LSUS highlights growth, campus improvements in State of the U. address

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LSUS highlights growth, campus improvements in State of the U. address

SHREVEPORT - As LSUS chancellor Robert Smith discussed a list of campus renovations as part of Wednesday's annual State of the U. address, he highlighted the Davis Family Engagement Center located in the Business and Education building.

The center, which includes inviting meeting spaces for students and community members as well as a live stock ticker, became operational this fall.

If LSUS was a publicly traded company, its stock symbol would flash bright green as it rolled across the ticker.

As universities face challenging higher education landscapes across the nation, LSUS continues to strengthen its position and reinvest in its students and its campus.

"It's absolutely outstanding," Smith said when talking about the state of LSUS. "There are a lot of universities struggling right now, and nationally, enrollments are declining.

"But that's not LSUS's story. We're on pace to break another enrollment record this fall when the numbers are final, and we're growing in all areas of enrollment - face-to-face students, online students, undergraduates and graduate students."

While LSUS's fall enrollment numbers aren't final because its second fall session is still registering students, the university is projecting double-digit growth after increases from Spring 2024 (17 percent increase year-over-year) and Summer 2024 (20 percent increase year-over-year).

LSUS crossed the 10,000-student mark for the first time in its history this past spring with a record enrollment of 10,214.

"We're continuing to experience rapid growth for a couple of reasons," Smith said. "We experience strong support from our community as evident by the roughly $35 million endowment we have, which is really healthy for an institution our size.

"We also provide strong support for our community in the way of providing educational opportunities that meet the interests of students and the needs of employers in our area."

New programs that kicked off this fall included masters degrees in applied behavioral science and rehabilitation counseling along with a graduate certificate in rehabilitation counseling.

Smith cited input specifically from Brentwood Hospital, a comprehensive behavioral health and substance treatment center in Shreveport, as one factor that spurred these programs.

LSUS also had the existing capacity to support such programs through faculty members credentialed to teach in these areas.

Additional programs in healthcare and similar areas are being proposed for future years.

LSUS isn't just bringing more students through its doors, it's retaining and graduating more of its students as well.

With its three graduation ceremonies each topping 1,000 degree earners this past year, LSUS has graduated more students than all but two Louisiana universities. LSUS awards more graduate degrees than any other university in the state.

Smith cited an eight percent increase in retention from this past fall, meaning more students are making progress toward a degree.

"Faculty and staff here are absolutely focused on student success every day," Smith said. "More than half of our undergraduate students are first-generation, which means that neither parent completed a four-year degree.

"That's a student population that means a lot to me because I'm a first-generation student myself. We have programs and resources that specifically support these students."

In a metric that evaluates how effectively institutions help low-income students graduate and improve their socioeconomic level, LSUS ranked the highest in Louisiana and in the top 20 percent nationally.

The Economic Mobility Index was conducted by the organization Third Way, a national think tank that believes higher education is critical to securing a middle-class lifestyle.

That metric includes increases in income and the amount of debt with which students graduate. LSUS's low-income graduates are able to pay off their student debt in 2.77 years, according to the metric.

Growth in enrollment and graduation means a growth in revenue, which has allowed LSUS to renovate campus areas.

Pilots Pointe Apartments, LSUS's on-campus housing, underwent renovations this summer and received more applications than available units for the first time since the university assumed management of the property in 2021.

LSUS completed a science research annex this year, its first new building in nearly three decades.

One biology lab was renovated with plans to update other labs in the science building.

Another recent renovation is bearing fruit in terms of student training.

The Security Operations Center, started in the technology building in 2023, has hired and trained students to work as cyber analysts who monitor and protect LSUS's network.

Six students from a range of degree programs are analyzing incoming data and handling cyber threats this fall.

This hands-on experience can pair with certifications and degrees to help fill unprecedented workforce shortages in cybersecurity.