This is the first full week of the 2015 Fall Quarter and it has been a full week of meetings, visits, tours and more. And the campus is full with students and activities.  We look forward to having positive enrollment news to report as our registration comes to a close next week. Monday, I met with Ben Bledsoe and other architects & engineers for the new Integrated Engineering and Science Education building to go through the preliminary design development plans. The building is going to be big, beautiful and highly functional for the kind of integrated education model used by the College of Engineering and Science. The project remains on schedule and we hope to go out for bids next spring. On Tuesday, we had a special ceremony in my conference room to recognize Dr. Joe Pullis as Professor Emeritus of Marketing. Joe served Louisiana Tech with tremendous dedication and leadership for 46 years. His positive impacts have been felt across the institution, and decades of students, both undergraduate and graduate, and faculty have benefitted from his wisdom and guidance.       Tuesday afternoon, I went to Louisiana College in Pineville to join President Rick Brewer for a press conference and signing of a MOU for collaborative programs between our two institutions. We are pleased to offer pathways for Louisiana College students to pursue dual degrees with Louisiana Tech. Our faculty and staff will continue to work on these plans and other areas for collaboration. I believe these interactions between public and private institutions are important for offering the citizens of our state alternative educational pathways. On Wednesday morning, I headed over to another local private university, Centenary College, for a meeting of the Shreveport-Bossier Committee of 100 Education Committee. This Committee serves as an advocate for education and provides small grants for various educational initiatives.   Later Wednesday, I joined College of Education Dean Don Schillinger for a meeting with the Chief Academic Officer of Caddo Parish Schools, Keith Burton. Our College of Education is working on a number of programs in the Shreveport-Bossier community and we are pleased with the many teachers that are enrolled in our doctoral and masters programs.  While visiting the School Board office, I was pleased to bump into two Caddo Parish staff members that have children at Tech. I was most pleased, but not surprised, to hear that they are loving their experiences at Tech. It is clear that Tech is the preferred choice for so many high achieving students across the state. Thursday was filled with meetings with my administrative team including the Council of Academic Deans and the Administrative and Planning Council. I also met with some consultants who are on campus to advise us about some activities in the College of Business. These external perspectives are always very helpful in guiding us for greater success in the future. Late Thursday afternoon, I had a visit from our UTeachTech team and some outstanding students from Plain Dealing who are on campus participating in a special STEM competition. Chris Campbell and Glen Larson are two of the UTeachTech Master teachers who have joined us full time and are working on this grant that will be transformative to STEM education in the region. You can find out more about the program at http://uteach.latech.edu/. Friday, I am heading to Bossier City to meet with the Louisiana Tech Research Institute team to discuss some of our project activities. We should have a big announcement coming out over the next few days. Stay tuned. Late afternoon, I will join the football team in Shreveport to fly out to Manhattan Kansas for a big game against Kansas State.