LSU'S Biweekly Newsletter for Faculty & Staff
July 15, 2005 |
VOL. 21, NO. 20 |
At its July 8 meeting in Shreveport, the LSU Board of Supervisors approved the extension of a lease agreement to allow LSU’s current food service vendor, Chartwells, to continue providing dining services to the LSU campus for the next 15 years.
Chartwells, a member of the international food and hospitality service organization the Compass Group, has provided dining services to the LSU campus since 1997.
Eric Monday, associate vice chancellor for finance and administrative services, told Board members that LSU and Chartwells reached the new agreement two years prior to the expiration of the original contract’s February 2007 termination in order to coincide with LSU campus facilities master plan improvements to the LSU Union, campus residential halls and the Student Recreational Complex. The new contract goes through June 2022.
“The end result will be something that we will be very proud of,” Monday said.
Under the new agreement, Chartwells will invest a total of $15 million to renovate and improve existing dining, concession and other food services on the LSU campus. Ten million dollars of the total investment will be committed to the complete renovation of the Pentagon Dining Hall and the current Laville Food Emporium. Once complete, these facilities will become the primary residential dining halls on campus. Highland Dining Hall will be demolished – after Pentagon and Laville are renovated – in order to provide campus space for a future parking garage.
Both dining halls will embrace trends in higher-education food service such as convenience store options to allow for late night dining as well as made-to-order food cooked in front of the food purchaser.
Patrick Downs, Student Government vice-president told board members that the plans for the new dining facilities are what students want.
“This new plan is going to allow students to get freshly prepared food instead of pre-made food. In a 2004 survey, students indicated that more freshly prepared options are what they want,” Downs said.
Other food service plans include the creation of Einstein Bros® Bagels in Johnston Hall, a Starbucks Coffee Company in Middleton Library, a Caffè Ritazza in the Design Building and another to-be-determined coffee shop in CEBA. There are also plans to expand food offerings in existing locations such as the LSU Union, Foster Café and the Student Recreational Center. Negotiations are in the works with Smoothie King to offer its products in the Recreational Center and Blimpie to offer products in Foster Café.
The plan also sets up an ongoing reserve fund for future improvements and replacements of equipment for dining facilities over the remainder of the lease term.
Monday said Chartwells’ and LSU’s goal is to have most of the elements of the plan completed within the next three years. The improvements are expected to generate about $2 million a year in revenue for the university.
On another topic, board members also approved a four-year employment contract for Lady Tigers Head Basketball Coach Pokey Chatman.
Chatman, who led the LSU women’s basketball team to the school’s first Southeastern Conference title and back-to-back Final Four appearances, will receive an annual base salary of $250,000 plus an additional payment for television, radio and internet appearances. The sum for media appearances will start at $135,000 next season and increase to $180,000 by 2008-09.
The incentive-based contract also provides the second-year coach the ability to earn an additional $15,000 for making the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament; $30,000 for an appearance in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16; $40,000 for winning the regular season SEC title or advancing to the NCAA Final Four; and $70,000 for winning the national title.
Under the provisions of the contract, Chatman’s additional compensation for any given year may not exceed $70,000.
The board also approved the following:
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| Members of the 2005 spring class of LEAD ... emerge are, left to right: (front row, seated) Arlette Rodrigue, Brenda Macon, Patti Beste, Melinda Stallings (program leader), Robin Ethridge, Kristine Calongne, Maria Cazes, Karen Sirman and Sara Zimmerman. (Standing) Dorothy Starns, Tina Fos, Ann Hill, Tara Stevens, Stacey Ardoin, Drayton Vincent, Kristy Miller, Brad Wilson, Beverly Brooks Major, Kevin Duffy, Granger Babcock, Pat Parish, Craig Winchell, Jennifer Abraham and Tracy Morris. |
Twenty-three members of LSU’s professional staff recently completed the university’s “LEAD...emerge” program – a leadership training course for professional-level administrative managers conducted by Human Resource Management.
