draft priorities

Draft Priorities

Groups Responding Students Faculty

Staff Alumni

External Community Athletics

1. Championing Student Success Close faculty relationships – Students mentioned the importance of the small class sizes and the opportunity they have to get to know their professors. They feel their professors are invested in their success. Scholarships – Students appreciate all of the scholarship opportunities available. Academic, Foundation, talent awards, out of state fee waivers, TOPS, etc. Academic support services – Academic tutoring services such as the Write Place and Supplemental Instruction (SI) at the Student Success Center are strengths Academic programs – Students mentioned the strong academic programs at ULM that drew them to this University. Specifically mentioned were multiple health sciences programs, pharmacy, business, and education programs. This might be reflective of the type of student that would volunteer to participate in a focus group session. Student involvement opportunities – Students mentioned the number of events that are held, and the opportunities students have to get involved with Recognized Student Organizations, professional organizations, honor societies, etc. Faculty members with industry experience – Students mentioned having great experiences with faculty members that have worked within the industry they are teaching before becoming a faculty member. That work experience translates into their teaching.

• Customer service is lacking with some offices/departments– Students specially mentioned getting in touch with financial aid, housing, and human resources is difficult.

o “You can never reach financial aid, and you are never given direct contact.” • Customer service is lacking with some offices/departments– Students specially

mentioned getting in touch with financial aid, housing, and human resources is difficult. o “You can never reach financial aid, and you are never given direct contact.”

• More opportunities for high-impact practices – Students mentioned wanting more opportunities for on-campus employment, research opportunities with faculty, study abroad options.

• More/renovated campus amenities – Students mentioned they would like 24-hour access to the library or a computer lab, 24-hour food service, dorm renovations or demolishing the older dorms and rebuilding, reliable WiFi all over campus, student “hang out” spot, bowling alley, and movie theater.

• Opportunities for students to participate in the arts – Students who are non-art majors described a want for opportunities for a venue or programs for students interested in the arts but not majoring in the arts.

• Faculty and staff presence outside of work – Students mentioned they would like to see faculty and staff at their events showing support of the student body. They would like to see more faculty and staff at volunteer events such as MLK Day of Service and the Hurricane clean-up event that took place in the fall. They mentioned they would like to see Deans attend more events and Athletics coaches, staff, and student athletes “mingle with other students.”

• COVID virtual learning shortcomings – Face-to-face students commented on the difficulty of adjusting to virtual learning during this time of COVID. They feel they have not received the quality of education they enrolled to receive. Students feel that their work has doubled since many courses moved online. With the aging faculty population, students felt some faculty were not willing to learn the technology to hold a successful online course.

• TRIO – Many faculty sessions touted the importance of the TRIO program. TRIO helps ensure our first generation and low-income students have the resources available to succeed.

o “Trio is more in tune with needs of students, first generation, students with limited time, new parents, a whole range of things.”

• Graduate students – Most faculty that taught graduate students felt they were strong academically and prepared for a post-undergraduate education.

• Academic programs - There seems to be general acclaim for the Health Sciences programs. The perception is the College of Pharmacy and College of Health Sciences seem to be prospering with recruitment, applications, pass rates, and prestige. It was noted that there were many excellent departments on campus, but some remain small due to cohort limitations or the nature of the program. College of Health Sciences was noted for its variety of related programs and its community outreach clinics.

• Student activities – Faculty see the many different opportunities for students to be involved outside of the classroom as a strength. Specifically mentioned was Spring Fever Week, Week of Welcome, all the student organizations, and events. Activities that bring high school students to the campus, such as summer camps and President’s Academy, are a strength.

• Non-health science programs discounted – Non-health science faculty mentioned that more of an effort needs to go into recruiting students into their programs, specifically the Humanities.

• Recruiting outside of the Northeast Louisiana area – Faculty perception is that the majority of ULM students come from the Northeast Louisiana area. Recruiting needs to expand to South Louisiana and other states to add to the diversity of the student population.

• Undergraduate students’ preparedness – Some faculty believe that the undergraduate students come in unprepared for a 4-year university education due to unpreparedness at

the secondary level, lack of resources, poor time management skills, or too much dual enrollment credit that they miss out on many courses. Also mentioned were students who are “admit by exception” and their struggle with entry-level freshman year courses. The undergraduates particularly struggle with reading, writing, and math. Faculty are aware of the additional support needed to help under-advantaged students, and are willing to put the time in, but limited by faculty workloads.

o “Weak students, lack of writing and reading.” o “Local students tend to struggle academically, bad writing skills, good study

skills” • Students’ mental health – Faculty expressed that more and more students are struggling

with severe mental health issues. Those students will go to the faculty for help, and faculty are unsure of what resources are available for the students. Perhaps due to COVID, they seem to be much more stressed that previous generations.

o "High levels of anxiety are sort of defining characteristic for GenZ. That's something that everyone is recognizing in that particular generation. And, I'm a millennial, I had quite a few classmates, even in a small school . . . Diagnosed with pretty profound metal health problems while we were in school. Part of it is the age at which some people experience psychotic break. Some of it is much more commonly diagnosed now. And because these people are possibly these students are possibly able to gain some sort of support when they're younger, that gets them through high school, individuals who wouldn't have been equipped to pursue college feel that they are intellectually capable now and are willing to grapple with these challenges in order to pursue a college degree. But that doesn't change the fact that we are encountering these students and that we are not trained and possibly not equipped to address…I think it’s easier in my discipline for me to have that sort of rapport with the student where we speak openly about it, we can address it as it pertains to their craft. But I can see where in other disciplines where that's not been something; it's not shoptalk talk that you discuss all the time with your colleagues or your friends. That would be sometimes insurmountable with the student. "

• Students taking on too much – Due to the significant increase in tuition and fees over the years, students are having to work more to pay their way through their academic programs and pay their living expenses. They do not have time to engage as much in social and professional activities. Many have long commutes, and commuter students do not engage.

o “I think student activities has a lot of great organizations that the students can belong to, and I see them doing a lot of activities. I think it's hard to see right now, obviously, because of the quarantine. My only concern with that, and it really makes me sad, is that I think a lot of students are so busy between school and jobs that they really just don't have time. And so that, by sort of necessity, makes those kind of activity groups the province of privilege, which I think it’s sad and it goes back to this generation of students having to balance so much of a workload with the school load and know what we do to make it more accommodating for them. And this is an age-old question that was being discussed when I was in student affairs years ago where we are the suitcase campus. You know, they have to go

home and work. They have to do these things. What can we do while they're here to best serve them and make it not just about academics, but student life as well?”

