Louisiana State University in Shreveport

Louisiana State University in Shreveport
Type Public coeducational
Established 1967
Chancellor Larry Clark
Academic staff
 137
Students 4,383[1]
Undergraduates 2,819[1]
Postgraduates 1,564[1]
Location Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
32°25′36″N 93°42′22″W / 32.426788°N 93.706234°W / 32.426788; -93.706234Coordinates: 32°25′36″N 93°42′22″W / 32.426788°N 93.706234°W / 32.426788; -93.706234
Campus Urban
Colors Purple and Gold
Athletics NAIA Division I – RRAC
Nickname Pilots
Affiliations LSU System
Mascot Pete the Pilot
Website www.lsus.edu
Decorative walkway connects LSUS Administration and Science buildings
Four-story William H. Bronson Hall houses classrooms and offices. It is named for a former publisher of the Shreveport Times.

Louisiana State University in Shreveport (LSU Shreveport or LSUS) is a branch institution of the Louisiana State University System located in Shreveport, Louisiana. LSUS opened in 1967 as a two-year community college but transitioned into a four-year college five years later in 1972. LSUS enrolled 4,383 students in the Fall 2015 semester and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The school's athletic programs, nicknamed the Pilots, are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Red River Athletic Conference. LSUS offers more than 70 extra-curricular organizations. LSUS operates Red River Radio, a public radio network based in Shreveport.

History

In 1965, Donald Eugene Shipp, Jr. (1919-2016), was named dean of the newly-announced LSU in Shreveport. Just a year earlier, the Plain Dealing native who was reared on a family farm near Haughton in Bossier Parish, had been a mathematics professor and the newly named assistant dean of the college of education at the main LSU campus in Baton Rouge. The campus was built on a cotton field near the Red River in southeastern Shreveport and opened on a limited basis in the fall of 1967. Shipp was named chancellor of LSUS in 1973, when the institution acquired four-year status. Upon his retirement in 1979, the LSU regents named him both professor and chancellor emeritus. Shipp served in the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the United States Air Force in the Korean War. He obtained his bachelor's degree in mathematics education from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. In retirement, Shipp was a craftsman of wookworking, painting, and stained glass.[2]

Since its opening, LSUS has become the regional urban comprehensive university in the Shreveport – Bossier City metropolitan area. The LSUS campus serves as home to 4,051 students. LSUS has more than twenty-five undergraduate degree programs and a dozen master's programs as well as a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Leadership Studies.

The Noel Memorial Library maintains a large archive, including oral histories, of scores of local notables in politics, business, the military, the arts, and society.

Academics

University rankings
Regional
U.S. News & World Report[3] RNP (South)
Master's University class
Washington Monthly[4] 483

LSUS offers 25 undergraduate programs,12 Master's degrees and one Doctoral degree. All of LSUS' business degrees are accredited by AACSB-International. LSUS offers many night courses, catering to its non-traditional student population. LSUS also offers many online courses and four 100% online master's degrees (Master of Nonprofit Organizations, Master of Business Administration, Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, and Master of Health Administration).

The University has a student-teacher ratio of 21:1 and 78% of the professors have doctoral degrees. Many of LSUS' professors have been published and nationally recognized and sit on nationally-recognized boards related to their disciplines.

Athletics

LSU Shreveport (LSUS) teams are known as the Pilots. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), competing in their second stint as a member of the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). The Pilots formerly competed in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) from 2003-2010. Men's sports include baseball, basketball and cross country; while women's sports include basketball, cross country and tennis. The LSUS Athletic program has produced many championship teams collecting a total of seven regular season conference titles, 14 conference tournament championships and competed in 25 NAIA National Tournaments.

Baseball

The LSU Shreveport Pilot baseball team has become a NAIA National power holding the nation's no. 1 ranking during their record year with a 54-6 record in 2012. The Pilots have been to the Avista-NAIA World series three times under former Head Coach Rocke Musgraves (2000-2013). Musgraves led the Pilots to a fourth-place finish (2011) and a pair of third-place finishes (2003 & 2012). The program has had many players sign professional contracts and drafted in the Major League Baseball Draft, including three taken in the 2010 MLB Draft.

Men's basketball

Former LSU Shreveport Head Coach Chad McDowell put the Pilots on the NAIA map leading them on the hardwood for an impressive record of 239-62 through his 10 seasons. Coach Kyle Blankenship guided the Pilots to their first ever Fab Four Appearance on the national stage finishing with a 27-7 record in his first year at the helm.

Women's basketball

NAIA National Tournament Appearances: 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013

Head Coach Ronnie Howell has been the only one to lead the Lady Pilots since their reinstatement in 2003. Under his leadership the Lady Pilots have made significant improvements on the hardwood notching five straight winning seasons including 20+ win seasons in four of the last five seasons.

Tennis

The Lady Pilots have a 10-31 overall record since their beginning in 2010. The LSUS women's tennis teams competes in the NAIA as an Independent.

Cross country

The LSUS men's and women's cross country squads will begin their first season of competition in the fall of 2013 as a member of the Red River Athletic Conference.

Mascot

Pete the Pilot was introduced to students in the fall of 2007 after a process that began in 2005 with the passage of a bill calling for a new mascot by the Student Government Association (SGA). The idea initially met resistance by the administration based upon cost, but was further pursued. He is a combination of steamboat pilot and pelican, which is the state bird of Louisiana. Students offered naming suggestions during student government elections in 2007, with a final decision made by a committee of students and faculty. The committee was composed of the Professor of the Year, the current SGA president, and a former SGA president representing the students, alumni and faculty of LSUS. The mascot was named in accordance with the majority opinion of students expressed during the vote.

In April 2015, Pete the Pilot graduated leaving LSUS without a mascot.

Notable people

Alumni

Faculty

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Preliminary Headcount Enrollment Summary". Louisiana Board of Regents. September 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
  2. ↑ "Donald Shipp". The Shreveport Times. August 17, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Best Colleges 2017: Regional Universities Rankings". U.S. News & World Report. September 12, 2016.
  4. ↑ "2016 Rankings - National Universities - Masters". Washington Monthly. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Barbara Norton". house.louisiana.gov. Archived from the original on June 8, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Judge Charles Rex Scott, II". The Shreveport Times. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
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