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A Message from the Chancellor

August 2009

Friends,

In President Obama’s address at Macomb Community College this month, he recognized that "Time and again, when we have placed our bet for the future on education, we have prospered as a result – by tapping the incredible innovative and generative potential of a skilled American workforce.”

This national perspective applies directly to Louisiana’s budget cuts and, more specifically, to UNO’s future, our potential and our best hope for recovery.

The Governor and Legislature directed UNO to reduce our budget substantially while continuing to serve our mission.  As an institution significantly credited with the development of the middle-class in New Orleans, we continue to question the wisdom of program funding reductions. Part of our mission is to educate the population of this great city, and cutting funding that directly impacts the viability of middle-class workers seems counter intuitive.

In response, UNO has a plan to continue our work toward becoming one of the nation’s premier urban research universities in the mold of an institution like UCLA.

Though institutions nationally face similar budgetary blows, it is safe to say that the past four years amplifies our challenge. Katrina devastated our city, damaged our campus and our student population.  While UNO has made a near complete recovery, we have been working to rebuild for four years now and of any university in Louisiana, we are ready to move forward simply because we have had considerable practice in overcoming great odds.

UNO may serve as a role model for higher education across the country. There is much to do.

We have restructured the non-academic, administrative side of the University along a more corporate model, eliminating layers of middle and upper management. The remaining leaders will rethink and re-program everything they do. In order to advance the University and achieve our vision in these increasingly difficult economic times, we will create new opportunities. We will create new products and offerings to generate additional earnings while meeting the needs of the communities we serve. We will re-organize income-generating units and replicate these accomplishments for the entire University.

Our Foundation will increase fundraising to unprecedented levels. We will make alumni our greatest asset in strengthening our efforts with the Legislature and become the backbone of our fundraising initiatives.  Now more than ever, higher education needs alumni support.

Large portions of our historical student base relocated to St. Tammany Parish after Katrina. We will follow them. We will offer additional courses on the North Shore, providing residents there with the opportunity to get an education second to none.

Institutions that surmount these challenging times will follow our lead in focusing academic programs and scarce resources behind areas that address student needs and interest. We will build on our successes and serve as a major force in the economic, social and cultural development of New Orleans.

But developing tomorrow’s leaders requires a rich student experience: We will have an NCAA Division I athletic program without using general fund dollars- likely the leanest, meanest athletic program in the country, but one growing its successes.  We will continue to provide a top-notch college experience for students from both near and far.  As graduates complete their years at UNO, they will look back on time well spent in a great city, earning an excellent education and having a rich college experience.  UNO will not lose sight of our commitment to students, regardless of the economic challenges we face.

We will use the current challenge and those that may come over the next few years to rekindle the never­-give-­up spirit of UNO’s founding fathers and mothers. We will continue to do more with less.

Given the current economic, leadership and employment challenges blighting our country, education has never been more relevant, nor more under siege.

American Council on Education President Molly Corbett Broad warns “if access and affordability are limited, an entire generation of students could be lost when our country needs them most.” We hope that other institutions will be able to meet the challenges head on and look to UNO as a model.

Sincerely,

Timothy P. Ryan
Chancellor