Rudy Hirschheim
Distinguished Professor,
Center for Computation & Technology
Distinguished Professor,
Center for Computation & Technology
LSU'S Biweekly Newsletter for Faculty & Staff
March 23, 2007 |
VOL. 23, NO.1 4 |
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| Rudy Hirschheim Distinguished Professor, Center for Computation & Technology |
What were your previous positions and where?
I was the Tenneco/Chase International Professor of Information Systems in the Bauer College of Business, University of Houston, and past Director of its Information Systems Research Center. I have also held visiting professorships at universities in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia; Bayreuth, Germany; and Paris. I have been on the faculties of McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario; the London School of Economics, University of London; and Templeton College, University of Oxford. I have also worked
as a senior consultant with the National Computing Centre in Manchester, England.
What do you hope to accomplish at LSU?
My goal is to help give LSU a broader international reputation and presence, especially in Europe and Australia. This will be accomplished by a number of collaborative research projects with researchers in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Finland, Spain, Russia and Australia.
What is your research interest?
My primary research interest is in outsourcing/offshoring. We study what business functions can be outsourced and offshored, and which need to be kept internal to the organization.
What do you enjoy most about LSU?
The diverse and international collection of faculty and students who make up both the CCT, the Business School and the university as a whole. And the Cajun cooking and unique Louisiana culture don’t hurt either.
The LSU Board of Supervisors tackled a number of high-profile issues at its March meeting, which was held at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans on March 8 and 9.
“The Pelican Promise,” a program created to help aid low-income students with the costs associated with attending LSU, received both approval and acclaim from the board.
More information on “The Pelican Promise” can be found in the related story below.
The board also approved the establishment of the Stephenson Disaster Management Institute within the E.J. Ourso College of Business.
The institute is a direct result of the $25 million donation made to the university by Emmet and Toni Stephenson, with $11 million of the donation set aside expressly for its creation.
Chancellor Sean O’Keefe explained that the Stephensons’ plan on helping ensure that LSU becomes one of the foremost authorities in the nation on the handling of natural disasters from the logistics and management perspective. It is expected that the institute will eventually become self-supporting through grants and contracts, with faculty recruited strictly with institute funds.
“This is the first and only privately funded institute of its kind in the United States,” said O’Keefe. “And that has gotten the attention of a lot of folks, including the Department of Homeland Security.”
The board also approved the creation of the “LSU National Scholars Award,” a new scholarship program that will waive both tuition and fees for 150 in-state and 50 out-of-state National Merit finalists and semi-finalists.
“It’s an opportunity to put a very strong focus on high-performing students who are sorting through offers of other universities who are our peers,” said O’Keefe.
The chancellor also presented the board with a report on fall 2007 enrollment forecasts and application trends.
As of March 1, the total applications for the fall semester have increased 14.5 percent, from 8,875 at this point in 2006 to 10,375. While the amount of in-state applicants has remained static, out-of-state applications have increased 35.3 percent. Minority applications are also on the rise, with increases of 43.2 percent among African-American students, 23.9 percent among Hispanics and 16.3 and 15.7 percent increases among Native Americans and Asians-Americans respectively.
Other actions taken by the board include:
The board also passed a resolution honoring former member Charles V. Cusimano for his 32 years of service. Cusimano, whose first term with the board began in 1974, will have an oak tree on campus dedicated and marked with a plaque in his honor.
“I was a 17-year-old on scholarship given the opportunity to perform at LSU,” said Cusimano through tears. “I didn’t know this is how it all would happen.”
LSU is making a commitment to low-income students with a new program that will supplement TOPS and other financial aid packages to help students pay for more of their college costs.
The “Pelican Promise” program will provide additional funding to students already receiving TOPS, Pell grants, and various other fee waivers and grants available to low-income students. Typically, after all those awards have been given, students still need to come up with several thousand dollars a year to cover expenses such as room and board, books and transportation. Pelican Promise would provide about $3,000 annually to those students.
The program was approved at the LSU Board of Supervisors meeting on March 8 and 9, and will go into effect this fall for incoming freshmen.
Chancellor Sean O’Keefe explained to the board that the plan would greatly help the economically disadvantaged to traverse the major financial obstacles that sometimes prevent them from receiving a university education.
