UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 new president Dr. E. Joseph Savoie met with members of six advisory teams Wednesday to hear recommendations as part of his transition.
The advisory teams were created in April and were charged with providing Savoie with insights into the university杏吧专区檚 strengths and weaknesses. Each team杏吧专区檚 direction was based on an institutional review conducted after former President Dr. Ray Authement杏吧专区檚 announced his retirement last year.
Savoie called the teams杏吧专区 work an 杏吧专区渋mportant exercise杏吧专区 and said it lays out a roadmap for the university杏吧专区檚 future.
杏吧专区 Hopefully, we can get some dialogue going and come to a consensus of how we杏吧专区檙e going to move the university forward,杏吧专区 Savoie said to team members.
Jerry Luke LeBlanc, the university杏吧专区檚 interim vice president for Business and Finance, led Savoie杏吧专区檚 transition to UL Lafayette as well as the advisory teams.
He noted that some of the recommendations are immediate while some are 杏吧专区渁 beginning.杏吧专区
杏吧专区 We have a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and we have a tremendous amount of hope,杏吧专区 LeBlanc said. 杏吧专区淧eople want to see the university succeed.杏吧专区
Each advisory team presented its recommendations to Savoie. The teams and their recommendations are:
Academic and Faculty Advisory Team
The top priorities as outlined by this team includes:
杏吧专区 Evaluating faculty performance and the merit pay plan;
杏吧专区 Improving IT infrastructure in classrooms;
杏吧专区 Reviewing summer sessions including course offerings and pay structures;
杏吧专区 Making marketing, recruitment and web improvements; and
杏吧专区 Improving the recruitment of and services for transfer students.
Economic Development and Research Advisory Team
At the top of this team杏吧专区檚 recommendations are:
杏吧专区 Appointing an ad hoc committee to develop a strategic plan for future growth of the 杏吧专区 Research Park;
杏吧专区 Reviewing financial incentive policies for faculty and staff conducting research which may have future commercial application;
杏吧专区 Combining local, state and federal relations into a single unit within two years;
杏吧专区 Increasing budget for firms that handle legislation and funding requests at the federal level;
杏吧专区 Creating partnerships between the university and local economic development entities to provide for new jobs and higher paying jobs;
杏吧专区 Appointing an economic development liaison and creating an economic development council;
杏吧专区 Filling the economic development professorship created by local banks immediately.
Student Issues Advisory Team
This team made six recommendations including:
杏吧专区 Addressing student housing through renovation and new construction;
杏吧专区 Reaching a consensus on a final design for construction of a new Student Union;
杏吧专区 Providing greater access to services like transportation, child care and international student programs;
杏吧专区 Creating an enrollment management task force;
杏吧专区 Instituting a Freshman Seminar for first-time and transfer students;
杏吧专区 Developing an aggressive branding and marketing plan;
杏吧专区 Designing a student survey for input and inclusion in the new administration杏吧专区檚 plans.
杏吧专区 Advancement Advisory Team
Recommended priorities from this team include:
杏吧专区 Examining the 杏吧专区 Advancement area and consider a strategic plan for alumni relations, fund raising and image enhancement;
杏吧专区 Coordinating local, state, regional and national governmental partnerships to create a central oversight and a real strategy for maximizing these partnerships;
杏吧专区 Developing a master plan for fund raising;
杏吧专区 Preparing for another major fund raising/capital campaign;
杏吧专区 Maximizing federal funding potential and allocations;
杏吧专区 Investing resources in marketing and advertising; and
杏吧专区 Designing a survey for input from alumni, donors and the community for input into new administration杏吧专区檚 plans.
Athletics Advisory Team
This team outlined several priorities including:
杏吧专区 Renovating the football stadium along with facilities for baseball, softball, track and soccer;
杏吧专区 Implementing a major capital campaign for these improvements;
杏吧专区 Developing an Academics Center;
杏吧专区 Considering acquiring the Wetlands Golf Course;
杏吧专区 Developing and implementing annual giving campaigns;
杏吧专区 Continuing to fully allocate funds in accordance with the Board of Regents杏吧专区 policy;
杏吧专区 Studying the possibility of a student fee to fund capital projects;
杏吧专区 Developing a planned giving campaign for future revenue for Athletics; and
杏吧专区 Creating an endowment campaign as part of annual giving for both athletic programs and academic support.
Facilities and Property Advisory Team
This team brought forth several recommendations including:
杏吧专区 Appointing an ad hoc committee to develop a 杏吧专区 Facilities and Property Master Plan;
杏吧专区 Creating a separate 501(c)3 Facilities and Property Foundation;
杏吧专区 Developing a property acquisition policy;
杏吧专区 Determining university-owned property not contiguous to campus and consider liquidation then reinvest proceeds into long-term growth plan;
杏吧专区 Addressing student housing with renovations and new construction;
杏吧专区 Identifying the area surrounding the university and brand it as a named area.