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After more than three decades with Nicholls State University, Dr. Allayne “Laynie” Barrilleaux said she has hit the magic number.
Barrilleaux has decided to retire her post as vice president for academic affairs after 33 years of service to the university.
“If you look at people retiring usually 33 years is the magic number, and I feel like it’s time for me to go and do something else while I’m still young enough to do it,” she said. “It’s a hard decision to make, bring in a new team, young people with different ideas, different ways to approach things in the ever-changing world of higher ed, so I’m excited about what’s next.”
Barrilleaux, who announced her decision in August, is the second high-ranking Nicholls official to retire in as many months after Executive VP Larry Howell stepped down in July.
She said that she will still be a big supporter of Nicholls, just in a different way, and she hopes that she has guided those who will follow her the way others guided her throughout her career.
“I kinda feel like I grew up here. I started very young and was molded and shaped by a lot of mentors here who will always be a part of my memory. They have shaped me into who I am today. So in a way Nicholls became like a second set of parents through the years, and now hopefully I’m leaving as a parent to people who looked up to me,” said the outgoing vice president for academic affairs.
Barrilleaux joined Nicholls as an instructor of management in 1981 and worked her way up to full professor in 1998. During her tenure, she served as head of the department of management and marketing, liaison for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), assistant vice president for academic affairs, interim vice president for academic affairs and of course vice president for academic affairs. She had held the vice president for academic affairs position officially since Sept. 2011 and since 2010 on an interim basis. From 2005 to 2010 Barrilleaux served as assistant vice president for academic affairs.
“Dr. Allayne Barrilleaux has been a fixture at Nicholls State University. She has contributed in so many ways as a professor and as an administrator to the mission of this institution,” said Nicholls President Bruce Murphy in a release. “Laynie was the first person I ever knew from Nicholls through our association in a professional academic organization. I will miss her as a colleague and a friend. [My wife] Jeanne and I wish her continued success as she begins this new chapter of her life.”
Barrilleaux said she isn’t sure what’s next for her, but the first step is to recalibrate and find how she can best use her skills and talents to be a productive member of the community while reconnecting with friends and family.
“I’ll still be very involved and continue to attend functions, because there are some great people here that I do not want to lose touch with. But I’ll be excited to get back with my friends and my family who have been good to me for so long, and I’ve kinda neglected that because my job has been 24/7. So I’m excited about that,” Barrilleaux said.
Dr. Al Davis, dean of University College, will serve as interim vice president of academic affairs while a search for Barrilleaux’s replacement takes place.
“He’s gonna be great. He’s been a part of my academic team for years. He’s succeeded in some difficult challenges, and I think the transition to Dr. Davis will be as smooth as it possibly can be, and he knows he can call me anytime,” Barrilleaux said.
Barrilleaux’s accomplishments at Nicholls include leading the university through a successful reaffirmation of its SACSCOC accreditation and recertification with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). She also led the formation and implementation of Nicholls’ recently-created online degree program, Nicholls Online, and she restructured the Department of Petroleum Engineering Technology and Safety Management to better meet workforce needs in the region.
But it’s the positive influences she’s had on students that will stay with her most.
“Every once in a while you run into a student, and you realize that you really made a difference in their life,” she said. “To anybody in education, that is the biggest reward, and you don’t always realize you’re making a difference. But years later they’ll come back and say, ‘I remember. Do you remember?’”