• Close knit campus – Staff described ULM as a family. ULM is a small enough campus for students to “be a name and not a number,” but large enough to constantly meet new people. The campus community are able to make personal connections.

• Need for adequate technology – Staff mentioned the need for adequate technology to reach students specifically a texting system so that departments can contact students that need to pay a bill, register for classes, complete paperwork, etc.

• Online student engagement – Staff stated that our online programs are strong and have a great reputation, but there is a need for online student engagement opportunities to give ULM Online students the chance to feel like part of the University and then become engaged alumni.

o “As a non-traditional student, I didn’t feel like part of the Warhawk family. I had a family while attending night classes, and I often felt disconnected from the ‘normal’ college student.”

• Cumbersome paper-based processes – Staff mentioned because we are still a paper campus that many of our processes are tedious and time-consuming. Papers get lost around campus way too often. ULM needs to go paperless wherever possible. ULM also needs the ability for students to sign scholarship and financial aid documents digitally.

• Customer service lacking – Staff mentioned that when working with other offices they feel that not everyone on campus is student-centered. Customer service skills are lacking in some departments.

o “I am going to be totally honest, most people on campus I deal with do not see students as their first priority. They huff when answering the phone, they complain when students aren’t in the offices, and they talk bad about the students. My biggest complaint about ULM is that it is not student-oriented and no one who works here is a team. It seems like every office is their own little island and no one want to work together to benefit the student. Without the student, none of us would be here!”

• Recruiting outside of the Northeast Louisiana area and other demographics– Staff believe the majority of ULM students are from the Northeast Louisiana area. Although they believe all local, high-achieving high school students should be recruited, ULM needs to reach out to other students outside of our normal service region. Also, staff believe we should be actively recruiting other demographics and not just First Time Freshmen, including adults that have some college credit but no degree, online students, and military. Recruitment and marketing efforts should extend past Alexandria.

• Invest in current academic programs – Staff believe that instead of creating new academic programs that ULM need to invest in the current academic programs that already exist. Maybe the effectiveness of some programs needs to be assessed and program courses can be changed to reflect changing demand, but completely new academic programs are not needed.

• Alumni Association engage with current students – Staff mentioned that the alumni association needs to reach out to current students rather than trying to engage them at commencement (outside of 31 ambassadors). “Friendraising” needs to begin with our current students.

o “There is no synergy between ULM students and the alumni association. There are opportunities to have the students informed of the need and value of being an involved alumni by hosting events/engagements with students before they graduate. Examples include: inviting students to the alumni events, hosting meet and greets between scholarship recipients and donors, create a winning football team.”

• Academic programs – Alumni stated that ULM has very strong academic programs, specifically in the health sciences. Also mentioned were construction management, risk management and insurance, and business programs.

• Students – Alumni mentioned that are students are a strength of ULM. They are focused and hardworking. Our students are graduating at higher rates and are successful post-graduation.

o “ULM is producing a quality product in the classroom that translates into the non-textbook real-world environment in many different ways.”

• Recruiting students outside of Northeast Louisiana – Alumni believe that the majority of ULM students are local, and that ULM does a good job of recruiting locally but needs to reach out to other areas of the state and surrounding states.

• Academic programs – The external community stated that ULM has very strong academic programs. Specifically mentioned were the health sciences, pharmacy, construction management, and risk management and insurance.

• Hiring ULM graduates – The external community members spoke very highly of ULM graduates when they have hired them to work in their organizations. They feel they are “top-notch” and are very well prepared to enter the workforce post-graduation. They are “quality graduates and hires.”

o “I think as far as the student body, the recent interns and graduates we’ve hired have all been phenomenal. They’ve all been well prepared. They been very professional. Most of them are excelling early on in their careers.”

• High impact practices – The external community talked about how ULM offers so many ways for students to become involved that not only help them personally but professionally. Specifically mentioned were the Mock Trial team and students interning with local businesses and organizations.

• Recruiting in other areas and demographics – The external community perceive that ULM recruits mainly from Monroe and the surrounding rural areas. Mentioned was possibly more actively recruiting from larger metropolitan areas like Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Jackson, Dallas, Houston. Also mentioned was recruiting non-traditional students and online students.

• Athletics huge part of University experience – All focus group stakeholders mentioned the huge impact athletics has on the overall University experience. It gives students, faculty, staff, alumni, external community a common thread to root for their team. Student athletes are more likely to form bonds and continue through to graduation.

• Athletics is connected to institutional success – Many focus groups mentioned that when athletics is successful, the institution is successful. Applications increase, public perception gets stronger, makes recruiting easier, more community will come to campus to support other events.

• Close knit student-athlete family – student athletes and athletic staff mentioned that the student-athlete population is very close and supportive of each other.

o “We’re a smaller, tighter campus community … we’re all in this together.” o “The coaches support you on and off the field.” o “The student-athlete population here is so close, and that’s special. That’s not the

case everywhere.” • More support and pride from both internal and external ULM communities –

Support can be defined in many different ways, from financial investment to athletic event attendance, all were mentioned during the focus group sessions.

o “One thing that upset me was a few faculty members openly talked down on ULM athletics and have urged students to vote down the student athletic fee ULM has tried to pass that would greatly improve our ‘money’ sports such as football and baseball.”

o In the faculty focus group sessions, they generally thought athletics needed more support, and also believed that the faculty should go to their students’ games. However, they also felt that Division 1 was not a situation where enough wins could be generated to make spectating fun, prideful, or unifying. Faculty thought it was important to get the sports to a situation where families would come out. Perhaps lower prices/passes and lower price concessions could help.

o “We marveled at the lack of buy-in from the community for ULM athletics. The reasons we hear from local businesses vary from the ridiculous (“I went to NLU, I don’t know what this ULM is…”) to the personal (issues with sponsorship/Learfield). It is sad to see so much LaTech in the area and so few fans in the stands and in donations. Athletics needs so much support; we cannot even update the football field to match the correct branding and colors we now use in our jerseys.”

2. Investing in Faculty & Staff Excellence Faculty members with industry experience – Students mentioned having great experiences with faculty members that have worked within the industry they are teaching before becoming a faculty member. That work experience translates into their teaching.


o “You can never reach financial aid, and you are never given direct contact.” • Faculty and staff presence outside of work – Students mentioned they would like to see

faculty and staff at their events showing support of the student body. They would like to see more faculty and staff at volunteer events such as MLK Day of Service and the Hurricane clean-up event that took place in the fall. They mentioned they would like to see Deans attend more events and Athletics coaches, staff, and student athletes “mingle with other students.”

