NSU chancellor worries what impact cuts will have on 2-, 4-year colleges

Dear Editor:

Earlier this month, as Nicholls State University was reopening for the Spring 2009 semester, the economic challenges facing our nation were beginning to impact Louisiana. The unforeseen decline in state revenue resulted in a series of mid-year budget reductions across the state’s four-year universities.

Those cuts present difficult challenges to the universities and to the students each institution serves, challenges that we are determined to meet to the best of our abilities without damaging programs or service. All of us in public higher education understand that the financial difficulties facing Louisiana will require “belt tightening” at all levels.

As we prepare for the next fiscal year, with the state projecting a budget deficit amounting to $2 billion or more, higher education is facing additional reductions in state funding of between 15.8 and 28.5 percent. Furthermore, the state has notified higher education to expect to absorb any normal increases in mandated expenditures such as insurance, classified merit increases and retirement.

While some may regard this as a planning exercise, if these additional reductions come to pass, budget cuts of this magnitude will have a devastating and long-lasting impact on all levels of two- and four-year higher education institutions across Louisiana. Students will be faced with a combination of reduced access to classes, degree programs and vital services.

The resulting loss of significant numbers of academic programs and student support services will set the state’s colleges and universities back untold years. The loss of employees, from faculty and staff to graduate student assistants and student wageworkers will harm our people and our communities. The potential losses of student enrollment and institutional outreach to the broader community, through research and service, are just two examples of the unintended consequences of such a significant reduction in state support.

All of this occurs as the state of Louisiana continues to pursue an education agenda of enhanced accountability and performance outcomes or, more simply stated, greater student success.

A companion agenda for the state involves both work force development and economic development in order to build a stronger Louisiana. Clearly, the fulfillment of these important goals is at great risk in the financially challenging times we face today.

This past September, Nicholls celebrated its 60th anniversary of service to south central Louisiana and beyond. Nicholls is a strong comprehensive, regional university with selective admissions standards, highly regarded academic programs led by highly qualified faculty, and 100-percent accreditation of the areas mandated by the Louisiana Board of Regents. The efforts of faculty and students alike in service outreach and research are something that characterizes a maturing regional university.

Best of all, the Nicholls of today still reflects its roots in focusing first on the region it was created to serve while partnering with education, business, and government to help advance the region and its people.

I am sharing this letter with the broader community that Nicholls serves to encourage individuals and groups alike to speak up in support of two- and four- year higher education institutions. Nicholls and higher education need you now, just as the region has needed Nicholls through the years.

Stephen T. Hulbert,

President, Nicholls State University