The Board of Regents discussed the preliminary data for the ongoing study of higher education in the New Orleans area in a special meeting Tuesday.
State representatives, state management boards and concerned citizens were invited to attend the public meeting to discuss one of the items being analyzed in the study — the feasibility of merging the University of New Orleans and Southern University-New Orleans.
“This charge is being taken very seriously, and we want to hear from all involved,” said Regents Chairman Robert Levy. “We will receive the initial information from the study conducted by [the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems].”
Dennis Jones, NCHEMS president, began his presentation by providing a snapshot of the current state of higher education in New Orleans, citing low graduation and retention rates.
Gov. Bobby Jindal said last month that UNO has a 21 percent graduation rate over a six-year time frame, while SUNO has only 5 percent.
“These are very low rates by any standards,” Jones said.
Jones discussed the low enrollment at both institutions, while noting the soaring rates at Delgado Community College in New Orleans. He said nearly 18,000 students are enrolled at Delgado, 12,700 at UNO and only 3,500 at SUNO.
Of these students, African Americans comprise 40 percent of the Delgado student population, 15 to 20 percent at UNO and almost the entire student body at SUNO, he said.
“The institutions serve wildly different student populations,” Jones said. “They have very different backgrounds academically and in the students served.”
But Jones said the New Orleans population is suffering on all educational levels, and the number of students entering college unprepared is high.
“The pipeline leaks at every point — before students are out of high school, when students go to college, and it leaks at college completion,” he said. “The bottom line for us is this is a city that is not being well served by the status quo.”
Jones said while a portion of the study is analyzing the potential merger, NCHEMS is looking at all public higher education institutions in New Orleans.
“In the public mind and in the press, this has been framed as a structure and governance issue,” Jones said. “And that’s the last thing we tackle, not the first.”
Jones said NCHEMS will look at the educational needs to New Orleans, its citizens and ways to address those needs. He said the focus right now is on the students.
The next step in the process, which is more extensive, will be presented to the Regents on Feb. 28.
The last installment of the analysis, which will present the study’s conclusion, will be issued on its March 1 deadline. Following the Regents’ submission, the solution will enter the Legislature and must be passed by a two-thirds vote.
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Contact Sydni Dunn at [email protected]
New Orleans higher ed study reveals low graduation, retention rates
February 8, 2011