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February 2022
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A Note from Interim Provost Lee

Presentation of promotion and tenure certificate by President Tate, Provost Lee, and Dean Llorens.

Caption: A faculty member being honored at the Promotion & Tenure Ceremony by their dean, President Tate and Interim Provost Lee. 


Dear Colleagues,

The spring 2022 semester is well underway, and I am quite pleased with our progress. Rapidly declining COVID-19 case counts on campus, and in our community at large, bode well for campus operations. Course sections will very likely be back to their catalog-listed modality by Feb. 14, and we anticipate moving back to an optional masking environment in indoor settings very soon. An enormous debt of gratitude is owed to all of you for actively participating in our mitigation strategies, which has helped us successfully get through this latest phase of the pandemic. We have fared extremely well due to your sustained commitment to community, and for that I know we are all grateful.

On Jan. 31, we held a long-overdue celebration for faculty that received promotion and tenure in 2020. Along with commencement, faculty and staff achievement ceremonies are truly among the most gratifying activities we have on campus. Celebrating the culmination of years of commitment and sustained scholarly focus, these gatherings afford an opportunity for recognition, reflection and fellowship as a community of scholars with a shared commitment to excellence. Congratulations to all of our colleagues who have attained one of these recent milestones, and we look forward to celebrating our 2021 and 2022 cohorts in just a few months.

I also had the privilege of speaking at the faculty senate meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 25. I am grateful for the opportunity and was happy to share many of our recent institutional accomplishments. Our success in increasing graduation rates and research awards, as well as our renewed focus on internationalization efforts, demonstrates the extraordinary commitment and expertise of our faculty and staff. Furthermore, I was given the opportunity to detail the collaboration between the flagship campus, the entire family of LSU institutions, the Board of Regents, and other Louisiana higher education systems focusing on modernizing state-level academic policy. By capitalizing on the shared interests of all of these entities in meeting the needs of contemporary learners, we endeavor to keep LSU at the forefront of a rapidly evolving national higher education landscape. In this competitive market, students demand value and require the demonstration of excellence through innovation. LSU has shown that we can meet these needs while staying true to our traditional mission, and we will surely continue to do so in the future.

As we await the return of warmer weather, I hope you take a moment to soak in the cultural uniqueness of the Mardi Gras season. It is one of the many facets of the cultural landscape in our region that makes it such a desirable place to call home.

Lastly, if you see me on campus, make sure to come say hello and let me know how your semester is going. I love to hear the excitement and fresh ideas that you all bring to our campus experience. Until then, stay well, and as always…Geaux Tigers!

 

Matt Lee
Interim Executive Vice President & Provost

Our People

Faculty Award Nomination Packet Deadline

LSU recognizes and honors its world-class faculty for their scholarship, creative works, instruction and community based-service through its annual University Faculty Awards. Faculty award nomination packets are due on Feb. 11. Find out more information about faculty awards and the nomination process here

Stroll through the Oaks

Stroll through the Oaks Family Walk

The Pregnancy & Parenting Program invites our LSU community to join us for the first annual Stroll through the Oaks family walk on Saturday, April 2, at 10 a.m. Load up the strollers and plan for a nice, leisurely, one-mile walk through LSU's beautiful campus. Halfway through the walk, on LSU's historic Parade Ground, will be vendors from around the community who share the same joy for all things parenting. Sign-up here to be notified when registration opens!

Faculty Support

Classroom Technology Needs Assessment

Understanding classroom technological needs is a critical component to our overall success. Please consider completing this short survey to help identify ways to enhance classroom technology and support. The survey is open now until Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 4:30 p.m. Survey results will be shared at a later date. Access the survey here. 

Office Hours for Annual Review Support

The Office of Academic Affairs will host virtual office hours for department chairs and faculty who would like support while working through the annual review process. A listing of office hours dates and times is available here.

Learning & Teaching Collaborative Spring Initiatives

The LTC has an engaging and effective line-up of programming this spring semester and invites you to partake in the faculty development and enhancement initiatives set forth including: New Faculty Quick-Starts, TEACH LSU Webinar Series, membership with the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity and more!

Upcoming LSU Online Workshops

The LSU Online Design & Development team will be offering two workshops in the upcoming weeks—Designing and Teaching Accessible Courses (2/7 to 3/4) and Applying the Quality Matters Rubric (APPQMR) (2/8 to 2/22). Please visit the links for additional information and to register. 

LSU Online’s Faculty-Designer Showcase Video Series 

Designed to inform and inspire, each Faculty-Designer showcase features LSU faculty in discussion with a designer with whom they collaborated to create their LSU online courses. The focus of these showcase videos is to highlight aspects of the creative collaboration when faculty with their disciplinary expertise and the designer with their knowledge of instructional design and user experience principles bring desired course outcomes to life! Check out the videos on the Faculty-Designer Showcase Video Series page.  

Program, Policies & Planning

LSU Graduate School Expanding its Efforts

Fahui WangThe LSU Graduate School is expanding its efforts to focus on supporting new initiatives that encourage community involvement, student development, and increased connectivity throughout LSU’s campus. The Graduate School welcomes Fahui Wang as its second associate dean.

Guoqiang Li The school also welcomes Guoqiang Li as the new associate vice provost of academic strategy. LSU's Graduate School is excited to announce the addition of its newest unit, Strategic Initiatives of the Graduate School (SIGS). SIGS will allow for expansion of its current efforts throughout the university: continued focus on graduate education enrichment, student development, assistantship diversification, and increased communication. Find out more information about the advances the LSU Graduate School is making at the Graduate School's website

Important Dates and Upcoming Events

Save the Date:

These informal sessions, hosted by the Learning & Teaching Collaborative, will give attendees the opportunity to learn more about university resources, work with other faculty to troubleshoot common teaching challenges, and network with colleagues across campus.

Have you ever wondered if your teaching is effective? Have you read your student teaching evaluations and wondered what they actually mean? Join LTC for a panel conversation about measuring the impact of your teaching. 

    • Topic: Understanding the Impact of your Teaching
    • Date: Thursday, February 24
    • Time: 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
    • Zoom Webinar