Flagship Friends

http://www.lsureveille.com/news/all-english-instructors-receive-notices-1.2361076 The same day English instructor Martha Strohschein learned she was nominated for the department’s teaching award, she also received her second termination letter from Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Gaines Foster. Strohschein, a senior instructor in the English Department, has taught at the University for 26 years and said her story is all too [...]

Per Baton Rouge Business Report Daily Report AM http://www.businessreport.com/archives/daily-report/2009/jun/03/1015/ The state Senate has approved postponement of a rollback of the Stelly tax plan, despite opposition from House members. Sen. Lydia Jackson, a Shreveport Democrat, says her bill would ease proposed budget cuts to higher education by generating $118 million. The bill would push back by [...]

Each chancellor of the LSU System’s 11 institutions proposed a campus-by-campus budget reduction plan at today’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Chancellor Michael Martin said he plans to protect the academic core, Flagship status and as many campus jobs as possible. “Moving back the Flagship is a cost we cannot afford,” Martin said. Martin said the [...]

Students will see an increase in fees, the elimination of several scholarship programs, larger class sizes and elimination of student jobs if the University’s state support is cut by the proposed nearly $50 million, according to the University’s 2009-10 budget released Thursday afternoon. Submitted to the LSU System for review, the budget is the first [...]

For the letter, dated April 2, 2009, from Michael Martin, Chancellor to John Lombardi, System President detailing the proposed budget reduction for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 (FY10) http://www.lsureveille.com/polopoly_fs/1.1640976!/budgetcuts.pdf

No matter which way it’s cut, the nearly $50 million budget reduction expected for next fiscal year will severely damage Louisiana’s flagship university, Chancellor Michael Martin emphasized Tuesday. The University is busy drafting its budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year in preparation for the House Appropriations Committee meeting on April 21. The tentative budget will [...]

The University administration is considering re-tooling academic college structures to foster collaboration and improve efficiency, LSU Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Astrid Merget said a broadcast e-mail sent Friday afternoon. Merget said these possible changes have been in the works for a while and are not a reaction to possible budget cuts. “There will some [...]

Members of the Board of Regents received anticipated higher education budget cut figures for the 2009-10 fiscal year on Wednesday, under which the LSU System would see a reduction in state funding of $102,087,705. Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed state spending budget has higher education taking a $219 million reduction, on top of the now permanent [...]

Louisiana universities and colleges will receive significantly less money from the state next couple of fiscal years.The cuts could eventually lead to a budget shortfall. “Unless the economic conditions change for the better, higher education in Louisiana will be required to respond to a $440 million shortfall by 2012,” said Commissioner Sally Clausen. Higher education [...]

The cut to higher education this year is $219 million, and that’s after an additional $219 million in temporary federal stimulus dollars is included to help fill the budget gap.  So what might that mean for the future of higher education in Louisiana? Well, unless the economy turns around quickly, it could add up to [...]