NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

4/26/2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES- The Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System accepted the formal evaluation of Northwestern State University President Dr. Randall J. Webb at its meeting Friday.

Webb was evaluated by Dr. Edward Penson, president and senior principal of Penson-Strawbridge (The Research and Consultations firm) and president emeritus of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Penson spent two days on the Northwestern campus earlier this year and met with a cross-section of university faculty and staff and community members.

The Board of Supervisors adopted a formal evaluation process for university presidents in 1999. The policy calls for each president to be formally reviewed every three to four years and informally reviewed each year. This is the first formal evaluation of Webb under the policy.

Webb has been NSU's president since 1996. An executive summary of the report noted that under Webb's leadership Northwestern has:

-- Become the first and only public university in Louisiana to achieve 100 accreditation of eligible academic programs;
-- Led the state in the number of exclusively electronic courses offered;
-- Achieved record enrollments for the past three semesters;
-- Improved retention rates;
-- Achieved a record of clean financial audits;
-- Seen annual giving and endowments for the NSU Foundation rise significantly;
-- Improved student services;
-- Enhanced computing technology; and
-- Enhanced campus facilities.

The executive summary said "The Board accepts Dr. Penson's report and concurs with his findings that Dr. Webb is an effective spokesperson for the University and is regarded as a person of integrity, honesty, diligence, sensitivity, and enthusiasm."

The summary offers several suggestions for Webb and the University:

-- Dr. Webb should lead the University in developing a "large gift" giving culture so that a well organized, long-term, broad-based fundraising effort for the academic enterprise of the University can succeed.

-- As the University's profile is changing (e.g. increasing enrollments, increasing online enrollments, heavy part-time student enrollments in the successful off-campus centers operated by the University), there is a need to involve the entire University community in developing a strategic plan that will be responsive to the future needs of its students.

-- The campus, which is the oldest in the System, has a higher proportion of older buildings that are in need of improvements and renovations. Although his concern about this situation is evident, Dr. Webb should direct planning for appropriate results and aggressively seek the resources to address these areas.

"I am grateful to the Board of Supervisors for its ongoing support in helping Northwestern continue to move forward," said Webb. " I plan to study Dr. Penson's review and constructive suggestions closely and use his ideas to make Northwestern a better University."

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