LSU chief: Settle the LSU budget now, not in June

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While LSU President F. King Alexander was at LSUE Tuesday afternoon to talk about the LSU Strategic Plan and the university’s economic impact, he said, “Don’t make us wait this out until June,” Alexander said of Gov. John Bel Edwards and legislators making budget decisions.
“Let’s solve this problem so that we don’t have collateral damage that slows us down from addressing these strategic issues,” he said.
When budget decisions are not made until June, Alexander said that affects enrollment and hiring employments.
“Last year our parents were held hostage and our students were held hostage,” he said.
The Baton Rouge campus was expected to have about 200 more freshmen, but ended up 450 students down from the previous year.
“That was a cost of $13 million to the main campus,” he said.
Parents and students mostly make school decisions in April, he said.
This year there are 70 faculty positions to be filled and waiting until June for budgetary direction will likely mean candidates move on to other jobs, he said.
Alexander’s address at the Acadian Center was one of many he is to deliver about LSU’s strategic plan and an economic impact study that shows the university system has a $5.1 billion impact on the state’s economy.
The strategic plan has six key points: Advancing Arts and Culture; Bridging the Coast, Energy and Environment; Fostering Research and Catalyzing Economic Development; Improving Health and Wellbeing; Transforming Education; and Developing Leaders.
Alexander’s talk focused on LSU’s ability to address issues in the state and nation through its eight campuses and 45,000 students.
Arts and Culture has a $7 billion impact on the state’s economy, he said. Eunice “... is the heartbeat of Cajun culture in Louisiana.”
On the coast and environment, Alexander pointed to the LSU Center for River Studies in Baton Rouge that will allow researchers to model the lower Mississippi River. The center’s model is the size of an NBA basketball court, he said.
In economic development, one Alexander point is LSUE’s 2016 class will have combined lifetime earnings over $82 million, he said. The difference in earning between a high school graduate and college graduate have never been greater, he said.
Health outcomes in Louisiana are among the worst in the nation, he said. Alexander said LSUE’s recent expansion its nursing program in conjunction with Lafayette General Health System is an example of the university responding to the health challenge.
“We must stop the blame game,” Alexander said about education. The blame game is that each level points to failures in other education levels, he said.
“Everybody should have the choice to go to a college or university,” he said.
LSU’s education system extends to the 4-H program at the LSU AgCenters in every parish, he said.
“We’ve got to help every one of our students finish what they started,” he said.
LSU in charge of developing leaders in every field, he said. Two LSU graduate students recently shared in a Nobel Physics award, he said.
“Our rice research station here actually has brought more tech transfer money to the university than any tech transfer opportunity or any idea that has gone from a faculty member to the market,” he said.
Developing leadership is also about allowing social mobility, he said. “We are keeping this fight for social mobility alive at a time when it is being questioned,” he said.
“This our most important purpose,” Alexander added.
LSU can measure its success by the strength of the state, he said.
As for the current budget and social atmosphere, Alexander pointed out the land grant public universities were created as the Civil War raged.
“If we don’t keep the young people and we don’t keep our students here, I’ve noticed from my own personal experiences that it takes one generation for a community to die,” he said
“This campus plays a vital role in inter-generational social mobility and we want to keep it, build it and expand together,” he said.

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