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July 2025
Volume 8, Issue 7
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“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.”
― Robin Williams, “Dead Poets Society”
| | At Southeastern Louisiana University, friendship shines bright. David Begnaud's first "Beg-Knows America" segment on Louisiana college students highlights two Southeastern students supporting their friend with a chronic condition. This story aired on CBS Mornings on Monday, June 30. | | Are You Ready for Lift Off? | | Our annual All-Staff Retreat will be held on Monday, August 25, at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum. This year's theme is "Out of This World," and we think the 2025 retreat will be out of this world - and more! As we begin preparations to gather and learn together, please respond to the RSVP below by Friday, August 8. | | Have you filled out this year's staff survey? As we do annually, the senior team is seeking to improve our agency using your input provided in this year's staff survey. All survey responses are completely anonymous. As in the past, your answers will be used to identify and address opportunities for increasing employee satisfaction and improving performance. We will share the results at the August Staff Retreat. Please complete the survey by 12 PM on Friday, August 8. | | Agency Guide to Creating Accessible Content | | |
In a collaborative effort with Finance, HCM, and IT to prepare the agency for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II Web and Mobile Application Accessibility Rule, which takes effect in April 2026, the Strategic Communications team created this “Regents Guide to Creating Accessible Content.”
This guide, which also serves as an example of an accessible document, provides helpful tips to make your Word, PowerPoint, Excel, InDesign, and PDF documents accessible. Since most of our documents become living files in the digital space, we must incorporate these additional steps into our workflow to ensure ADA compliance.
We plan to provide an agency-wide PD session on adding ADA steps to our workflow. Additionally, Regents is currently designing a new ADA-compliant website, which is expected to launch in December.
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Mental Health Moment: Check in on You
By Alysia Delone
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As we head deeper into July and the third quarter kicks into gear, it’s important to recognize that the summer season has brought about big changes (like returning to the office), vacations, and time to decompress for many.
With shifting workloads and the rearranging of (multiple) schedules, the push to hit your goals can often collide with personal commitments, burnout, and the mental fatigue that has built up over the first half of the year.
This makes July a critical checkpoint for mental health, as it is typically the time when most people would take an inventory of where they were in January and where they are now. Your mental health should also be included in that inventory as well.
Don’t just assess your output—take inventory of how you have been treating yourself this year.
Have you been kind to you? Have you been gracious to you? Have you practiced gratitude? Have you taken time off for yourself? Have you needed help and sought it out?
Before you know it, August will be here—and, as we in the field of higher education know, our days will only get busier.
So take the time now to check in on you.
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Three new task forces, housed in the Land of Task Forces—er, the Board of Regents—held their first meetings in July.
On Thursday, July 24, the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Task Force and the Task Force on Career Alignment convened for their first meetings of the year. And just yesterday (July 30), the Phased Retirement Task Force held its first meeting.
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NIL: HR 15 of the 2025 Regular Session established a task force to examine aspects of the name, image, and likeness (NIL) of student-athletes in Louisiana. It will submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the House Committee on Education by January 23, 2026.
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Career Alignment: SCR 38 of the 2025 Regular Session established a task force to study the development of a statewide plan for implementing strategic education-to-career counseling across public postsecondary institutions, with the goal of retaining Louisiana’s graduates in the state. The task force was tasked with proposing recommendations, along with specific legislative proposals. It will submit an interim report by January 21, 2026, with a final report due by January 21, 2027.
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Retirement: HR 143 of the 2025 Regular Session established a task force to study a phased retirement program for Louisiana’s public postsecondary education institutions. It will submit a report of its findings and conclusions, including recommendations for related legislation, to the House Committee on Retirement no later than December 31, 2025.
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Senior Team Updates
By Carrie Robison
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The senior team has been hitting the streets this summer, spreading the word about all the amazing things happening in Louisiana! Commissioner Reed and Dr. Susannah Craig, along with a delegation of our legislators, attended the National Forum on Education Policy, hosted by the Education Commission of the States in Salt Lake City, Utah. While there they met with counterparts from across the country representing K-12 and higher education, learning about policy advances, best practices, and new ideas. Commissioner Reed went immediately on from Salt Lake City to Washington, D.C. for the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) annual meeting. This convening of statewide leaders from across the country allowed for plenty of discussion of their successes, challenges, and future directions, as well as an opportunity to hear U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon discuss the role of states in the Trump administration’s vision for higher education in the nation.