The members of the spring 2005 session of LEAD...emerge completed more than 80 hours of training from January to May. The program culminated in a luncheon ceremony held at the Tiger Den suites in Tiger Stadium, where participants were recognized for completing the program.
The LEAD...emerge program is designed to support the mission and vision of the university as set forth in the Flagship Agenda, and develop new managers and leaders by enhancing their skills in a number of different areas. Those areas include decision making, effective communication, interaction with subordinates and supervisors, adapting to change and conflict resolution.
A Web site outlining the program is available at www.lsu.edu/lead, complete with photos of the participants and their comments about the program.
Human Resource Management is now accepting nominations for the fall 2005 session of the program. Nomination forms must be submitted online by the nominee’s supervisor and are due by July 23. The LEAD...emerge selection committee will review the nominations from July 25-29, and will notify those selected for the program on Aug. 1. The fall session will be held Aug. 9-Dec. 13. Classes are every other Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Melinda Stallings, training and development manager with Human Resource Management, developed the program and conducts the training, complemented by subject matter experts from across the campus. The program began in fall 2004 with 22 participants completing the inaugural class of LEAD...emerge, and was followed by the 23-member spring 2005 class. Subsequent programs will be held each fall and spring.
Stallings said that much of the feedback from participants of the first two sessions of LEAD...emerge revolves around the camaraderie that develops among those in the program. “The networking, the friendships, just knowing what people do in other offices on campus has been a really beneficial part of the program,” Stallings said. “Nearly all of the participants have said that this is one of the best benefits of the program.”
The content is another aspect of the program on which participants have provided positive feedback, Stallings said, particularly the personality test that all participants are required to complete. The test results in a detailed personality profile that helps participants get to know themselves and their co-workers, and in turn, helps the participants better relate to and communicate with those around them.
“The words ‘peer support group’ do not adequately describe the actual benefits that we received from LEAD,” said Jennifer Abraham, interim director of the T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History and participant in the spring 2005 LEAD...emerge session. “That support group has just been amazing.” Abraham recently interviewed for a higher position within the university and found that the skills she learned through the program helped her immensely, from preparing for the interview to conducting herself professionally under pressure. “The LEAD program helped me with this job interview in ways I could not possibly have imagined,” Abraham said. “The level of confidence that I had in that interview is directly tied to everything I learned at LEAD. The benefits of the program are exponential.”
Abraham said the program helps her in her day-to-day duties as well, from managing meetings to conflict resolution. “I found it very useful to learn strategies for resolving conflicts and to learn how you can grow from them and go forward and not backward,” Abraham said. “And learning the difference between leadership and management – that’s gold!”
Stallings also said that the program seems to inspire some participants to make changes and improvements in their offices and careers, which benefits LSU overall. In addition, the program focuses on LSU’s managerial core competencies, teaching participants the skills that are most necessary to advance their careers at LSU, including self management and awareness, relationship management, resource management and social awareness.
“Anybody can develop a feel-good program, but I wanted to develop a program that would affect positive change at the university,” Stallings said.
While Stallings coordinates the program, she also credits her advisory committee and Marian Augustine, assistant vice chancellor, Office of Human Resource Management, with much of its success. “She is a staunch supporter of the program and wants to expand HR into a real resource for employees,” Stallings said of Augustine. “LEAD...emerge is part of that vision.”
Stallings said the idea behind these kinds of programs is to provide leadership skills to those who were promoted to management because they were good at their jobs, but who wanted assistance in honing managerial core competency skills. She and her colleagues at Human Resource Management are currently developing similar programs tailored to other groups throughout the university, including deans and directors, which will have a decidedly more academic focus.
