University Business - November 2006 - (Page 66)

Coming Back from Katrina By Ron Schachter N More than a year EW ORLEANS MAY BE BETTER KNOWN AS AN inter- national shipping capital, an oil and gas hub, and convention central, but The Big Easy is also a college town. During the aca- demic year, more than 75,000 students fan out to 15 postsec- later, New Orleans' ondary institutions. Some of the largest universities Tulane, Dillard, Xavier, Loyola, and the University of New Orleans attract students who hail from all over the country. institutions of And while the city's industrial and tourist bases have slowly come back from Katrina's devastation 15 months ago, its aca- demic institutions also are striving to recover from an estimated $1 billion to $2 billion in losses, severe cuts in their enrollment and staff, and the real- higher ed and ization that they have been changed permanently. Along the way, the leaders of these schools say they've been taking a crash course in crisis management, flexing administrative muscles they never thought they would have to use, and devising solutions to problems their leaders are they never thought they would encounter. A New Job Description I'm not sure there's enough paper to write about the post-Katrina job description, says recovering, adapting, Tim Ryan, chancellor of the University of New Orleans, part of Louisiana's higher edu- cation system. Ryan's first tasks in Katrina's aftermath involved locating administrators who had been displaced around the region and returning by boat accompanied by a and reinventing SWAT team to recover financial and student records from a campus that had been occupied and looted by hurricane refugees. Xavier President Norman Francis, now in his 39th year leading the private Catholic themselves. university, also had to deal with a devastating flood. We've spent a great deal of time working on reconstructing what it took almost 80 years to build, he explains. And Dillard President Marvalene Hughes had just taken charge of the traditionally black private college after 11 years as president of Cal State, Stanislaus, where earth- quake preparedness was a given for administrators. What was absolutely new, in spite of the California emergency training, she admits, was having to totally rebuild a cam- pus, motivate students to return, and convince their parents that you'll provide a safe environment and a quality education. It was tough. After confirming the safety of students and employees and assessing the damage, all three presidents turned to reopening their campuses as soon as they could. To stay out more than a year from our campus would have been very difficult, says Francis. You 66 | November 2006 universitybusiness.com Kat3.indd Kat3.indd 66 10/23/06 1:00:16 PM http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - November 2006

Table of Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Stats Watch
People Watch
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Marketing
Human Resources
Money Matters
Community Colleges
Wireless: The "n" is Near
TECH Central
Rising Stars
Coming Back from Katrina
Business Technology
What's New
Calendar of Events
Direct Connect
End Note

University Business - November 2006