Episode 90 Chancellor Robert Smith - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home

Chancellor of LSUS, Dr. Robert Smith, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:

0:36 1. You came to Shreveport after serving six years as Provost of Valdosta State University in Georgia.

You once said, “LSUS is one of the few institutions, regional universities, that you can find in this country that is not struggling.”

Let’s start here today. Talk to me about what is meant by the “Enrollment Cliff”.

2:15 2. I read where LSUS has the most graduate students of any university in Louisiana. Talk to me about how LSUS has been successful in avoiding the enrollment cliff.

3:37 3. For people who are not technology savvy at all and hear the word "online" class, what does that mean exactly? How does that work?

7:56 4. I believe one of the goals of the administration is to attract more face-to-face students. Talk to me about some of the challenges the university faces in achieving that goal.

12:14 5. Talk a little bit about the relationship between LSUS and LSU Health.

14:02 6. At the end of May 2023, you were named the new chancellor of LSU Shreveport. In addition to all that we’ve discussed, talk to me about some of your priorities and initiatives.

21:00 7. For someone listening to our conversation who says I have an idea of where I think LSUS should plug in or a gap they can fill, what's the best way to get into contact with the university?

23:03 8. In preparing for today’s discussion I learned something fascinating, that you are a first-generation college student.

With roughly half of LSUS's undergraduate students self-identifying first-generation, talk to me about how the University is taking a proactive role in addressing the needs and concerns of this student population.