Submitted by philip on
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
First of all, what would you like to say to the Louisiana College family, Louisiana Baptists and others with an interest in the college?
Listen, then learn, then lead. That’s my approach. I tell my students my rule of five. My rule of five every day is: I pray, I read, then I listen, learn, lead.
I ask a lot of questions. I easily recognize to move any institution forward, particularly a Baptist college, it takes a whole team moving forward. You need broad-based participation. As we think more strategically here at Louisiana College that’s what we are going to do.
We’ve had a warm reception from people, numerous emails, texts, phone calls from pastors and biz leaders from across the state saying, “Welcome, we are glad you are here.” What I’ve heard most is we’ve been praying for you, we just didn’t know who you were. That’s really good to know people have been praying.
We are trusting that God will enable us to be a part of transforming the college, a vision here to honor Christ in all that we do that is so compelling that will attract current and future leaders.
I am trusting that faculty, staff, students, coaches will be encouraged more and more every day as we seek to constantly remind them that their work is not in vein. I am trusting that the holy spirit will use us to bring unity and clarity as such a time as this.
My vision for the college centers around those three Rs. I have been telling everyone that I believe a good solid Christian education needs to be relevant, needs to be relational and must be rigorous. We must give students the tools they need to earn the right to be heard, to navigate the challenges of the 21st century.
We look through and beyond the created order and discover the Christ centeredness of all things. That’s an attitude, that’s an approach we will follow here at Louisiana College as well.
What are the biggest challenges facing you as you step into the role as President on April 7?
Our biggest challenge is that of any small, somewhat traditional liberal arts college.
Of course, Louisiana College is beyond traditional. It’s a comprehensive liberal arts college because we offer the traditional liberal arts programs which also offer professional programs such as nursing, teacher education, convergence media, criminal justice, on and on I could go.
We are so sensitive to tuition. Our biggest challenge will be enrollment and recruitment of as well as the retention of the students we already have.
The projections we have going into the fall right now look good.
We have set a goal but I felt led to increase that goal. We have to stretch that goal. I may be the only college president in America who is going to be calling prospective freshmen over the next month or so.
I’ve got a whole list of folks who I am going to be calling in the evenings and talking to and encouraging them to Louisiana College. If they have not made decision yet to come to LC, I will share with them the reasons why I think they ought to come be with us and gain a world class education.
Also, I will tell them we will not only engage their minds but we will also inspire them through the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts.
While our biggest challenge will be the recruitment and retention of students, we must also work on the recruitment and retention of donors.
There have been some great folks, who through the years have sacrificially supported the college. I am so thankful for what they have done and we are going to continue to embrace those folks. But we are also going to seek other people who want to invest in the future; who want to invest in Christian higher education; who most importantly want to help students close the affordability group and to be able to obtain a Christian education that they desire.
That’s really our differentiating value, propositionally, that we are going to offer excellence in the classroom and will also challenge students to think Christainly. We are going to be a great commandment school, love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. There’s no room for lazy, anti-intellectualism in Christian higher education.
We are going to be a great commission school, preparing students to go out and make disciples in whatever cultural venue God calls them to and where they are listening for the voice of God.
How important will it be to market the attributes of Louisiana College? Do you believe in a strong marketing and development team?
That’s very important because there are tremendous stories to tell here and I am discovering new ones by the hour.
The faculty that is here are just wonderfully, gifted Christian scholars. Then you have stories of alums and where they have gone. Whether they have gone into the medical field, into the legal world, or into teaching, business, ministry or missions, we need to share these stories.
Everywhere I go, I meet a Louisiana College grad, and that’s wonderful. These alumni are proud of their college, they are proud to be associated and affiliated with it. I am already being scheduled to speak in a variety of churches across the state and to various civic clubs and private schools.
The board knows I will be very active, a high energy president out there raising the profile and the image of the institution. And hopefully this will translate into gaining new students and donor support.
Let me go to one other important R&R … the recruitment and retention of excellent faculty.
I’ve got to say to the faculty, staff, coaches and administrators who have served here for the last 10, 15, 20 years. They have really done a superb job. They love the school, they love what they do, they love the students and they see themselves as part of the transformational process.
