Camile W. Currier, the new vice president of Student Affairs, welcomes students back to ULM for the Spring 2015 semester. Coming back from retirement, Currier said he would like to continue his association with students and contribute to the essential achievement of educational goals as set forth by the institution.

How does it feel to be the new Vice President of Student Affairs?

CC: It feels pretty good. I’ve been in student affairs for 38 years here. I retired March of 2013 and I enjoyed retirement thoroughly. Dr. Bruno asked me to come do this, and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I feel that I can make a difference here.

What do you want to bring to the students of ULM?

CC: I want to bring the complete learning experience. Both inside the classroom and outside the classroom. I want to see our students get involved and learn how to communicate.
I want our students to have cultural world experiences. I think we have a perfect size university to do that, where students can get to know each other, get to know people from other places — both in the united states and other countries.
We have a great opportunity here, and we’ve done so much good over the years, but we can do more.

What advice do you have for returning students?

CC: Getting back after Christmas, you just have to get back in the swing of things. It gets harder when spring fever gets here and it starts to warm up and people want to go out and do things. I’ve seen the cycle.
The hardest transition in my opinion is freshman to sophomore. As a freshman you’re excited but as a sophomore you know what’s ahead but can’t see the end of the tunnel.
You have to set your goals, but realize that this is a journey and take it one year, one semester at a time.
To graduating seniors, the sky’s the limit.
You have to be adventurous, do something you enjoy doing. I don’t feel like I’m working every day, because I enjoy what I do.

Is there anything you want to say directly to students?

CC: I think all of us in student affairs and all of us at the university, we’re more of a family than if this was a larger university.
You can go to any faculty member for help and we will help you. That’s something a lot of students don’t understand. If you don’t let us know what the problem is, we can’t help you.