NEWS RELEASE

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

6/29/2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES -Ten years ago, Northwestern State President Dr. Randall J. Webb took office with a simple goal ­ to make the university the best it could possibly be. And after a decade the results are clear.

Northwestern has gained unprecedented state and national attention for its achievements. The university is attracting better students and alumni, friends and supporters have responded strongly to NSU's first capital campaign.

"From the time I took office, I wanted to have a focus on excellence," said Webb, who took office on July 1, 1996. "There is not one area of the university that has not been strengthened, especially academics. And that is because of a combined effort by alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends of the university. The president receives a great deal of credit, but we would have not had success without many people working to make Northwestern better.

"We have instilled a special pride in our alumni about the university. That's something I see every day."

Webb regards the opportunity to serve as Northwestern's president as the fulfillment of a personal and professional dream. His family has always had a strong tie to the university. More than 50 relatives including both of his daughters and sons-in-law are alumni of the university.

"My parents Joe and Narvis Webb taught me to love and revere this university and the people who played a role in its development," said Webb. "I am so fortunate that my wife Brenda has always been supportive of my work and has been a partner in every sense of the word as I have represented Northwestern. She works tirelessly in fundraising and is involved in numerous activities with faculty, staff, administrators, students, alumni, and other community members and friends of the University."

Over the past 10 years, Webb has placed an emphasis on strategic planning, getting each unit at NSU to become involved in setting goals and objectives for the future.

The first goal he set was to obtain 100 percent accreditation of eligible academic programs. That goal was met in 2001.

"The purpose was to demonstrate the overall quality of education at Northwestern," said Webb. "You cannot have a nationally accredited program without excellence in all areas of general education. For example, the College of Business depends on good instruction in mathematics. The theatre program is helped by good instruction in English. This shows that we have outstanding programs in all areas including those areas that do not have accrediting bodies."

NSU has had two students earn Goldwater Scholarships. The university has also had its first recipient of the Marshall Fellowship. The campus literary magazine, Argus, has been honored as one of the top five in the nation for three years in a row. Potpourri, the student yearbook, has been named as the nation's best college yearbook.

Students in computer information systems have won nine national championships in competition against some of the nation's top universities including five consecutive titles in systems analysis.

"I always look for third party validation at Northwestern to emphasize the quality of our programs," said Webb. "You can talk about how good your programs are, but it is meaningful when outside parties say the same thing. The national championships won by students in computer information systems and national awards won by student publications reflect well on the entire university."

Last fall, new admissions standards were implemented at the university. The new standards caused a drop in enrollment, but in the long run Northwestern should increase its retention and graduation rates. NSU has worked to maintain enrollment by establishing articulation agreements with many of the state's community colleges. A similar agreement was developed with the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts. These agreements make it easier for students to transfer from community college or the Louisiana School to Northwestern. The university also worked with Bossier Parish Community College to establish a BPCC branch on the Northwestern campus.

Northwestern has sought to develop new academic programs to meet the needs of its students and changes demanded by business and industry.

New academic programs have been created including bachelor's programs in criminal justice, heritage resources, electronics engineering technology and theatre, along with a bachelor's in liberal arts in the Louisiana Scholars' College. A new graduate program in heritage resources is in its first year.

"Gaining new academic programs is very difficult, but our faculty have been very perceptive in seeing unique areas in which the university can develop programs to fill specific needs," said Webb. "As a result, our new academic programs have been very successful."

Northwestern has tremendous success delivering classes by distance learning, which includes classes offered by Internet and compressed video. Ten degree programs are available electronically and several hundred students take exclusively electronic classes.

"Distance learning has been a tremendous success," said Webb. "There is great demand for classes that are offered anytime, anywhere and Northwestern moved into this area at just the right time."

In recent years, the renovation of Russell Hall, now the home of the College of Business, was completed. Multi-million dollar projects to renovate Morrison Hall and the Family and Consumer Sciences Building were also undertaken.

"Each of these buildings has been an important part of Northwestern's history," said Webb. "By renovating these buildings, we preserved part of the university's past yet provided students with modern classroom facilities."

NSU students voted to construct the Wellness, Recreation and Activity Center on the site of the former Intramural Building. A new 380-bed residence hall, University Place, was constructed and the university is considering plans to modernize student housing on campus.

"The Wellness Center was an idea initiated and funded by Northwestern students. By working with the staff at NSU's Physical Plant, we designed a center that gave students the best value for their dollar," said. Webb. "University Place evokes past architecture at Northwestern and is very popular with students. Current students require different housing options and we will work with them to provide the best, most modern residence halls possible."

For all of the good things that have happened, Webb is determined to keep pushing to move the university forward.

"We have accomplished a great deal, but there is more work to be done," said Webb. "Northwestern has become a household name around the state and is better known around the nation. The reputation of the university adds value to the degrees held by each of our alumni. It's a good time to be associated with Northwestern."

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