PRIORITY AREA 1:
Reinforce the college’s reputation as a national and international leader in research.
OUR IMPERATIVE:
Generate groundbreaking research that leads to unprecedented discovery and transformative innovation.
College of Science Strategic Plan 2030
Introduction
The LSU College of Science is a leading force in LSU, the state of Louisiana, the nation, and the world for scientific discovery, world-class research, and educating the next generation of leaders in the sciences.
Our impact is routinely elevated across the environments and geographies in which we operate. We serve as the primary pipeline of talent for Louisiana’s healthcare industry and medical fields and invest decades in history-making discoveries, like when researchers first detected gravitational waves through the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in Livingston, La., with leaders of the global LIGO collaborative earning the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics. Our college also teaches the majority of LSU students in science courses, with freshman enrollment increasing 5% year after year and teaching demand accelerating in foundational science courses.
As a Carnegie Research-1 designated university, LSU is consistently at the cutting edge of academic excellence and research innovation. Our College of Science is a key driver of this prominent classification, being a primary source of grants and sponsored research for LSU’s research enterprise. In 2021, our college secured over $34 million in research funding, with a significant portion of these grants awarded by leading federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense.
Strategic Priority Framework
Our strategic plan is guided by a framework with five overarching priority areas to guide our focus, programs, activities, and investments in the coming years. Each strategic priority includes a top-line imperative or goal representing the target we are working toward, along with key strategies and initiatives for how we intend to reach these targets and outcome metrics we will track throughout the plan’s implementation to monitor and ensure our success.
Priority Areas
PRIORITY AREA 2:
Enhance how we educate and support our students
OUR IMPERATIVE:
Provide all students with positive, impactful experiences that prepare them for future careers and lifelong learning.
PRIORITY AREA 3:
Build a culture of excellence, pride, belonging, inclusion, and support
OUR IMPERATIVE:
Be known as the best college of science in the nation for faculty and staff to work.
PRIORITY AREA 4:
Enhance the economic impact and visibility of how science positively benefits the state of Louisiana
OUR IMPERATIVE:
Expand and communicate our economic impact across Louisiana and beyond.
PRIORITY AREA 5:
Expand access to state-of-the-art infrastructure and instrumentation
OUR IMPERATIVE:
Provide world-class infrastructure that enables our faculty, staff, and students to produce their best work.