Realignment at two LSU System institutions are top issues on the agenda for the LSU Board of Supervisors at their June meeting today. The Board will convene at 1:30 p.m. to decide whether to merge units at LSU-Eunice and LSU-Shreveport. The Board will also hear a proposal for realignment at LSU A&M in Baton Rouge, but no decision will be made today. “The rigidity of organizational lines presented several hurdles to realizing the aspirations of the Flagship Agenda despite the enormous strides made in translating our aspirations into palpable gains,” Chancellor Michael Martin said in a letter to LSU System President John Lombardi. “In advancing this plan to realign and rename a number of academic units, LSU presents these changes … and offers assurances to sustain the integrity of all the affected academic programs.”Impending budget cuts are the driving force behind the realignment at LSU-Eunice and LSU-Shreveport, according to Charles Zewe, LSU System spokesman. Administrators at LSU-Eunice have proposed uniting the Division of Business and Technology and the Division of Nursing and Allied Health into the Division of Health Sciences and Business Technology. The merger would cut the number of full-time faculty for the combined division in half, Zewe said in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille. Upon notification of upcoming budget cuts, LSU-Eunice put a hold on filling the positions of Division of Business and Technology head, Director of Nursing and several faculty and staff positions, according to the proposal LSU-Eunice submitted. “The merger of the two divisions will eliminate a full-time administrative position, initially saving the University $19,111 and in the long-term approximately $70,000 – $75,000,” the proposal states. Faced with a $4.5-million cut, LSU-Shreveport seeks to combine four academic colleges — Sciences, Liberal Arts, Business Administration, and Education and Human Development — into the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Business, Education, and Human Development, Zewe said in the e-mail. The Board will also hear a recommendation to approve hurricane-related repair projects for LSU System campuses. Included in the recommendation is $4.725 million of damage to the LSU A&M campus, including $1.810 million for repairs to the University Student Recreational Complex, $1.760 million for the Chemical Engineering Building and $1.155 million for the School of Music. The LSU System building also needs $720,000 for roof replacement. The Office of Risk Management and FEMA will cover all the costs. It will be the first meeting for Scott Sternberg, former Daily Reveille editor and newly elected student Board member.—-Contact Katie Kennedy at [email protected]