Members of the spring 2005 LEAD ... emerge class were: Jennifer Abraham, interim director, T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History, LSU Libraries; Stacey Ardoin, coordinator, Human Resource Management; Granger Babcock, assistant to vice chancellor, Student Life and Academic Services; Patti Beste, associate registrar, Registrar’s Office; Kristine Calongne, assistant director, University Relations; Maria Cazes, manager, Accounting Services; Kevin Duffy, coordinator, Centers for Excellence in Learning and Teaching; Robin Ethridge, manager, Enterprise Solutions Group; Tina Fos, business manager, College of Arts and Sciences; Ann Hill, associate director, Procurement Auxiliary Services; Brenda Macon, business manager, Southern Review; Beverly Brooks Major, associate director, Career Services; Kristy Miller, coordinator, Campus Community Coalition for Change; Tracy Morris, research specialist, CAMD; Pat Parish, associate director, Student Media; Arlette Rodrigue, assistant dean, College of Agriculture; Karen Sirman, assistant director, Computing Services; Dorothy Starns, coordinator, Bursar’s Office; Tara Stevens, coordinator, Continuing Education; Drayton Vincent, director, Mental Health Services; Brad Wilson, assistant director, University Recreation; Craig Winchell, assistant director, University College; and Sara Zimmerman, associate director, LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network.
The LSU Libraries’ Special Collections is proud to become the new home of the Eudora Welty Papers, a collection of Welty’s private letters, through a gift from Michael D. Robinson, senior director of development at the LSU Foundation. Robinson is the nephew of John Robinson to whom most of the letters are addressed.
The collection, which spans the years 1951-1957, is a unique and valuable resource for Welty scholars, according to Brannon Costello, LSU assistant professor of English who specializes in southern literature.
“ Welty’s relationship with John Robinson was one of the most significant of her life,” he noted. “Not only did the two share a lifelong friendship and a shorter, complicated romance, but they also shared a devotion to the craft of writing.”
It should not surprise those who view the Eudora Welty Papers that as a result of Robinson and Welty’s intimacy, these letters open a window into the writer’s personal and professional life. The eclectic topics touched on in the papers include the theater, the cinema, artists, writers and Welty’s mother. She mentions important writers such as Robert Penn Warren, William Faulkner, Leonard Wolf, Sidonie-Gabrielle Collet, Elizabeth Spencer and Elizabeth Bowen. She does not limit her remarks to writers, but also comments on public figures and politicians, including Mississippi governor Ross Barnett and evangelist Billy Graham.
Of particular interest to Welty scholars, according to Costello, are several letters chronicling her stay in Ireland with writer Elizabeth Bowen, another longtime friend. He noted, “We think of Welty as firmly rooted in Mississippi but in fact she was greatly affected by her stay in Ireland, and in her letters she is clearly distressed at the thought of leaving.” For example, she wrote, “I would have stayed in Ireland all my life with trips from it not to it then.” Good portions of her lettersdescribe the landscape and atmosphere in great detail and lament the fact that she is unable to stay permanently.
Welty traveled widely and held various lecturing and teaching posts. Travel, escape and freedom are important themes in her work in the 1950’s according to Costello. Through the letters, she shares with Robinson many of the feelings and first-hand experiences that she draws upon for much of the fiction collected in “The Bride of the Innisfallen and Other Stories.” She also mentions her own struggles with writing and writing projects she was working on at the time. The letters also record the role she played in Robinson’s literary career, critiquing his work and continuously encouraging him.
Welty was born April 13, 1909, in Jackson, Miss. She attended Mississippi State College for Women in Columbus from 1925 - 1927. She transferred to the University of Wisconsin in 1927, where she became an English major and began studying English Literature. In 1929 she received her Bachelor of Arts degree and moved on to graduate school at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, studying advertising. She won most of the major literary prizes during her career, including the Pulitzer Prize and the French Légion d’Honneur.
“ Welty’s achievement is unsurpassed in American fiction. Her work combines keen, often startling insights about human nature and about the social forces that shape individuals with an equally startling tenderness and compassion for even the most reprehensible of her characters,” said Costello.
Costello has written several pieces discussing Welty’s work. His latest is “Playing Lady and Imitating Aristocrats: Race, Class and Money in Eudora Welty’s Delta Wedding and The Ponder Heart,” The Southern Quarterly 42.3 (2004):21-54.
The collection is currently being cataloged and will be available to researchers soon. Anyone interested in accessing the letters should contact Tara Z. Laver, assistant curator for manuscripts at 578-6546.
