The last time higher education in Louisiana was embroiled in a fiscal crisis, the rest of the nation was in the same boat, and federal stimulus money helped bail out the state’s colleges and universities. This time, the Bayou State is on its own.
“There’s nothing coming from the federal government to help us do this,” says LSU President F. King Alexander, speaking to the Trusteeship Conference hosted by the Board of Regents at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center today. “When Humpty-Dumpty falls off the wall on Friday [when Gov. Bobby Jindal unveils his budget-cutting recommendations], we’re going to need everybody in this room to help piece Humpty-Dumpty back together again.”
And if LSU is in some trouble, that means Southern University is “on the precipice,” says President Ronald Mason.
“We’ve been doing everything that we thought we were supposed to be doing,” including streamlining operations and seeking new revenue through online education, Mason says.
Daily Report has the full story.
