The state may allocate $12 million to Nicholls for raises, mandated cost increases and a boost in the University’s operating budget if the Louisiana Legislature approves Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s budget appropriation for public post-secondary education. The appropriation would provide an average 5 percent faculty salary increase, totaling $788,453, and a staff salary increase of $1,500, totaling $612,534. In order to cover mandated rises in costs, such as insurance rate increases and civil service employee merit raises, $1,013,931 would be allocated, and an additional $209,095 would be designated for library and scientific purposes.

In order for Nicholls to reach the average level of funding per full-time student for institutions in the Southern Regional Education Board, $4.7 million would be given to the University to use where it is most needed, Associate Provost Larry Howell said. Nicholls ranks in the low 80th percentile in comparison to its peer institutions in the SREB, Howell said, a ranking consistent with the state’s last-place SREB ranking.

“Our state is close to the bottom in most of the good things and close to the top in most of the bad things,” Howell said. “But that’s primarily due to education. You bring a state up by improving its education system.”

Howell said the budget increase would boost students’ success rates because it would allow for the hiring of more faculty members, which would lower the student to teacher ratio. It would also increase the amount of need-based scholarships and it would improve student services.

The University was short approximately 32 faculty members last fall, Howell said. He said hiring more faculty to teach freshman math and biology classes is necessary in order to reduce class sizes in those areas. Hiring additional faculty could also increase the amount of speech classes offered.

Nicholls would also like to allot a portion of the $4.7 million towards faculty raises in critical areas lacking competitive pay, such as nursing and business, Howell said.

These raises would be in addition to the designated funding for faculty salary increases of about 5 percent.

“Some of our faculty are leaving because they’re making more money somewhere else,” Howell said. “And we can’t offer new faculty what they could make somewhere else.”

Regarding the average 5 percent faculty salary increase, Howell said the University would still rank 10 percent below the SREB average for faculty salaries if the raise is approved.

“The 5 percent increase doesn’t help hire more faculty,” Howell said. “It just helps with the ones we have.”

In addition to hiring more faculty and giving faculty raises, the University would use the increase in the operating budget to increase web- and technology-based courses, improve Internet access on campus and enhance service learning and international programs.

“This is the state’s opportunity to get off the bottom,” Howell said.