• Faculty workload – Faculty mentioned their workload is too excessive to be successful in their roles. They take on many duties outside of what they should be doing to support their students and continue their teaching, research, and service. Most notably, it is felt that the faculty is stretched beyond its ability to function competently, let alone creatively and excellently. It was noted that new programs cannot flourish without sufficient dedicated staff. It was also suggested that additional personnel could free up faculty to

specialize in what they do best, like teaching OR research, versus barely doing both and never getting to anything innovative for the department.

• Lack of funding – Faculty mentioned lack of funding for new programs, hiring faculty lines, and funding for raises.


• Too many systems – Faculty mentioned that there are too many campus systems to keep up with. Faculty are expected to have knowledge of myULM, Moodle, Banner, TALON, FlightPath, and more.

• Very little research – Faculty stated there is very little research happening at ULM. Some cite time constraints and a need for a reduced course load, difficulties working with OSPR, no recognition or reward for completing research.

o “Ineffective OSPR, failure to follow-up, lack of communication, lack of assistance with budget monitoring, failure to proofread, failure to notify of changes in critical things like final report due dates, failure of efforts to be rewarded or acknowledged, at least perception that certain people get special attention and opportunities not available to others.”

o “There is very little research on-going at ULM. There are a few bright spots, but those individuals get very little support from the university. There are really no rewards for doing research, so those who do this work do so for personal reasons and academic integrity.”

• Faculty appreciation – Faculty feel unappreciated especially since their workload has significantly increased over the past few years. Although raises are of interest, other forms of recognition are also appreciated.

• Investing in the current academic programs – When faculty were asked what additional academic programs were needed, they believed ULM needs to invest in its current programs and make them stronger and sustainable. New programs have a difficult time getting started due to lack of funding.


• Need for adequate technology – Staff mentioned the need for adequate technology to reach students specifically a texting system so that departments can contact students that need to pay a bill, register for classes, complete paperwork, etc.

• Too many campus systems – Staff mentioned there are too many campus systems, and when new employees are on-boarded, they are not trained on how to use the technology. We use Banner, Moodle, FlightPath, TALON, ImageNow, DegreeWorks, AcademicWorks, and more.

• Cumbersome paper-based processes – Staff mentioned because we are still a paper campus that many of our processes are tedious and time-consuming. Papers get lost around campus way too often. ULM needs to go paperless wherever possible. ULM also needs the ability for students to sign scholarship and financial aid documents digitally.

• Customer service lacking – Staff mentioned that when working with other offices they feel that not everyone on campus is student-centered. Customer service skills are lacking in some departments.

o “I am going to be totally honest, most people on campus I deal with do not see students as their first priority. They huff when answering the phone, they complain when students aren’t in the offices, and they talk bad about the students. My biggest complaint about ULM is that it is not student-oriented and no one who works here is a team. It seems like every office is their own little island and no one want to work together to benefit the student. Without the student, none of us would be here!”

• Resources for staff – o Increased pay and/or salary structure (across the board raises and merit raises) to

retain staff and decrease on the turnover in many departments. o More staff members are needed to handle the increased workload o Flexible work schedules including working remotely o Clear paths for advancement o Professional development opportunities o Training on Banner, Excel, Office365 or other systems an office uses. Usually,

staff begin on day one and must learn our systems on their own. o Funds for conference attendance

• Ellucian/Banner expert – Staff would like to have access to a Banner/Ellucian expert to help leverage capabilities and optimize efficiency. Banner and Recruit have a lot of functionality that goes unused because staff are not the subject matter experts of the software.

• No response when reaching out to different offices – Alumni mentioned when they have tried to contact different offices on campus they often do not receive any contact back. Alumni were contacting trying to volunteer and get interns at their companies.

o “I graduated in ‘16 in kinesiology and there's been a big growing analytical field in the sport of football. I had reached out [to athletics], sent my email, sent an email with my resume and everything and whoever I was communicating with, I can't remember. It's been over a year ago, but whoever I was communicating with in athletics just kind of gave me the run around and said, oh, well, meet me here and then they’ll get back with me after the holiday weekend. And then I ultimately ended up going up there and they were like, ‘well we're just not going to do any volunteers this year.’ And so then here I am an alumni trying to get something on my resume. I ended up going and helping Grambling all last all season football season. And then you turn around this this spring. And I was able to remotely help at SMU. And I'm just like, you know, it's a problem if we can't respond to our own students, our own alumni faster than somebody at SMU or faster than somebody at Grambling. We should be there should be an urgency and a passion to keep our talent here and grow, grow Monroe, grow the campus.”

o “I tried to reach out from a recruiting perspective for internships at Deloitte to the school of business and could not get any responses. Didn’t get a response from the previous president, at least he didn't reach out personally. But no one in the school of business followed up. And these were actually paid internships with the big four accounting firm Deloitte, and I just couldn't get any traction. I tried two years in a row and then I stopped. I could recruit everywhere else, but I could not recruit at my own University.”



case everywhere.” • More support and pride from both internal and external ULM communities –

Support can be defined in many different ways, from financial investment to athletic event attendance, all were mentioned during the focus group sessions.




3. Innovating our Transformative Academic Programs

Academic programs – Students mentioned the strong academic programs at ULM that drew them to this University. Specifically mentioned were multiple health sciences programs, pharmacy, business, and education programs. This might be reflective of the type of student that would volunteer to participate in a focus group session. Faculty members with industry experience – Students mentioned having great experiences with faculty members that have worked within the industry they are teaching before becoming a faculty member. That work experience translates into their teaching.


o “You can never reach financial aid, and you are never given direct contact.” • Not enough Black and minority faculty members – Students feel there are not enough

Black and minority faculty members. • More opportunities for high-impact practices – Students mentioned wanting more

opportunities for on-campus employment, research opportunities with faculty, study abroad options.

• Opportunities for students to participate in the arts – Students who are non-art majors described a want for opportunities for a venue or programs for students interested in the arts but not majoring in the arts.

• Academic programs - There seems to be general acclaim for the Health Sciences programs. The perception is the College of Pharmacy and College of Health Sciences seem to be prospering with recruitment, applications, pass rates, and prestige. It was noted that there were many excellent departments on campus, but some remain small due to cohort limitations or the nature of the program. College of Health Sciences was noted for its variety of related programs and its community outreach clinics.

