Leadership Fund

Goal: Total endowment of $1,500,000

Contributions to the School's Leadership Fund enhance each program by providing opportunities for student leadership training, national student professional organization support, and faculty leadership development. Leadership funds are critical for the Schools if they are to graduate young artists and designers who will guide tomorrow's professions and assume leadership roles in their local community. Your support permits students to attend national conferences, participate in leadership training workshops and seminars, and supports unique leadership-related events. These funds also support faculty development in the area of leadership and mentoring programs.]

An example of past expenditures includes funding assistance for students to attend the annual AIAS and ASLAS national conventions. In 2004 the Leadership Fund supported a group of students who participated in a national design competition to attend the National AIA Convention in Chicago where they received an honorable mention award. In 2005 the fund helped support a successful bid to have the annual landscape architecture national student convention in Baton Rouge in 2007. The fund also is used to support student activities such as student edited journals.]

The Leadership Development Fund is part of the value-added educational initiative developed by the College to enhance student learning experiences and outcomes.]

Student Scholarships

Goal: Total endowment of $1,200,000

The College of Art + Design Student Scholarship Fund was established in 2004 to create scholarship awards for both graduate students and undergraduates in the disciplines of architecture, art, art history, community design, graphic design, interior design, and landscape architecture. Scholarship support has assumed a higher priority for two reasons. One, the College is increasingly competing against other national programs for the very best, high-achieving, high school and graduate students; two, the rising expense of a quality education for students.]

Currently, the students admitted to the College's programs exceed the average test scores for entering undergraduates at LSU. This is an indication of the individual Schools' strength within the university and the value others see in our efforts. However, as we actively recruit National Merit Scholars and other high performing students we find we cannot be competitive with other institutions in the region because of our limited scholarship resources. If we are to meet our strategic objectives, we will need to offer financial incentives to effectively recruit the very best students. Undergraduate and graduate student scholarships will assist us in meeting our goals.]

Distinguished Lecture Series

Goal: Total endowment of $1,000,000.

The College Art + Design Distinguished Lecture Series fund seeks $40,000 per year to bring nationally and internationally acclaimed architects, interior designers, landscape architects, graphic designers, art historians, as well as fine artists to the LSU campus for the benefit of students and the general public. The Art+ Design lecture series expands the learning environment for students by encouraging a spirit of risk taking through the example of others, exciting an appetite for thinking and making, and nurturing the capacity to create. At the same time the visiting lecturer series reaffirms the College's land grant mission while increasing cultural capital through service to the Louisiana arts and cultural community through a distinctive public education program. ]

Enhanced Art + Design Library Resources

Goal: Total endowment of $500,000

The College of Art and Design seeks funds to purchase books and periodicals to augment library resources for the art and design disciplines. The Art + Design Library Resources Fund has been established to increase the collection in critical areas by 1,000 volumes over the next five years. With these funds we seek to establish the only research quality art and design library in the State of Louisiana. This quality collection will advance the learning of the students, support faculty research, serve as a resource to both the professional and general community, and advance the rankings of our premier programs. ]

To date the Library Fund has helped fund the purchase of a digital image resource that is available online to the entire LSU community.]

Distinguished Faculty Fund

Goal: $1.66 Million

Two ingredients make a great school: outstanding students and creative faculty. The Distinguished Faculty Fund seeks to provide professorships and a chair to reward outstanding faculty and augment our faculty ranks with national and international artists, designers, and scholars ]

Renovation of the Engineering Shops

Goal: $4.5 Million

In the fall of 2004 the College undertook the first comprehensive assessment of its buildings and grounds since the College was established in 1965. The first project in this multi-year plan is the renovation of the historic Old Engineering Shops. The renovation of the Old Engineering Shops is a significant project because:

The renovation project will convert the Old Engineering Shops into a state of the art educational facility in the visual arts. The completed project will make the new facility the most energy efficient and sustainable structure on the LSU campus. It will include advanced air conditioning design, including operable windows with integrated climate controls, energy efficient daylighting systems, and a sophisticated insulating skin applied to the interior of the building so as to preserve the historic facades. The result will be an historic structure that meets contemporary sustainable standards and embraces the best practices in facility design for a premier art school..]