My chief aim is that of a steward leader, one who will steward the resources of the institution toward success, who will hopefully bring out in people more than maybe what they thought they had in them by way of encouragement and appreciation and by working with folks to gain their input.
Our strategic planning will be itaroads, it will be organic but most importantly it will be broad-based and participative. Everyone will have a voice and seat at the table when you look at planning which of course precedes and maybe strategic planning then will inform our budgeting, will inform our programming and really guides us for the future.
The SACS Visitation Committee was on campus this week. What were your impressions of their investigation? Do you feel confident steps have already been taken to address the issues brought up by SACS? Do you feel it was a good visit?
About the only thing I can say was what was said in the press release we issued. I really don’t much more than that.
The SACS committee came to the campus and did a thorough analysis. They were very cordial but very professional. Their final report won’t be released until the SACS board votes on it in June.
They are going to recommend to their board that we have met the standards for all but one area. We will receive the written report April 6, and then we have a few weeks to respond. We will work with our board to discern the will of God and the wisdom of the Lord as we develop a response.
This college has had a rich and wonderful relationship with Louisiana Baptists for over a hundred years. We see ourselves as partners in ministry and Louisiana Baptist churches are vitally important to this institution. I am going to be asking pastors to please encourage their student to at least look at us, to give us a chance, to let us come in and talk with them.
One pastor has me coming to speak to his Rotary club, with educators, with business leaders and with his church on a Wednesday. That’s wonderful. That’s when you know you are part of the Baptist family.
It’s true we are coming through some turbulence and need each other. We certainly appreciate folks to continue praying for us. We want to be a shining example of the Kingdom of the Lord at this school in the future.
We want people in our Baptist churches to be proud.
We realize we have a lot of work to do here. We have deferred maintenance issues. We have some programs we want to launch. But we must have the funding in order to do so. I want Louisiana Baptists to be proud of this school.
I want Louisiana Baptists to know when they send their students here they will get a tremendous, excellent education in a wonderful Christian environment where their minds will be engaged and challenged as well as their hearts inspired so they can go anywhere God is calling them to go.
We focus in this realm on critical thinking, analytical reasoning and problem solving skills. You show me a college student who can do those three things and I promise you there will always be a job waiting for them.
The role of Christian higher education is to help and equip students for life, not just for a job, not just for graduation but for life. And I believe that’s what we do given the faculty we have here.
We need to give our students the skillset, the tools and the equipping so they can navigate the waters before them. The students we graduate from LC need to understand how to defend their faith, how to contend for it, how to be an apologist in whatever domain God calls them. That’s a responsibility I believe and that’s a responsibility that I take seriously for Louisiana College. I want our students to be equipped to think Christianly in whatever area God leads them to.
Your success as a fundraiser at Charleston Southern shows you are very capable. What is the secret? Do you see any similarities in Charleston and Pineville … South Carolina and Louisiana?
I don’t know if it’s any secret to fundraising.
Sometimes it’s raising friends. It’s really about cultivating relationships and it all goes back to trust. It is also about having a great story to tell and finding that person, or persons, who want to invest in our young people.
It’s not easy. You’ve got to have a strong image. You’ve got to have trust. People have to know when they give to an idea, give to a program, that it’s part of the college’s mission and part of the college’s strategic planning.
So planning will precede revenue enhancement. As we go out, we have several different programs we would like to launch which are fundraising opportunities for people to come on board and to give to scholarships.
Obviously geographically there is a difference between Louisiana and South Carolina.
The common denominators I see between the two places are the people. Both have people who care, people who love Christ, people who love young people, people who want to be a part of investing in a student’s dream.
Major gifts are obviously nice but it is all about finding folks who will give something. If you can get a lot of those type of folks on board, it will be a huge help. When they see they are able to be part of a transformational experience for a college student, it makes all the difference.
That’s what I learned in Charleston.
People invest in that which they see is producing positive results. It took us time. I was there 27 1/2 years. It was really like working at three different schools.
We had to go from surviving to being stable then toward excellence. I don’t know if you ever arrive at excellence but you are always striving toward it. The first three to four years were survival, which were tough times. Then we moved to stability and that established a platform then to launch for excellence at which time the school doubled in enrollment, our budget went from 15 million to 75 million. Our donations saw a 500 percent increase in support from alums and so forth.