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| Mayor Kip Holden speaks to members of the LSU Kiwanis at one of the June lunch meetings at the Faculty Club. |
The diligent service and care provided to LSU is sometimes kept too quiet. This is the case for the prominent yet silent presence of the LSU Kiwanis Club. Kiwanis International is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time. Locally, the LSU Kiwanis Club serves the main LSU campus in many capacities. The organization is composed of about 30 members. “We try to give back to the university,” said longtime member Ray Dudley.
The organization has played a huge role in LSU’s Fall Fest activities for 11 years. The club is primarily responsible for the barbecuing for the event, which they begin at 6 a.m. Typically, every member volunteers for the festivities and enjoys the chance to join in welcoming the university to a new school year.
They continue to serve the university throughout the year by raising money through an annual jambalaya dinner. All of the proceeds go to their many service projects on and off campus, one of which is two LSU scholarships. The two $750 cash scholarships are given to full-time faculty and staff members enrolled with no major financial assistance.
During the Christmas holidays the LSU Kiwanis Club assists in collecting the university’s donations for “The Giving Tree.” Members pick up canned food items for the Baton Rouge Food Bank, toys for the Marine Corps’ “Toys for Tots” and clothing for the Salvation Army, which is distributed to needy families.
Many members of the organization are faculty and staff members at LSU. The group meets every Tuesday at noon in LSU’s Faculty Club. The members encourage those interested in getting involved with the group to attend. Occasionally, the club will host LSU’s Circle K officers at their lunch meetings. Circle K and Key Club are college and high school levels, respectively, of Kiwanis Club. The LSU Kiwanis Club sponsors the McKinley High and Christian Life Academy’s Key Clubs.
The club’s presence is notable both on campus and in the Baton Rouge community. To learn more, visit www.kiwanis.org or contact LSU_Kiwanis@yahoo.com.
The Small Business Development Center at LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business and the LSU Middleton Library are teaming up to host a workshop on Patents and Trademarks on Wednesday, July 27, from 6 to 8:30 p.m., in Room 230-B Middleton Library on LSU’s campus.
The Patent and Trademark Workshop is designed for inventors and researchers needing basic information on patents and trademarks and search techniques. There will be a patent and trademark attorney on hand to answer questions from attendees.
The workshop is free and open to the public. Registration is required. For more information or to register, visit www.bus.lsu.edu/lbtc, or call LBTC at 225-578-7555.
The LSU SBDC is a member of the Louisiana Small Business Development Center Network – a statewide network that is nationally accredited by the Association of Small Business Development Centers. The LSBDC Network provides technical assistance in areas of business and marketing planning, financial projections, entrepreneurial training and loan preparation assistance to Louisiana’s entrepreneurs and small businesses. Each year, the LSBDC Network counsels more than 4,000 entrepreneurs and small-business owners with nearly 20,000 hours of one-on-one counseling. In addition, the LSBDC Network conducts more than 500 training events statewide each year, reaching more than 10,000 entrepreneurs and small-business owners.
Since July 2001, the LSBDC has documented assisting entrepreneurs and small-business owners with obtaining more than $126.9 million in loans and equity funding.
The LSBDC Network partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Louisiana Department of Economic Development. For more information on the LSBDC, visit its Web site at www.lsbdc.org.
On Friday, July 15, the LSU Bookstore will host a Midnight Magic Party beginning at 10 p.m. to celebrate the release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Prince.” All partygoers will have the opportunity to play Harry Potter-related games, and there will be face painting, every flavor bean samples, raffles and prizes.
The office of the headmaster of the famous school of magical arts will be open for photo opportunities, and the headmaster himself will be on hand along with some of his staff and students. Refreshments, including Hogwart-inspired beverages Elixor of Life and Moaning Myrtle Mocha, will be available in the E-Commons Café, which will be changed into Hogwarts Great Hall for the event.
At midnight, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Prince” goes on sale, and the LSU Bookstore will be offering it for 40% off. The public is invited to attend, and everyone is encouraged to dress as their favorite Harry Potter character or to wear their favorite pajamas.