The College of Business Administration is in the process of adding a new maritime concentration to the general business degree in the fall of 2013 to help satisfy the local need for students with maritime experience.  
“The maritime concentration resulted from a strategic planning retreat, where stakeholders attended and recommended the program,” Ken Chadwick, management, marketing and business department head, said.
According to a University press release, donors, industry partners and student tuition and fees fund the new concentration.  The program has already received $320,000, which can fund the program for four years.
The private businesses that are sponsors are: Aries Marine Corporation, Bollinger Shipyards, Candy Fleet, Cheramie Botruc, Galliano Marine, Harvey Gulf International, Marine Systems Inc., Seacor Marine, Cenac Towing Company, Montco Offshore, Otto Candies LLC, and Edison Chouest Offshore.
The managers and employees are currently working to develop the courses, Chadwick said.  Classes that will be offered to students include marine transportation and logistics, marine safety and risk management, maritime law, advanced maritime business, and a summer internship with a regional maritime firm.
“We, the College of Business Administration, recognize that we do not have the expertise in this area, so we are going outside of the college to develop the content and also hire experts in the material to teach the classes,” Chadwick said.   
There are approximately five courses already developed.  
“This maritime concentration is specially designed for the local industry, what they call brown water, which includes the offshore oil and gas industry as it pertains to this particular region verses blue water or international waters,” Chadwick said.
“Five of the seven big maritime companies are located in Louisiana, which makes the University and ideal place to offer the concentration,” Shawn Mauldin, dean of the College of Business Administration, said in a press release.
“The location of Thibodaux in proximity to the maritime industry, the internationally accredited business curricula that the University offers, the burgeoning industry partnerships we’ve developed, and many other factors will all contribute to the success of this program,” Mauldin said in the press release. “This maritime program is one-of-the-kind in the state and is distinct in the country. We think we have a very distinct niche here.”
“The University service region already has a quality vocational training system in place, but until now no university in Louisiana has provided a program to develop the future leaders of our specific industry,” Robert Clemons, vice president and chief operation officer of Seacor Marine, said in the press release. “This program will offer Nicholls students a competitive advantage in the industry that they will likely be directly or indirectly involved anyway.”
Chadwick said he is very excited about the program and has received some good feedback from perspective students.
“With the industry support we are receiving we are very confident in this program and in developing a lot of valuable students,” Chadwick said.