As a University, I want your opinion....

[Cajun Express]

Any idea that trades old swamp for new swamp should be reconsidered.

I like the idea of a clear view of The Swamp from the Blvd.

Not an old for a new, but an expansion of the wetlands

[Kal]

Not an old for a new, but an expansion of the wetlands

We used to have some big gators on campus, but 2 years ago or so we were told we could only keep gators up to 6 feet. That sucks because those little things don't look near as fercocious as the big boys. ( I know that they can still rip limbs off of human being but still). Once they expand the swamp they need to consider putting in a stronger and higher fence so we can get some of the 12 ft long alligators again. Hearing those gators make the water ripple in spring (around mating season) is scary as hell. The deep bellows with the water dancing around them is quite an impressive site to see.

[RedCajun]

Any idea that trades old swamp for new swamp should be reconsidered.

I like the idea of a clear view of The Swamp from the Blvd.

I'm not totally sure how that would work, but that is the way I understood it.

[CockyCajun]

_ How do you folks think we have grown academically and through sports over the past couple of decades? How much have we grown regarding national attention, recruiting, merchandising and through overall growth since the days of Delhomme and Brandon Mitchell?

Personally, I think that I would place us right behind LSU in the state as "#2" in front of Tech, New Orleans, Tulane, Monroe, etc. _

I judge a schools growth by attendance both in the classroom and at sporting events. The number of fans that made the trip to College Station is a good indicator of how much this school has grown.

[LifeTimeCajun]

_ I judge a schools growth by attendance both in the classroom and at sporting events. The number of fans that made the trip to College Station is a good indicator of how much this school has grown. _

Agreed. Here is another thought...Average baseball attendance this year was about 2400. LEts get 600 or even 1000 of those 20,000 students on campus to the ballgame to put us over the 3000 mark. Lets add $50 to the fees for these 20k students and give it to athletics....that is 2 million a year. $50 is less than a tank of gas these days. Need to start increasing revenue on campus for athletics somehow someway. Projects for new buildings and things of such are continuously being done on campus. I can tell u this.. I grad from USL in 99. I went through campus not long ago and was very impressed with all the improvements. I dont ride through campus very often but it does not even look like the same campus I was on. However, with the exception of the indoor complex, the athletic complex is the same. I do frequent the athletic complex alot more often than the regular campus. We need change to continue growth within the athletic complaex. The indoor practice facility is a great thing but it cant be the only thing. New ideas, new facilties and facelifts are needed not only to keep up with the rest of D I institutions, but to seperate us in recruiting. How can we continue to ask our coaches to go out recruit against other schools with second rate facilities?

[geo_cajun]

There have been improvments, they paved the walkway between the two sides of the stadium. The athletic offices and lockerrooms which you don't see are amazing, I walked around a couple years ago and it looks like an NFL locker room. These practice facilities are gonna be awesome, and Tigue moore has added more seating and tailgating areas. There are also smaller improvements made by volunteers every summer (power washing stuff, repainting stadium hand rails red, etc.). The softball park has also seem some improvments and the lady cajuns just got a new basketball court. I sometimes try to see things on the side that has a lota light on it. IMHO

[LifeTimeCajun]

_ There have been improvments, they paved the walkway between the two sides of the stadium. The athletic offices and lockerrooms which you don't see are amazing, I walked around a couple years ago and it looks like an NFL locker room. These practice facilities are gonna be awesome, and Tigue moore has added more seating and tailgating areas. There are also smaller improvements made by volunteers every summer (power washing stuff, repainting stadium hand rails red, etc.). The softball park has also seem some improvments and the lady cajuns just got a new basketball court. I sometimes try to see things on the side that has a lota light on it. IMHO _

i mean major improvements...i know about the lockerrooms

[bigguill]

I know that UL has been around the 15,000 for almost twenty years. What really surprised when I moved here to Huntsville to work at Sam Houston State was how big of a school this is. Its a Southland Conference school. When I hear Southland, I think of McNeese, Nicholls, etc. But in the Fall 2006 semester, SHSU's enrollment was 15,900. Another thing is, that the enrollment in the Fall of 2001 was 12,500. Thats an increase of 3,400 in 3 years!! They are talking about 17,000 next fall and they want 20,000 by 2010. If UL wants to grow in enrollment, we need to make more of an effort of recruiting students and putting our name out there and advertising our great academic programs.

[RaginFan2]

_ I know that UL has been around the 15,000 for almost twenty years. What really surprised when I moved here to Huntsville to work at Sam Houston State was how big of a school this is. Its a Southland Conference school. When I hear Southland, I think of McNeese, Nicholls, etc. But in the Fall 2006 semester, SHSU's enrollment was 15,900. Another thing is, that the enrollment in the Fall of 2001 was 12,500. Thats an increase of 3,400 in 3 years!! They are talking about 17,000 next fall and they want 20,000 by 2010. If UL wants to grow in enrollment, we need to make more of an effort of recruiting students and putting our name out there and advertising our great academic programs. _

UL has about 17,000 students (I think something like 16,800). They had been above 17K for a while prior to the implementation of increased admissions standards and the creation of the community college in Lafayette. That dropped UL down to about 15K, but that number has grown back to almost 17K. However, I do think the university needs to be more aggressive in recruiting all students. My son is a Sr.-to=be and has been getting mail from around the country. He has received multiple mailings from Ole Miss, Southern Miss, LA Tech, and even Centenary. But not one thing from UL! That despite the fact that both his mother & I graduated from there and his older brother has been going there for a while. Someone from Centenary even called him personally to invite him to come for a visit. UL needs to on the ball. Between the lack of sports marketing and the lack of academic marketing, it is a wonder that the school increases enrollment and sports attendance at all.

ps, Southeastern LA Univ. has been marketing like crazy in SE LA and their enrollment is now about 16,000. They should be passing us in enrollment in the next year or so.

[Turbine]

If UL wants to grow in enrollment, we need to make more of an effort of recruiting students and putting our name out there and advertising our great academic programs. _

I did a chart in 2003 looking back 100 years. Here is a link

The enrollment has been sort of stationary for about 20 years. I can't prove it but I think this has been in part from the abandonment of the strong agricultural base the school once had.

The transition to tech and research is not without costs.

jmo

[RaginFan2]

_ I did a chart in 2003 looking back 100 years. Here is a link

The enrollment has been sort of stationary for about 20 years. I can't prove it but I think this has been in part from the abandonment of the strong agricultural base the school once had.

The transition to tech and research is not without costs.

jmo _

That's a good point. I recall the Ag students being a much larger part of the student population when I first started at U(S)L some 35 years ago. We only had about 12,500 students back then. It really grew in the 70's, but started to stagnate in the mid-80's with the oil bust. When I got my BA in '82, we had increased to about 17K. There was talk about getting to 20,000 then.

[California Cajun]

_ I judge a schools growth by attendance both in the classroom and at sporting events. The number of fans that made the trip to College Station is a good indicator of how much this school has grown. _

I think academics and athletics are two different things, and growth has depended largely on external factors. There has been net growth because the people in charge have learned how to do more with less.

We had the oil boom, the oil bust, and the introduction of selective admissions, which is probably what has determined enrollment.

Our biggest successes in athletics has been due directly to the strength and personality of the coach. Other than for coaches salaries and scholarships, the spring sports coaches have had to raise their own money.

Funding has been abysmal in both. Athletics has been less successful than academics due to the self-imposed restrictions placed on fundraising by the Authement administration.