It all goes back to tremendous financial management, strategic planning at the forefront, revenue enhancement strategies and most importantly a solid mission based on academics and our faith in Christ.
Just like in Charleston, we will tell that story and we will promote our attributes and we will seek to bring people on board who want to help us. And, in time, we want to have academic program expansion. Why? Because we know in various new areas of the business world, in the medical world, or the education world or even the church world there is need for graduate, false disciplinary-type and certificate programs.
We will pursue those programs because we believe there is a voice for Christ needed in these areas.
I like to tell my story.
I was a first generation college student. Mom came to me when I was about 12 or 13 and said son I don’t know if we’ll have money for you for college. So you better hope you really keep doing well, make good grades and get a scholarship. The Lord blessed us and I was able to go to college on a full scholarship.
I also had a full scholarship to complete my graduate work.
If this country boy raised on the farm can do that I think anyone can when you put the Lord in the mix. I believe if we are going to honor the Lord we will have to give our best. To me my best was a B in chemistry and an A in math. I didn’t make an A in math I was really disappointed, I felt I had let the Lord down. If I made a B in chemistry I thought that was beautiful. I believe you can accomplish what you set out to do if you have a right heart and have a hard work ethic.
We serve a lot of first generation students who come here with a dream, come here with something they believe God has called them to do. We will do all we can to help them move toward achieving their dream and give them a wonderful experience so they will forever be a part of the Louisiana College family.
Do you have any plans to bring or hire people you are familiar with to Louisiana College?
Initially, no. The folks I have met here are very good people and I have been impressed with everyone I have met. I have given them a lot of work to do and they haven’t told me sir get on the plane and don’t come back. I am going to be deliberative in any of that and just evaluate as we go. Eventually, if I feel the need, we will make some changes.
You mentioned at the press conference you and your wife (as an unpaid assistant) would be working together. How much will she help in your transition into the presidency and possibly as an ambassador for the school?
She is going to be a wonderful ambassador for the school. She is a gracious hostess and a brilliant thinker. She keeps me straight. The Lord has blessed our marriage as we have been married over 37 years.
Once we get our feet on the ground, she plans on launching a women’s support group or a women’s council. These will be women whose spouses are probably involved with the school in some form or fashion. These ladies will help the school raise its profile as well as helping to raise scholarships for students. She is going to be a fundraiser and friend raiser.
She is also a marvelous musician and an excellent interior designer. She has spent her career in education and healthcare, the last 20 years with HCA hospital across from Charleston Southern.
She is going to work closely with me and be a tremendous asset to the college. I told them when the board interviewed me that when they met her, they would easily recognize that she is the ‘best part of the deal.’
With the state of higher education in Louisiana in flux due to budget woes, do you see Louisiana College becoming a viable alternative?
Absolutely. What most likely will happen will be whatever gap there is between the sticker price, Louisiana College and the public college, will probably close a little bit. In most cases, the public colleges and universities will have to offset their budget cuts by increasing tuition.
This makes the private school, like Louisiana College, a more attractive and affordable option. I would hope the value of coming to a school, such as LC, would super-cede any kind of cost differential between us and the public institutions. Not only will our students get an affordable education, but they can go anywhere they want from here.
Also, students will receive a Christ centered approach, have their faith strengthened and bring Christ in as a partner in all they do academically. We have an opportunity to tell our story and then help people see that it’s more affordable than you think.
When you think of a private college you think it’s not cost-effective or too expensive. We’re not subsidized by the state by tax dollars so certainly we have to make up the gap and to offer a solid academic program, there is a cost as well.
In higher education everyone benefits from having a diversity of private schools, in particular Christian colleges. It’s a part of the mix and we seek something to add. We will seek to collaborate with public schools in terms of 2+2 programs or 3+2 programs. We do one at Charleston Southern with Clemson where a student can go for three years to CSU and earn a math degree and go to Clemson their last two years and get an engineering degree. In five years’ time, they not only have an engineering but two bachelor’s degrees.
