On Feb. 27 and 28, interviews were conducted for Nicholls’ top post. After more than a one-hour executive session, the presidential search committee passed a motion to accept Clifford Brock, David Eisler and Stephen Hulbert as finalists for the position of president.
What follows is a short overview of the three interviews, focused on what students would want to know about the candidates as it pertains to them. Clifford Brock, Ph.D., president at Bainbridge College, Georgia
Brock chose not to focus on degrees and the academic side of the position. He preferred to talk about himself and his wife and the type of people that they are.
“Let me tell you about my general approach to things. As you can tell, since I have already started on something of a lighter note, I do not have a lot of imperiousness in my personality. I like to be out and around. I like to talk to people. For years, I have called it management by leaning on the door-case,” he said.
Brock said he likes to know what is going on in the institution and his surroundings. Because of his journalism background, he says he asks a lot of questions.
“I like to know the numbers. I have said for a number of years that if you can’t measure it or count it you cannot manage it,” he said.
Brock said this quote is what he thinks it is like to run a university, although he said this must be “married with judgment, creativity, intellect and those kind of qualities.”
“In general my interaction with the community and the members of the college community is one of open door, talk to people, listen, ask lots and lots of questions,” he said.
He feels this approach helps to move the organization forward, and people are generally happy with the outcome.
He says he is interested in economic development issues, and that the university plays a huge part in it.
Jessica Clarke, a student voting member on the search committee and student government association president at the University of Louisiana Lafayette, asked Brock how he would keep in touch with the students.
“I am not one to sit in the office. Periodically I tell Barbra (his secretary) that I am going to go out and walk around. I am not ashamed to say it, sometimes when I go across campus I get a couple of hugs from students because I like to aggravate students. I like to be with students. I like to see the things they are doing. I like to tell them that I recognize what they are doing,” he said.
“One of the best things I think a president can do is participate in student activities on campus. With a nod to the faculty, and some apology for telling you this, I tell my students consistently for years that about 65 percent of a university education is made up of tests, books, research papers and lecture. The rest of it is made up of the leadership skills that you develop and the friendships that you develop.”

David Eisler, Ph.D., Provost at Weber State University, Utah
Eisler is in his 28th year in higher education, and all of his work has been done at regional universities similar to Nicholls.
He said that throughout his career he has strived to “build strong programs, to develop consensus with faculty and staff and create extraordinary opportunities for our students which is why we have education.”
This statement concluded his opening remarks.
Eisler expanded on three reasons that he would like to be president of this University.
“I am the first person in our family who went to college. For me this was the model of the American dream because I had opportunities that would have never happened if I would not have gone to college. I think the second piece is that through my career, I have had the opportunity to work with some extraordinary people, and I think they have taught me a lot. The third reason is it is time for me to give back,” he said.
Eisler said that as a president this is what you should do.
He talked about alumni to the University and the important role that they play after graduation, noting that many business owners in the community have either attended Nicholls or have a family member who either did or is attending the University. He said this shows how much of a family this community is.

Stephen Hulbert, D.Ed., Chancellor at The University of Montana-Western
Hulbert has more than 20 years of experience in senior administration experience and more than 15 years of financial management experience. He said there are interests that he would bring to the job of president.
“I have a strong background and interest in the accreditation process. I have a very strong interest in pre-k through 12 and that merger into post secondary education at all levels. And, I have a very strong interest in the economic development concept that is so important to the role of a university like Nicholls within the parishes that it serves,” he said.
Hulbert has been associated with mainly rurally located institutions. He is from an agriculture-based background.
“This leads you in some way to see some of the attraction that I have for this institution,” he said.
He said he is firmly rooted in regional universities or what he calls “schools of opportunity” because they serve their communities and eventually evolve to include a broad array of “sophisticated academic and research programs.”
Hulbert stressed the importance of universities to remain teaching institutions although research and tenure are important.
“Our faculty will focus on service to the student,” he said.
Student Government Association President Alcie Maxwell, who is a non-voting member of the committee, asked Hulbert about his plans for keeping in touch with the student body to know and understand their wants and needs.
“I would do the same thing that I did today on this campus. I wandered around the campus. I looked at the number of parking lots to see if whether the parking complaints and the parking issues were a real issue here. I talked to students on this campus. I talked with food service workers and the manager of the food service. What I like to do is get out on campus,” Hulbert said.

All three finalists will be interviewed on March 27 in Baton Rouge. This will still be in a public forum setting, and those who are able to attend are asked to do so.