The state’s higher education oversight board unanimously voted Wednesday to recommend moving the University of New Orleans, which has struggled with enrollment and finances, back into the LSU System.
Legislation is required to finalize the move, which would reverse action taken 14 years ago to place UNO into the University of Louisiana System.
The Louisiana Board of Regents’ recommendation comes after Louisiana’s top two state lawmakers — Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, and House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice — asked members in February to study the feasibility of the move.
The idea for moving UNO back to the LSU System originated from Henry, the lawmaker said in an interview Wednesday, rather than with leaders from either of the universities.
“It’s really just rebranding of the school,” Henry said. “I think LSU and purple and gold is the best play.”
Legislation to transfer UNO to the LSU System will be filed this year, Henry said, although he wasn’t sure yet which New Orleans-area lawmaker would sponsor it. The exact timeline for transferring the university has not yet been established, although it could happen as soon as the fall semester.
“We needed to do something quickly so that existing students don’t transfer out, and students that are applying know that that school is going to be there for the foreseeable future,” Henry said.
The Board of Regents recommended forming a transition team to steer the move and hiring a third-party firm for an in-depth audit. In addition to legislative approval, the move would require approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the accrediting body for both UNO and LSU.
“I look forward to reviewing the findings and having further discussions with my colleagues on the board on how the LSU enterprise can welcome UNO back into the family,” LSU Board Chairman Scott Ballard said in a statement to the Illuminator.
The university’s possible return to LSU’s control is in response to UNO’s acute budget crisis. The school faces a $10 million budget shortfall and has implemented a spending freeze, layoffs and staff furloughs in an attempt to make ends meet.
UNO administrators have kept open the possibility of further layoffs and furloughs. The university’s budget crisis is largely tied to enrollment. The school had a student body of around 17,000 before Hurricane Katrina, with an immediate drop to around 6,000 after the storm. For the fall 2024 semester, its total enrollment was 6,488.
Regents noted every school within the LSU System has reported enrollment increases for the past few years, in defiance of nationwide trends of declining enrollment.
While every board member ultimately voted to approve the move, several expressed concern about the lack of detail from LSU.
A nearly 150-page report on the feasibility of moving UNO back to the LSU System hit on every detail of UNO’s budget crisis and governance history but contained little about what benefit the university could expect to receive from LSU.
Neither Ballard nor LSU President William Tate attended the board meeting. Board members Rico Alvendia and Rémy Starns, who is also the state’s public defender, attended the meeting. Both expressed support for UNO but provided no specifics.
Henry said that LSU is better equipped to handle the challenges UNO is facing. In addition to better marketing, Henry said he believed LSU could better help UNO align its faculty count with its current student population.
“I think this is a first step,” Henry said. “We’ll give it a couple years. Hopefully it’ll be successful.”
At the time of the system switch in 2011, UNO alumni and boosters applauded the plan, as many felt the university was overshadowed in the LSU System.
UNO would be the only institution in the LSU System classified as an R2 university, meaning it has high levels of research activity, second only to LSU’s main campus, which is a R1 school with the highest research activity rating.
In the University of Louisiana System, there are two other schools with research-level rankings: the University of Louisiana Lafayette, an R1, and Louisiana Tech, an R2.
UNO would also be the only other school in the LSU System with an NCAA Division I athletics program.