University President

To: University Community
From: Stephen T. Hulbert, President

Nicholls State University is in a remarkable period of transition. Beginning this fall, the University’s admission standards will rise for only the second time in the institution’s 57 year history. With this change comes a renewed effort to identify the University in a way that will have even greater appeal to academically well-qualified students as well as to the broader community this institution serves.

With this in mind, Nicholls began its first-ever comprehensive branding initiative last year to define the way people think of the University. One result is a set of new logos for the university and its athletic programs, along with complementary typefaces and fine-tuning of the University’s color scheme.

But logos only skim the surface of a university’s identity. This branding process we undertook went deeper, refining the University’s messages to best reflect our shared institutional values. The new image emphasizes the qualities that make Nicholls special: our strong academic program, our personal attention to the needs of students, our sense of family, the dynamic growth taking place on our campus today, the pathways to success we offer to students, and our vibrant, welcoming culture of the Bayou Region. These are the things that Nicholls represents, and the things we want everyone to think of immediately when they see the University’s logo or hear its name. That’s why the new logo so prominently features the name Nicholls. That name should automatically convey our shared values and the University’s rich traditions.

A tremendous amount of effort and consultation went into developing this new image. The nationally-experienced firm of Lapham/Miller interviewed students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni and community members, and reviewed countless existing university publications and reports, as well as the University’s Web site, to get a feel for Nicholls, its history, and the type of people who make up the University-community. The firm’s results were presented to an ad hoc committee that also included students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the University.

The result of this intensive process is a single identity that will represent the entire university now and in the coming years. Over time you will see the new identity in letterhead, print publications, the Web site, campus signage and more. However, because it would be impractical to discard everything bearing the old logos, the new images will be implemented progressively over the next year and beyond. It has been my guidance to involved staff that the new identity be in place for the pivotal fall semester ahead with its new admission standards and in order to signal a new era in the University’s history. Additionally, all campus units, academic departments and administrative offices alike, will use materials with the new logos for all off-campus correspondence but will use the older supplies for on-campus correspondence until they are exhausted.

The complete results of the branding study are available at: http://www.nicholls.edu/news/2005/099.html

To: University Community
From: Stephen T. Hulbert, President

This correspondence is written to you in the matter of new parking spaces to be added to the University campus. As you may know, the Parking/Traffic Appeals Committee and involved facilities staff have proposed a major project to resurface roads and parking lots across the entire campus and, in some instances, to surface parking lots that are presently only covered by gravel. Finally, it was proposed to add a new 300 vehicle lot on Madewood Drive across from Picciola Hall.

I approved this rather significant project, including that for the new parking lot, even though I carried reservations regarding the required loss of green space. I know that other university community and area residents have shared that concern. As the architects began to lay out the proposed parking lot, my own reservations again surfaced. Late last week, I cancelled the use of the Madewood Drive green space and asked involved staff and T. Baker Smith, the project architects, to locate alternative sites where approximately 300 spaces could be added.

I have now received and approved proposals to add a parking lot between Ellender Hall and the Baptist Center as well as to expand parking in the lots adjacent to the College of Business and Shaver Hall. The net effect of this action will add almost 300 spaces while protecting the remaining green space at the front of the campus.

I have authorized this change and requested that staff continue to implement the parking lot and road surfacing project in order to begin the year long campus-wide project early this fall.

To: University Community
NSU Alumni Board
Colonel Club Officers
NSU Foundation Board

From: Stephen T. Hulbert, President

Tuesday the University announced the penalties handed down by the NCAA in its academic fraud investigation. I would like to share this news with you as we all prepare to move past this issue. We have learned some painful lessons from this series of events and have initiated significant preventative measures to ensure that such a situation does not occur again, including new wide-ranging policies and more checks and balances.

It is evident from the quality of our athletic performance this past year that our student-athletes and our coaching staff are capable of overcoming any obstacles placed before them. The future of athletics at Nicholls is bright.

The University has fully cooperated with the NCAA in this investigation from the moment we initiated the review, and we are ready to accept the penalties. The list below was developed by the University. The NCAA only made two changes to our self-imposed penalties: an additional year of probation and forfeiture of five victories in the 2003 football season.

Now that this matter has concluded, my hope is that we will move forward as an institution of higher learning with reinforced values that shape ethical citizens of tomorrow.

University Penalties Imposed on May 10, 2005

1. Public reprimand and censure.
2. Four years of probation from May 10, 2005, through May 9, 2009.
3. Exclusion from the Southland Conference television package for the 2005 season in football and the 2005-06 season in men’s basketball.
4. Loss of one scholarship in men’s basketball for the 2005-06 academic year, independent of any reductions in scholarships due to new NCAA academic reform standards.
5. Football must implement the following reductions through the 2007-2008 academic year:
   1. reduce by five the number of official visits;
   2. delay the start of preseason practice by three days;
   3. reduce off-campus recruiting by the coaching staff by seven days;
   4. award no more than 60 scholarships per year in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years (the maximum is 63).
6. Volleyball team must vacate its 2003 Southland Conference championship. The team must also vacate all wins from 2003 in which the ineligible student-athlete competed, reconfigure all 2003 records to reflect the changes and remove all publicity references to the wins.
7. Football must also vacate any wins in which an ineligible student participated for the 2003 season.
8. The university must pay a $10,000 fine for the ineligible student-athlete’s participation in the first round of the 2003 NCAA volleyball championship.
9. Nicholls is now subject to the repeat-violator provision of the NCAA bylaws for five years.
10. The university must also notify its regional accrediting agency regarding the academic fraud.

