Student Success Highlights

February 2023

Curricular Analytics

The Office of Academic Affairs continues to provide guidance on reducing curricular complexity scores using an open-source curriculum visualization tool. Since Mar. 2022, 9 degree programs have received approval or are currently under review by the Faculty Senate's Courses & Curricula committee and 9 degree programs are currently under review or discussion by the departments. The purpose of this initiative is to review and restructure curricula to eliminate any unnecessary complications in the path towards graduation, with the ultimate goal to increase 4- and 6- year graduation rates.

learn more about curricular analytics

 

Agriculture

  • The College of Agriculture & LSU AgCenter Undergraduate Research Grant Program funds undergraduate research projects throughout the college in an effort to expand opportunities for our students to engage in meaningful research during their career at LSU. The College & AgCenter awards an average of 10 awards for a total of $45,000 a year. Students are selected based on rigorous criteria and deliver a final report and poster presentation as part of their agreement. 
  • The College of Agriculture student ambassador group, the Les Voyagers, won the College Aggies Club division national award in 2022 (a repeat of their 2021 win!) The Les Voyagers group not only represents the college in recruiting prospective students, but also develops its members through rigorous professional development workshops and trainings, along with study abroad opportunities that benefit the overall development of our students. College Aggies Online is an initiative of the Alliance that connects college students, industry experts, and social media-savvy farmers to engage online about current and emerging issues facing the animal agriculture community.

 

Business

 

Science

  • The College of Science Student Services Office is home to the Pre-Health Advising, Support, and Education Program (PHASE). Professional pre-health advisors are members of the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (NAAHP). PHASE offers premedical and predental advising as well as enrichment opportunities for students to interact with local health professionals in the community through shadowing/mentoring partnerships with a variety of local hospitals and health care institutions. LSU is the number one feeder program for every health professions school in the state and over 50% of practicing physicians in Louisiana are graduates of LSU. The PHASE program is a vital resource for continuing to develop qualified students who will one day fill the needs of health care for our state and region.
  • College of Science Director of Prehealth programs, Robby Bowen, and Prehealth counselor, Matt Duris, will present “Navigating into Narrative Medicine: How to Help Students Listen” at the 2023 Southeastern Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (SAAHP) Regional Conference in Tampa, FL. 

  • The Science Residential College (SRC) provides students with educational enrichment opportunities to impact student success. Allison Hargrave, SRC Academic advisor, provided information one of many endeavors by the SRC community with the innovative Horseshoe Pollinator Garden. The Horseshoe Gardening Club, made up of professional staff, faculty, and current students had their first meeting in Oct. 2022. This group is working to create a pollinator garden full of native plants free of pesticides for monarch butterflies as well as other pollinating insects indigenous to Louisiana. The goal is to engage the LSU community is educational lectures, impact the environment, and provide an activity for students to interact with peers and have place to promote relaxation.

  • The Science Residential College partnered with Our Lady of the Lake Hospital and LSUHSC BR School of Medicine to provide a free, interactive opportunity for SRC first-year freshmen. This served as a steppingstone for most freshmen to begin their pre-health journey by gaining exposure into the health field. The students were bused to OLOL where they were able to tour behind the scenes at OLOL and LSUHSC BR, participate in the simulation lab, and network with professionals and medical students from OLOL and LSUHSC BR. Click here to watch video.
  • Erin Peck, the advisor who coordinates our transfer student services, was recently selected as a 2022 LSU Outstanding Staff Service Award Recipient. Mrs. Peck is committed to student success.  She helps students create solutions in difficult situations and works diligently to make sure students get the most accurate and high quality advising.
  • As a high-impact education practice, the first-year seminar course, SCI 1001, has been designed to support students in transitioning into College and fostering connection and belonging in the community of scientists on our campus. This course covers basic information, concepts, and methods to foster a strong start as a science or math major at LSU.  Our outcomes demonstrate growth in retention for all students with progress with special populations including low-income and minority student populations. This growth in retention is accompanied by growth in the matriculation of students in their second year in the Science Senior College. 
  • SOARS (Scholarship Opportunities Aimed at Retaining Science Scholars) is an NSF-funded scholarship program for College of Science students based on academic excellence and financial need. It is designed with a more holistic approach, offering financial, academic, professional, and personal support.  Those selected receive up to $10,000 annually for up to four years, 1:1 mentoring, career coaching, personal and professional development, preparation for research opportunities, and a science bootcamp in the summer. 
  • SOARS Scholars are recognized campus leaders. As an example, Ria Salway was selected as the 2022 recipient of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship, the most prestigious national scholarship awarded to undergraduates in marine sciences. As another example, Aaliyah Hameed completed research this past summer at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and won first place in her division for an oral presentation of her work during the AAAS Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference held in February 2023.
  • Student Champions for Inclusion (SCI Lead), a student council within the LSU College of Science, assists students in developing professional, leadership, and communication skills while advancing diversity and inclusion. Our members participate in various professional and community opportunities designed to help students network with others in their field and prepare them for a career in science. Our goal is to support professional skill development through creative thinking, leadership training opportunities, and community outreach while helping students establish their professional identities.. In doing so, we will create a community of women and men who will help decrease the gender and inclusion gaps and use their knowledge and skills to address many of the questions and challenges that, when solved, will change STEM in industry, academia, and beyond.

