The (LA Tech/LSUS) Merger Thread II

This has needed to happen for decades. That Cedric Glover is the one putting forward the legislation is a good thing as far as the legislation having a chance of succeeding. All things considered, after a decade of cuts I think the Baton Rouge school may even invite a consolidation. Especially since they've come nowhere close to doing what they said they'd do for LSU-S the last time it came up....and nearly passed (behind the scenes) though the vote may not have reflected it. Don't remember the vote.

I hope it goes through this time.

I was all for this "merger" back in 2012. But.....I'm not certain anymore.

LA Tech seems to have enough problems of its own these days. I'm reminded that Tech is no longer recognized as a "Tier One" academic university by USNWR. And let's not forget that literally all of our sports programs are under-achieving badly. Furthermore, our fan support and involvement seems to be dwindling in all sports. And our school prez seems to be more interested in posting Facebook photo's of new construction work on campus rather than tackling some of these real operational problems. It's disappointing.

I'm not typically a negative person. But I sincerely question whether LA Tech is in the position right now to take on someone else's problems. Until now, this has been LSU's problem, and the City of Shreveport's problem. Other than taking on the additional maintenance of a few hard assets and property --and the classes that will need to be re-staffed-- what's really in this for Louisiana Tech?

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Originally Posted by HogDawg

I was all for this "merger" back in 2012. But.....I'm not certain anymore.

LA Tech seems to have enough problems of its own these days. I'm reminded that Tech is no longer recognized as a "Tier One" academic university by USNWR. And let's not forget that literally all of our sports programs are under-achieving badly. Furthermore, our fan support and involvement seems to be dwindling in all sports. And our school prez seems to be more interested in posting Facebook photo's of new construction work on campus rather than tackling some of these real operational problems. It's disappointing.

I'm not typically a negative person. But I sincerely question whether LA Tech is in the position right now to take on someone else's problems. Until now, this has been LSU's problem, and the City of Shreveport's problem. Other than taking on the additional maintenance of a few hard assets and property --and the classes that will need to be re-staffed-- what's really in this for Louisiana Tech?

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I agree. I don’t trust Guice to pull this off.

LSUS needs to be closed. As do many of the other schools in Louisiana.

We should embrace the consolidation of LSU-S with Tech. It's the first step in a total consolidation of all four year universities in north Louisiana into what will become the La Tech System. This consolidation would work so well that shortly afterward, the state will want to do the same thing with Grambling, ULM, NW State, and LSU-A. Next would come the med school in Shreveport.

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Originally Posted by brtransplant

We should embrace the consolidation of LSU-S with Tech. It's the first step in a total consolidation of all four year universities in north Louisiana into what will become the La Tech System. This consolidation would work so well that shortly afterward, the state will want to do the same thing with Grambling, ULM, NW State, and LSU-A. Next would come the med school in Shreveport.

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lsu would rather have their entire campus burn to the ground than give us a med school

Higher education in Louisiana needs to be consolidated. Period.

We are propping up institutions in this state that we have no business doing. The Tech-LSU-S merger last time was something that needed to happen. Satellite campus with trimmed administrations vs full institution. It was opposed by paper tigers who think LSU is the only school in the state.

LSUS undergrad enrollment has dropped from around 4,000 when this was proposed last time around to around 2,700 now. On the other hand, they have a strong online Masters program propping up their enrollment numbers. We’ve been piecemealing campuses together to try to make inroads into Shreveport, but this would give us a physical campus to do whatever we want.

To me, this isn’t about Shreveport. This is about proving we can merge with another institution with the ultimate goal of doing what brtransplant said. If we can succeed here, could we see a day where Tech, ULM, NW State and LSUS are all Louisiana Tech with a combined undergrad enrollment larger than LSU and a united front in education for North Louisiana?

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Originally Posted by Blue Dawg

lsu would rather have their entire campus burn to the ground than give us a med school

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This goes back to discussions we had here years ago. The LSU faithful in Shreveport wouldn't want to give up the med school, but that's not exactly the case for LSU's Baton Rouge leadership. The focus there - since Hurricane Katrina - has been on three things, including the main campus in Baton Rouge, the dental school in New Orleans, and the med school in New Orleans.

The med school in Shreveport has tremendous financial issues. The medicaid money the state used to prop is up for so many years is gone. Many would be surprised how quickly LSU (and the state) would move to relinquish it to a qualified entity who could make it work financially.

Historian is right. The LSU system focuses on funding the NOLA med school first, to the detriment of the Shreveport school. The medical school admin of Shreveport have been pretty vocal about the inequality. If they thought they could improve their situation by leaving the LSU system they would support the move.

