Dear Colleagues,

Thank you all for your patience as we weathered last week’s winter storm. I was inspired by the hard work of our staff to ensure the safety of our faculty, staff, and students. Residential Life made sure students were relocated from spaces without power, Facility Services braved tough conditions to repair critical infrastructure, the EOC was on constant alert, Strategic Communications made sure we were in the loop, the Registrar’s office came up with options to adjust the academic calendar, and the Police Department helped to ensure everyone was safe. I could go on because it was truly a team effort all around, but I am sure you are familiar with how our community comes together in a crisis. I am truly honored to work among such dedicated individuals.

As you are aware, we had to make changes to the academic calendar because of the days we were closed. I am thankful for the partnership with Faculty Senate, Student Government, and Staff Senate as we navigated the impacts of the winter storm. I feel a profound sense of optimism as we begin scheduling for the fall semester, a fall semester that will look remarkably like the fall of 2019. The significance of the on-campus experience cannot be understated. I cannot wait until the buzz we have on campus this spring becomes a roar in the fall.

Best,
Stacia L. Haynie
Executive Vice President & Provost
J.W. Annison, Jr. Alumni Professor

2021 Faculty DEI Mentoring Awards Call for Nominations

Each year the university recognizes and rewards the outstanding work of its faculty. The Office of Academic Affairs, upon the recommendation of the Faculty Recruiting & Retention subcommittee of the Diversity Roadmap, is pleased to announce a call for nominations for two Faculty Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Mentoring Awards. These two $2,500 cash awards will recognize faculty who are making outstanding contributions to the mentoring activities of faculty, staff and/or students from underrepresented groups. More information on submitting nominations can be found here on the Office of Academic Affairs faculty accolades page.

COVID-19 Testing and Vaccine Preregistration

COVID-19 testing on campus is currently offered to faculty, staff and students at 263 Coates Hall and the Student Union. The Student Health Center is offering testing to symptomatic students. We encourage you to get tested often to help slow the spread.

All faculty, staff, and students should fill out this COVID-19 vaccine pre-registration survey, even if you do not intend to receive the vaccine on campus. Completing the preregistration survey with LSU does not prevent you from getting the vaccine elsewhere. For more information regarding testing, vaccinations, and other topics related to COVID-19, visit the LSU Roadmap to Spring website.

Make-Up Class Days and Fall 2021 Update

Because classes were cancelled last week, we must hold make-up days to ensure that the spring semester meets the minimum number of required class days. The make-up days will be March 6, 12, 25 and April 10. Read the full message for important details:
lsu.edu/oep/alerts/2021/02-22-makeupdays-employees.php.

LSU recently issued an update regarding classes for the Fall 2021 semester. View the update at lsu.edu/roadmap/messages/2021-02-24-fall-update.php.

Roadmap to Diversity Updates

Please view this Diversity and Inclusion Status Report for an overview of the goals and accomplishments of the nine sub-committees that convened at our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Retreat on July 1, 2020. The retreat addressed the action items of our Diversity and Inclusion Roadmap.

These sub-committees are composed of LSU faculty, staff, students and alumni. Their work has focused on holding LSU accountable and for maintaining intentional, measurable and meaningful efforts to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion in the following areas: faculty, staff, and student health and wellness; academics; recruiting; community building; communications; and physical environment.

COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey

On Feb. 18, faculty began receiving invitations to participate in the COACHE job satisfaction survey, operated by Harvard School of Education. For this to be most useful in aligning academic policy with faculty priorities we ask faculty to consider completing the 25-minute survey. The sender’s address is coachefaculty@abtassoc.com and the original email had as a subject line, "Help LSU assess the academic workplace."

If faculty have not received the link, they can request a new one at any time by contacting coachefaculty@abtassoc.com. If faculty are having difficulty with this process, please also contact coache@lsu.edu. Reminders will be sent from the same email address several times before the closing date of April 12, 2021. These messages will have various subject lines, but all of them will include the acronym COACHE.

LSU Pregnancy & Parenting Program 'Navigating LSU Policies on Parenthood' Webinar

The program will host a webinar for faculty and staff discussing the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), leave, and benefits. Featuring a panel of HRM specialists, this webinar will be helpful for both employees and their supervisors in understanding how to navigate the various policies and procedures surrounding pregnancy and parenting. The webinar is scheduled for Thursday, March 18, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Register for the webinar at the following link: http://lsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8BOsQzXQfW0HXVA.

Special Focus Program - Online Course Design and Development (Starting 3/15/21)

Offered by the LSU Online & Continuing Education team, the Special Focus Program is an intensive 12-week program designed to guide faculty through the development or re-development of a fully online course that is aligned, meets accessibility standards, and ensures a consistent and positive learning experience for students. For more information and to register, visit the LSU Training and Registration site.  

Introducing LSU Online's New Faculty Support Chatbot

LSU Online and Continuing Education is excited to introduce Chuck, LSU Online's Faculty Support chatbot. Chuck is programmed to answer the most commonly asked questions concerning Moodle and the faculty support services LSU Online offers. Chuck the chatbot is visible as a text bubble on LSU Online's website footer. Simply click the image and ask your question.

Chuck is a work in progress so LSU Online appreciates your patience as he learns to respond better to the questions as you ask them. He can currently respond to questions like, "How can I add a TA?" "How do I add a file to Moodle?" As you ask questions he does not have answers for, LSU Online will educate him so he can in the future.

Refer Students to the Center for Academic Success

Students say faculty referrals are the #1 reason they use CAS services. Your voice is critical in informing and encouraging students to take advantage of CAS resources!

The Center for Academic Success offers online and in-person services/resources to support student academic success and self-regulation. Refer students to CAS free services including: supplemental instruction, tutoring, shell study groups, academic coaching, and strategy workshops. Helpful in-class resources, including videos and presentation slides, are also available on the CAS Faculty page.

Questionmark Test Creation and Delivery Software

Questionmark is a robust test creation/delivery software that allows faculty to create course assessments and view comprehensive reporting and analytics. Questionmark is supported by OTES and is available for free to all LSU faculty. For more information, please visit the OTES Questionmark page.

Paper/Pencil Testing for Spring 2021

The LSU Office of Testing and Evaluation Services will provide on-campus locations for flex-scheduling/hybrid courses to take paper and pencil tests. For additional information about scheduling paper and pencil testing space, please visit the Paper and Pencil Testing page.

LSU Offers Free Membership to the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity to all Faculty, Post Docs and Graduate Students

Last year, as part of the university’s mission to provide faculty with resources to attain academic success, we obtained an institutional membership to the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD). Individual membership is free of charge to you as an LSU employee or graduate student.

The NCFDD is an independent professional development, training, and mentoring community of faculty, postdocs, and graduate students from over 450 colleges and universities. In addition to the resources available to you as an institutional member, the center also offers professional development training and intensive mentoring programs.

Membership includes:

• Monthly core curriculum webinars
• Guest expert webinars and multi-week courses
• 14-Day writing challenges each semester
• Weekly Monday motivator emails
• Buddy matching (by request), with monthly accountability buddy matching with fellow NCFDD members
• Dissertation success curriculum

We encourage you to claim your institutional membership by activating your personal membership account. To claim your membership, go to the membership page and select Louisiana State University from the list of members.