Events

CUPA-HR Louisiana Mississippi Gulf Coast Chapter

Upcoming Local Events

Join us May 21 at 10AM Central for a Virtual Louisiana Legislative Update - REGISTER HERE

Join the CUPA-HR for an engaging virtual webinar examining the most significant higher education legislation emerging from this year’s legislative session and what it means for HR professionals and campus leaders on May 21 at 10AM.

This session will feature insights from:

  • Corinne Blache, General Counsel, Southern University and A&M College System
  • Brianna Golden Phillips, Director of Governmental Affairs, Louisiana Board of Regents
  • Carlton "Trey" Jones, Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel, Louisiana State University

Panelists will discuss several proposed bills impacting higher education institutions across Louisiana, with particular focus on the implications, risks, and practical considerations for HR teams and campus administrators. Topics will include emerging legal and policy developments, operational impacts, and strategies for institutional preparedness.

Whether you work in human resources, academic administration, compliance, or campus leadership, this session will provide timely guidance and valuable perspective on navigating an evolving legislative environment.

Corinne M. Blache serves as General Counsel to the Southern University and A&M College System and its Board of Supervisors, providing strategic legal counsel that supports sound governance and institutional decision-making across the System.  Her career reflects a deep commitment to public service, having previously served as Road Hazard Section Chief and Assistant Attorney General for the Louisiana Department of Justice.  A graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law, Ms. Blache brings broad expertise in public sector legal management to her role.

Brianna Golden Phillips is Director of Government Affairs at the Louisiana Board of Regents, where she leads legislative strategy and advocates for the state’s higher education system. She coordinates several statutorily created legislative task forces: the Louisiana Power-Based Violence Review Panel, the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Task Force, and the HBCU Advisory Council. Brianna’s public service experience spans the Texas and Louisiana State Senates, the U.S. Senate under former Senator Mary Landrieu, and the federal judiciary as a law clerk in the Southern District of Texas. A proud alumna of Southern University Law Center and Southeastern Louisiana University, she is committed to advancing education as a force for student success and lasting change.

Carlton "Trey" Jones, III is the Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel for LSU. A seasoned legal professional and proud LSU alumnus, Jones brings over two decades of experience in higher education law, litigation, and institutional governance to the university's executive leadership team. In his role as Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel, Jones will serve as the chief legal advisor. His responsibilities include advising on employment and faculty issues, overseeing legal and regulatory compliance, managing litigation, and providing legal insight on major university initiatives across all LSU campuses. As Baton Rouge native, Jones earned both his bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctor from LSU, graduating from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1998 with honors as a member of the Moot Court Board. He began his legal career in civil litigation at Roedel Parsons and later joined LSU in 2017, rising through the ranks to lead the Office of General Counsel. Prior to joining LSU, Jones represented LSU and other Louisiana public universities in significant legal matters. Jones’s areas of legal specialty include employment law, civil rights, risk management, litigation, free speech and academic freedom. Since joining LSU, he has been a trusted advisor on many LSU initiatives.

Upcoming National Events

Full Calendar of Events

Visit the CUPA-HR calendar of events to see all the upcoming virtual sessions and workshops! Browse the calendar of events.

Past Events

This spring, we connected with our local CUPA-HR communities in person.  These informal gatherings were all about conversation, connection, and community. We had light refreshments, learned about CUPA resources and talked about current wins and challenges in higher ed HR.

Dates & Locations

One Workforce, Many Realities: Leading Across Work Modalities and Generations - April 7 from 11 am - 12 pm Central for a Virtual Workshop hosted by Eric Canny from NextSource

Today’s workforce operates across multiple modalities—on-site, hybrid, remote, and flexible—while spanning multiple generations with distinct expectations around work, communication, autonomy, and well-being. These differences are often treated as management challenges or preference conflicts, rather than as structural realities that require intentional design. This session examines how modality and generation intersect to shape employee experience, performance, trust, and well-being. Using workforce and organizational data, participants will explore how policies, leadership practices, performance management, as well as training and communication systems, often favor certain modalities or generations over others, frequently without intent. The presentation shifts the focus from accommodation to alignment, offering HR professionals practical strategies for designing systems that work across modalities and generations simultaneously. Attendees will leave with tools to reduce friction, increase fairness, and support cohesive organizational culture in a workforce that no longer shares a single way of working.