As for the LSU-S situation, Shreveport is under served and needs a 4 year school. Centenary College has its own problems and can't fill the void. Neither can Southern - Shreveport.

A little over 30 years ago, I needed to take 21 hours of Jr & Sr level accounting courses but Tech didn't offer night classes and LSU-S did so that's where I went even though it meant I wouldn't qualify for a second B.S. degree. At that time the LSU-S school of business was very strong and their accounting dept was filled with professors with ties to Tech. Like Dr Phillips and Dr Smoloinski (son of legendary Tech accounting professor Dr Harold Smolinski). The school was overflowing with day and night students. Shreveport Bossier has grown but LSU-S has declined. I am sure if the school was adequately funded, staffed and pushed it would get back to where it was.

If you are familiar with the LSU Ag Farm situation you know how LSU has cannibalized the various farms in North La to support their favored programs in the south for decades but especially in the last 15 years. The Calhoun pine forest research center has been closed. Within the past year, LSU nearly lost the Claiborne Parish farm to Tech when aggravated local cattlemen, who need the farm functioning properly, and businessmen, who see the dwindling economic benefits, brought influence to bear. LSU made promises and held on to the 1,400 acre research farm with some of the finest pastures in the state. And though they've done a bit of what they said they'd do, failure to really do the deal will see the situation revisited in 3 - 5 years.

LSU has done the same thing to LSU-S and the med school but now times have changed. Local politicians understand what's going on and LSU has pulled/milked all they can from their satellites. They've become a financial burden to the LSU system, yet the local need for both remains.

I think there is a tremendous opportunity for Tech here. We need to be reaching out and we better not do it with "alligator" arms.

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Originally Posted by tenacious_dog

Historian is right. The LSU system focuses on funding the NOLA med school first, to the detriment of the Shreveport school. The medical school admin of Shreveport have been pretty vocal about the inequality. If they thought they could improve their situation by leaving the LSU system they would support the move.

As for the LSU-S situation, Shreveport is under served and needs a 4 year school. Centenary College has its own problems and can't fill the void. Neither can Southern - Shreveport.

A little over 30 years ago, I needed to take 21 hours of Jr & Sr level accounting courses but Tech didn't offer night classes and LSU-S did so that's where I went even though it meant I wouldn't qualify for a second B.S. degree. At that time the LSU-S school of business was very strong and their accounting dept was filled with professors with ties to Tech. Like Dr Phillips and Dr Smoloinki (son of legendary Tech accounting professor Dr Harold Smolinski). The school was overflowing with day and night students. Shreveport Bossier has grown but LSU-S has declined. I am sure if the school was adequately funded, staffed and pushed it would get back to where is was.

If you are familiar with the LSU Ag Farm situation you know how LSU has cannibalized the various farms in North La to support their favored programs in the south for decades but especially in the last 15 years. The Calhoun pine forest research center has been closed. Within the past year, LSU nearly lost the Claiborne Parish farm to Tech when aggravated local cattlemen, who need the farm functioning properly, and businessmen, who see the dwindling economic benefits, brought influence to bear. LSU made promises and held on to the 1,400 acre research farm with some of the finest pastures in the state. And though they've done a bit of what they said they'd do, failure to really do the deal will see the situation revisited in 3 - 5 years.

LSU has done the same thing to LSU-S and the med school but now times have changed. Local politicians understand what's going on and LSU has pulled/milked all they can from their satellites. They've become a financial burden to the LSU system, yet the local need for both remains.

I think there is a tremendous opportunity for Tech here. We need to be reaching out and we better not do it with "alligator" arms.

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Excellent points.

Facebook commenters are clueless. Some appear to think that just because LSUS has LSU in its name and purple and gold on its logo means its the same as being at the school in Baton Rouge.

Does TECH have the resources to make this a win? I'm not sure this is a good deal for TECH. We already have a foothold in Bossier that seems to be doing well. Why take on all the problems LSU made? If those students were TECH material, they would be at TECH.

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Originally Posted by WWDog

Does TECH have the resources to make this a win? I'm not sure this is a good deal for TECH. We already have a foothold in Bossier that seems to be doing well. Why take on all the problems LSU made? If those students were TECH material, they would be at TECH.

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All depends on how the deal is put together and negotiated.

As far as the students, a lot of it is different target clientele from what Tech brings to Ruston. A large percentage of students are people who already have a 4 year degree and/or have full-time day jobs or "real" careers and need to take night classes. That's where I fit in.

And I get the changes that online classes provide. My wife got her education masters via mostly online classes. But for me personally, I don't think online classes in intermediate or advanced accounting or other classes I needed would have worked. I expect there are engineering classes and labs where online isn't the way to go.

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