Dear Colleagues,

I am going to start my monthly note to you with a simple statement. LSU is by far the most important university for Louisiana’s prosperity. As the flagship, we understand the weight of our obligation to all Louisianians. The success of our students is at the heart of that statement, and this month, I want to share a few things that we are doing to advance students' success, and some recent wins. These wins are a team effort by faculty, advisors, staff, and, of course, students. 

• We are pleased to announce a fall-to-spring transition rate for freshmen of 93.3% - LSU’s highest mark in three years. This increase was accomplished through the active interventions of our advising team across University College with strategic proactive outreach to students via email, text, phone, and in-person sessions, as well as utilizing small retention grants to assist students who may have financial distress. 
• Equity gaps in fall to spring semester progression showed significant improvement across groups.  The gap in progression for Pell compared to non-Pell declined by nearly a full percentage point. The progression rate of historically underrepresented students is the highest in three years at 92%.
• We recently completed the Spring semester Progress Report campaign. There was a 61% return rate from faculty, leading to the identification of 1,000 individual students as potentially at-risk. These students have already been connected to campus resources including various support interventions through the Center for Academic Success, the Student Health Center, and academic advising. Further support interventions will continue as the semester progresses. We appreciate the support of the faculty in this important initiative.
• Last year, we began working on reducing the complexity of our curriculum, because we recognized that in some cases the pathways through our degrees were more complicated than necessary.  As a result of that work, so far, 11 degree programs have already been approved or are currently being routed to the Faculty Senate, and another 7 degree programs are under review among the departments. 

Many important activities are underway in our colleges and schools.  For example, the first-year seminar course in the College of Science, SCI 1001, was designed to support the transition into college, as well as connection and belonging. Piloted with nine sections in 2018, it has grown to include about 40 sections for all incoming science and math majors annually. Outcomes demonstrate growth in retention, particularly of low-income and minority student populations. 

In addition, the Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering became the first to offer a formal concentration in carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). This is a huge win for our students and for the state of Louisiana.

I encourage you to read more about student success by clicking on the graphic below.

Thank you for all that you do. And as always, Geaux Tigers!

Roy Haggerty
Executive Vice President & Provost 

Faculty annual reviews for 2022 have launched in Elements and are due to unit leaders on Friday, March 3, unless otherwise specified. To assist faculty and unit leaders in completing their annual reviews, Program Manager, Mallory Danzy will continue hosting in-person trainings, virtual trainings and drop-in labs. Information pertaining to the annual review timeline, trainings and help guides can be found on LSU’s Elements homepage. For additional questions regarding Elements and the annual review process, contact Mallory Danzy at elements@lsu.edu or 578-1519.”

The search advisory committee for the dean of the College of Music & Dramatic Arts is pleased to announce that four candidates will be coming to campus starting next week for interviews. Detailed information for the candidates, including survey links, biographies and CVs can be accessed on the search website for the dean of the College of Music & Dramatic Arts.

Faculty are encouraged to reach out to the LSU Libraries for support in making their classes more affordable and accessible. OER are free teaching materials, distributed online, that allow anyone to copy, use, adapt, and remix the materials for their specific needs. OER are commonly used as alternatives to expensive textbooks by providing students with high-quality course readings at no cost. AER includes single or collections of required resource(s) offered at no or low cost to students at a pre-sales tax cost not to exceed an amount equal to four times the federal minimum wage. Click here for more information.