LAFAYETTE PARISH — UL Lafayette President Ramesh Kolluru outlined his vision for the university’s future during his first State of the University address, focusing on financial stability, student success and a renewed approach to moving the university forward.
“As an alumnus, as someone who has spent my entire professional life at this university, I am deeply humbled by the privilege of standing in front of you,” Kolluru said.
Kolluru centered the address on the theme “We Move Different,” saying the university has put some of its biggest challenges behind it.
“The challenges of the past are exactly where they need to be — they're in our rearview mirror,” Kolluru said.
One of those challenges was a $50 million deficit that placed the university under significant financial pressure. Kolluru said UL Lafayette now has a balanced budget for the first time in more than a decade, helped in part by a one-time state investment to support the university’s financial recovery.
“Our goal is to now generate new revenue to supplement that one-time investment from the legislature, so the balanced budget that we have now created and we will now execute will move on, giving us the opportunity to generate revenue,” Kolluru said.
With the university’s finances stabilized, Kolluru said the focus now shifts to student success. He highlighted UL Lafayette’s 26% four-year graduation rate as an area the university wants to improve by connecting students with career opportunities earlier in their college experience.
“We are connecting them -- not on their way out when they graduate, which is when you receive your UL alumni pin — but on the way in, we want them to become aware of internship opportunities, we want them to start taking courses in the first semester knowing in 4 years from now, this is a job that I want to get,” Kolluru said.
UL Lafayette is investing $1 million in student services, including academic counseling and advising, as part of that effort. Kolluru said the investment reflects the university’s broader goal of putting students at the center of its mission.
“A new fiscal year, this new academic year represents an opportunity to move different, as we've said, to think different, to be different, and to make sure that we are positioning our primary mission at the center of our purpose, which is student success,” Kolluru said.
Kolluru said the university will use the new academic year to build on its financial progress while creating more opportunities for students to succeed and prepare for their careers.
