LSU Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope says university administration appears to have done a rush job on the plan to reorganize schools and colleges on campus, and thinks it makes sense to slow down and include faculty in the process. Cope, an LSU professor of English, says the major restructuring plan, a presentation of which was poorly received at a faculty forum Tuesday, seemed to come out of the blue without sufficient planning. Cope says the provost’s office, which was responsible for putting together the reorganization plan, could win back some of the faculty goodwill that has been lost by seeking real input from faculty and deans—many of whom have long called for some type of reorganization—rather than just presenting the plan as a done deal. “Faculty would have been much more receptive if there had been consultation and discussion and the appearance of organization,” Cope says.
Astrid Merget, the LSU executive vice chancellor and provost who’s in charge of the reorganization plan, says most of the complaints from faculty involve implementation issues such as governance structures. In response, her office is putting together a task force to hear faculty concerns that might help guide implementation. Merget disputes that the planning process was rushed, saying the plan is very similar to one first proposed 15 years ago but never implemented. The reorganization also is in line with how peer universities are structured, she says. “Simply to accept the status quo or the past because it’s comfortable isn’t acceptable,” Merget says.—Steve Clark
