April 2002
Dear Colleagues,
Deborah and I have been on campus now for a couple of weeks and we want to thank everyone for the gracious reception that we are receiving. Perhaps the new will begin to wear off soon, and the newspaper will begin to focus on the work you are doing instead of just the new guy in town.
Hopefully you read in Sunday's The News-Star of the clean-up effort, "Reclaiming Our Campus," the details for which have been outlined for you in a letter from Provost Richters. Deborah has agreed to serve as the honorary chair, ably aided by a steering committee made up of community leaders who will help guide the process. Members of the steering committee are Angela Mayo, teacher with the Monroe City School District and wife of Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo; Dr. Joe McGahan, ULM Professor of Psychology; Steve Mintz, fee-only financial advisor and beautification advocate; Tom Nicholson, Strauss Interests; Biddie Norris, teacher at West Monroe High School and wife of West Monroe Mayor Dave Norris; and John Schween, Breck Construction Company.
In addition, we are most grateful to a second group of individuals who will serve as the implementation committee that will actually coordinate the workdays and direct the teams. Provost Richters will chair this committee, and members include Dr. Neil Douglas, retired ULM Professor; Bruce Flemming, West Monroe City Planner; Dr. Anna Hill, President of the ULM Faculty Senate; Pam Jackson, Director of Student Housing; Anne Lockhart, Director of Development; Charles McDonald, Dean of Student Affairs; Larry McDonald, Assistant Athletics Director; Traci Murphy, ULM Head Athletic Trainer and sponsor of TEAM ULM; Cliff Tresner, Chairman of the Faculty Senate's Environment Committee; Dr. Bill Weirick, Director of Facilities and Planning; Charlie Cheatham, Jr., President of the ULM Student Government Association, Dr. Keith Parker, Director of the ULM School of Construction, and Dr. Eric Pani, Interim Dean of Pure and Applied Sciences.
We welcome and need your input and your ideas. If you have suggestions or comments to offer concerning any aspect of this project, please contact any member of the implementation committee and share those. This will work best if we are all involved in the process.
The initiative will kickoff on April 27th. On that day, ULM faculty, students and staff will be asked to volunteer their time to clean and paint their offices and classrooms. This is strictly a volunteer effort, and we do not expect, nor will we tolerate, any undue pressure for anyone to volunteer. We hope that each of you will see this as an opportunity to join your colleagues in an activity that will ultimately make conditions better for our campus.
Although April 27th is the first day of the volunteer campaign, it is just the beginning of a process that we anticipate will last throughout the summer and into the fall. Because of final examinations, Commencement, and the Memorial Day holiday, we will likely not be able to resume actual site work until the first of June. However, we will be using this time to ask private, civic, and business volunteers to join with those of us directly involved with ULM. This community partnership is absolutely essential for the project to be a success.
Last week there was much to celebrate besides Spring Fever, although that was certainly a highlight for our students and their various organizations. Also last week, we attended two ceremonies, each honoring outstanding faculty. One was hosted by the ULM Honors Program and the other was hosted by Alpha Lambda Delta National Freshman Honorary Society. We congratulate not only the faculty who were recognized for their excellence in teaching by these organizations, but also the organizations themselves for promoting academic excellence at ULM.
The President's Concert last Friday night was a particularly noteworthy event with performers from our School of Music. The First United Methodist Church of Monroe was filled to capacity and everyone there heard a collection of virtuoso performances. We appreciate the efforts of Dr. Larry Edwards, Director of ULM's School of Music, and Dr. Carlos Fandal, Dean of our College of Liberal Arts, for helping arrange this special evening. We also thank Reverend Larry Stafford, Senior Minister at First United Methodist Church, for allowing the concert to be held in the sanctuary there.
It is to our School of Music faculty, however, that we send both our gratitude and sincere appreciation for the truly outstanding performances. Larry Anderson, Sandra Lunte, Richard Seiler, Coralie White, Rebecca Dodson-Webster, Andy Goodman, Johnny Ray Jones, Deborah McClung-Guillory, Robert Blaine, Kristen Oden, Laura Thompson, Louis Nabors, and The Ouachita Trio of Richard Seiler, William Nichols, and Mark McCleery as well as the Chamber Arts Brass Quintet of Marilynn Gibson, Rebecca Dodson-Webster, Jack White, Robert Blaine, and Roger Jones are exceptionally talented musicians and we --- as well as our students --- are extremely fortunate to have them here at the University. I have heard numerous comments from the community since Friday and they, as well as we, look forward to other concerts by both our students and faculty in the future.
In addition, I want each of you to know of the excellent work of a talented group of students in the ULM Art Department headed by Ron Alexander. Friday afternoon we viewed the Student Juried Art Competition at Bry Hall organized by Cliff Tresner where a very talented group of young artists displayed their work. Some of their best artwork is already sold; however, a painting by art major Crystal L. Cardenas will be on loan and hanging in the President's Office along with other art created by ULM faculty and students. I invite you to please come to the President's Office and see this art for yourselves.
This is a very busy time for you all, as you prepare to complete this semester. I appreciate what you are doing, and look forward to continue getting to know you. I also know that taking a Saturday out to work with us to paint the academic buildings will be a real effort on your parts. However, I believe that the effort is worth it. By working together at this and all other aspects of University operations, we will make the progress necessary to make things better here at ULM.
James E. Cofer, Sr.
ULM President