After traveling from the University of Montana-Western in Dillon, Mont. down to Nicholls State in the bayou region, Stephen Hulbert has finally arrived to take over as University president. Hulbert said he is adjusting well to the rainy weather, Cajun cooking and southern hospitality of the people in the surrounding Houma/Thibodaux area. The Nicholls Worth interviewed Hulbert to find out how his first week went and how he plans to become accustomed to the University and surrounding area.How did your first week as Nicholls president go?
It was busy, fun and a bit confusing at points. The moving company’s van liner broke down coming into Louisiana, so we were behind for about two days in moving into the residence. Otherwise, things have gone extremely well.
What have you accomplished in your first week in office?
I’ve had a chance to meet with the vice presidents and the senior staff, and I will continue that this week. I’m basically giving myself an orientation to the people I work with on a day-to-day basis in terms of the administration of the campus. I got the chance to meet a number of people, but I wouldn’t say a lot. It is a large staff and last week was 4th of July weekend so some people were disappearing due to vacation or time away, and I was knee deep trying to help my wife in terms of unloading, unpacking and setting up the residence.
This week I met with Alice Pecoraro’s academic deans council, so I got a chance to get acquainted with the deans. I attended a Rotary Club meeting in Thibodaux on Tuesday and in Houma on Wednesday. My executive assistant is also in the process of setting up meetings with student and faculty leadership that are here, and I will be meeting with the internal auditor.
What impressed you the most about Nicholls and the area?
It’s the same thing that impressed me as a candidate, which is how extraordinarily friendly people are on campus and in town. I know that campus people want to make the president and his wife feel welcome, but it’s just how incredibly warm and helpful they are and how incredibly warm the people from Thibodaux have been.
How was it coming in during tropical storm Bill?
I haven’t seen so much water in my life. Montana, where we lived, averages 10 to 17 inches of precipitation a year, including snow and rain. They are coming out of a drought, so we’ve had even less. I would imagine in our first week in Thibodaux we had an accumulation of seven or eight inches of rain because of the tropical storm. So, I now own umbrellas, which I didn’t have use for in Montana. We haven’t let the rain stop us, just like everyone else. People around here don’t let the weather stop them from doing things. While it was wet last week, it didn’t stop us from moving into the residence or getting around the Thibodaux/Houma areas.
Have you gotten the chance to enjoy any Cajun cooking?
Lord, have I. That’s going to be my downfall. I have found incredibly good Cajun food. I found that out as a candidate. Then my wife and I came to Thibodaux in late May and visited campus as part of the transition with Dr. Ayo and staff, and we ran across a lot of excellent food. There’s no problem having a good meal in Louisiana especially if you love seafood, and I do love seafood and spice.
Is your wife enjoying the area?
She is also enjoying the area. I think we both will enjoy it much more once we’re settled into the residence. Uprooting yourself, packing all of your belongings of your entire life, trekking across country and then the van liner breaks down, creates a little jolt and a stressful situation until you get it all settled. But once we do all that, we’re going to have a much greater chance to get out and meet people.
How do you plan to meet people?
My style as Alcie Maxwell, 2002-2003 Student Government president, found out during the interviews is that I get out on campus and walk around. The day of my interview I went into the SGA offices and talked to the secretary. We checked Alcie’s schedule. He was supposed to be in Spanish but he was ducking Spanish for interviews, so I surprised him during interviews to identify the classes he was cutting that day in order to be involved in interviews.
It’s the easiest way to get acquainted. When I was visiting the campus as one of nine candidates, I paid a visit to Dr. Ayo and then broke free from my host. I said I would find my way around campus. I had an hour and a half free. I went all over campus. I went to the cafeteria to talk to the food service manager and a couple of the workers. I went into the nursing facility and introduced myself to a couple faculty members. I went to the athletic facility and spoke with the athletic director. I also looked at the parking lots because I heard there were some concerns with the adequacy of parking. I talked to a group of students about the adequacy of parking. So I was just out and about and that’s my style. As people bump into me in the surrounding areas, I invite them to step up and introduce themselves to me.
