August 25, 2006
Dear Colleagues,
Hopefully you were at the Convocation and got to hear Eric Schlosser discuss his book and our summer reading selection “Fast Food Nation.” His talk was edgy, topical and probably got our freshmen thinking, just what we wanted. Congratulations to the Convocation Committee on another great event.
The last "Dear Colleague" letter discussed a number of important activities that we initiated this summer. Today I want to give you some additional information and share with you a few important issues. First, if you would like to share your concerns and issues on the team-building exercise that was discussed at the faculty luncheon last Friday, you can email Bruce Boulware or Michelle Egan at Bboulware@OMM.com or at Meagen@OMM.com. Alternatively, you can email me and we can talk about your concerns and observations. I will provide your comments to Bruce.
The Board of Supervisors met this Thursday and Friday and approved a number of items for ULM. Those items approved were the faculty promotion and tenure recommendations, the five year Capital Outlay request, authority to proceed with the Intermodal Transit Facility, approval to revise the language in the lease agreement between ULM and the Facilities Corporation for the early payment of debt, the FY 2006-2007 Operating Budget, and they approved the proposal by the ULM Foundation to proceed with the building of a University Residence for the president.
Many of you asked me recently about the now vacant lot next to Nursing. That is the site for the new three-story Intermodal Transit Facility (parking garage). The ULM Foundation owns the property and cleared the lot in preparation for the approval from the Board of Supervisors. Board approval now means that the project should start in the next few weeks and culminate with a 300 space parking facility and bus stop by next summer. The approved FY 2006-2007 will be posted online Monday at www.ulm.edu/07budget/ .
Last year the ULM Foundation leadership began exploring ways to increase the philanthropic support of the institution. They encouraged us to entertain prospective donors and to hold more fund-raising events on campus because of the positive changes to the campus over the last four years. The Foundation soon discovered that we were the only ULS school that did not have an on-campus residence. Therefore, to assist and promote the university in increased fund-raising activity the ULM Foundation proposes to construct a residence for the president on the ULM campus. The Foundation expects the president to utilize the residence to attract current and future donors, to increase on-campus fund-raising activities, and utilize the residence for faculty and student functions.
Over the last few years, the ULM Foundation has purchased land around the campus at the request of the University. As part of the Desiard Street widening project, the Department of Transportation purchased approximately $1.1 million of right-of-way from the University. We planned to use approximately $700,000 of those funds to restore our parking lots and landscaping on the front of campus at the conclusion of the state project, and to utilize the remaining $400,000 to purchase land that the Foundation purchased on our behalf. At the request of the Foundation, the University will now purchase the land on Bon Aire where the residence is to be located. The Foundation Board leadership will raise the necessary funds for the construction of the residence, and the University personnel will continue their normal fund-raising efforts. With the Board’s approval today, it is expected that construction will begin later this fall.
Dr. Sally Clausen, President of the University of Louisiana System, informed the Board of Supervisors today that she had been asked by the National Association of System Heads to coordinate a national effort to address graduation and retention rates, as well as student success. These issues are vitally important to the state of Louisiana and the University of Louisiana System schools; therefore, the Board of Supervisors encouraged Dr. Clausen to assume this coordination role. I am certain that Dr. Clausen will provide the same extraordinary level of leadership at the national level as she does the University of Louisiana System.
Finally, in my last letter I told you of some of the things that we did here on campus this summer. It is only fitting that this letter highlights some of the things that you did this summer.
- Joel Willer, Assistant Professor of Mass Communications at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and faculty supervisor of the student-operated radio station KXUL, used his broadcast expertise to testify
before a federal panel in Washington, D.C.
- The two-volume reference book "Historical Dictionary of the Civil War" by Terry L. Jones, a ULM history and government professor, has been reissued by Scarecrow Press in a new paperback edition.
- SUNY Press just released Holly Wilson’s work entitled “Kant's Pragmatic Anthropology; Its Origin, Meaning, and Critical Significance.” This book offers the first account in English of the origin, meaning, and critical significance of Immanuel Kant’s Anthropology from a pragmatic point of view.
- Girish Shah was featured in national magazine for cancer research. His work was spotlighted in the Endocrine Society's Endocrine News magazine in July and more publications this month. Shah, professor of pharmacology, was featured last year in Cancer Research, a medical journal.
- Loren Hayes recently secured a $130,846 National Science Foundation grant. These funds will allow 12 ULM undergraduate and six graduate students to gain international medical research and cultural experience through summer internships. The internships will take place over a three-year period in Chile and Micronesia.
- C. Turner Steckline and Marsha McGee received a Fulbright-Hayes Curriculum Development Grant to immerse in Turkish culture, connect with both academic and community resources, and prepare lesson plans that incorporate their experiences into the courses they teach.
For more information on each of these faculty projects please refer to the University Relations website.
A special word of thanks to Dr. Jessica Dolecheck for her work on the Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences proposal. The Board of Regents staff indicated that the proposal would be placed on the September Board of Regents agenda. Approval at this meeting could allow the implementation of the program as early as this spring. Currently, we loose approximately forty percent of the pre-health science majors primarily because our professional programs are limited in size. The BSHS is a sorely needed program that will provide a career alternative for our students in the College of Health Science. We will keep you posted on this exciting new program.
Please remember that our first home football game is August 31 at 7:00 PM. In addition, we will be unveiling the new on-field mascot at a 5:00 PM Pep Rally on August 30 in Fant-Ewing Coliseum. I look forward to seeing you at both of these events.
James E. Cofer, Sr.
ULM President