The past few days have been full and fun. Saturday night, Kathy and I enjoyed attending the Tech Band Banquet in the Tonk. I was honored to be the banquet speaker and took the opportunity to thank the band students for the way they have represented Tech throughout the year, in all types of programs, from athletics events to convocations to concerts and special events. We also took the opportunity to thank retiring professor Lawrence Gibbs for the huge impacts that he has had on our music program over the years. During the banquet, Director Jim Robken announced that, thanks to the generosity of some alumni, there will be new uniforms this fall, and enough of them to support the anticipated 200+ band members!

Monday morning, I had a meeting with our “Blue Fire” steering team to get an update on their plans for rolling out our exciting new communications/life skills program that will enhance the first-year experience for all freshmen. After that, Kathy met up with me in the Tonk where we hosted a faculty/staff appreciation BBQ. We took the opportunity to chat with and thank almost 600 faculty and staff who attended the luncheon. I believe that everyone really enjoyed this time to get together with colleagues from across the campus in a relaxing and informal setting, while catching a short break from testing and grading as the academic year comes to a close. After lunch, I had a couple more meetings in the office and then went to the Ropp Center to provide a year-end report to the University Senate. The Senate has been very effective in prioritizing issues of importance to the faculty/staff and working with my administrative team to implement important policies, programs and activities that enhance the workplace environment and effectiveness of our institution. I highlighted some of the enhancements that have been made in a new newsletter that we released this week – 71272. Late Monday night, Kathy and I returned to the Tonk to join our faculty, staff and administrators in serving our students in the 39th Annual President’s Midnight Breakfast. Over 1,100 students were served breakfast by Deans and department heads, and many of our faculty, staff and coaches cleaned tables while taking some time to visit with students and to give them positive support as they wind up finals and projects. Lawrence Gibbs and the Jazz Ensemble treated everyone to some great jazz music. This is another great tradition that unites our Tech Family in a special way! There are so many things happening on campus this week and in the midst of that, students have been finding ways to squeeze in a few minutes of studying whenever and wherever possible. The library and Tolliver have been packed late into the evenings. And while walking across campus on Monday, I found one of our students who had put his hammock up in the Quad to get his private space for reflection. Hideaway Park has also been full this week, particularly in the late afternoon as hammockers find some solitude near the lake. Tuesday was another full day with meetings with my staff, a prospective student, and a student who was having an issue with his classes. I also had a pop-in visit with several of our outstanding orientation student leaders who were making plans for the upcoming orientation sessions. Tuesday afternoon, Ryan Richard and I made the trip up to Little Rock to join with Deans Don Schillinger and Gary Kennedy for a “Tech’s in Town” event. We had a great time reconnecting with several alumni including a very strong contingent of “Band of Pride” alumni. A lot of our conversations were about the activities and traditions of the Band, led by the master entertainer Jim Robken. We also talked about plans for the Bulldogs opening game against the Razorbacks this fall. I expect us to have a great turnout of the Tech faithful for that game! After having a couple of early Wednesday meetings in the office, VP Stan Napper and I drove over to Bossier City to meet with Craig Spohn of the Cyber Innovation Center to discuss our collaborative research activities. Then, Craig joined us as we drove to Shreveport to review progress and make future plans with our corporate partner CSRA. This has been a great partnership for us and we look forward to seeing it grow as the company expands its operations in North Louisiana. We were pleased to have my colleagues Jim Henderson of NSU and Rick Bateman of BPCC and Jeff Lynn of LED’s FastStart program to join with us in this partnership meeting. It is going to require all of our institutions to work together to meet the workforce demands and broaden the impacts of this opportunity across the region. Thursday brought me back in the office for more meetings with my administrative team. Thursday afternoon, I’ll meet with the Blue Fire implementation team to highlight the importance of this program to our strategic plan goals. I am confident that Blue Fire is going to have significant impacts on our students and campus. In my earlier meetings this week with CSRA, they emphasized the importance of the same kinds of communications, teamwork and leadership skills that we will be emphasizing through Blue Fire. And all of our students will develop these skills as freshmen so they can be used and enhanced as they progress through their upper level courses. We will share more about this program later, but you can find additional information at this website: Blue Fire: QEP. Late Thursday afternoon, I am making a trip over to Dallas for a fund-raising event. Friday and Saturday will be filled with campus activities and commencement. I am looking forward to the greatest day of the year for us: Spring Commencement! Here are a few more of my favorite photos for the week (so far):