008 Rome Prize recipient by the American Academy in Rome. The Rome Prize is highly regarded in arts and humanities circles and is given each year to 30 emerging artists. Professor McClure’s wife, Ursula – also an architect – was also chosen and the pair will take up residence in Rome soon.
- Special thanks for suggestions by staff members like Paul, whose observation that new students have difficulty on the first days of school because our buildings are not clearly marked, hastened the work of a committee of SGA and staff who are designing new campus signage. A related initiative to designate staff and students on those first days of the semester to serve as docents to greet and direct our students also resulted from Paul’s suggestion.
- Another staff member, Betty, sent me a list of network courses advertised in the New York Times that she thought might be of interest to people in our community. These will be helpful for our new distance learning director because attracting more adult learners will be important as we develop strategies for increasing enrollment.
In closing I’d like to share a story I heard earlier this semester. One of our young university police officers, Officer Francis, was helping a turtle safely cross the street toward Cypress Lake when he was asked why he would waste his time doing this since it wasn’t his job. His response was that it is his job to take care of everything at his school. Thank you Officer Francis and the countless other faculty and staff who share that attitude.
Gail and I wish you and yours a safe and enjoyable holiday season.
Dr. E. Joseph Savoie
President
University of Louisiana at Lafayette