We had several members of the Regents, Supervisors and Legislature on campus Monday to discuss our Capital Outlay plans for next year. We also provided them a brief overview of our new campus master plan and how our capital outlay plans have been impacted by the excellent work of the master planners. It was nice to have all of these people on campus, and we had time to give them a brief tour of campus as well as give them updates on recent projects. AVP Sam Wallace did a great job in preparing for the visit. On Tuesday morning, the Joint Legislative Committee on Labor and Industry Relations met at our Institute for Micromanufacturing. We were pleased that they decided to have this meeting outside of Baton Rouge and on our campus. The timing was great as we had one of our major new industry partners (See CSC below) on campus and VP Stan Napper, CSC Louisiana Lead John Dancy, and I were all able to address the Committee about the partnership. Tuesday afternoon, we hosted a kick-off meeting with the campus leadership for our United Way campaign. Larry Jarrell is leading that effort again for us this year, and I am most grateful for his tremendous efforts as well as other team leaders Dawn Basinger, Ryan Richard and Carrie Flournoy. Monday afternoon was a kick-off meeting to plan for the collaborations between Computer Sciences Corporation, CIC representatives, and Tech faculty in the new partnership resulting from CSC’s commitment to build a new Integrated Technology Center in Bossier City and bring at least 800 high-tech jobs to NW Louisiana. Thirty-five CSC employees, including several senior executives, were on campus for three days in intense meetings with our faculty discussing our curricula and other aspects of the partnership. This was one of the most intense, engaging and exciting meetings that I have experienced and it is clear that much was accomplished during that time. Much of the meeting planning and facilitation was led by VP Stan Napper and his CSC counterpart, Wendy Irion-Talbot. Tilman Sheets and Mitzi Desselles from our Industrial and Organizational Psychology faculty also played very important roles in organizing and facilitating the meetings. Interjected throughout the 3-day meeting with CSC were occasions for socializing and familiarization with Tech’s traditions and culture. Champ stopped by University Hall for lunch on Tuesday, and all of the CSC employees were enthused about getting a picture with him. On Tuesday evening, we had a reception at the President’s Home including community leaders and were able to share more about the Tenets of Tech. From there, we took everyone to dinner at Squire Creek Country Club, always an impressive venue for visitors to North Louisiana. On Thursday morning, several of our faculty, staff and students boarded the Tech bus to head to the Cyber Innovation Center in Bossier City to participate in the groundbreaking of the new CSC Integrated Technology Center. It was nice to see so many people from the Shreveport/Bossier community there and also to get a glimpse of the images of the 115,000 sf high-tech building. This will serve as a great work environment for many of our students and graduates. It will also have a major economic impact for NW Louisiana and the entire I-20 corridor, anchored on each end by a major Technology Center (CenturyLink and CSC) and supported in the middle by Louisiana Tech. And, some bonus photos from the week: