Higher ed changes urged
Analysis: Spin off LSU branches, merge SU system into UL
A draft report on the role, scope and mission of colleges says the “ideal” higher education setup for Louisiana could exist if there was no Southern University System and if the LSU System gave up its campuses in Shreveport, Alexandria and Eunice.
But state Commissioner of Higher Education Jim Purcell said Thursday that the Louisiana Board of Regents, which commissioned the study, has no plans to recommend dismantling the Southern System and that wholesale changes in higher education governance are not in the works.
Purcell said the report is only a draft from the Colorado-based National Center for Higher Education Management Systems and that tweaks are expected. NCHEMS has led several higher education studies in Louisiana in recent years.
The “Developing a Postsecondary Education System to Meet the Needs of Louisiana” draft report was sent out this week to the state’s higher education systems with the request that they offer feedback on the role, scope and mission of each college and respond by Jan. 20.
The last two pages of the 47-page report are in a section titled, “Areas Where Changes Should be Considered.”
The section suggests Louisiana would be better off if Southern, Southern University at New Orleans, LSU in Shreveport and LSU at Alexandria were all moved into the nine-school University of Louisiana System, which could be renamed. Southern University at Shreveport and LSU at Eunice, both of which are community colleges, would go into the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, according to the report.
The draft report contends that the LSU System could then be a true flagship system, the UL System would become a “regional university system” and the LCTCS would finally contain all of the state’s public two-year colleges.
“While it is not feasible to make wholesale changes, it is possible to take steps that result in a better alignment of capacity and need,” the report states.
The report also recommends broadening Southern’s mission beyond operating as a historically black institution to serve a wider regional audience, as well as enhancing the role of Louisiana Tech University at Ruston as a statewide technological university.
But the draft report states that it defers its recommendations to the state’s higher education Governance Commission that wrapped up its work earlier this month. The Governance Commission recommended against undertaking a major restructuring of higher education for now.
The commission asked the Board of Regents to “make recommendations to align institutions with their shared missions.”
The report is in response to House Concurrent Resolution 30 by state Rep. Austin Badon, D-New Orleans, which was approved last year and asked the Board of Regents to study the missions of colleges and to maximize their resources.
“Regents has no intention of recommending the dissolution of the Southern System and only supports the recommendations of the Governance Commission which clearly state that a major restructuring is not in the state’s best interest,” Purcell said Thursday in a prepared statement. “Edits to this draft report are expected including wording that clarifies Regents’ recommendations and its support for improving and enhancing the current governance model.”
Southern System President Ronald Mason Jr. said he disagrees with the draft report, but that he is not concerned because of the Governance Commission’s stance.
Mason said the Southern System is critical for the state by educating underserved minorities. “One special mission in higher education is to address the cradle-to-prison pipeline in Louisiana,” Mason said.
LSU System President John Lombardi and UL System President Randy Moffett both said it is premature to comment because they have just begun to collect feedback from the campuses.
LSU at Eunice Chancellor William Nunez opposes a transfer out of the LSU System.
“I understand the forces at bay, and I think it’s disappointing,” Nunez said. “People have a myopic vision. If it’s a two-year campus, it all fits into one box … Well, it’s not that simple.”
LSU at Eunice grew out of LSU and works more as a junior college and steppingstone to universities, Nunez said, rather than as a comprehensive community college with more technical courses, such as welding, like the colleges in the LCTCS.
LSU at Alexandria Chancellor David Manuel responded in an email that he was not involved in any discussions on the study.
“Being a member of the LSU System has served LSU Alexandria well,” Manuel stated. “Neither the LSU System nor LSU Alexandria received these recommendations before Jan. 10, 2012, leaving insufficient time to consider, provide campus comment or receive appropriate and required Board of Supervisors review or approval.”
Meanwhile, a study commissioned by Shreveport-area business leaders is nearing completion later this month that is looking at options like merging LSU in Shreveport with Louisiana Tech or moving LSU in Shreveport to the UL System.
Last year, Gov. Bobby Jindal proposed merging the University of New Orleans with Southern University at New Orleans. After that failed in the Legislature, a compromise was reached to move UNO from the LSU System to the UL System.
The Board of Regents next meets Jan. 25-26 to discuss all of these issues.