March 2007

As has been widely reported, two of our alumni, Emmet and Toni Stephenson, have pledged $25 million to benefit the University, including $15 million for programs in the E. J. Ourso College of Business. The Stephensons are natives of Louisiana who have been very involved with LSU from their time as student leaders in the 1960s. Through the years they flourished as entrepreneurs. They created and grew companies in several states but always made time to return and visit the campus, see friends and relatives, and even teach our students about life and entrepreneurship. The Stephenson’s generous gift has made possible the establishment of the Stephenson Disaster Management Institute (SDMI). This center’s mission is to learn and teach others how to better manage resources, including personnel and supplies, just prior to and immediately following any disaster so that lives, both human and animal, can be saved. Their gift will also expand the scope and quality of our Entrepreneurship Institute and lead to improved organization of related resources.

While there are already personnel and resources in the E. J. Ourso College to contribute to the missions of the SDMI and the Entrepreneurship Institute, the Stephensons’ gift will allow us to increase faculty, staff, and graduate students working in these areas. In addition, their gift will provide resources to create new links to other institutions, agencies, and companies. The creation and enhancement of these two institutes further our recent strategy of selecting niches where we have the potential to be among the best in the world and focus our attention so that their reputation and resources benefit the College and University. These institutes will help improve life and business not only in Louisiana but the world as well.

The E. J. Ourso College continues to gain national praise for numerous programs, including our Louisiana Business and Technology Center’s Business Incubator. The LBTC has been selected as a finalist for the National Business Incubator Association's "Innovation Award" for its use of a mobile classroom to take educational programs to areas recovering from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We will find out if we take first or second place at the national meeting April 3rd. Additionally, the College is taking steps forward as a whole in the area of national prominence.

As you know, we have not always been in the group of universities considered for ranking by some organizations, a status that has been changing as of late. In 2006, BusinessWeek did not allow us to participate in its undergraduate school ranking. This year we made their Top 100 with an overall rank of 82 and a Top 50 rank among public schools (#46). Student perceptions of our facilities and large class sizes were among factors that were concerns. Conversely, objective measures such as our average (equivalent) SAT score of 1209, 18th among the public universities, helped boost our ranking. We expect further improvement as more students enter through our freshman admission initiative.

Our graduates’ average starting salary of $40,000 will move up as our students are placed with more geographic diversity and as demand for these graduates increases. Without a doubt, we are making progress that will make an impact over time, not just in rankings but in our ability to attract the best students at every level, to recruit dedicated faculty, and to receive additional public and private funding.

Applications for the full-time MBA program are strong at a time when the national trend is down. Compared to one year ago, the overall number of applications is up 63 percent and the number of out-of-state applications is up 47 percent. Preliminary measures of quality (e.g., GMAT, GPA, experience) are also improved, but it is too early to make accurate predictions about the makeup of our next class. Many factors contributed to this success, including fantastic recruiting efforts by our MBA office, publicity from our Top 10 ranking in The Wall Street Journal , and even a good football season.

Finally, at the end of March three special individuals will be inducted into the E. J. Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction. Ross J. Centanni, Laura Alexander Leach, and Doyle Z. Williams will join the ranks of other worthy alumni and friends who have been ambassadors for both the College and the University as a whole. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them a in advance of this momentous occasion and thank them for their efforts in advancing the ideals of LSU.

Sincerely,

Robert T. Sumichrast, Dean
E. J. Ourso College of Business