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What's the motive behind the LSU AgCenter merging into the flagship campus? LSU in Baton Rouge can now claim the AgCenter's ~$90 million in annual research expenditures and receive a boost in all the rankings that include research expenditures. Add in the invention disclosures, patents, licences, etc. from the AgCenter, too. ~$10 million in AgCenter licensing income... All claimed by the flagship campus after this.
What do you think will be the next move by LSU in Baton Rouge in the consolidation and reorganization of the LSU System into this "One LSU" concept?Originally Posted by Dawg06
Move LSU Eunice to the LCTCS System?
Move the LSU Paul Hebert Law Center & Pennington Biomedical Research Center under LSU-Baton Rouge's control?
Have the LSU System get rid of LSU Shreveport and LSU Alexandria?
What do I think the next move by LSU will be? In the next 5 months, I think the Pennington Biomedical Research Center will be taken over by the flagship followed by the Paul M. Hebert Law Center. The Pennington takeover will be quick and painless like their AgCenter takeover. The Hebert Law Center takeover should also be quick and painless because the law center is located on the flagship campus even though it's an autonomous institution and most people think the law school has always been part of LSU.
After that, next year LSU will begin the takeover of LSUHSC-NO and LSUHSC-S. That could get messy.
The final takeover will be of LSUS, LSUA, and LSUE. They won't get rid of their Shreveport, Alexandria, and Eunice campuses. All three will lose their autonomy and will become part of LSU. After that? Who knows what LSU will do with those campuses? LSU won't give them up, but those won't be independent schools. LSU is making them change their colors right now to ease them into the takeover.
If I were LSU-Baton Rouge, I'd go after the Law School and Pennington next.
For LSU-Shreveport, there are a few options.
The first option would be to develop LSU-Shreveport into a real university that meets all the higher education needs of the Shreveport-Bossier area the way the "LSU Shreveport Commitment Plan" promised. The chances of that happening is less than zero.
The second option is to keep the status quo...LSU-Shreveport as a struggling four-year university that is separate and distinct from LSU-Baton Rouge. I don't see that happening with the big push toward the "One LSU" concept.
The third option is for the LSU System to divest themselves of a struggling "liability" in LSU-Shreveport. LSU-Baton Rouge will have all the assets in the Law Center, Pennington, the AgCenter, and maybe the LSUHSC in NO and Shreveport. The mothership doesn't want to worry about a "liability" like the Shreveport campus, so they decide to let someone else adopt the red-headed stepchild of the LSU System (enter LA Tech).
The last option I can think of is your last idea in that LSU-Baton Rouge takes over LSU-Shreveport entirely. Shreveport is integrated into the mothership with Baton Rouge directly governing all of Shreveport's activities. The two online degree programs (Petroleum Engineering & Construction Management) are LSU degrees (not LSUS degrees) and could serve as the starting point of Baton Rouge transforming the Shreveport campus for an independent university into a glorified feeder school.
I agree that the chance of those first two options happening are about 0.00%.
The third option of divesting their struggling liability also has about a 0.00% chance of happening. If they wanted to do that, they wouldn't have fought to prevent the LaTech-LSUS merger.
The fourth option is what will happen. LSUS will be taken over by LSU just like they will all the other institutions within the system.
I think they are trying to model themselves similar to how Penn State and Rutgers are organized with one flagship campus, several satellite campuses, law school, med schools, and research centers all part of one big university. That way the flagship campus can claim the entire system's assets.
LSU-S and LSU-E were both approved by the state legislature in 1965 as two-year universities. LSU-S became a four-year school in 1972, but LSU-E is still a two-year. Less than a decade ago, LSU-A was a two-year school until they were converted in 2006(?)
I guess my point is, don't be surprised if the past becomes prologue. It would not surprise me one bit to see them go back to JUCOs and become outright feeder schools. That would save the state a ton of money, and would probably benefit schools like Louisiana Tech along the way, but it will be terrible for cities like Shreveport and Alexandria. But, they got what they wanted by stopping the merger.
Once the Baton Rouge campus has the Ag Center, Biomed center, etc. what else do they need from those towns? Nothing. They will have all the revenue from those places, and the outlying campuses will only be a financial burden. And that is without mentioning how far those campuses will fall in status. With the Ag Center, Biomed Center, and med schools being associated ONLY with LSU-BR, what does LSU-S have to hang it's hat on?
If I were Les Guice, I would focus on growing the Shreveport campus because there is an economic need for it, with or without a merger.
I think there is at least a small chance (4-5%) that the Shreveport campus could be divested depending on the "One LSU" flagship mission. My opinion will probably change after I read some of the LSU transition Advisory Team meeting minutes I just found.
Eva Klein warned about the One LSU agenda on Page 35 of the report that recommended the merger of LSUS and Louisiana Tech almost two years ago. So far, the single CEO is in place and the AgCenter is under the LSU Baton Rouge umbrella.
http://www.shreveportchamber.org/ima...12_REDUCED.pdf
The only thing LSU-S can offer is the Shreveport-Bossier City market to LSU-BR. It's the third largest metro area in Louisiana.
The merger of LSU-S and Tech would have grown Tech's Shreveport-Bossier operations at a faster pace, but the expansion into the SBC metro area should continue with engineering and entertainment (arts, digital media, TV/movie production) at the forefront.
. . . cueing DeeWayne in 3.......2.........1......
Louisiana Tech University
Flagship of the University of Louisiana System
I don't think LSU really cares about the Shreveport/Bossier market. We've always known that politicians in south Louisiana really don't give a damn about north Louisiana, and this might let their true colors come out. The exposure that LSU gets in north Louisiana doesn't come from LSUS, it comes from their football team, so they don't lose anything by pulling the plug.
Of course, LSU could not make these changes unilaterally, and the fight in the state legislature might get ugly. But a lot of legislators would support it. They all know that we need to consolidate and some ULS schools such as ULM, Grambling, Southern, and UNO would support the idea because it would keep their own heads off of the monetary chopping block. So, if LSU gets all the south Louisiana politicians on board, and you get a handful of North Louisiana politicians backing this idea in support of their chosen ULS school, these guys could be two-year schools sooner than we think. That's just my opinion.
Last edited by StrayDawg; 01-29-2014 at 04:28 AM.
I'm not sure if consolidation helps or hurts Tech in the long run (and really that's all we care about anyway!)
The LSU One agenda calls for a more unified, more powerful (if you can imagine that), and more nationally respected LSU. I'd say that hurts Tech in the long run.
So continuing with your thought process, '06, IF LSU-S becomes a true "satellite" of the BR campus, it begs the question...what happens to admissions requirements at Shreveport? If they're REALLY REALLY lsu, all the whining, mass hysteria, and concern that had "PILOT PRIDE" marching all over Youree Drive about big ol, mean Louisiana Tech running off the less academically "prolific" student that attends LSUS goes out the window anyway.
LSU-BR's admissions standards are slightly tougher than our own...poor lsus. GEAUXTIGERitis is a mental disease.
Each campus will be able to keep their own unique admissions requirements. There will be one single application for all of their campuses. Students will rank their campus preferences when they apply, and then they will be matched to a campus (or rejected) based on their application. After successfully completing two years at any regional campus, students will be able to seamlessly transfer to the flagship campus (or any other campus) if they wish.
They won't demote these 4-year universities to jucos like Stray is suggesting. Not gonna happen.
Last edited by Dawg06; 01-29-2014 at 10:49 AM.
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