Board members of several school systems throughout the state don’t get the opportunity to meet and work together often, but they were recently able to do just that.
The Louisiana Board of Regents hosted its 2012 Trusteeship Conference on postsecondary education Monday.
The conference is an opportunity for board members of several different systems to build relationships with one another and work to improve higher education in the state, said Meg Casper, Regents associate commissioner of public affairs.
Casper said the board hosted the conference last year, which it hadn’t done in nearly 15 years.
She said this year’s meeting was so successful, the board will consider hosting more in the coming years.
The conference consisted of several sessions to inform attendees about issues facing higher education institutions, like student performance and ways to improve K-12 education.
Attendees also heard from panels on the 2012 Legislative Session and TOPS.
Garret Danos, chairman of the LSU System Board of Supervisors, said meetings like the Trusteeship Conference are important because board members should be working together to solve universal problems.
“The nature of education is changing,” he said. “Not only in the state, but in the country.”
Danos said he’s confident in the Board of Supervisors’ ability to propel the University forward in uncertain financial times.
“In the midst of all these challenges, we have a great, diverse board,” he said. “If we combine that with the great staff at the University, we’ll have a lot of opportunities ahead of us.”
Robert Levy, chairman of the Board of Regents, encouraged attendees to focus on the students they serve each day.
He said he hoped the conference would lead to better communication in the future.
“We need to keep focused,” he said. “We need to keep the lines of communication open and the dialogue between institutions flowing.”
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Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]