This summer, the University of New Orleans will officially rejoin the LSU System, and the university's president believes the changes that will come with that switch will result in positive outcomes for the university.
"I personally think that the future is very, very bright," UNO President Kathy Johnson said to WWL's Tommy Tucker on Thursday.
According to Johnson, moving UNO into the LSU System will give the university a leg up in research and improve its operations, including its purchasing and information technology departments.
"Being part of a very strong system that has very strong processes and resources, that's going to benefit our faculty and staff as well as our students," Johnson said.
Johnson says the move will bring some changes to the university. UNO will be known as LSU New Orleans once the transition becomes official. In addition, Johnson says the school’s colors will change from blue and silver to purple and gold, and signs on campus will be replaced to reflect this change. The Privateers mascot will remain, and the school will continue to play sports in the Southland Conference.
According to Johnson, the biggest changes will happen behind the scenes.
"From the day-to-day experience of being on campus, not much changes," Johnson said. "We're going to be reporting to a different board, but the faculty, the staff, and the programs will remain the same."
Johnson says one change students may see in the future is a shift in programs, one that ensures students will find gainful employment once they graduate.
"The programs are still going to be there," Johnson said. "We are trying to sharpen our program array to be very aligned with the Southeastern Louisiana region. We absolutely want our students to get jobs. We want there to be not a gap between when they graduate and when they're gainfully employed. So we're really reorganizing to ensure that all students are getting that foundation."