See the Nicholls news release at http://www.nicholls.edu/news/2005/098.html for more detailed information. A link to NCAA release and complete report of the Infractions Committee about Nicholls is at the bottom of the Nicholls release.

To: University Community
From: Stephen T. Hulbert, President

Through this correspondence, I would like to brief the Nicholls State University community with regard to the status of current budget planning for the 2005-2006 fiscal year ahead. This correspondence comes at the outset of the 2005 Legislative Session, a period involving several months of on-going budget discussion and related financial decision making. Before that session ends, the University’s 2004-2005 academic year will conclude and faculty and students alike will leave the campus for the summer. Significant financial decisions will be made at the state and local campus levels before everyone returns in August.

Often as we enter the Legislative Session and the academic year concludes, University community members leave the campus hearing about financial challenges facing the institution and return only to find the budget set. This is common in public higher education and seldom have we, or other institutions, given the members of the University community a full explanation of the impact of decisions made both in Baton Rouge and here on campus. The purpose of this correspondence is to initiate communication with faculty, staff and students regarding current institutional budget projections for the new fiscal year beginning July 1, 2005.

Obviously, at this point in the year such budget projections are fluid in nature and will be subject to constant adjustment throughout the months ahead. Those adjustments will not only result from actions taken in the Legislature but also will reflect the continuing refinement of actual cost demands across all areas of the operating budget of the University.

Simply stated with total revenue increases for Nicholls State University estimated at $1,248,451 and expenditure increases estimated at $4,223,616, approximately $2,975,165 is needed in additional funds to balance the University’s projected 2005-2006 fiscal year budget. Without further operating budget reductions and no additional state support, it would take a 13.44 percent tuition increase (above the previously approved 3 percent tuition increase) to cover the $2,975,165 figure. Such a tuition increase is clearly unacceptable.

Of that $2,975,165 total $1,666,172 is comprised of still unfunded mandated costs attributable to action at the state level (see attached breakdown). If that was the total unfunded impact projected for the 2005-2006 fiscal year ahead, it alone would require a 7.53 percent tuition increase (above the previously approved 3 percent tuition increase). Beyond the yet unfunded mandated cost increases, the University faces scholarship and fee exemption increases much of which are necessitated by the Fall 2005 transition to selective admissions standards. Additional increases are attributable to required accreditation and/or Board of Regents commitments as well as increases in maintenance contracts and operating materials. The University also faces the annualization of modest employee compensation increases for the current fiscal year. The cost of these initiatives totals $1,308,993 (see attached breakdown).

The above summary is part of a complex financial plan and analysis of projected 2005-2006 fiscal year funding levels. If there is any message that I am trying to convey it is that at present at least $1,666,712 of mandated state cost increases still remain unfunded. Additionally, critical need operating budget requirements comprise the remaining $1,308,993 totaling the $2,975,165 difference between projected revenues and mandated and/or critical institutional expenditure needs.

In preparation for the situation at hand, Nicholls has budgeted conservatively, eliminating or deferring some faculty and staff positions and deferring program initiatives. Further such activity may be necessary over the spring and summer months ahead. I would note that this same situation occurred for the current fiscal year. Even with the 4 percent operational fee revenue approved late in the last Legislative Session, Nicholls had to implement a $1,066,764 or almost 2.5 percent budget reduction to maintain balanced operating conditions over the course of the current 2004-2005 fiscal year. The recent 1.75 percent or $408,500 savings target reduction, as implemented by the state, only further exacerbated financial conditions this year in support of the academic programs. Simply stated, it is progressively becoming most difficult to make further budget cuts without a harmful impact on the academic program and the students it serves.

One final issue involves the apparent difference between H.B. 1 that indicates $591,862 less funding for Nicholls than does the Governor’s Executive Budget. As we understand it, that difference is the University’s portion of the Governor’s Supplemental Budget “below the line”, thus, representing items for which revenue is not yet available. The current Executive Budget shows a total decrease in State general funds and statutory dedications of $274,430 for Nicholls State University.

The President’s Cabinet, with representation from the faculty, staff and student body, will monitor on-going financial decision-making and planning around the operating budget for the 2005-2006 fiscal year ahead. Every effort will be made to keep the broader University community apprised of the outcome of the planning and decision-making through the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1, 2005. As importantly, every effort will be made to protect the quality and integrity of the of the academic program and the students it serves.

Budget Information – (PDF) (Excel)