On Monday, I made a short trip over to Delta Community College in Monroe to meet with Chancellor Barbara Hanson. I enjoyed visiting with her to dicuss various higher education policy issues and potential areas for collaboration. We would like to find more pathways for DCC students to be able to attend Tech after demonstrating success in a community college environment. I was pleased to welcome Congressman Ralph Abraham to campus on Tuesday. VP Stan Napper had organized an excellent tour for Dr. Abraham to meet with our faculty and get a better perspective on our research and innovation activities. Dr. Abraham is very bright and was able to ask excellent questions of our faculty and partners during the tour. I am confident that he left with a much greater understanding of Tech’s contributions to the region, state and nation.     I also enjoyed some other meetings with students on Tuesday, including one with Rebecca Huston and Nathan Cawthon who are serving as officers in the Silver Wings Regional Headquarters located at Tech. Later Tuesday, I had a meeting of my Administrative and Planning Council before wrapping the day up at the Davison Athletics Complex for a “Business After Hours” event that enabled business and community leaders to get a look at the new DAC.       Wednesday morning began for me with a demonstration of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. We have a major need to upgrade our information technology systems for business operations and are exploring all options to improve efficiencies, reliability, and tools for decision-making. Later Wednesday, I drove over to Bossier City and the CIC to participate in a meeting of the Louisiana Tech Research Institute board. Wednesday evening, I was pleased to be invited to speak with student members and faculty of Delta Sigma Pi, the business professional society. The big event for the week was held on Thursday evening in the Davison Athletics Complex. The Waggonner Center in our College of Liberal Arts organized and hosted a gubernatorial debate that was directed and broadcast by KTBS in Shreveport and their affiliated partners throughout the state. Dr. Jeremy Mhire, Director of the Waggonner Center, did an outstanding job of planning the debate to maximize the opportunity for all four gubernatorial candidates to address the major issues of importance to citizens of the State of Louisiana. We are deeply grateful that all four candidates participated, providing Louisianans with the best opportunity they had during the primary season to see the candidates respond to questions posed by journalists. We are also grateful for the moderator and panelists representing all parts of the state, including Sherri Talley (KTBS Shreveport), Scott Walker (WDSU NewOrleans), John Walton (KTVE Monroe), Greg Hilburn (Monroe NewsStar) and Mark Armstrong (WBRZ Baton Rouge). Special thanks goes to Jeremy Mhire and his team of faculty and staff from across the university who did all of the planning, staging, communications and logistics: Dave Guerin (university communications), Heath Tims (engineering), Ryan Richard (coordination), Mark Guinn (staging), Karl Puljak (set), Corre Stegall (logistics), Randal Hermes and Bill Davis (security), and Adam McGuirt (facilities). We hope this is the first of other great debates and forums hosted by the Waggonner Center.