quote:
So your brilliant idea to fix the ailing higher ed system is to dismantle it?
Louisiana ranks near the bottom of the list in nearly every measurable educational statistic (including post-secondary attainment). In spite of what you see as budget mismanagement, Louisiana is at or near the bottom in higher ed expenditures. Also, if memory serves, Louisiana institutions rank in the top 15 in higher ed budget efficiency nationally.

Louisiana is 25th in population but has the 8th most State Universities in the country. It seems like we would be much better served by doing away with some of the satellite campuses and consolidate some of them.

LSU-S, Southern-S, Northwestern state consolidate
ULL, LSU-A, LSU-E consolidate
ULM, LA Tech consolidate
UNO, SUNO consolidate

I don't really know what to do with the HBC main campuses but it's ridiculous that we have 3 Universities in the Shreveport area and 3 in the Lafayette/Alex area. The other schools: Nichols, Mcneese, and Southeastern probably serve large enough population bases to justify keeping them around. It's not about doing away with the seats from the consolidated schools, but the amount of money spent paying for all these administrations and all these different facilities could be better spent on a smaller number of schools. I'm sure there are issues with my "proposal", but if the state can't fund the number of campuses it has then the simple solution is to lower the number of campuses.

3 ...

Report Post

Posted by Guava Jelly

Bawston

Member since Jul 2009

11653 posts

Posted on 3/3/16 at 2:19 pm to MLCLyons

quote:
I'm sure there are issues with my "proposal", but if the state can't fund the number of campuses it has then the simple solution is to lower the number of campuses.

What I'm saying is if it were that simple, it would have been done already. Not only are there costs associated with these moves that aren't being considered here, but these are also moves that would require action by the state congress and likely the voters in each of the districts affected.

Consolidating the higher ed systems makes sense. Consolidating campuses that are close to one another makes sense. But that costs money and takes years. The state is looking for a way out of a financial bind (mind you a bind that was not corrected by eight consecutive years of higher ed cuts) caused by the prior administration. They need something in the short term.

If it's not a tax hike for someone (*oilcompanies*), the cuts are going to have to come from somewhere else.

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by Mayhawman

Somewhere in the middle of SEC West

Member since Dec 2009

10116 posts

Posted on 3/3/16 at 2:42 pm to MLCLyons

quote:
3 in the Lafayette/Alex area

Hammond is like 40min from BR, while ULL and LSUA are 2hrs apart.
Geographics should be considered in your plan as much or more than population base, as many commute.

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by ProjectP2294