S.U. at New Orleans to Reinstate 3 Programs Cut After Katrina

The Chronicle of Higher Education Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Southern U. at New Orleans to Reinstate 3 of the Programs Cut After Katrina By KATHERINE MANGAN Chronicle of Higher Education The Louisiana Board of Regents has approved the reinstatement of three key academic programs that were dropped at New Orleans's hardest-hit campus in the aftermath of **** Katrina. Starting this fall, students at Southern University at New Orleans will again be able to major in mathematics, English, or history. The board also approved the construction of a building for the university's College of Business and Public Administration, a step the university hopes will help the college earn national accreditation. The regents' votes were welcome news for a historically black university that has been working out of trailers with a drastically scaled-back curriculum since its campus was devastated in August 2005 (The Chronicle, May 26, 2006). The university's chancellor, Victor Ukpolo, said the program reinstatements would help the university recruit more students and bring back other academic programs, including science disciplines that were also cut in a drastic academic restructuring after the **** (The Chronicle, January 6, 2006). "Everyone is so excited about having these critical programs back," said Mr. Ukpolo. "There have been high-fives all around." He said he expected to be able to hire about 10 more faculty members in the math, English and history departments. The university, which has expanded its online offerings in the past few years to compensate for the loss of on-campus programs, still occupies only one of its 11 campus buildings, but crews are finally cleaning and removing contaminants from the other damaged buildings. Next month, construction will begin on the university's first-ever dormitories, and by August, Southern officials hope they will be able to return to the upper floors of the remaining 10 campus buildings. The bottom floors, which were flooded by up to 11 feet of water, are still too damaged to occupy anytime soon "It will be nice to have some semblance of permanence by the time **** season rolls around again," the chancellor said. A campus spokesman, Eddie Francis, said he would be happy to see the 45 trailers go. "We can't wait for the trucks to come in and pull them out of here," he said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2008 by The Chronicle of Higher Education