Report: LSU campus space most used in state
LSU is the most crammed public college in the state while Southern University is among those schools with the most under-utilized classroom space, according to a new report.
The Louisiana Board of Regents’ new “Facilities Inventory and Space Utilization Data” report asks the universities deemed to have “excess space” to submit recommendations for making better use of the facilities, such as leasing space for business partnerships or sharing classroom with community colleges.
Some schools, especially Southern, have extra space because of ongoing student enrollment losses in recent years, higher education officials said.
The calculations were made by examining classroom and laboratory square footage against student credit hour enrollment numbers, although Regents officials said the information is not perfect.
The data indicated that Baton Rouge Community College is appropriately using its facilities now and not too squeezed for space. But the report pointed out that two-year colleges like BRCC continue to increase enrollment levels and do not have adequate classroom space to accommodate the anticipated growth.
The report stated that LSU is “utilizing its facilities most efficiently and may be in need of additional classroom space or may need to restrict enrollment.”
LSU Chancellor Michael Martin said Friday that LSU is being efficient with its classrooms, but that he does not agree the university should restrict enrollment. LSU has about 29,000 students now and Martin has repeatedly stated a goal to grow to about 32,000 students.
LSU is in the process of building a new business education complex and a separate chemistry research building, he noted. Additional space for growth is available at the LSU South Campus farther down Nicholson Drive, he said.
“The density helps in some ways,” Martin said, explaining that the campus is easier to walk and that the bus transit system operates easier.
“It’s the world we live in now and the days of the sprawling campuses are gone,” he said.
Martin did admit his surprise though that the report determined LSU is the only public university in Louisiana that is too crowded.
Southern, however, was not the only college cited in the Regents’ report as under-utilizing space.
The report also says LSU in Shreveport, Grambling State University, Northwestern State University, the University of Louisiana at Monroe and SOWELA Technical Community College in Lake Charles have “excess space.”
Southern Chancellor James Llorens, who took over the job in July, said the university has extra space because of a combination of enrollment losses and “past inefficiencies.”
“I think it (the report) is consistent with what we’ve identified on campus,” Llorens said.
Southern, which now has fewer than 7,000 students, enrolled nearly 9,500 students as recently as 2004.
Llorens said the university’s ongoing academic reorganization process is seeking to address and improve its classroom utilization efficiencies.
The university also is looking at some private business partnerships for leasing some space, he said. Another issue is that Southern has more smaller classrooms on campus and must be more efficient with the larger rooms, he said.
Giving another example, Llorens said that Southern still has a lot of vacant space in Fisher Hall ever since the Southern University Agricultural Center moved onto its own campus.
The study resulted from this summer’s House Concurrent Resolution 78 by state Rep. John Schroder, R-Covington, that asked the Board of Regents to study alternative uses for under-utilized space at public colleges.