Despite budgetary woes from the previous legislative session, LSU hired at least 95 new faculty members for the 2015 school year with the help of funds from the Workforce and Innovation for a Stronger Economy program.
The WISE Fund, signed by Gov. Bobby Jindal in June 2014, provided $7.1 million in funds to LSU and allocated funding through a performance-based formula, which rewards degrees shown to be in the highest demand.
While most of the funding went toward STEM-related fields, about $3.7 million was dedicated to hiring 27 new faculty members. 
LSU President F. King Alexander said much deliberation was put into to the hiring process, given the university’s financial instability and lack of state funding.
“It was a scary gamble,” Alexander said.
The 95 accounted — for faculty members who attended an orientation in August organized by Senior Vice Provost Jane Cassidy. Though there were more hired, Cassidy said there will not be a precise number until October after everyone’s paperwork is completed.
Cassidy was in charge of checking  the potential faculty members’ qualifications after deans from across campus made the new hires.
Of this 95, Cassidy said approximately 75 were hired in August. She said the majority of the 95 new hires were full-time faculty, meaning they
responded to a national search. There were also some who were hired after Faculty Orientation.
“We do what we do to get the best people in here,” Cassidy said.
She said most new faculty in attendance were members of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences — the largest college in terms of departments and faculty. 
The majority of all the hires are filling positions left vacant by retired professors.
Cassidy also said a revamped Film and Media Studies program is in the works and hopes to utilize the new hires’ creative strategies to form the program.
She said LSU’s number one priority is students, and the new faculty members will allow administrators to better serve them.
“There’s always a concern that we’re going to have to cut classes and [students] aren’t going to be able to graduate on time because [they] won’t be able to get the courses [they] need,” Cassidy said.