Header Logo

April 2021
View Past Issues

Employee Hub
Roadmap to Spring
LSU Together


A Note from the Provost

Memorial Tower

Dear Colleagues,

As the spring semester winds down and finals wrap up, we find ourselves in the midst of intense planning for the fall semester. The scene seems familiar to our planning one year ago with one key exception—there is a feeling of excitement and anticipation about finally returning to campus. We are not returning to pre-COVID operations; we are going to do even better than that. We are re-defining the college experience for our students, faculty, and staff—one that leverages in-person interaction, virtual collaboration, and better health and safety practices. Once again, our classrooms and offices will be filled with both familiar and fresh faces, and I am looking forward to a busy fall like none other in LSU’s history.

Thank you for all of your hard work to get us to this point, and to see us through to the finish line. See you soon.

Best,
Stacia L. Haynie
Executive Vice President & Provost
J.W. Annison, Jr. Alumni Professor

Our People

University Faculty Award Recipients 2021

2021 University Faculty Awards

It is our great pleasure to announce this year’s University Faculty Award recipients. The Faculty Awards recognize faculty accomplishments and showcase superb teaching, research and service at LSU. To view a full list of recipients, click here.

Commitment to Addressing Title IX

As LSU continues to implement its Title IX action plan and the recommendations made by Husch Blackwell Firm, Jane Cassidy, interim vice president of Civil Rights & Title IX, presented "Response to the Husch Blackwell Report" to the LSU Board of Supervisors at its April 10 meeting.

Tiger Stadium Graduation

2021 and 2020 Graduates Invited to Walk Across the Stage

LSU will hold in-person commencement exercises this spring. May graduates, March graduates of the LSU Online program, and all LSU graduates from throughout 2020 will have the opportunity to walk across the stage and have their names called during the ceremonies.

Ceremonies for 2021 graduates will be held on Friday, May 7, and Saturday, May 8. The Vet School will hold a ceremony for DVM candidates on Monday, May 10, and the Law Center will hold a ceremony for its JD and LLM candidates on Saturday, May 15.

Please visit the LSU Commencement page for more information regarding locations, times, and more.

Mass Communication Dean Search Continues

The search for dean of the Manship school will continue as Josh Grimm serves as interim dean for the Manship School of Mass Communication. More details will be released at a later date.

Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society Call for Award Nominations

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi at LSU has two awards now open for nominations. The chapter Outstanding Instructor Award is presented to an exemplary educator at the rank of instructor. The Non-Tenured Faculty Award honors the university's brightest young scholars and artists. These awards are co-sponsored by the LSU Alumni Association.

Both of these awards are now open for nominations. The recipients will be honored with a cash award and certificate. Nominations are due by 4 p.m. on Friday, April 30. For more information and to nominate someone, please contact Chapter President Professor Louay Mohammad at louaym@lsu.edu.

Pregnancy & Parenting Program Spring Webinar Video Recordings

If you missed the spring Pregnancy & Parenting Program series, a recording of both webinars are available for viewing. The first webinar dives deep into the legalities of pregnancy for both the supervisor and the parent. The second webinar is a panel discussion centered around maintaining professional dialog about pregnancy and parenting with the employee and supervisor. 

Faculty Support

Preparing for Fall 2021

In preparation for the 2021 fall semester, members of the LSU Online Design & Development (D&D) team are providing support for faculty and graduate teaching assistants. Visit the Preparing for Fall 2021 webpage for a description of various workshops and workshop recordings, and support that will be available for faculty.

Moodle Upgrade Beginning on May 12

Moodle 3.9 Upgrade: LSU Online and Continuing Education will be upgrading both regular Moodle (moodle.lsu.edu) and the LSU Online Moodle (lsuonline.moodle.lsu.edu) instances from Moodle 3.7 to 3.9 starting May 12, 2021 and ending Monday, May 17. Please expect service interruptions during this window. Monitor our progress on the upgrade, and find quick links to training resources as they are released on our new upgrade website.

Program, Policies & Procedures

Protection of Minors at LSU (PM 16)

The University’s policy regarding the protection of minors is Permanent Memorandum 16 (PM 16). Adherence to PM 16 is required of all LSU programs or Non-LSU programs that involve the supervision of minors. A program can be an athletic camp with 20 minors or an academic lesson with only one minor.

The Office of Risk Management is the Policy Administrator for PM 16. The information needed by programs to be compliant with PM 16 can be found on Risk Management’s webpage under “Youth Protection.” Additional assistance on the policy requirements can be found in the PM 16 Guidelines. For more information or to request a meeting or training on PM 16, contact Risk Management at youthprotect@lsu.edu.

Call for Spring 2022 Honors Course Proposals

LSU’s Ogden Honors College will welcome its largest and highest scoring incoming freshman class this fall.  

Become part of the Honors faculty by submitting a course proposal to the Ogden Honors College for spring 2022. You may also be interested in joining the 20+ faculty members who teach HNRS 2000 Critical Analysis each fall. Teaching Honors students often culminates in faculty directing undergraduate honors theses – a rewarding combination of research and mentorship.

For more information on teaching opportunities in the Honors College and to find instructions on submitting a course proposal, visit the Faculty Resources page on the Ogden Honors College website. Please direct any questions to Drew Lamonica Arms, Associate Dean of the Ogden Honors College, dlamoni@lsu.edu.

Proposals for new courses to be taught in spring 2022 are due early in the fall semester by Friday, September 3, 2021.

Student Information System

As announced earlier in the year, the institution has embarked on the process to procure and implement a modern student information system. Led by Matt Lee, vice provost and Clay Benton, university registrar, the procurement phase of the project is underway. A cross-institutional steering committee worked with the Office of Procurement to develop and issue an Invitation to Negotiate (ITN). That ITN yielded applications from a number of vendors. An evaluation committee is currently in the process of reviewing those initial applications and will ultimately invite a subset of vendors to demonstrate features of their systems to the campus community. Additional information on those demonstrations will be forthcoming. 

Important Dates and Upcoming Events

Save the Date:

June 14-18

Faculty Writing Bootcamp
A week-long writing bootcamp devoted completely to faculty writing – grant proposals, sabbatical reports, research literature, and more.
Sponsored by: LSU Learning & Teaching Collaborative

Friday, August 20, 2021

REFRESH: Let’s Move Forward Teaching Workshop
A half-day faculty workshop focused on inspirations for moving our teaching forward in the new academic year. 
Sponsored by: LSU Learning & Teaching Collaborative and Campus Federal

LSU Honorary Ceremonies

LSU hosts many ceremonies the week of commencement to honor our students' academic accomplishments and diversities. View a full list of honorary ceremonies here