• Faculty workload – Faculty mentioned their workload is too excessive to be successful in their roles. They take on many duties outside of what they should be doing to support their students and continue their teaching, research, and service. Most notably, it is felt that the faculty is stretched beyond its ability to function competently, let alone creatively and excellently. It was noted that new programs cannot flourish without sufficient dedicated staff. It was also suggested that additional personnel could free up faculty to specialize in what they do best, like teaching OR research, versus barely doing both and never getting to anything innovative for the department.


• Very little research – Faculty stated there is very little research happening at ULM. Some cite time constraints and a need for a reduced course load, difficulties working with OSPR, no recognition or reward for completing research.

o “Ineffective OSPR, failure to follow-up, lack of communication, lack of assistance with budget monitoring, failure to proofread, failure to notify of changes in critical things like final report due dates, failure of efforts to be rewarded or acknowledged, at least perception that certain people get special attention and opportunities not available to others.”

o “There is very little research on-going at ULM. There are a few bright spots, but those individuals get very little support from the university. There are really no rewards for doing research, so those who do this work do so for personal reasons and academic integrity.”

• Investing in the current academic programs – When faculty were asked what additional academic programs were needed, they believed ULM needs to invest in its current programs and make them stronger and sustainable. New programs have a difficult time getting started due to lack of funding.

• Invest in current academic programs – Staff believe that instead of creating new academic programs that ULM need to invest in the current academic programs that already exist. Maybe the effectiveness of some programs needs to be assessed and program courses can be changed to reflect changing demand, but completely new academic programs are not needed.


• Academic programs – The external community stated that ULM has very strong academic programs. Specifically mentioned were the health sciences, pharmacy, construction management, and risk management and insurance.



• Opportunity to grow Agribusiness – This was mentioned in multiple external focus group sessions. Northeast Louisiana is so rich in agriculture, and ULM has an existing agribusiness program, so ULM needs to focus on growing that program, reevaluating the curriculum, and graduating more students.

o “You don't go necessarily to college to learn how to farm. You go to learn the business end of it. You go to learn the tech end of it. You go to learn the business end. I think we are really missing out on agriculture.”

o “I'd like to see us move more towards agriculture and technology in agriculture. We're very much still a Delta region with rice farming and our cotton farmers and corn and so forth. But I just think we've kind of dropped the ball on them a little bit. And I'd like to maybe see ULM try to strengthen an agricultural program and maybe even work with the 4-H groups and things like that. And that way it's an area of recruiting and building up to a ULM student in the future.”

o “There's tons and tons of opportunity for this university to springboard an agricultural playground into the Delta for research and development, just like Mississippi State and Georgia and others are doing.”

4. Enhancing Campus Diversity and Inclusion Diverse student body – Many students discussed how ULM has a very diverse campus in terms of race. Many students commented on our international student population and how those students impact their class discussions and academic experience

• Diversity support from the campus community – Students of color brought up concerns about not feeling a sense of belonging on campus. Students mentioned that faculty and staff do not care to pronounce their name correctly. Also mentioned was the want for a Black Student Union, more inclusion for international student events, a place where students can file grievances to record faculty and staff misconduct, and a diversity course.

• Not enough Black and minority faculty members – Students feel there are not enough Black and minority faculty members.

• More multicultural events – Students would like to see more multicultural events; events that show our international students’ cultures, Black cultural events, etc.

• Diverse student population - Faculty are in agreement that our students are very diverse, not only in age and race, but in terms of preparation, resources, technological skills and resources, and mental health.

• Not a diverse faculty population – Faculty mentioned that the faculty population is not diverse in all ways. It would be necessary to hire for diversity to do more than “lip service” to the concept. Some serious steps must be taken to get the faculty application pools proportional to the demographics of Louisiana.

• Recruiting outside of the Northeast Louisiana area – Faculty perception is that the majority of ULM students come from the Northeast Louisiana area. Recruiting needs to expand to South Louisiana and other states to add to the diversity of the student population.

• Diverse student population – Staff believe a strength of ULM is the diverse student population. Diversity in all of its forms race, gender, age, etc.

o “ULM students are rich in diversity. Students from a wide range of ages, countries, and stages in their respective lives. ULM students are working professionals, recent high school graduates, grandparents, veterans, transfers, and middle aged just to name a few.”

• Recruiting outside of the Northeast Louisiana area and other demographics– Staff believe the majority of ULM students are from the Northeast Louisiana area. Although they believe all local, high-achieving high school students should be recruited, ULM needs to reach out to other students outside of our normal service region. Also, staff believe we should be actively recruiting other demographics and not just First Time Freshmen, including adults that have some college credit but no degree, online students, and military. Recruitment and marketing efforts should extend past Alexandria.

• Diverse student body – Alumni mentioned that ULM has a very diverse student body. There are students of different races, gender, nationalities, religions, ages, etc. Also, they perceive ULM as enrolling more non-traditional students in the past.

o “Students are very diverse, very educated, and very excited to be there.” • Recruiting students outside of Northeast Louisiana – Alumni believe that the majority

of ULM students are local, and that ULM does a good job of recruiting locally but needs to reach out to other areas of the state and surrounding states.

• Diversity of student body and graduates – The external community noted how a strength of ULM is the diversity of the student body. Not just in terms of race, but diversity in all of its forms.

• “The diversity of the students on campus and the diversity of students and graduates that come in our community is really a unique factor and something that I think especially our organization benefits from, but really just our community in general, just benefits overall from the diversity aspect.”

• Recruiting in other areas and demographics – The external community perceive that ULM recruits mainly from Monroe and the surrounding rural areas. Mentioned was possibly more actively recruiting from larger metropolitan areas like Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Jackson, Dallas, Houston. Also mentioned was recruiting non-traditional students and online students.

• Athletics brings in more diversity –Student-athletes come from many different diverse backgrounds in terms of race, socioeconomic status, geography, and age.

• More support and pride from both internal and external ULM communities – Support can be defined in many different ways, from financial investment to athletic event attendance, all were mentioned during the focus group sessions.




5. Improving Collaboration and Engagement for Maximum Impact Lack of pride in ULM from the community – Students mentioned they do not feel the external community has pride in ULM. Mentioned was Louisiana Tech and Ruston proudly displaying red and blue throughout the town.

• More opportunities for high-impact practices – Students mentioned wanting more opportunities for on-campus employment, research opportunities with faculty, study abroad options.

• Lack of funding – Faculty mentioned lack of funding for new programs, hiring faculty lines, and funding for raises.

