From the desk of President Leslie K. Guice

Another Point of View

Oct 21, 2017 | Weekly Update

Early Monday morning view at DFW airport

I awoke on Monday morning at a hotel at the DFW airport where I was attending a Conference USA Board meeting. Our conference staff do an excellent job of planning these meetings so we can do our Board work efficiently. My colleague, Dr. Rodney Bennett of Southern Miss, is currently serving as the Chair of our Board and I am Vice Chair. I believe that our Board is focused appropriately on enhancing the conference’s national profile and competitiveness. We have excellent conference staff and I enjoy working with them and the Presidents of our conference universities. Dr. Bennett and I will have a more competitive viewpoint this weekend. On Tuesday morning, I arrived early to work and saw a heavy dark smoke arising from a neighborhood just south of campus. From my office, I could see the intense flames as the Head Start School was fully consumed. While I often enjoy some incredible views from my 16th floor office, this day brought a more somber perspective.

Early Tuesday morning view from my office

Later Tuesday, I enjoyed a visit from architect Mike McSwain who was on campus to get feedback on plans for our new academic center in Bossier City near the Cyber Innovation Center. The first floor of the academic center is nearing completion and we expect to occupy that in the Winter Quarter. We hope to complete plans for the 4th floor and begin construction on that before the end of this year. The first floor will include a Cyber Training Center that will help us meet the workforce needs of the rapidly growing cyber industry in North Louisiana. Tuesday was filled with meetings with my administrative team, students and prospective students.  Kathy and I enjoyed attending the Lady Techster’s welcome dinner at Argent Pavilion on Tuesday evening. The Tipoff Club has continued to host this event since the program’s inception in the early 1970s. On Wednesday, I returned for another full day of meetings in my office.

Another point of view of my office

View of sun rising over the Quad

             

View of CSRA facility from the Cyber Innovation Center. Our Academic Center is just to the left of this parking lot.

  I drove to Bossier City on Thursday morning to get an update on the construction progress of our Academic Center and to meet with Craig Spohn of the Cyber Innovation Center to discuss some of our collaborative efforts. I also met with others from our Louisiana Tech Research Institute, a 501c3 organization that we established to support cyber and defense R&D, and Barksdale Air Force Base.     Here are a few of my favorite pics for the week:

Mike McSwain stopped by Centennial Plaza to do one of his daily sketches

Mike added a little color to his sketch

             

Sumeet Dua talks about technology needs in 4th floor plans of facility

Coach Brooke Stoehr talks with fans at Argent Pavilion

               

Students stop by my office to shoot a video

Maddie Patton, Harrison Potts & Alyssa Campbell promoting student giving

               

Propsective student learns the tradition of Spirit of 88