Also on the agenda for July has been getting the many task forces, councils, and commissions led by Regents, both established and newly created in the 2025 Regular Session, scheduled and ready to meet. Several of these have already convened for their summer meeting, with three task forces coming together last week to discuss critical issues around dual enrollment, career alignment, and name, image, and likeness provisions. At the end of the month, Deputy Commissioner Elizabeth Bentley-Smith, aided by the Finance staff, hosted the annual CFO retreat at Southern University.
As we move into August, the pace will begin to quicken as back-to-school beckons. The senior team is always grateful for these summer opportunities to meet with colleagues from in and out of Louisiana, talk through complex and important issues, and gather ideas to bring back into the agency to guide our work.
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Opportunity Knocks
By Carrie Robison
| One of the most important parts of professional development is the one that seems least significant: the opportunity to listen to hear and overhear colleagues talking about the details of their work. Sometimes it can feel like hearing a foreign language – lots of acronyms and jargon you don’t know, shorthand references to people and ideas – but listen long enough and you’ll start to recognize echoes of your own work. It’s in these echoes that synergies are born – when you realize that you have tools to help solve someone else’s problems, or that someone else has information you didn’t know was available. Now that we are all back in the office full time, keep an ear out for things that vibrate in the frequency of your own work. It will build your base of knowledge and allow you to see connections that can make a difference to you, to your colleagues, and to higher education across Louisiana. | | |
LOUIS Leading Major Technology Modernization Across Louisiana
By Laurie Blandino
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Beginning in August 2025, all public higher education institutions in Louisiana are modernizing critical campus technology that supports student and faculty access to academic resources. This transition to a new library services platform is now occurring following completion of a comprehensive 18-month planning process. This strategic decision emerged from LOUIS’ regular three-year technology assessment, which was conducted by a working group of 17 library faculty and staff representing all member institution types and sizes. This transition will consolidate multiple separate systems into a unified platform and deliver annual cost savings of more than $100,000 or 15% of current costs, with potential additional savings of up to $430,000 per year from platform consolidation.
The LOUIS consortium has been on the same library services platform for 25 years, and significant changes in the field require us to modernize an aging infrastructure. LOUIS staff are enthusiastic about this modernization and have been traveling statewide this summer to prepare member institutions for the transition. During these regional meetings across Louisiana, library staff have expressed excitement about features like improved search capabilities for students, better resource sharing between campuses, and workflow improvements that will allow librarians to focus more time on helping students with research.
The upgrade will improve how students search for and access research materials while providing better behind-the-scenes tools for library staff to manage collections and help students and faculty. All implementation costs are covered centrally through LOUIS, so individual campuses won't face additional technology expenses from this modernization.
| | July's Leaves of Gratitude | | "Kelly always has a smile and is willing to help in any way that she can. Her implementation of the knowledge gained through HR webinars is evident through her customer service!" - Anonymous | | "Emily is always willing to assist!" - Anonymous | | "Mike is generous in his support and mentoring of LOUIS staff, serving as an authority and providing invaluable experience and knowledge." - Anonymous | | "Marcy's commitment to providing proactive and exceptional support makes her an invaluable member of the team." - Anonymous | | 2025 Employee Recognition Awards | | If you have managed to scroll this far down the newsletter, how many subfolders are located in the templates folder in the Communications Library? The first three people to email Chris with the correct answer may receive a prize. | | |
August 11-14
SHEEO Policy Conference
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August 29
Hurricane Katrina
20th Anniversary
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September 1
Labor Day
(Federal Holiday)
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September 16
Hazing Prevention Summit
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September 23
Budget Hearings
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September 24
Board Meeting
| | "In the Know" is a seven-time award-winning newsletter produced by the Regents Strategic Communications team. Have a suggestion? Email us at bor.publicaffairs@laregents.edu. | |
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