Archived News | Return to News Center

March 3, 2008

ULS Board supports office reorganization and Water Ski Team student referendum

At the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors meeting Friday, the University of Louisiana at Monroe received approval to reorganize its Office of Graduate Studies and Research.

ULM will separate the existing Office of Graduate Studies and Research into the School of Graduate Studies and the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research. This new administrative structure will allow the university to focus more effectively on each of these critical areas.

ULM Provost Stephen Richters called the reorganization, which ULM will implement in fall 2008, a "rather standard configuration."

The School of Graduate Studies, which will utilize the administrative structure of a dean rather than a director, will focus on increasing graduate enrollment. ULM will soon launch a national search for the new dean. The Office of Sponsored Programs and Research will bolster the research, instructional, creative and community service goals already prevalent at ULM. The administrative office's many resources, including financial and technical, will support faculty and staff in writing and budgeting grants and contracts, creating public and private partnerships, and supporting technology development and transfer. The office will coordinate all sponsored program activities associated with the preparation and submission of grant proposals, and will act as a liaison with outside funding agencies.

In other board news:

The UL System BOS also approved a student referendum to increase a self-assessed fee that will offset the operation costs of ULM's Water Ski Team, which just earned a 20th National Championship title. ULM students will vote on the proposed fee increase this spring.

Water Ski Team Coach Treina Landrum said, "We are very pleased that the board has allowed the referendum to move forward for a vote by the ULM students. ULM Students are proud of their Water Ski Team and want them to continue to bring home National Championship titles. We have an excellent student body that has always been supportive of the Water Ski Team, and I am confident that support will continue."

The BOS awarded ULM $49,231 in performance funding, based on campus improvements in average student ACT scores, ACT student opinion surveys, first-time freshmen retention, and graduation rates. In keeping with the UL System’s initiative to improve student access and success, performance dollars should be used for programs that relate to expanding student enrollment, progression and graduation.

PLEASE NOTE: Some links and e-mail addresses in these archived news stories may no longer work, and some content may include events which are no longer relevent, or reference individuals and/or organizations no longer associated with ULM.