Dr. Canny has three decades of work in higher education, K-12, non-profit and corporate.  His roles include Dean, Chief International Officer, Vice President of Program Management, and Faculty.  His areas of expertise include non-profit operations, HR, learning and development, DEI, strategic visioning, and implementing sustainable organizational change.  He is particularly focused on the preparation of higher education organizations to meet the needs of changes coming at the intersection of workforce and social trends in the coming years. In addition to consulting, Eric held leadership positions at New York University, Stetson University, Augsburg University, the University of North Texas, The Hetrick-Martin Institute, and CEA CAPA Study Abroad. Eric is a founder of the Global Risk Mitigation Foundation and serves on boards for US and international entities. He is on the faculty at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education, working with its doctoral programs Higher Education Leadership and Organizational Change and Leadership.

Dr. Canny has nearly three decades of work in higher education, K-12, non-profit as well as corporate.  His roles include Dean, Chief International Officer, Vice President of Program Management, and Faculty.  His areas of expertise include non-profit operations, HR, learning and development, DEI, strategic visioning, and implementing sustainable organizational change.  He is particularly focused on the preparation of higher education organizations to meet the needs of changes coming at the intersection of workforce and social trends in the coming years. In addition to consulting, he is on the faculty at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education, working with its doctoral programs Higher Education Leadership and Organizational Change and Leadership.

Prompt Engineering with LSU Health

On Thursday, December 11 from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm Central we learned about AI-Powered HR: Prompt Engineering for Smarter, Easier HR Workflows. We were thrilled to have Emily Hernandez and Aaron Miley from LSU Health Sciences Center host this virtual session.

This session explored how prompt engineering tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot can transform HR processes through AI. We learned how to reduce time spent on HR administrative tasks like HR document templates, communication, policies, performance management, training, etc. This presentation also addressed security and confidentiality considerations when using AI and how HR leaders can be proactive in safeguarding employee information.

Emily Hernandez is the HRIS Manager at LSU Health New Orleans, bringing over 10 years of experience in HR, specifically in HRIS. She oversees the institution’s HRIS and Records Management functions and has led the implementation of multiple enterprise HR systems. Emily holds a B.S. in Management from the University of New Orleans and an MBA with a concentration in Project Management from LSU Shreveport.

With nearly 20 years of HR experience and more than a decade in senior leadership, Aaron Miley is Associate Director of Human Resources at LSU Health Sciences Center – New Orleans where he oversees HRIS, Benefits & Retirement, and Talent & Organizational Development. Aaron has directed HR functions across higher education, healthcare, hospitality, construction, and tech services, driving organizational growth, building high-performing teams, modernizing systems, and shaping strategy at both the operational and executive level.

Known for balancing technology transformation with people-centered strategy, Aaron has implemented enterprise HR systems, built effective benefits and retirement programs, and designed leadership training that strengthens culture and results. He also serves on the Louisiana/Mississippi CUPA-HR Board as Treasurer and is pursuing his Executive MBA at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business with a focus on strategy, mergers & acquisitions, and organizational growth.

Refueling & Refocusing with Segal

On August 5 we welcomed Chaz Chapman add Allison Vaillancourt from Segal for an invigorating conversation entitled "Fighting Fires and Feeling Fried? It's Time to Refuel and Refocus".

When every day brings priority pivots, curveballs, and relentless pressure to do much more with much less, HR professionals often find themselves running on empty. This session provided practical tools to help us anticipate change, manage the unexpected, and zero in on what truly matters—while restoring the energy, clarity, and optimism we need to lead ourselves and others through uncertainty.

Chaz Chapman, M.A serves as a Senior Associate, Organizational Effectiveness Practice, at Segal. Click here to see Chaz's bio: Chaz Chapman Bio for LA-MS CUPA-HR.

Allison Vaillancourt, PhD, serves as Vice President, Organizational Effectiveness Practice, at Segal. Click here to see Allison's bio:Allison Vaillancourt Bio for LA-MS CUPA-HR