Foundation News

            The College of Sciences will host four summer sessions in June to help high school students gain a better understanding of the nature and rewards of career opportunities in the fields of mathematics and science.

          Louisiana State University in Shreveport announced the Professor of the Year award this spring.  Students selected Dr. Sheryl R. Bair, associate professor of Special Education, as the recipient.  The SGA-sponsored Professor of the Year Awards recognizes 20 of the top favored professors at LSUS.  The professor with the most student nominations receives the coveted Professor of the Year Award.

            LSUS will hold spring commencement exercises Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. at CenturyTel Center in Bossier City, Louisiana.

LSUS Debate Coach Trey Gibson and alumnus Keith Milstead will travel to Cork, Ireland to compete in the World Debate Championships December 27, 2008 – January 5, 2009.  Gibson and Milstead were two of four individuals selected by the International Public Debate Association at its national tournament and convention.  Gibson will serve as a coach for the team and Milstead, who is now attending graduate school at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will be a competitor.

Ron Sereg, LSUS assistant professor of public relations, has been invited to Barcelona, Spain by the International Public Relations Association to serve on the final selection committee for the Golden World Awards.  The awards are given by the IPRA to outstanding public relations campaigns from around the world.  The committee also selected finalists for special recognition by the United Nations.

LSUS Senior Joshua Parsons was honored with the Wall Street Journal Outstanding Achievement Award. This award provides distinctive recognition of an exceptional student in the LSUS College of Business Administration.

Edie Broyles Williams, a 1988 LSUS graduate with a Bachelor of General Studies degree, received the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award.  The award is given to alumni who have exhibited exemplary leadership and service to LSUS and the community at large.  Edie and her husband, Dr. Lacy Williams, contributed an underwriting gift for the construction of the Circle of Excellence Plaza on the LSUS campus.

            LSUS Head Men’s Basketball Coach Chad McDowell will stay at LSUS as head coach. After discussion with other universities and an offer from another college, McDowell has opted to stay at LSUS.

           Louisiana State University in Shreveport is pleased to announce new recipients of one super professorship and two professorships to faculty and staff on campus.  The recipient of the Bobbie Hicks Endowed Super Professorship for the Pioneer Heritage Center Authors in April Program is Marty Young, director of the Pioneer Heritage Center.  The recipient of the Hubert Humphries Endowed Professorship of History in the College of Liberal Arts is Dr. Cheryl White, instructor and social scientist in residence in the Department of History and Social Sciences, and the recipient of the William B. Wiener, Jr. Endowed Professorship of Archives and Historic Preservation in the Noel Library is Dr. Laura McLemore, archivist in the Noel Memorial Library.

Dr. Kyle Pierce, LSUS associate professor of Kinesiology and Health Sciences, has been elected vice president of the Pan-American Weightlifting Federation Executive Board.  His term will last four years.  The announcement took place in Santiago, Chile at an international meeting.

The College of Business Administration at Louisiana State University in Shreveport has achieved reaffirmation of accreditation of its bachelor's and master's degree programs in business administration by recent action of the Board of Directors of AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.  The official announcement was made December 14, 2007 in Tampa, Fla.  As of December 2007, only 554 institutions have earned AACSB-International accreditation worldwide.

          Students, faculty and visitors to the LSUS campus now have access to wireless internet. The effort to enhance the technological capabilities for the university was initiated by the Student Government Association last spring. Wireless access is available in every campus building and extends into the parking lots.

          Louisiana State University in Shreveport is launching the 2007-2008 Annual Campaign for the LSUS Celestial Exploration Center, which will be constructed in Mansfield, Louisiana on land donated by LSUS alumna Marcia Calhoun and her husband Riemer Calhoun, Jr.  The center will consist of a laboratory building, a library building, a large classroom, and a computer room.

          In an effort to ensure emergency notification communication to LSUS faculty, staff and students, the university has launched a new alert system called LSUS Emergency Beacon. The system, powered by clearTXT technology, will notify only those who elect to receive the emergency alerts via e-mail or cell phone text message. Such situations include inclement weather, a critical incident or campus closure.

          Teachers prepared by Louisiana State University in Shreveport have received high marks in a ground-breaking study released by the Louisiana Board of Regents.  The Value-Added Assessment of Teacher Preparation is a study sponsored by the Louisiana Board of Regents and conducted by Dr. George Noell, a professor of psychology at LSU in Baton Rouge.

Nine outstanding LSUS alumni received crystal and marble Circle of Excellence Awards at the 40^th Anniversary Celebration Dinner in September.