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| BATON ROUGE – On Thursday, Oct. 29, the Faculty Senate and the Office of Academic Affairs co-sponsored a roundtable discussion on a new collaborative strategy for LSU, “LSU Thinks Big: The Illustrative Cases – Arts and Humanities; Science and Technology; Coast and the Community.” The goal of the roundtable was to engage the entirety of LSU’s academic community in a dialogue about the move toward “big” enterprises in both the spotlighted disciplines and, by extension, in all the research efforts at LSU. The panel featured prominent researchers and administrators involved in various “big” initiatives: Robert Twilley, associate vice chancellor of research and economic development at LSU, director of the Coastal Sustainability Agenda and professor in the LSU Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences; David Cronrath, dean of the College of Art & Design; Brooks Keel, vice chancellor for research and economic development and professor of biological sciences; and Stacia Haynie, vice provost of Academic Affairs. LSU Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Astrid Merget gave an overview the concept of the “big” initiative and introduced the panelist. Merget said that the concepts of “Big Coast and Community,” “Big Science and Technology” and “Big Arts and Humanities” is a new way of looking at the university. LSU is focusing on all the assets that are already in place that can be reconfigured into various chapters and new, contemporary ways. “We are creating a lens – a lens to see the university from a very different vantage point,” Merget said of the concept utilizing more cross disciplinary collaboration and teamwork. Twilley outlined “Big Coast and Community” and focused on three R’s: risks, resiliency and restoration. “The concept here is the three R’s because fundamentally in this topic of ‘Big Coast and Community,’ we have a big problem,” Twilley said regarding the state of Louisiana coastline. “We have a big problem right now that has huge impact. When we think big, we’re not thinking big in any one vertical structure of a university. It’s thinking big related to a climate of ethics of not only what we can achieve in an interdisciplinary approach but hopefully all of us having a big impact on our state and on our nation.” Keel, who outlined “Big Science and Technology,” said that the concept of thinking big is not about scale, it’s about impact. “That’s really what we’re trying to design here – a way of thinking, a way of doing that makes a tremendous impact into the various fields of study of the interdisciplinary work that we’ve done,” Keel said. Keel talked about the areas of “Big Science and Technology” that LSU is already involved, including the Center for Advanced Microstructures & Devices, or CAMD; Center for Computation and Technology, or CCT; Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory, or LIGO; and Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research, or AVATAR. He also outlined the ways that LSU can further the “Think Big” concept and make it a success, such as attracting new faculty from all disciplines, increasing graduate student enrollment and improving LSU’s infrastructure. Cronrath outlined “Big Arts and Humanities” and said that it’s a broad and inclusive term that encompasses both cultural products and the process of cultural production. "What we do here at the university is we produce new products, cultural products. We remap existing cultural products, and we preserve cultural products,” Cronrath said. “The university contributes by making cultural capital, and it’s the production of cultural capital that we’re charged with as an institution.” “We’re probably the largest producer of content in the state. In the information rich world, the most important commodity is knowledge, which is taking information, pushing it through something so that it has meaning, or content, and giving it to someone else,” he added. LSU’s “Think Big” initiative is an ongoing process and each of the three areas will continue to meet and collaborate on ways to implement the strategies. The LSU Faculty Senate will host their next forum on Thursday, Nov. 11, in 130 Geology (the Geology Lecture Hall). The topic will be “The University with Dressing and Gravy: Programs, Administration, Arrangement and Occasionally Expansion.” -30- |
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