• Collaboration – Faculty talked about collaboration in many different forms. Collaboration internally with interdisciplinary work and collaboration externally with community partners. The Heath Sciences faculty had the most ideas about opportunities for collaborations, community outreach, including continuing education and summer camps.

a. “To get our programs, especially at the master's level, especially the clinical nurse leader program engrained in this area, we need to try to reach out and develop academic practice partnerships more intentionally.”

b. “Usually on this campus there is not a whole lot of interdisciplinary interaction unless you are serving on a committee and even in committees. We are so focused on the task that we really don't have a lot of inter interactions with each other where we really are able to listen to another person and really see where they're coming from. At one time used to have a faculty club, but that did not work with

people like me who at that time was very shy. (Not anymore.) That time I was very shy and, you know, kind of scared of people, you know, ‘Would they even know me, wouldn't they even talk to me?’ Always a fear, you know, that ‘Would I be able to make friends?’ But really, this kind of an interaction, you know, where I can listen to others from other colleges, other disciplines that I would never get to interact with in any other way. I think it is really wonderful.”

• Increased external marketing and communication – Faculty mentioned that there is so much amazing work being done at the University that it needs to be promoted to the external community more frequently.

• Fundraising – The faculty had mixed views on fundraising: some wanted to leave it to the professionals, and some believed it would be more effective at the department or professor level. Perhaps some kind of network system donor information system could be used to coordinate distributed fundraising efforts. It was somewhat generally agreed that ULM does not do a good job with small donors and that target audience could be tapped to increase gifts to the University.

• Location – The city of Monroe lacks in amenities. Also, the surrounding areas around campus are unsafe for students. Mentioned were homeless people around campus asking for money. Monroe is not attractive to prospective students and incoming faculty. It’s difficult to retain out-of-state faculty.


• Lack of pride internally and externally – Staff stated that ULM students lack a sense of pride. They are not excited about coming to ULM or show their support in other ways like wearing ULM gear, attending athletic events, etc. We do not really have traditions like other universities have. For example, beating the drum at homecoming was a tradition that stopped when the name changed. Small things like that to build pride in the institution are needed. Staff believe there is little support for the University from the external community. The external community does not realize the value that ULM brings to this area.

a. “People need to believe in the future and ULM’s contribution to the community. The vision needs to be owned by others outside of the university but the people within the university also have to have that feeling and share it.”

b. “ULM is the economic powerhouse of Northeast Louisiana. Unappreciated. Underestimated. Underrated. Our community lacks institutional pride. If our community cannot or simply refuses to acknowledge ULM’s value, how can we expect anyone else in the state to do so?”

• Alumni only contacted to ask for money – Staff that are alumni mentioned that they have only heard from the alumni association to ask for donations. Staff mentioned a plan for how the money will be spent should be communicated with the donation ask.

• Collaboration – Staff spoke to multiple opportunities for collaboration internally and externally. Specifically mentioned was related academic programs collaborating on interdisciplinary initiatives, stronger relationship with K-12, adding more extended learning and continuing education opportunities for the external community, collaboration between departments to learn how staff can help each other.

• Community engagement – Staff believe that the external community is not supportive of ULM. Monroe/West Monroe does not feel like a college town. ULM needs to find a way to reach out to the external community and get them on campus, possibly host more family-friendly events on campus.

• Alumni Association engage with current students – Staff mentioned that the alumni association needs to reach out to current students rather than trying to engage them at commencement (outside of 31 ambassadors). “Friendraising” needs to begin with our current students.

a. “There is no synergy between ULM students and the alumni association. There are opportunities to have the students informed of the need and value of being an involved alumni by hosting events/engagements with students before they graduate. Examples include: inviting students to the alumni events, hosting meet and greets between scholarship recipients and donors, create a winning football team.”

• New logo – Alumni mentioned they like and appreciate the new logo and trying to link the past back with the present.

a. “We recently did the emblem redesign, which I think looks great, and I think we were probably 10 years late on that.”

• Lack of pride – Alumni stated that because of all the changes in logos and the name changes that some of them do not feel pride in their school anymore. There is a disconnect between NLU alumni and ULM alumni. NLU graduates do not feel that ULM is their school. There is no school spirit.

a. “You're going to have to get old hands like me to believe that somebody over there understands the pain that were caused to older alumni from the name changes and the mascot changes and killing off their degree programs and other things like that.”

• No response when reaching out to different offices – Alumni mentioned when they have tried to contact different offices on campus they often do not receive any contact back. Alumni were contacting trying to volunteer and get interns at their companies.

o “I graduated in ‘16 in kinesiology and there's been a big growing analytical field in the sport of football. I had reached out [to athletics], sent my email, sent an email with my resume and everything and whoever I was communicating with, I can't remember. It's been over a year ago, but whoever I was communicating with in athletics just kind of gave me the run around and said, oh, well, meet me here and then they’ll get back with me after the holiday weekend. And then I ultimately ended up going up there and they were like, ‘well we're just not going to do any volunteers this year.’ And so then here I am an alumni trying to get something on my resume. I ended up going and helping Grambling all last all season football season. And then you turn around this this spring. And I was able to remotely help at SMU. And I'm just like, you know, it's a problem if we can't respond to our own students, our own alumni faster than somebody at SMU or faster than somebody at Grambling. We should be there should be an urgency and a passion to keep our talent here and grow, grow Monroe, grow the campus.”

o “I tried to reach out from a recruiting perspective for internships at Deloitte to the school of business and could not get any responses. Didn’t get a response

from the previous president, at least he didn't reach out personally. But no one in the school of business followed up. And these were actually paid internships with the big four accounting firm Deloitte, and I just couldn't get any traction. I tried two years in a row and then I stopped. I could recruit everywhere else, but I could not recruit at my own University.”

• Community engagement – Alumni stated that ULM needs to integrate itself into the community more. ULM has isolated itself over the years, and the community has withdrawn its support. ULM needs to begin to reach out to community partners and establish relationships. ULM must have community buy in. Working with Mayors Offices, businesses and local leaders to bridge ULM into the local economic development.

o “ULM campus is its own microcosm inside of the city of Monroe.” o “ULM is ULM and it's surrounded by the city of Monroe and that's it.” o “Let's tear down the walls between 71209 zip code and everywhere else in

Northeast Louisiana-- if we could get outside of our campus and engage our community, we would be a much more successful community.”