The award is designed to help students with costs such as books, supplies, housing, meals and transportation that awards like TOPS often cannot cover. In a recent marketing research survey conducted by LSU, a large number (43 percent in-state, 39 percent out-of-state) of high school students listed scholarship opportunities as their foremost concern when choosing a university.
“The combination of TOPS and Pelican Promise and the state’s other need-based programs will help chip away at that barrier,” said LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe.
“The original concept behind TOPS that was introduced by Pat Taylor more than a decade ago was if Louisiana students perform, they should not be denied a college education because of the cost. Pelican Promise seeks to fulfill Pat Taylor’s vision,” said O’Keefe. Taylor, the late New Orleans businessman who labored tirelessly to advance education in Louisiana, was one of the early education activists who laid the groundwork for the Tuition Opportunity Program for Students, or TOPS.
To be eligible for Pelican Promise, a student’s family would have to be within 150 percent of the federal poverty level. That means a family of four would have to have an annual household income of $30,975 or less. A family of three would have to have an annual household income of $25,755 or less.
Projections show that in 2007-08, LSU would have 320 students who would be eligible to receive funds through Pelican Promise. And LSU officials say their goal is to expand the program as additional resources become available to include more students, with the ultimate goal being to broaden the eligibility to 200 percent of the poverty level. At 200 percent, a family of four with an annual household income of $41,300 would be eligible for Pelican Promise.
Students also must qualify academically to attend LSU, and must obtain all other available financial aid, such as Pell grants, TOPS and other additional state and federal aid that already exists for low-income students.
“The Pelican Promise is a commitment from LSU to support Louisiana’s neediest students and is a reflection of our desire to support those who feel they cannot afford to go to college,” said James McCoy, vice provost for enrollment management. “We are hopeful that the Pelican Promise will, in time, be a beacon for young needy students to prepare themselves academically in high school when they realize that they will have access to financial support when they go to college.”
While student loans have always been an option for LSU students, McCoy said that fear of student loans and the burden of repaying them after graduation are often factors that prevent low-income students from borrowing money for college. At full implementation, the Pelican Promise would allow the most needy students to attend college without loans.
LSU would evaluate each student individually and would automatically award the Pelican Promise to eligible students. Students would be required to fill out the free application for federal student aid, or FAFSA.
Under the proposal, the Pelican Promise grant would be awarded for eight semesters or until graduation – whichever occurs first. Transfer students who meet the requirements would also be eligible.
LSU officials said that since the creation of the Flagship Agenda several years ago, LSU has consistently talked about recruiting and retaining the “best and brightest” students. Pelican Promise would help the low-income “best and brightest” afford LSU.
“I am very excited about Pelican Promise because it is about providing access for students who are economically disadvantaged, but academically qualified,” said Mary Parker, director of the LSU Office of Student Aid & Scholarships.
The LSU provost search committee began the search for LSU executive vice chancellor and provost position this week and will continue the interviewing process over the next several weeks. Each candidate will spend two days on campus being interviewed by the provost search committee and LSU officials, and meeting with university faculty, staff and students.
The candidates are Astrid Merget, dean of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University; Ronald Rousseau, chair of the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology; Harold Silverman, interim provost and executive vice chancellor at LSU and dean of the LSU Graduate School; and Jeffrey Vitter, dean of the College of Science at Purdue University.
“I’m extremely pleased with the quality of candidates that applied. I think that we have been able to select an outstanding group of finalists,” said William Daly, chair of the LSU provost search committee, president of the LSU Faculty Senate and alumni professor of chemistry.
Each candidate will meet with the chancellor, the search committee, senior-level university administrators, the Faculty and Staff Senates, Student Government and other campus groups, during their two-day visits. In addition, candidates will each take part in a public forum, during which students, faculty and staff will have an opportunity to interact with them.
The list of four finalists is the result of work by LSU’s search committee and by Edward W. Kelley & Partners, the national search firm that the university hired to assist the committee in identifying potential candidates. In the beginning of the process, the search committee solicited nominations of potential candidates from LSU faculty members, while the search conducted a national search based on the leadership and scholarship criteria established by the committee.
The committee received more than 50 applications for the position. Committee members narrowed the list down to eight semi-finalists based on parameters they had defined. The eight semi-finalists were invited to off-site interviews, and the list was then narrowed down to the four finalists.
The position of executive vice chancellor and provost will guide LSU toward the fulfillment of the Flagship Agenda. The successful candidate is expected to provide the vision and leadership necessary for the university to advance within the ranks of America’s preeminent public research universities.
The executive vice chancellor and provost will appreciate, support and promote all of the broad disciplinary areas in the university’s academic, research and service programs, as well as interdisciplinary learning and discovery. The executive vice chancellor and provost reports directly to the chancellor and serves as the chief academic officer and chief operating officer. As chief academic officer, the provost is responsible for the academic programs of the university. In addition, as chief operating officer, this person has broad administrative responsibilities including significant budgetary authority.
Members of the search committee included 20 distinguished faculty and staff members and two student representatives.
For a biography on each candidate visit www.lsu.edu/faculty_staff/provost/.
The times and locations for the remaining forums are:
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco recently released details of her Executive Budget proposal that include large investments in LSU’s Flagship Agenda. LSU is budgeted for a $38.3 million increase as part of Gov. Blanco’s stated “single largest increase investment in education in Louisiana’s recent history.”
The governor’s total proposal of $611 million in new funding will go toward rewarding and recruiting educators, redesigning state high schools, delivering resources to higher education institutions and providing students with greater access to education – from pre-K to college statewide. As part of the planned $38.3 million for LSU, $18.5 million of the increase is intended to bring the university’s budget up to the Southern regional peer average.
“This is a historic development for LSU – for the first time since 1981, the governor’s budget includes funds for LSU on par with our peer competitors. This is a strong statement of our state’s resolve that LSU is the flagship university,” said LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe. “Gov. Blanco’s initiative can help LSU climb the national rankings. We are committed to realizing that objective and are grateful for her exceptional support and leadership. The people of Louisiana deserve our best efforts and that will be realized with this initiative.”
If the plan is approved by the Legislature, LSU faculty and staff will benefit from funds earmarked for pay raises statewide. In addition, the governor’s budget includes funds to cover the cost of mandated expenses for state employee benefits.
“We urge legislative support of this important effort to provide a strong, competitive option for the next generation of Louisiana leaders to stay in state and attend LSU – the flagship university on par with our national competitors,” O’Keefe said.
The governor’s proposed budget would push LSU a long way toward its Flagship Agenda goals. The $18.5 million that will bring LSU’s budget up to the Southern regional average will go to faculty additions, graduate assistants and scholarships, all key goals in the strategic plan. All of these investments should lead to the retention and recruitment of faculty, smaller average class sizes, more research productivity, and keeping more of the brightest students in Louisiana.
The Legislature will consider the budget during the next session beginning April 30.
Eight full-time faculty members representing a variety of disciplines were selected for LSU’s inaugural 2007 Service-Learning Faculty Scholars Program, which offers $2,000 stipends to encourage experiential education and “hands-on” learning that benefits the community.
The Center for Community Engagement, Learning, and Leadership, or CCELL, has initiated the innovative Faculty Scholars Program to promote the institutionalization of service-learning courses in every department and to advance the objectives of the LSU Flagship Agenda.
Faculty Scholars are Frank Anselmo, Honors College and Department of French Studies; David R. Brown, Department of Biological Sciences; Margaret Denny, Department of Educational Theory, Policy, and Practice; Cynthia DiCarlo, School of Human Ecology; Lisa Lundy, Manship School of Mass Communication; Solimar Otero, Department of English; Terrie Paoehl, Department of Educational Theory, Policy, and Practice; and Mark Schafer, Department of Sociology.
“The number of applications for the scholars program indicates widespread faculty interest in interdisciplinary and collegial course planning. The various disciplines have much to teach each other,” said Jan Shoemaker, CCELL director.
“Some of the scholars had already begun to implement elements of service-learning into their courses, but they all recognized the value of a planning process whereby they can develop more effective strategies for reinforcing the academic and civic mission of research university,” Shoemaker added.
Scholars will attend a weekly, one-hour seminar where they will plan and discuss course design, social responsibilities of universities, liability, assessment and reflection as they relate to service-learning courses. At the completion of the seminar series, scholars will develop a service-learning course syllabus and implement the course in a subsequent semester.