President addresses his critics, goals and upcoming challenges
A hundred academic days have passed since the university hired Dr. Nick Bruno to be its president. Bruno says he greets the job with more excitement and enthusiasm now than he did the day he started.
In fact, Bruno feels the same can be said for how the campus community feels toward him, freely recognizing the apprehension from students and faculty alike that clouded his initial appointment. But Bruno feels that he has eased a lot of those concerns.
“Change is scary, and apprehension comes with uncertainty,” says Bruno.
“The biggest thing for my office so far is that I’ve been approachable.”
Though Bruno has not yielded many tangible accomplishments in his brief time in office, he has outlined his plans for ULM, lofty goals that if achieved could take both the University and Northeast Louisiana to a much higher level.
Recognizing North Louisiana’s need to grow, Bruno wants ULM to be an engine for that growth.
“The best way to break out of poverty is education,” says Bruno. “[North La.] is probably only one or two industries away from really booming.”
Bruno says ULM is actively pursuing high-caliber students in hopes of churning out more graduates who can help facilitate the region’s growth.
He says the University is targeting serious students, including students from community colleges who want to move on to a four-year school, and will graduate and go on to producing in their community.
ULM has reached out to area community colleges by recruiting at the colleges, urging students to continue at ULM once they have finished their two-year degree.
Special agreements between ULM and some community colleges allow for students to begin a curriculum at a two-year school and transfer to ULM for the final two years of their education.
Delta Community College students can even use Flight Plan to help realize their academic goals.
Bruno admits that the type of growth he would like to see will take time, but he also feels that the University is on the right path.
“I don’t know if I’ll see all of what I envision for the university come while I am president, but after my time is over, the next president will have a firm foundation.”
The optimism and drive Bruno seems to show may be essential to his success (or failure) in the next 100 days as the president’s administration prepares to face its first round of budget cuts.
The president will face tough choices, including program cuts and tuition increases, after the state legislature makes their decisions of how much higher education will be slashed this year.
Some programs could be cut completely from the university, and the final call to let a program live or die ultimately lies with Bruno.
“The funding amount will determine how many programs get cut,” says Bruno. “We’re expecting $4-$16 million that tuition increases just can’t overcome in one year.”
Bruno says that careful consideration will be put into the decision to cut a program because “once a program is gone, it’s gone.”
Despite the daunting financial burdens facing the president and his University, Bruno approaches them with a weathering-the-storm attitude, not as the mark of his final legacy with ULM.
“I’ve been myself and that’s who I’ve always been,” says Bruno. “Hopefully the first 100 days have given a glimpse of who that is. I’m always going to focus on what is best for the university.”