• Alumni engagement – Alumni feel that they are only reached out to when donations are needed. They want to be communicated with and told what is happening at the University. Alumni want to be involved with the university and not just contacted for monetary gifts. They mentioned wanting to participate in recruitment activities and mentorship opportunities with students. Alumni stated when asking for gifts the alumni association (or Foundation) asks the same people, typically those in Northeast LA, repeatedly.

o “The challenges that we've [ULM] has with unengaged alumni is that we had not created a space to really see them. We do a lot of general targeted mailings and reaching out, but nothing ever feels personalized, nothing that feels like there is an authentic connection there. I'm big on solution solving problems. And I think there are a couple of things that we can do, small things that I think can really make a big difference. But we have to get very authentic and transparent about what those things are, what we can do, and really what's the lift in order for us to get there.”

o “Don’t ask for money until you give me a reason to care.” o “Until there’s meaningful engagement, the institution doesn’t have the right to

ask for my financial support.” • Opportunities for student internships – Alumni stated that students need the

opportunity to intern in their field before entering the workforce. If ULM could build close relationships with local employers, students could have a better chance landing internship at those companies.

o “Students need to have internship opportunities because that makes them more attractive as a new hire so if ULM could help make that happen it will make the student experience more valuable.”

• Collaboration and building partnerships – Alumni stated that ULM needs to collaborate and building partnerships with local businesses, industry, even our surrounding schools like Louisiana Delta Community College, Louisiana Tech, and Grambling.

o “Take advantage of what the schools down the road have. Eliminate a duplication of programs where possible and capitalize on what we do very well-- like the Golden Triangle.”

• Leverage relationship with VCOM – Alumni are very excited about the VCOM

partnership and having a medical school on campus. They would like to see ULM further leverage that partnership through joint academic programs, research, etc.

o “ULM needs programs that will further the collaboration and support of ULM's partnership with the medical school.”

• Continued decrease in state funding – Alumni were concerned about the continued decrease in funding for higher education in the state and nationwide. Funding for higher education will never be at the level it was prior to 2008, so ULM needs to capitalize on ways to generate alternative revenue, and not just by increasing student tuition and fees.



• High impact practices – The external community talked about how ULM offers so many ways for students to become involved that not only help them personally but professionally. Specifically mentioned were the Mock Trial team and students interning with local businesses and organizations.

• Community engagement – In the external community sessions, more opportunities for community engagement for faculty, staff, and students was a theme throughout. The external community wants to see the University reach out and be present outside of University events. Specifically mentioned was volunteer initiatives, athletic events, and service on local boards and non-profits. Community members want to be more involved on campus. They don’t want to only serve on the Alumni or Foundation boards. They mentioned they would like to guest lecture or speak at events. They want to interact with the students more. Also, upper administration needs to be present in the external community and serve on non-profit boards, show up to volunteer, etc.

o “The university within itself has become more isolated than it was back in the days I was a student and young alumni. And what I mean by that is, is the different departments. When I went there, anybody’s success on campus was everybody's success on campus, and there was a great support system across to the university and it felt like to me that it was more cohesive and part of that was probably budget driven. You know, when there's limited resources, people tend to circle up.”

o “When we have granted and sometimes turned down grant requests from ULM a lot of it hinged on they were trying to do something that was already being done somewhere, and we would collaborate with them and network with them to try to get them to maybe work with these people in the communities who are doing those types of things that they could then piggyback on or make it bigger rather than try to duplicate it. And so, one thing we do also, besides just grant, is we try

to help them collaborate. But the thing that I discovered was that they [the grant writers] don't know people in the business world or in the nonprofit agencies. So, at the university they were focused on ‘I got to do my research project’ rather than how can I take this and make it meaningful with something that's already going on in the community that would make my goals even more achievable and bigger.”

o “Go from being a town with a college and turning it into a college town. Even university upper administration. Administration needs to be involved in service and building relationships in the community.”

• Collaboration/building relationships and partnerships – The external community talked a great deal about building relationships and collaboration. Specifically mentioned were building close relationships with BESE in Baton Rouge, and stronger partnerships with Louisiana Delta Community College.

o “Being described as is called the one-two-seven principle. So, take the legal profession, which I come from. For every lawyer that you have, a partner will have two associates, or an associate will have two paralegals, and that those paralegals end up having, on average, seven administrative assistants that support them. The important thing that I hope that we'll remember is it's important that at Louisiana Delta that they are making sure that they have the Seven's and sometimes the Twos being trained to support the Ones that are being created by ULM, the ones and twos.”

o “Partnerships. Through those partnerships, we can find ways to bring funding to the city, the university, the community college to build things that make sense to everybody. Right, whether it be through a quality life initiative … whether we all combine our funding to get this research and development center here. Whether we combine our funding to figure out how do we get the graduate studies of arts downtown? Is that a facility? Whatever it is, I think through those partnerships and through this collaboration, like today, we start thinking of these things. You haven't gotten my text yet, but I said it doesn't cost the band a dime outside of gas to load up on a flatbed trailer have the band go rolling through neighborhoods playing, right. It's like you find the things that don't cost a dime, but all that comes to collaboration and partnerships”

• Opportunity to grow Agribusiness – This was mentioned in multiple external focus group sessions. Northeast Louisiana is so rich in agriculture, and ULM has an existing agribusiness program, so ULM needs to focus on growing that program, reevaluating the curriculum, and graduating more students.

o “You don't go necessarily to college to learn how to farm. You go to learn the business end of it. You go to learn the tech end of it. You go to learn the business end. I think we are really missing out on agriculture.”

o “I'd like to see us move more towards agriculture and technology in agriculture. We're very much still a Delta region with rice farming and our cotton farmers and corn and so forth. But I just think we've kind of dropped the ball on them a little bit. And I'd like to maybe see ULM try to strengthen an agricultural program and maybe even work with the 4-H groups and things like that. And that way it's an area of recruiting and building up to a ULM student in the future.”

o “There's tons and tons of opportunity for this university to springboard an agricultural playground into the Delta for research and development, just like Mississippi State and Georgia and others are doing.”

• Leverage relationship with VCOM – All external community sessions mentioned this theme including those in the VCOM sessions. The community would like to see stories about how ULM and VCOM are collaborating with research, in the classroom, and within the community. VCOM students mentioned wanting to feel part of the ULM family and attend events, speak at medical RSO meetings, and take part in campus life. VCOM sessions also mentioned joint degree programs, for example a Master of Science in athletic training, using the VR lab for VCOM anatomy students, joint STEM summer events with ULM and VCOM for high school students, and articulation agreements between ULM and VCOM.


• No funding – ULM is the lowest funded Division 1 sports team in the country.

