Our History
Building the Foundation
The School of Leadership & Human Resource Development (SLHRD) at Louisiana State University has a long history of educational excellence, and a tradition of continual evolution and change to meet the dynamic needs of workforce and workplace development.
It traces its origin to vocational teacher education programs begun as a result of the Smith‐Hughes Act in 1917. The seed for what was to become the SLHRD was planted with the establishment of two departments at LSU (Agricultural Education and Home Economics Education) in the 1920’s and the establishment of the Industrial Education Department in the 1930’s.
Then, early in 1936, the Louisiana State Board for Vocational Education, acting under the authority of the Federal Vocational Education Acts and the Louisiana State Plan for Vocational Education, designated Louisiana State University Agricultural and Mechanical College as the teacher education center for the preparation of vocational teachers. This designation led directly to the official founding of the School of Vocational Education (SVED) on August 1, 1936, established vocational teacher training as the School’s primary focus, and made LSU eligible for Federal funds under the National Vocational Education Acts.
Mid-Century to the 2000's
Subsequent changes to the SVED included the addition of Extension Education and Agricultural Education in the early 1950’s. In the 1960’s, Extension Education became a separate department and International Education was added to the School. In the 1980’s, Business Education moved to the School from the College of Education. During the years 1984‐86, the School was reorganized first from five to four units, and then streamlined to a multi‐concentration Vocational Education degree structure.
In the early 1990’s, the School further expanded its programs to include human resource training and development, career development, and adult education to better serve public and private sector needs. Thus, the role, scope, and mission evolved to better meet the changing needs of society, business, industry, and a global economy. Most prominent of the changes is a diversification away from its historical role of preparing individuals to teach vocational/technical subjects at the secondary and postsecondary level to delivering all aspects of work-related training, education and development in secondary schools, post‐secondary institutions, and public and private‐sector business and industry. In 2003 the School changed its name to the School of Human Resource Education and Workforce Development (SHREWD) to reflect this evolution.
2010's to Today
In 2012, the School was moved from the College of Agriculture to the newly formed College of Human Sciences and Education (HSE) which is comprised of SLHRD and six other Schools (Education, Kinesiology, Social Work, Library and Information Sciences, Early Childhood Education Laboratory Preschool and University Laboratory School).
In 2016 the School was divided in two with faculty and academic concentrations in Agriculture & Extension Education returned to the College of Agriculture, and faculty and academic concentrations associated with Human Resource Education remaining with the School in the College of HSE. This transformation allowed the School to tighten its strategic focus to emphasize its most successful programs in Human Resource leadership, training and development.
In 2018 the School changed its name to the current School of Leadership and Human Resource Development (SLHRD) to reflect this change in scope and mission.