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Under a new agreement between Nicholls State University and Edison Chouest Offshore, company employees and their family members can attend the university and get a waiver of international and out-of-state fees.
The formal memorandum of understanding between Nicholls and Chouest, designed to bring more students to the university and better-educated employees to the company, was signed last week by Bruce Murphy, president of the university and Kirt Chouest, representing the family-owned company, based in Galliano.
Under the agreement, any Chouest employee and members of their families can attend Nicholls, and receive a scholarship of $40,000 over four years to cover international and out-of state fees. They will also have the opportunity to participate in an internship program and work within the company, which has more than 14,000 employees who work in more than a dozen countries. Currently, Nicholls has 170 international students representing more than 40 countries among its 6,500 students. All of the university’s programs are open to these prospective students, including online degree programs.
The memorandum was signed last Wednesday on the university campus, with members of Nicholls’ administration and employees of Edison Chouest present.
“This is a historic day for Nicholls,” Murphy said, right before the signing.
Using a “this day in history anecdote,” Murphy said on that date 77 years before, the Golden Gate Bridge opened in California, and just like the bridge links parts of that state, this agreement links industry and academia in a significant way. “This agreement shows how the oil and gas industry has stepped up to support the university,” he said.
The agreement meets two key parts of the Nicholls strategic plan, Murphy said. “One of our goals is to grow enrollment and another is to attract more international students.”
Murphy said he wants to see Nicholls enrollment grow to 8,000 and for the university to expand its global outreach and international diversity.
Chouest said the 20 employees in attendance represented only a fraction of the company’s employees who are Nicholls graduates. “The proof is in the numbers – 80 percent of our degree-holding employees working at Chouest headquarters in Galliano earned their degree from Nicholls. Now, thanks to this new partnership, all of our employees across the globe will share in the valuable opportunity to enhance their careers with a Nicholls degree,” he said.
The company has also assisted with funding for the Nicholls’ unique four-year maritime management program, offered through the AACSB-accredited College of Business Administration, a program that offers a four-year degree and certificate for students who want to learn general management in the maritime industry. It was designed to attract students interested in the oil and gas industry from around the globe to Nicholls.
“Like everybody else, we used to think of Nicholls as a local university, but it is really a global university”, Chouest said. “Nicholls has been forward thinking and helping themselves increase their customer base, which are students. The university has allowed the company to hire people who are from this area who wanted to stay here and work, and the best opportunities for many of those are in the oil and gas industry.”
Kirt Chouest (left), general manager of Edison Chouest Offshore, inks an agreement with Dr. Bruce Murphy, president of Nicholls State University.