6. Maximizing our Brand Campus beauty – All students groups saw campus beauty as a major strength of ULM. Many of them spoke to how they were amazed at how beautiful the campus was whenever they took a tour or came to campus for the first time.

• Lack of pride in ULM from the community – Students mentioned they do not feel the external community has pride in ULM. Mentioned was Louisiana Tech and Ruston proudly displaying red and blue throughout the town.

• More/renovated campus amenities – Students mentioned they would like 24-hour access to the library or a computer lab, 24-hour food service, dorm renovations or demolishing the older dorms and rebuilding, reliable WiFi all over campus, student “hang out” spot, bowling alley, and movie theater.

• Lack of pride – Faculty mentioned that they see little to no school pride with their students. Students wear shirts with other schools’ logos.

o “There are not many events or traditions for students to make their mark here at ULM.”

• Building/identifying our own brand, identity, and culture – ULM now has a chance to build its own identity and find its niche. After many name changes, logo changes and leadership changes, ULM does not have a clear concise identity. However, the brand image goes beyond the logo. It is instilled in the culture of our campus, students, faculty, and staff.

o “I think we just have not explored our region well enough to create our own identity, our own importance, our own niche, if you will, where really people see us as something more than Louisiana Tech and Grambling can offer, we really have not made our place in this region, you know, where we don't come across as this unique, one of a kind university which is offering things that other universities within this

area, LSU, Shreveport, Grambling, Louisiana Tech, are not offering so people don't see us as a university, you know, wow, I would rather send my kids to ULM than any other university. We have to first find out, ‘What is it that is our major strength that other universities don't have?’, and then market that.”

o “The University as alienated its base (NLU alumni) in recent years.” • Increased external marketing and communication – Faculty mentioned that there is so

much amazing work being done at the University that it needs to be promoted to the external community more frequently.

• Location – The city of Monroe lacks in amenities. Also, the surrounding areas around campus are unsafe for students. Mentioned were homeless people around campus asking for money. Monroe is not attractive to prospective students and incoming faculty. It’s difficult to retain out-of-state faculty.


• Campus beauty – Staff stated that ULM’s campus is one of the most beautiful college campuses in the state and even the country. The bayou running through campus makes ULM unique.

• Academic programs – Staff specifically mentioned the health sciences and pharmacy are strong and that is our niche. Also mentioned was business programs, construction management, education, music, and the arts.

• New logo – Staff believe that the new logo is great. It links the past with the present and ties back to the NLU alumni. However, the old logos are still all over campus and merchandise.

• Lack of pride internally and externally – Staff stated that ULM students lack a sense of pride. They are not excited about coming to ULM or show their support in other ways like wearing ULM gear, attending athletic events, etc. We do not really have traditions like other universities have. For example, beating the drum at homecoming was a tradition that stopped when the name changed. Small things like that to build pride in the institution are needed. Staff believe there is little support for the University from the external community. The external community does not realize the value that ULM brings to this area.

o “People need to believe in the future and ULM’s contribution to the community. The vision needs to be owned by others outside of the university but the people within the university also have to have that feeling and share it.”

o “ULM is the economic powerhouse of Northeast Louisiana. Unappreciated. Underestimated. Underrated. Our community lacks institutional pride. If our community cannot or simply refuses to acknowledge ULM’s value, how can we expect anyone else in the state to do so?”

• Building/identifying our own brand, identity, and culture- Staff stated that ULM lacks a strong enough institutional identity. ULM is in need of a consistent, concise brand and image and the brand needs to saturate our community. This is not just the logo. The name change from to ULM from NLU really hurt the University. ULM must bridge the NLU/ULM divide. We need a strong institutional culture both internally and externally.

• Increased internal and external marketing and communication – Staff mentioned they really like receiving emails from Dr. Berry with campus updates. They would like to see a weekly email with all the events happening on campus sent out on Mondays, more highlights of positive things happening on campus (not just academics/athletics) need to highlight ULM’s value such as economic, cultural, and workforce value, and faculty and staff profiles possibly within the ULM directory.

• Location – Staff mentioned that our location can be seen as a hindrance. The surrounding neighborhoods to campus are unsafe.

• Public perception ULL/Louisiana confusion – Staff mentioned the ULM’s public perception is weak. Specifically mentioned was when ULL decided to use the Louisiana and University of Louisiana for their athletics teams. That makes it seem that we are a sister institution to the University of Louisiana.


• Beautiful campus – Alumni from all eras of the history of the University mentioned the beautiful campus.

a. “The Bayou is something unique we have.” • New logo – Alumni mentioned they like and appreciate the new logo and trying to link

the past back with the present. o “We recently did the emblem redesign, which I think looks great, and I think we

were probably 10 years late on that.” • Lack of pride – Alumni stated that because of all the changes in logos and the name

changes that some of them do not feel pride in their school anymore. There is a disconnect between NLU alumni and ULM alumni. NLU graduates do not feel that ULM is their school. There is no school spirit.

o “You're going to have to get old hands like me to believe that somebody over there understands the pain that were caused to older alumni from the name changes and the mascot changes and killing off their degree programs and other things like that.”

• Building/identifying our own brand and identity – Alumni mentioned constant name changes, logo changes, the discontinued use of NLU.

i. “What is our brand? The constantly changing logos and the elimination of NLU has lost engagement from alumni.”

• Increased external marketing and communication – Alumni stated that they believe an increased effort in external marketing and communication is needed. Many alumni live outside of the Northeast Louisiana area, and they want to see ULM billboards in their cities. They want to see ULM become well-known across the state and nation.

• Location – Alumni mentioned that because of where we are in Northeast Louisiana, our students will graduate and leave the area because there are no job opportunities here in their field.

o “Oftentimes somebody will get an I.T. degree or they'll get a pharmaceutical degree, and then they're in Dallas at three weeks and they're taking their skills,

their tax money, their benefits, to that community, and we're not keeping our own here.”

