Monty Sullivan, chancellor of Delgado Community College, was nominated as president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System by the LCTCS Board of Supervisors on Wednesday.
Sullivan, a Louisiana native, was one of seven candidates, which included Jim Henderson, chancellor of Bossier Parish Community College and Deborah Blue, chancellor of the State Center Community College District in Fresno, Calif., to replace current president Joe May on Feb. 27. Before taking the position at Delgado, Sullivan served as executive vice president of LCTCS.
May was selected to lead the system in January 2007 and worked to reprioritize community and technical college offerings in the state. He announced his decision to leave in October 2013.
Sullivan supported the recently announced WISE fund, a pot of $40 million in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed budget that will allow Louisiana’s public colleges to compete for funds to further workforce training and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reported.
LSU President F. King Alexander said he worked with Sullivan on the WISE fund and looks forward to working with Sullivan to increase the number of transfer students entering the University after two years at a community college, or “two-plus-two” students.
“I think our transfer rate hovers around 6 or 7 percent,” Alexander said. “Which is well below the national average.”
According to its website, 13 community colleges and technical schools are a part of the system, including Baton Rouge Community College, and LCTCS currently has more than 100,000 students enrolled in its institutions. Delgado was ranked sixth in the nation for degree producers in health professions and related programs.
Sullivan told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune although he did not think of attending a two-year college when he decided to attend Louisiana Tech University, more students will consider the community and technical college system as a viable option, especially if they’re looking to quickly enter the state’s workforce.
Alexander said when he worked at California State University, Long Beach, there were many students who transferred to the university with associate’s degrees or college credit hours from community colleges, an occurrence he would like to see more of in Louisiana.