Gov. Kathleen Blanco addressed the Louisiana Board of Regents and the state’s EPSCoR delegation at the Governor’s Mansion Tuesday night about higher education.
The address came at the culmination of “Capitol Day 2004,” an event celebrating EPSCoR’s participants and their accomplishments. EPSCoR stands for the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.
While praising all the research work that already has been completed, Blanco emphasized the need to correlate higher education, research and economic stimulation.
“Education is definitely one of our biggest priorities,” Blanco said.
Blanco said she is working to improve the state’s educational institutions from the bottom up and said it is imperative that the state increases the amount of funding extended to pre-kindergarten schooling.
“We have to start teaching our children at the youngest age possible,” Blanco said.
She also expressed her support for “Vision 2020,” the state’s economic development plan, established by former Gov. Mike Foster.
“My goal is not to rewrite ‘Vision 2020,’ but to make it a reality,” Blanco said.
According to an EPSCoR publication, the Board of Regents and EPSCoR foster research with the potential to lift the state to a higher level of national competion for federal science and engineering funding — providing a link between the program and “Vision 2020.”
In the EPSCoR publication, Blanco further expressed the importance of the link between the program and “Vision 2020.”
“Wherever universities, government and private industry work together, you see an economy that’s growing.” Blanco said in the publication. “Louisiana takes pride in its commitment to providing the incentives and climate in which universities, business and government can join together to achieve the common goal of a better, stronger state.”
According to EPSCoR, the Board of Regents works to fund the project as the Regents Support Fund annually awards Louisiana universities $28 to $32 million for the establishment of endowed chairs and professorships, recruitment of superior graduate students, purchase of specialized research and instructional equipment, and support of research and development programs. In addition, the constitutionally protected Support Fund also has provided millions of dollars in “matching funds” required by EPSCoR and some federal grants.
While Blanco said much work still needs to be completed before the state is competitive nationwide, the project already can boast important contributions made to the state.
“The Regents and Louisiana EPSCoR played an active role in the identification of individual university research strengths and ways to eliminate impediments hindering the transfer of knowledge-based technology from universities to the private sector,” the report said.
Also, the project is working to forge alliances between business and academia in Louisiana.
EPSCoR pointed to five indicators to show that its projects are having an effect.
According to Entrepreneur.com, Lafayette ranks 6th in the latest list of Best Mid-Sized Cities for Entrepreneurs. Baton Rouge ranked 11th and Shreveport/Bossier City ranked 21st.
In a study by Education Week, Louisiana ranked 1st in accountability and standards in education, 5th in improving teacher quality and 16th in equity of funding.
In the March 2004 edition of State Science & Technology Indicators, Louisiana ranked 9th in business incubators per 10,000 businesses and 10th in Science and Engineering Bachelor of Science degrees granted as a percentage of total Bachelor’s degrees granted.
According to the Princeton Review, Louisiana’s school accountability program ranked in the top 10 in the nation for the second year in a row, based on the overall character and effectiveness of the accountability system.
Finally, United Way reports that Louisiana is the 8th most improved state over the last decade in the organization’s “State of Caring” index. The index measures the health and well-being of the country by analyzing 35 leading social, economic and environmental indicators.
“On such a highly sophisticated level, you make Louisiana better,” Blanco said to the EPSCoR representatives. “We really like to see economic activity linked to the transfer of technology. We hope it takes hold in the state of Louisiana.”