The Louisiana Board of Regents held its second meeting of the school year Wednesday, voting on a variety of academic initiatives and receiving a visit from LSU President William F. Tate IV a day earlier. Here are the key takeaways:
Enrollment cliff
Tate in his speech to the regents Tuesday hinted at an end to LSU’s ever increasing freshman class sizes, as the school is beginning to struggle to accommodate the new students.
“You won’t probably hear me next year say, ‘We broke an enrollment record,’ unless it’s by like 10 or 15,” he said. “…We’re not trying to grow it anymore.”
Tate cited the strain on campus facilities such as dorms and the growing workload on faculty as reasons for the halt in student expansion.
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New budget
The Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Operating Budget presented by Deputy Commissioner Matt LaBruyere was passed unanimously. The objective of this budget is to “Facilitate a risk assessment process to develop a risk focused internal audit plan in accordance with Louisiana Revised Statute,” according to the Board of Regents.
New Center of Research at LSU AgCenter
The new Center of Research Excellence for the Study of Invasive Species for the LSU AgCenter passed unanimously as well. Those in partnership with this collaboration have helped raise $24 million in the last five years, and secured an additional $22 million annually for the next five years going forward, according to Blake R. David, chair of Academic and Student Affairs for the Board of Regents.
New degree programs
The Board also passed a motion to receive and accept the year one list of planned new degree programs, the recently approved program progress report and to approve the requested program terminations.
“The 54 new degree programs, proposed by institutions from all four systems, provide us with an opportunity for state-wide collaboration in program development and stronger alignment with state and regional labor needs,” the Board of Regents Talent Development Pipeline Analysis said.
Master plan
The year four update of the Board’s Master Plan was provided, which focused on mapping a successful pathway to 2030. By that point, The Board of Regents aims for 60% of the Louisiana population to have a credential of value, said a regent.
The next Board of Regents meeting will be on Oct. 18.
