LSUS's active CERT representative is Vince Marsala. In fact, he currently serves as chairman of the consortium. Northwest Louisiana has a number of fine higher education institutions with varied missions, but it does not have a single large research university of national or international stature, as do many other urban regions that are implementing competing economic strategies. Together, these institutions employ 1,700 full-time faculty and enroll nearly 30,000 students in most all disciplines. As CERT provides an increasingly active vehicle for mobilizing joint technology and work force initiatives, our region will be able to approximate the intellectual resources base that is provided in some communities by larger individual universities.
CERT representatives meet monthly, and there are plans to develop the consortium's own website.
The University operates four radio stations affiliated with National Public Radio and Public Radio International and licensed to the LSU Board of Supervisors. Broadcasting 24 hours a day, the stations provide listeners a broad selection of programs-news and information, humor, classical music, jazz, blues. This cultural service of the University is supported by underwriters, corporations and foundations, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and listeners. The Center for Business and Economic Research provides business and economic research on the Shreveport-Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Center acts as a collection center for research data and strives to be a partner with government, business and industry to promote economic growth for the region.