The LSU Board of Supervisors approved student fee increases for next year’s operating budget. The new budget includes student fee hikes ranging from about 1 to 3 percent to fund additional student academic and mental health services and security measures, which board members highlighted to prepare LSU for possible school shootings.
LSU President F. King Alexander said students should not have to wait in line for mental health services and highlighted a spate of recent campus shootings, including the Oct. 22 shooting at Tennessee State University that left one student dead. He also mentioned the recent arrest of an LSU student on terrorizing charges Oct. 13 after talking about a potential school shooting while on top of the Union Square Parking Garage.
Alexander said the school implemented more active shooter drills but that additional measures, such as bulletproof film on windows, may be necessary.
Students will pay higher fees, which Vice President for Finance and Administration Daniel Layzell introduced as 1 to 2.6 percent hikes, in the spring, LSU Media Relations Director Ernie Ballard said in a text message.
LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans was the target of recent drive-by shootings, Chancellor Larry Hollier said.
Because the Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center sits next to the interstate, he said people shoot at the building from their cars, shattering the unreliable bulletproof glass and posing a risk to those inside. He said he will look into bulletproof film for more protection.
“We’ve got evil, sick people out there,” Board member Scott Ballard said.
Ballard highlighted mental health and more training for law enforcement as methods to combat the issue. As state legislators look for areas to cut when balancing the budget, he said they should spare mental health and law enforcement.
The Board also approved LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva’s one-year contract extension, which did not include a salary change.
The Board members touted the strength of the athletic program. The program contributed about $10 million to academic programs in the past year.
Two weeks ago, Athletic Committee Chairman Blake Chatelain said he was reminded of that strength when LSU hosted the University of South Carolina just a few days after flooding devastated the state’s capital of Columbia and surrounding areas.
“It was just a class act, and it just spoke volumes about the type of university we have here at LSU,” Board member Rolfe McCollister.
Chatelain said the athletic department and LSU community set a great example in college athletics and gave support to the department’s contributions to academics and facilities at the school.
“It’s a reminder of how a strong athletic program can enhance both the athletic and student experience and the academic side of LSU,” Chatelain said.
LSU’s 2016-17 operating budget, introduced to the board by Layzell, is still being finalized before being put forth to the Board of Regents but will include increased funding for higher education systems, he said.
The board utilized its newfound fee autonomy power, acquired through Act 377 of the past legislative session, by implementing “modest” fee increases, Alexander said.
“This is well below what the bill authorized us to do,” he added.
Layzell said the fees are required by law to be funneled back into student services, such as tutoring and additional instructors, as well as security, safety and mental health services.
The day before the statewide elections, Alexander said the school will work to put a polling station in the Student Union for the next election cycle.
He said all four major primary candidates said higher education is a priority, but he will wait to see where that goes, as there are “tough decisions to be made.”
“There is a degree of sympathy to what has happened to higher education in this state,” Alexander said.