Collaboration in the 21st century is essential to success, financially and otherwise. So we need to seek out those opportunities to do that and partner with our public.
Do you believe by winning the support of the students you will win the support of Louisiana Baptists?
I am student centered. I have worked with college age students for over 35 years. We are here because we are educating students. This is what it’s about. That is why we are here. That is why we exist.
Yes, I am hopeful Louisiana Baptists are going to support and continue to support Louisiana. I am hopeful they will send us students from their churches to be a part of the Louisiana College experience.
It’s my nature to spend time with students. I was in Bible study with students late last night. I was there like a student. I didn’t lead it, I was just there, participating and praying and playing the piano. I just love being around college students. At the end of the day Louisiana Baptists will see that they have a president who is student centered and is going to be highly visible.
It’s all about students. It’s all about the engaging mind and inspiring the heart. First and foremost I have to live the mission and be out there visibly. So we are going to be spending a lot of time this first year getting Louisiana Baptist reacquainted with their college.
As I told the committee during the process it’s probably time to go back and shake hands with a lot of folks, shake hands with Louisiana Baptists again, link arms again, remind them that we are partners together in ministry. We are a missional outpost. We are a missional outreach and a missional partner of Louisiana Baptists.
I am grateful for the support they give us through the Cooperative Program. It is absolutely crucial to who we are and to our continuation. We are thrilled to be a part of a family and that’s how I’ve felt since I’ve got here.
With so much already on your plate will you be able to immediately address any repairs to the facilities, upgrading of the technology and growing the student base?
First, they must be identified which is important. Also, they are projects which the board is fully aware of. It’s just a matter of availability of funding.
We will address them as funding comes available.
That’s why we really are going to hit the road hard in terms of fundraising. That is why our student enrollment is so important, that the retention number we project comes back and the recruitment number we are working on comes in strong.
Hopefully the Lord will bless us with more than we expect and will produce some much needed additional revenue so we can attack some of these things. There are some things on deferred maintenance that aren’t costly and there are others such as roof replacements we need to address as soon as possible.
All of this is in the mix, it’s all in that stew. It’s all related to student enrollment, to the image for the school. Students today going to Christian colleges, the first thing they look for is academic reputation. Secondly, students want to know does their degree have value and third, curb appeal.
We will work on it. We’ve got to work on it. I knew it the first time I visited the campus. We will be transparent. The senior team knows the needs and we plan to move carefully and deliberatively. But we can’t do much until the funding is available.
I’m not going to tilt the institution one way or the other financially. It’s going to be moderate growth and moderate spending. We are stewarding God’s resources. We are stewarding a college, the people here, toward excellence.
And it may take some time because I realize this is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Therefore, we’ve got to be ready to put our hands to the plow and go steady. There are some good things I believe will happen in the future. I believe that our people are ready to do, our deans and department heads are ready to launch, and it’s just a matter of getting over a financial hurdle here.
We’ve got the right people, we’ve got the right mission and we’ve got the right place.
Since you have served as an athletics director, do you have any ideas or thoughts you can offer Dennis Dunn on improving athletics at Louisiana College?
I’ve already spent time with Coach Dunn.
In various areas of campus whether it’s in advancement work, enrollment, student life, PR or athletics, we will help build a house. We are putting a framework in place because in some cases no one has been in that role for a while.
I used various models at Charleston Southern for evaluating programs, for evaluating coaches, things for developing student athletes and leadership. I will work closely with Coach Dunn. He’s a great guy and a solid and outstanding coach.
He’s wide open. He welcomes ideas and some structure. Hopefully we will provide that as well as establish a variety of fundraising components through the school in terms of athletics. We have some new ideas of advancement we would like to put in place immediately where people can provide funding and give donations to the school as they have in the past but with a little more definition. So we are putting in place the structure to do these things.
Athletics here is important to the school and certainly attracts a large number of students. The coaches love the Lord and they are part of the transformational experience. A good Christian college experience is holisitic. It’s both in the classroom and out of the classroom. And it’s wonderful when the student athlete will hear about the Lord in the classroom but then they will hear from their coaches in practice, in a game or dealing with them one on one.
It contributes to a healthy transformation environment.