It has been exciting to see all of our students back on campus this week. The campus is full and vibrant. I am confident that this will be the largest and most qualified freshman class in Tech’s history. Several students have stopped by the office to visit this week and I have enjoyed visiting with others across campus.

We initiated a Leadership Institute this year to enhance the leadership skills of some of our faculty & staff. I enjoyed being with them for their kickoff meeting at Squire Creek on Monday. Thanks to Stacy Gilbert and Sheryl Shoemaker for leading this Institute in its inaugural year. And thanks to I/O Psych Professor Mitzi Desselles for providing some great leadership expertise and assessment tools to support this initiative.

We are also organizing our teams for the development of our next strategic plan. My senior leadership team has been engaging others, including the new Leadership Institute members, to assess our environment and opportunities which will lead us to development of our strategic directions. I am very pleased with the progress they have already made.  We will be including others from across campus over the next few weeks.

After meeting with my Administrative and Planning Council on Wednesday, I drove to Baton Rouge for a meeting of the Governor’s Cyber Commission and its Education & Workforce Committee which I chair. We are developing reports and recommendations for the Governor and others to consider. Our goal is to make the State of Louisiana the preferred location for cybersecurity education, research and business.

After a Friday morning in the office, I drove to Shreveport to visit with LSU HSC Chancellor Ghali and some of our faculty to discuss new research collaborations. We have a number of joint projects and look forward to further research that can advance our institutions and the health and wellness needs of our region.

Here are a few of my favorite pics for the week: