Slaughter is also focusing on upgrading the quality of the system’s academic programs. He is proposing an assessment of all four campuses: SUNO, SU-Baton Rouge, Southern University at Shreveport and the Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge. The idea is to cut weak programs and focus the limited system resources on productive ones, he says.
“We want to analyze all of the campuses’ strengths and weaknesses, so we can be more proactive in our decision,” Slaughter says.
This initiative comes two years after a grade-buying scandal rocked the campus. Slaughter first began looking into the problem after university auditors discovered conflicting academic records. In December, Cleo Carroll Jr., a 56-year-old former assistant registrar at SUBR, pleaded guilty in federal court to bribery for accepting $7,700 from several current and former students to change their official university records. (see Diverse, Dec. 1, 2005).
Slaughter says he intends to continue to maintain an open-door policy not only for students, but for faculty, staff and alumni as well.
“You’ve got to listen to people,” Slaughter says. “Even if you don’t agree with them and do what they’re asking, they at least feel like they’ve been heard, and that’s important.”
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
