Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Message from the President

Dear Colleagues,

This week I have the pleasure of spending time with the MetroLab Network (of which the University of New Orleans is an affiliate) and engaging in conversations regarding the critical role that urban research universities play in helping to bring research and discovery to our state and local governments. 

On a panel with Presidents Taylor Eighmy of University of Texas at San Antonio and Jonathan Koppell of Montclair State University, moderated by Dr. Jennifer Keup, executive director of the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities, I was able to share highlights from the impactful work that our faculty and students do to help benefit our region. It was also an opportunity to share the great news that Forbes has ranked New Orleans the best city in America for college students and graduates, and to convey the excellent work led by colleagues at The Beach at UNO to foster collaborations among academic, private industry, state agency and nonprofit partners. 

UNO’s status as a research-intensive university is critical for our students, the disciplines to which our faculty contribute new discoveries, and to our region’s economic development. At research universities, students can be mentored and guided in research experiences—hopefully igniting a passion for finding and tackling new problems, as well as an appreciation for rigorous methodologies and research ethics. I believe that our excellence also lies in the diversity of the students that we teach. We have an opportunity—perhaps even an obligation—to cultivate a new generation of researchers and technicians that truly reflect the demographics of our state, and to do so in a way that is affordable. And when we focus on applied and translational areas of research that support our city and state, we become a key component of the “ecosystem of transformative partnerships driving positive impact” that the Metrolab Network champions. 

I am excited to share that a search for a Vice President for Research, planned as a .75 FTE position for an internal candidate, is being launched very soon to help ensure that our strategic priorities related to research and economic development will be ably led. I am grateful to Dean Steve Johnson for chairing the search committee, as well as to Mahdi Abdelguerfi, Rebecca Conwell, Alexandra Holliday, Randy Kearns, Liz Sigler, Bethany Stich, and Vincent Yu for participating on the committee. We hope to appoint a new leader in January 2025. 

Finally, thank you to everyone who participated in the Town Hall last Tuesday. If you were not able to attend, the session was recorded and is available to UNO employees on the Budget Alignment page. 

With Privateer Pride,

Kathy Johnson, Ph.D.
President
The University of New Orleans