• Lack of sense of pride internally and externally – External community members do not feel that students and even faculty and staff are proud of working/attending at ULM. Students aren’t proud to call ULM their alma mater, or proudly state they are attending ULM. The external community also stated that faculty and staff do not show pride either. Faculty and staff are not seen at ULM events, especially athletic events. Some show pride for their alma mater if it is not ULM, but not ULM where they currently work. Also, there is a huge disconnect between NLU and ULM graduates.

o “I think some of the focus needs to go on the faculty and getting them excited about where they work and what they're doing, because I don't get that… I deal with a lot of faculty, and I don't get a sense of pride sometimes from the faculty that's there. So, I think before we can really concentrate on the students, we've really got to look at the faculty and the leadership at ULM, and I know that's changed now. And hopefully that's going to bring back some of the pride that the teachers used to have.”

o “Before you change hearts and minds, you got to start changing hearts and mouths. How people talk about your university, how people talk about your cities”

o “This is a great opportunity…for Dr. Berry and his administration to pull back in those Northeast graduates and let them know that they are a part of this family. That is a huge disconnect. You hear some ‘well, I went to Northeast.’ We've got to one-on-one make phone calls back to those people and say this is your university and cultivate them back into the growth that we're experiencing that we're seeing here and the positive changes. I think what we also have to do community-wise, is to do the same thing with those who have graduated and let them know that this is their university.”

• Public perception – The external community mentioned that the general public does not understand the value ULM brings to this area. They would like to see ULM be recognized for all it truly does for this community.

o “I'd like to see our public image be as good as we really are. I think the university is as much better than it gets credit for, and I'd like to see that that change. I'd like to see the pride somebody discussed. How do we make the whole all of northeast Louisiana be proud of the university? And I think there are reasons to be. So that's why I say just get our image as good as we really are.”

• Location (surrounding neighborhoods) – The external community mentioned location as a negative aspect. Specifically, the neighborhoods surrounding ULM, not the City of Monroe itself.

o “Investment in the community and space around the college to help connect it better to the city and to improve that. The entrance and the appearance as you come in I think affects the college like, say, the college, invest that money if it had it to help. Spruce up the area around it.”

• Athletics huge part of University experience – All focus group stakeholders mentioned the huge impact athletics has on the overall University experience. It gives students, faculty, staff, alumni, external community a common thread to root for their team. Student athletes are more likely to form bonds and continue through to graduation.




case everywhere.” • No funding – ULM is the lowest funded Division 1 sports team in the country. • Lack of school pride – Described in the athletics sessions and other focus group sessions

is the lack of pride in ULM and athletics. o “There’s no school pride right now … too many embarrassing losses.”

• Development of a culture and identity – Similar to the University side, Athletics needs to determine what its culture and identity are as the ULM Warhawks.

o “The perception in the market in three different constituents – parents, prospective students and alumni – is really what matters, and ULM is losing on all three fronts … we lost two generations because of a name change and mascot … we don’t have an identity and that’s why financial resources are flowing everywhere else in the state.”

o “We need to create a culture with goals and expectations.” • Student-athletes, coaches, and staff need to be visible around campus – Mentioned in

focus group sessions with students, faculty, and staff is that student-athletes, coaches, and athletic staff need to be present at University events and visible around campus. Student-athletes, coaches, and staff need to volunteer, attend VAPA performances, attend other games rather than just their own sport.

o “Coaches, staff, and student athletes should be at every pep rally and event held in support of their teams that doesn’t interfere with games or practices. They should speak to others on campus and interact with fans. Interaction and engagement makes fans feel invested in by the team and therefore the fans invest in the team. There should be an expectation for these athletes and their staff to be visible and engaged around campus and at events.”

7. Developing a Culture of Success among Athletic Programs • Athletics huge part of University experience – All focus group stakeholders mentioned

the huge impact athletics has on the overall University experience. It gives students, faculty, staff, alumni, external community a common thread to root for their team. Student athletes are more likely to form bonds and continue through to graduation.




case everywhere.” • No funding – ULM is the lowest funded Division 1 sports team in the country. • Lack of school pride – Described in the athletics sessions and other focus group sessions

is the lack of pride in ULM and athletics. o “There’s no school pride right now … too many embarrassing losses.”

• Development of a culture and identity – Similar to the University side, Athletics needs to determine what its culture and identity are as the ULM Warhawks.

o “The perception in the market in three different constituents – parents, prospective students and alumni – is really what matters, and ULM is losing on all three fronts … we lost two generations because of a name change and mascot … we don’t have an identity and that’s why financial resources are flowing everywhere else in the state.”

o “We need to create a culture with goals and expectations.” • Student-athletes, coaches, and staff need to be visible around campus – Mentioned in

focus group sessions with students, faculty, and staff is that student-athletes, coaches, and athletic staff need to be present at University events and visible around campus. Student-athletes, coaches, and staff need to volunteer, attend VAPA performances, attend other games rather than just their own sport.

o “Coaches, staff, and student athletes should be at every pep rally and event held in support of their teams that doesn’t interfere with games or practices. They should speak to others on campus and interact with fans. Interaction and engagement makes fans feel invested in by the team and therefore the fans invest in the team. There should be an expectation for these athletes and their staff to be visible and engaged around campus and at events.”


• No funding – ULM is the lowest funded Division 1 sports team in the country. • Need a winning football team – Many participants of the focus group sessions spoke

only about football and the need for a winning football team. Winning would increase the community support, increase attendance at games, and much more.

• Weak facilities – ULM does not have athletics facilities upgrades and additions over the years and this makes it difficult to recruit and retain talented student-athletes.

o “Upgrade the facilities: build it and they [the best athletes] will come.” • Cost of attendance and student athletic fee – many focus groups from staff, alumni,

and external community mentioned that ULM should offer student athletes cost of attendance. It was cited that ULM is the only school in Division I not offering cost of attendance for student athletes. Also mentioned in staff, alumni, and external community sessions is that ULM should have a student athletics fee. Students should be proud of

their athletics teams and support them, and students also need to be provided specific information on the benefits an athletics fee would bring them and the University.

• Recruit athletes from the local area – Mentioned multiple times was that athletics should recruit from the local area. Community members already know these athletes and are more likely to come out and support athletes they know.

• Support for sports outside of football – Many focus groups mentioned that ULM should support other sports outside of football. Specifically, women’s sports like softball, basketball, and soccer. Also mentioned was the strong reputation of the ski team and fishing team. Even though those are not NCAA sports, ULM needs to capitalize on those.

• Build on local rivalries – Focus group sessions mentioned that football should capitalize the local rivalries and compete with our other in-state institutions, especially ULM vs. LA Tech.

• Fan engagement – The focus group sessions mentioned that fan engagement and game attendance is an opportunity for athletics. Game atmospheres need to be more family friendly, specifically mentioned was potentially lowering the price of tickets. Students also need to be more engaged in athletics and attend the games.

o “Need to work at increasing student attendance at sporting events.” • Continued inadequate funding – The perception of those internal and external to

athletics is that the continued inadequate funding will seriously threaten the existence of an athletics program at ULM.

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