NSU commits to La. workforce initiative

Nicholls State University’s Dr. Stephen T. Hulbert joined other state higher learning institution presidents Thursday in pledging to address the state’s workforce shortage.

Hulbert and other University of Louisiana System presidents agreed to target a substantial number of new graduates each year in some of the state’s critical shortage areas. According to the terms of the sweeping agreement, the UL System will generate 2,400 additional state graduates by 2012 – including 375 in education, 330 in health care, 115 in engineering and 440 in business.

The agreement also pledges to shorten the average time it takes for college students to graduate by a year, reducing it from six to five years, and to track graduate performance in Louisiana’s workforce

“This agreement represents the commitment of higher education to the economic well-being of Louisiana,” Hulbert said. “It reflects an exciting initiative and significant opportunity for service to the region.”

The agreement was signed last week at a day-long forum. National and state education leaders, college presidents and legislators were among those in attendance.

The day’s discussion focused on issues surrounding students’ access to higher education and their success at achieving a degree.

Barry Erwin, president of the Council for a Better Louisiana, was among those in favor of the aggressive agreement’s goals.

“We’ve talked about accountability for a long time. We have it in K-12, but this ratchets it up further. It’s about the workforce but also about how we are trying to transform our state to focus on knowledge-based jobs and a knowledge-based economy,” he said.

According to the latest Louisiana Department of Labor statistics, the state has 981 vacancies in education jobs, 3,410 in engineering, 2,379 in business and 9,484 in health care.

“This is so timely,” said state Rep. Freddie Mills (D-Monroe), a pharmacy graduate of the University of Louisiana at Monroe. “I just came from a meeting at the Department of Health and Hospitals where we discussed the state’s health-care worker shortage. We need to continue growing and keep our professionals here in Louisiana, and I want to support your initiative any way I can.”