UL System Releases Institutional Review of Grambling
UL System Releases Institutional Review of Grambling – Jan 23, 2003
BATON ROUGE, LA. – The University of Louisiana System released an institutional review of Grambling State University today. The report, which is available on the UL System website (www.ulsystem.net), makes 76 recommendations, covering all aspects of the university’s operations, from academic programs to dormitories.
The Board of Supervisors for the UL System and Acting Grambling President Neari Warner requested the review to identify issues that need to be addressed and to help establish an agenda for the immediate future. The Board contracted with national educational consultant James Fisher to conduct the review.
“This review gives the Board and Grambling officials a blue print for continued positive change at Grambling,” UL System President Sally Clausen said.
Some of those positive changes at Grambling this past year were an unqualified audit, a 100 percent passage rate on PRAXIS for education graduates and an increase in the number of entering freshmen.
The Fisher review reinforces the recommendation from the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges regarding “the university’s ability to sustain the financial stability essential to its successful operation.”
In a recent memo, Clausen directed UL System staff to “offer your talents and expertise freely” to Grambling. She appointed Loren Blanchard, the UL System’s Vice President for Accreditation, Leadership and Accountability, to lead the effort to ensure that Warner and her staff have support as they review and begin implementation of the recommendations.
"This review validates what we already know — that there is still much work to be done at Grambling," Warner said. "We are studying the recommendations to determine the best course of action. Many of the recommendations are already being addressed. We know that it will take a systematic plan, constancy of purpose, and a cadre of competent, dedicated personnel to effectuate the needed changes."
The institutional review of Grambling is in keeping with a recent trend in the UL System to conduct full reviews of its universities when leadership change is anticipated. A search for a permanent Grambling president is scheduled to begin this fall.
A similar review was conducted last year at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, when leadership changed. The review produced 53 recommendations, of which new ULM President James Cofer has already implemented about 75 percent.
“The review has enabled the new ULM administration working with the faculty and staff to move forward without debating the necessity of the suggested changes,” Cofer said.
Nicholls State University is just beginning its review in advance of the appointment of its next president.
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Related Files:
Grambling Institutional Review document (.pdf). (1.587 MB) >>
Grambling Institutional Review document (.pdf). (1.587 MB) >>
Grambling Institutional Review document (.pdf). (1.587 MB) >>
Grambling Institutional Review document (.pdf). (1.587 MB) >>
