LSUS ranks No. 3 in BORSF grants

Gregg Trusty

LSUS received 20 Louisiana Board of Regents Support Fund Enhancement grants totaling $815,949 in the 2004-05 funding cycle, placing it ahead of all but two of the 32 public and private institutions of higher education competing for the BORSF grant funding.

Dr. Stuart Mills, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs,

said LSU A&M ($1.57 million) and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette ($1.07 million), both large doctoral-level institutions, were the only two universities to receive higher awards than LSUS.

“Over the past several years,” Mills said, “LSUS has consistently ranked in the top 10 in the state. This year, our total funding increased over last year by nearly $229,000 and we moved from fifth to third in the state.”

Mills said the performance is the result of “outstanding grant proposals from our excellent and dedicated faculty and tireless efforts of our Office of Sponsored Research staff.”

Mills added that Sponsored Research, which coordinates the writing and submission of grant applications, operates with 1 3/4 full-time employees, while other institutions in the state have considerably larger sponsored research staffs.

Virginia Lincove, associate vice chancellor for sponsored research, said of the 30 enhancement proposals, “20 grants were funded, another seven proposals were well above the cutoff score for funding and are on the ‘If’ list recommended for funding if additional funds are available, and only three proposals were not recommended for funding – although all, in my opinion, were good efforts.”

While LSUS ranked third in the state overall, it again ranked No. 1 of all the institutions north of I-10. Lincove added that since 1997, LSUS has been awarded $4,835,227 in BORSF Enhancement grants, the most of any institution in North Louisiana.

“Among our 20 successful grants,” Lincove said, “are interesting projects for a Beowulf-class supercomputer system that will be the largest in Louisiana outside of ‘SuperMike’ at LSU A&M, theater and television resources, a genetics lab and additional Red River Watershed Management Institute resources.”
Of the total funding awarded, [$111,860 went to Arts grants, $60,162 to Agriculture, $176,650 to Earth / Environmental Sciences, $79,519 to Education, $285,138 to Engineering A (including a “multidisciplinary” project) and $102,620 to Health / Medical Sciences.

Topping the list of 20 grants receiving funding is “Enhancement Of Undergraduate Laboratory For Integration of Research and Education,” by Drs. Marjan Trutschl, John Austin, Gary Boucher, Jere Hatcher and Debbie Shepherd. The grant proposal received $103,010 in funding.

The 19 other projects recommended for BORSF awards are:

• “Expansion Of Aquatic Laboratory Research And Education Capabilities,” Drs. Malcolm McCallum and Dalton Gossett and Gary Hanson ($34,329).
• “Enhancement Of Aquaculture/Fisheries Laboratory Facilities,” by Drs. Malcolm McCallum, Dalton Gossett and Robert Kalinsky, and Gary Hanson ($25,833).
• “In The Spotlight: Using Performance to Enhance Performance,” by Robert Alford, Cleatta Morris and Mary “Jorji” Jarzabek ($40,000).
• “Piano Lab Enhancement,” by Dr. La Wanda Blakeney ($31,860).
“Flexible / Mobile Theatre,” by Robert Alford, Mary “Jorji” Jarzabek and Dr. Merrell Knighten ($22,000).
• “Theater Enhancement Through Television,” by Robert Alford and Drs. Johnette McCrery and John Nolan ($18,000).
• “Educator Institute on Graphic Design: Advanced Professional Development for In-service Teachers,” by Jason Mackowiak, Jerry Antee, LaMoyne Batten and Dr. Debbie Shepherd ($79,519).
• “Curriculum Development For Environmental Sciences,” by Drs. Malcolm McCallum, Dalton Gossett, Stephen Banks and Robert Kalinsky, and Gary Hanson ($57,338).
• “Field Equipment Enhancement For Environmental Sciences,” by Gary Hanson and Drs. Malcolm McCallum, Dalton Gossett, Stephen Banks and Robert Kalinsky ($43,476).
• “Applied Methods For Interpretation Of Wetland Habitats: Wetland Education Workshops,” by Gary Hanson and Dr. Malcolm McCallum ($35,000).
• “Computer Interfaced Equipment And Its Role In Enhancement Of Environmental Science,” by Drs. Stephen Banks, Dalton Gossett and Malcolm McCallum ($25,691).
¦ “Red River Floodplain Survey Program Enhancement,” by Gary Hanson and Michael MacRoberts ($15,145).
• “Advancing Undergraduate Student Learning Through Advanced Technology: Parallel Processing Laboratory,” by Drs. Marjan Trutschl, John Austin, Gary Boucher, Jere Hatcher, Debbie Shepherd, Tara Williams-Hart and Stephen Banks ($87,008).
• “Multidisciplinary Computational Analysis Enhancement (2 years),” by Drs. Marjan Trutschl, John Austin, Stephen Banks, Stephanie Aamodt, Gary Boucher, Cynthia Sisson, Brian Salvatore, Malcolm McCallum, Debbie Shepherd and William A. Vekovius, and Gary Hanson ($55,000).
• “Broadening Access To Undergraduate Engineering Opportunities,” by Drs. Gary Boucher and John Austin ($21,110).
• “Undergraduate Robotics Enhancement,” by Drs. Gary Boucher, John Austin and Jere Hatcher ($19,010).
• “Acquisition Of Instrumentation To Enhance Undergraduate Health Science Education, Research And Clinical Experiences,” Drs. Timothy Winter, Ron Byrd and Jesse DeMello ($50,000).
• “Development Of The Principles Of Genetics Laboratory At LSUS,” by Drs. Tara Williams-Hart, Stephen Banks, Stephanie Aamodt and Cran Lucas ($38,400).
• “Computer Interfaced Equipment And Its Role In The Enhancement Of Allied Health Instruction At LSUS,” by Drs. Stephen Banks, Dalton Gossett and Malcolm McCallum ($14,220).

The Louisiana Education Quality Trust Fund was established with approximately $550 million received from settlement of disputed oil and gas revenues generated in what is commonly called the “8(g)” stipulation of the Federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

Each year, 25 percent of the interest earned from investment of 8(g) oil and gas revenues, will continue to be returned to the Trust Fund, until it reaches a cap of $2 billion. As of July 1, 2000, the Trust Fund has risen to approximately $898 million.

The remaining 75 percent of the interest earned and 75 percent of the recurring oil and gas revenues are placed in the BORSF for appropriation by the Legislature.