NEWS

In their Thursday meeting, the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System voted to seek matching funds for several Louisiana Tech graduate-student scholarships and a professorship made possible with funds given through the Forever Loyal Capital Campaign.

“Our successful campaign had five focus areas, and a strategic initiative for our University has been to increase support for our students and faculty,” said Tech President Dr. Les Guice. “Being able to fund research and scholarship for our graduate students and our faculty members are powerful ways our University is able to recruit and retain the best and brightest to our state and region.”

The proposal will next be presented to the Louisiana Board of Regents, whose Board of Regents Support Fund (BoRSF), is designed to foster excellence in education, research and service, as well as promote economic development through collaborations between academic programs and industrial, business and professional entities. The BoRSF is funded through the interest earnings from a $583 million Trust Fund dedicated in the Louisiana State Constitution to the Board of Regents in 1987.

“This generous investment and the accompanying match from the support fund will advance the highly relevant, scholarly work at Louisiana Tech that improves lives and spurs economic growth,” UL System President Jim Henderson said. “In times of scarcity, these opportunities are especially vital as we work toward our aspiration of creating the most educated generation in Louisiana’s history.”

If approved, the matching funds will benefit eight Endowed Superior Graduate Student Scholarships and one Endowed Professorship:

• George Leroy Erskine, Jr. Endowed Graduate Scholarship
• Justin and Jeanette Hinckley Endowed Superior Graduate Scholarship in the College of Education
• Justin and Jeanette Hinckley Endowed Superior Graduate Scholarship in Biological Sciences
• Dana Miller Packman Endowed Superior Graduate Student Scholarship
• Rick and Lisa Shirley Endowed Superior Graduate Student Scholarship No. 1
• Rick and Lisa Shirley Endowed Superior Graduate Student Scholarship No. 2
• Rick and Lisa Shirley Endowed Superior Graduate Student Scholarship No. 3
• Argent Endowed Superior Graduate Student Scholarship in the College of Business
• Rick and Lisa Shirley Endowed Presidential Professorship II

“The BoRSF continues to allow us to multiply the impact of endowments here at Louisiana Tech,” Guice said. “Through the campaign, our alumni and friends have generously planted seeds that will continue to flourish as we increase support for our faculty and students. These investments show that Tech is on the move and investing in future innovation to benefit our region and state.”

The Louisiana Constitution mandates that funds allocated to the BoRSF be used for carefully defined research efforts at public and private universities in Louisiana; endowment of chairs for eminent scholars; enhancement of the quality of academic, research, or agricultural departments or units within a university; and recruitment of superior graduate students.