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Students on UL's campus crossed off the first day of the spring semester Tuesday.
Classes and parking woes were on the minds of many with most unaware that the spring semester will be one of transition for the university. Ray Authement will end his 34 years as president, and a transition team will begin hashing out a to-do list for incoming President Joseph Savoie.
In the coming weeks, transitional advisory teams that will focus on issues like academics and faculty, economic development and research, university advancement, students, athletics, and facilities and property will be formed. Students, faculty, staff and community stakeholders will be asked to serve on the teams, said Jerry Luke LeBlanc, the man hired as Savoie's transition coordinator.
The teams will focus on the more than 30 recommendations made in an institutional review conducted during the presidential search process and concerns raised by the public during the search meetings, said LeBlanc, who served as former Gov. Kathleen Blanco's commissioner of administration.
Savoie is still the acting commissioner of higher education and his replacement likely won't be selected before the legislative session. Savoie said he plans to make weekly visits to the campus to discuss transition issues.
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Marsha Sills
msills@theadvertiser.com
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Most students focused on their first-day schedules weren't aware that another man would be coordinating the transition from one administration to another or that even that Savoie had been named as their next university president.
But their to-do list for the next administration wasn't too far off base from needs expressed in the review.
One major concern for the campus is its deferred maintenance, which is a product of the lean budgets following the oil crash in the 1980s.
"The dorms are horrible," said sophomore computer science major Nicholas Potier. "I live in the Conference Center, and it's not that bad, but even some of the girls' dorms I wouldn't want to live in."
The university is expanding its student-style apartment complex, Legacy Park. Bids for the expansion haven't gone out yet, but students may see construction of the new buildings by late spring, according to Bill Crist, UL's physical plant director.
Parking continues to be an issue on the landlocked campus.
More parking garages are needed on campus, rather than the pay lot system on campus, students said.
The parking issue isn't only one of convenience, but safety, said nursing sophomore Ashley Hall. She opts to pay to park at private lot near campus rather than park at Cajun Field and ride the bus onto campus.
"It's more for security," Hall said. "People are always walking around here on campus and not so much at Cajun Field. I feel safer. It's closer and you don't have to wait for the bus."
The university's first parking garage was to be open in time for the start of the spring semester, but the project has been delayed because safety features have not been installed.
Students hope for changes in the classroom, too.
Whitley Amos, a sophomore majoring in advertising, wants smaller class sizes so instructors can spend more time interacting with students.
"Sometimes, professors don't seem as involved with classes as I'd like them to be," she said.
Mechanical engineering freshman Beau Craft wants to be able to take a class when he needs it.
The university has made efforts to offer more sections of high-demand courses to students as part of its system's efforts to increase graduation rates.
Students said they hope that the plan continues to work for all students.
While most students didn't know who Savoie was, many hope that won't be the case when he begins his new job this summer.
Ranelle Skipper, a junior in history, previously attended Dillard University and when she transferred to UL said she missed having an interaction with the university's chief officer.
"It was smaller, but I would see my president almost every other day on campus. And she always asked students, 'How's your GPA?' or 'How are your classes going?' It would be nice to see him more involved with students," Skipper said.
Skipper and her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sisters stood at the corner of Rex Street and St. Mary Boulevard passing out Scantron cards and sour suckers to students.
Her sorority sister Cierra Meche agreed that she'd like to see the new president take more visible interest in students.
"He is our president," said Meche, a junior in exercise science. "Maybe he could visit with student organizations and meet with the Greeks."
LeBlanc said he wasn't surprised to hear students' concerns about parking on the campus and other concerns would be taken into consideration, as well.
He added that students will be asked to be a part of the transition advisory teams, and that public input from students or anyone in the community - on campus and off - will be accepted during the process.
"We want to focus on solutions and how do we arrive at solutions," LeBlanc said. "There have been lots of discussions about identifying potential issues, but the focus of the transitional advisory teams will be focused on solutions, so the input of the community and faculty, staff and students is going to be very important to the process."
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