Coast & Environment

  • In the fall of 2021, Siarah Hall was selected for a position as a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Science. While she was there, she also became a certified scientific research diver. In the summer of 2022, she won the Women in Ocean Sciences Award, which funded her work at the Central Caribbean Marine Institute, where she worked on a small research station in Little Cayman. In January 2023, she was selected as one of 22 members of the Edgar Veillon Conservation Leadership Corps (CLC). Subsequently, she will present the work that she did in Bermuda at the annual Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) conference in Palma de Mallorca, Spain in June 2023.
  • Courtney (Nicole) Hammond is one of two students at LSU and one of 84 students nationwide selected for the 2023 Knauss Fellowship Program. According to Sea Grant’s website, “The Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship provides a unique, educational and professional experience to graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources. The Fellowship…matches highly qualified students with “hosts” in the legislative and executive branches of government located in the Washington D.C. area, for a one-year paid fellowship.” Hammond is spending the next year working with NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Informational Service (NESDIS) Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR).
  • Kameelah Hollis is a Louis Stokes Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation (LS-LAMP) Scholar (2021-2023), an LSU Black Scholars’ Awardee (2021), and a volunteer for numerous community functions and events. She is driven and motivated to learn and develop a career in the field of environmental health. These ambitions are exemplified by her roles in extracurricular activities and her productivity in the research laboratory. As an undergraduate student, Hollis has independently garnered multiple research grants from LSU Discover (Spring 2022 and Fall 2022) to continue her research projects in laboratories here at LSU and is presently focusing on wetlands and aquatic ecosystems. She has been accepted for this fall at the George Washington University School of Public Health and waiting to hear about other options.
  • Aine O’Nuanain has been awarded a Rotary Global Grant Scholarship of up to $30,000. The scholarship provides funding for students traveling overseas for graduate school, whose intended area of study matches one of the Rotary Club’s areas of focus: peacebuilding and conflict prevention, disease prevention and treatment, water, sanitation and hygiene, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, community economic development, and the environment. O’Nuanain plans to pursue a Master in Global Challenges for Sustainability at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
  • In January 2023, Sierra Moran was selected as one of 22 members of the Edgar Veillon Conservation Leadership Corps.

 

Engineering

 

Veterinary Medicine

  • Rachel Dufour, DVM Class of 2024, on received the 2023 Merck Animal Health Diversity Leadership Scholarship. According to the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges, Rachel has been recognized for demonstrating exemplary promise as a future leader and having significantly contributed to enhancing diversity and inclusion in academic veterinary medicine. Her selection for the scholarship, sponsored by Merck Animal Health, celebrates and rewards her commitment to addressing inequities and underrepresentation in veterinary medicine and advocating for social justice.
  • The Emerging Leaders Academy is a group of nine second- and third-year veterinary students who are spending time throughout the year to develop and hone their leadership skills. This group has participated in a wide variety of experiences and workshops including team building, servant and inclusive leadership, public speaking, feedback training, and conflict resolution. Anticipated topics for their workshops in March include change management, ethical dilemmas in veterinary medicine, and leadership in organized veterinary medicine. The participants are Rachel Mathy, Ashley Crespo, Madison Hopper, Kaylee Chambers, Ethan Kraemer, Christian Fortner, Alexandria Breashears, Aspen Settle, Christian Quiles-Torres. The facilitators are Dr. Bonnie Boudreaux, Dr. Jeremy Delcambre, and Stephanie Johnson.
  • PBS and LADDL faculty, staff, and student publish article in the journal mSphere Congratulations to Côme J. Thieulent, Ph.D., post-doctoral fellow; Wellesley Dittmar, DVM/Ph.D. student; Udeni B. R. Balasuriya, BVSc, Ph.D., LADDL director; Nicholas A. Crossland, DVM, former LSU Vet Med diagnostic pathology resident; Xue Wen, MAp, Ph.D., former instructor of statistical services; and Mariano Carossino, DVM, Ph.D., DACVM, DACVP, assistant professor of veterinary pathology. Their paper entitled "Mouse-Adapted SARS-CoV-2 MA10 Strain Displays Differential Pulmonary Tropism and Accelerated Viral Replication, Neurodissemination, and Pulmonary Host Responses in K18-hACE2 Mice" was published in the journal mSphere.
  • PBS paper published in the journal Viruses "Inactivation of the UL37 Deamidase Enhances Virus Replication and Spread of the HSV-1 (VC2) Oncolytic Vaccine Strain and Secretion of GM-CSF" was published in the journal Viruses. Congratulations to Carolyn Clark, Ph.D. student, and first author; Therese Collantes, Ph.D. student, and Dr. Gus Kousoulas, PBS department head.