Change is often uncomfortable, and at times scary.
But it is inevitably part of everybody’s lives. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Opelousas native and resident Jimmy Genovese will be introduced today at 11 a.m. at the Friedman Student Union ballroom on campus as the 21st president of Northwestern State University.
He will be the fourth person to accept leadership of Northwestern in the past nine years, after only two leaders, Dr. Bobby Alost (1986-96) and Dr. Randy Webb (1996-2014) in the previous 28 years.
Genovese is taking over a proud university at a crossroads.
It was Sept. 18, 2020, when Northwestern announced a record enrollment figure of 11,447. Since then, the student count has declined, announced last fall at 8,847. That’s a drop of 2,600 students, 23 percent.
That’s more than simply alarming. THAT is scary and threatens the future of Northwestern, and Natchitoches.
Yes, many colleges and universities everywhere have suffered decreased enrollment. Not all colleges – but many. Certainly the COVID pandemic was initially a factor, and what is termed “a continuing decline in the college age population” was cited by the university in last Sept. 4’s enrollment announcement.
It was almost a month earlier, last August in an address at the university’s annual faculty/staff luncheon at Prather Coliseum attended by nearly all of Northwestern’s nearly 800 employees, that President Dr. Marcus Jones frankly outlined implications of the enrollment dip.
He cited factors producing a “significant operating deficit” and said the university would use 50 percent of its reserve funds to soften the financial blow, warning that future personnel reductions might be necessary. Some had been already; more were made.
It was a blunt message. It took guts to share it instead of ducking and covering. It was harsh reality. To deal with a crisis situation – a very fair description of that scenario – requires facing up to it.
Nearly a year later, it seems Northwestern is in better financial condition. Dr. Jones and his leadership team made difficult and often unpleasant decisions.
But enrollment doesn’t seem to be bouncing back. That alone is contributing to increasing difficulty in the local business climate. We’ve all grimaced watching several consumer-driven businesses closing, the latest the Big Lots national chain department store that opened just a year ago. Local businesspeople say they have difficulty finding enough capable college-age students to operate their businesses.
Those trends have to be stopped. They have to be reversed. Can’t go with the status quo.
The storyline is different at other nearby public universities. LSUA, LSUS, Grambling, Louisiana Tech and Southern Arkansas all boasted about enrollment records last fall, whether it be record-sized freshmen classes or overall enrollment – or both.
That’s the situation Northwestern’s incoming president faces. Genovese was hired to get enrollment trending positively, to get more students walking the campus, living in Natchitoches, resuscitating this community as more faculty and staff are needed to accommodate the students’ needs. That would steady, then strengthen the local business scene.
Genovese was hired to create change, to encourage improvement, to reconsider how Northwestern operates. He is here with a great appreciation for what his Northwestern experience meant to a young man from Opelousas who had no idea where Natchitoches was when he arrived; and his appreciation is also for how those years laid a foundation for his incredibly successful career.
He has a unique combination of decades of real-world experience, knowledge, contacts, statewide identity, ambition, charisma and drive that will serve Northwestern well.
It will serve Northwestern, and Natchitoches, BEST if we can unite behind him and help President Genovese, his administrative team, and the capable faculty and staff at NSU create transformational change that benefits this university, this community, this area, and most of all, the students now and in the future.
Our city bears a key role in the turnaround. Some student-oriented venues – not simply bars – would greatly enhance the quality of college life in Natchitoches. We must give local high school grads more reason to stay here for college. Too few do. It’s equally vital to provide young newcomers to Natty ample ways to enjoy their free time here. Taking cues from bustling small college towns near and far seems a logical starting point. Then, finding investors and entrepreneurs; who knows, could some grant funds be accessible?
It’s a daunting, far-reaching task, this NSU reboot. It’s one that requires buy-in from everyone who wants to do better. The first steps: accept the challenge, embrace change, new approaches, a new president.
As one great leader said many years ago, “all we have to fear, is fear itself.” FDR led America out of the Great Depression, and through World War II, setting the stage for unprecedented prosperity.
That’s the kind of transformation we need for Northwestern. If we unite, collaborate, contribute, innovate and support, great things are ahead.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com