Provost Dr. Brenda Nichols

‘I think the opportunities and the chance to work with so many first-gen students is one of the things that I hold dearest.’ 

 ‘I applied for Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in the Spring of 2001 and was subsequently appointed Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Dr. Simmons was the President and Dr. Steve Doblin was the Provost at the time. I think the opportunities and the chance to work with so many first-gen students is one of the things that I hold dearest.  I liked watching people who didn’t think they could do it and then achieve their goals and decide to do more.  That’s always exciting to watch.' 

 As Dean of College of Arts and Sciences

 ‘We  have done a number of things.  Like when we moved Math and Computer Science from Engineering into the College of Arts and Sciences.  One of the big highlights was working with the Computer Science faculty and the number of successful national grants that they had.  And, for about five years in a row the College of Arts and Sciences beat the College of Engineering in terms of receiving external funding.  They had more total funding because they had set-asides.  But, we beat them in competitive funding for like five years.  It was always fun for me to go and tease their Dean that we were beating them.  We did a number of things.  The Nursing Program has grown so much.  We got set-asides from a Congressman.’ 

 Harvey’s Heroes

 ‘Then, we had Harvey’s Heroes.  That was a special little project of mine.  We sent out 400 students across Southeast Texas cleaning up debris and helping people move out or move in.  It was really a pleasure to watch them be active in the community.  And, I guess one of the things I’m sorry about is that I hoped we would build that community service into more of undergraduate programs.  So, that service beyond yourself and into the community came through in every program.  Yes, well remember Hurricane Harvey? There was 50 inches of rain.  People who normally wouldn’t get water in their house got water in their house because there was so much water.  So, Shannon (Shannon Tanner—a LU alumni and her husband Tommy Tanner) and Alyssa (Dr. Alyssa Hicklin, an LU alumni, former Student Government Association President and BIG RED, Lamar University mascot — she was the smallest Big Red in history—she is under 5 feet tall!  She is currently a Professor Oklahoma University) and I were talking about what to do with students and how to get them engaged and keep them focused.  Because they were in the dorms and were getting bored.  So, this was a way to help the community.

        ‘Shannon took on the role of Coordinator and she worked closely with a judge to make sure students went to homes that really needed our help.  We worked with Exxon Mobile to talk about personal protective equipment.  So, the students knew how to watch for and how to avoid nails.  How to make sure they weren’t breathing in black mold or dust.  Some students worked in individual houses but we also had a number of students that were out collecting water samples across the area.  Because we had people walking through unknown types of water to get to a house to make a rescue.  Dr. Helen Lou’s research is about water quality and so we put a couple of students with her.  We had four hundred students and they had over 10,000 hours of involvement.  They had to do at least 45 hours to get the credit and we gave them 3 hours of college credit through Political Science as an elective.  The University absorbed the cost of the tuition from that.  Many of the students didn’t need it, but even if they didn’t need it but wanted it, it appeared on their college transcript, and they could explain to somebody what they did and how they got it. 

        'I think Alyssa started me thinking about what I could do, and then Shannon and I talked with Dr. Evans about what we could do and how could we get students involved.  Dr. Evans was 100% behind the idea of getting them out of the dorms and having them do something. I was Vice Provost of Digital Learning then.  And, within about less than a year, I was Provost. I really enjoyed working with everyone to make it happen.  We did an orientation.  And, then the students had to do 45 hours which is the equivalent of a 3-credit course.  They turned in a summary of what they did, and we gave them three hours of credit.  It really was (a win-win for everybody).  The students were kinda captured here.  They couldn’t go home because there were no roads.  This was a way to use them in this region and help other people.’

 As Vice Provost for Digital Learning 

 'Well, when I started as Vice Provost for Digital Learning, the enrollment online was about 4,000 and it had been there for about four or five years.  We increased it overtime to over 9,000 online students.  I don’t know what it is today.  But, there are several things we did to make online teaching better.  We did the automatic transfer of grades to Banner.  We used Concourse to create the syllabi.  Lots of things happened to try to improve our interactions with students.  Some of it worked, some of it didn’t.  Some of it, you just don’t know until you try it.  Those are the things that I think of the most.  When I think of what I’ve done there are lots of little things, but I think those are some of the highlights.  Figuring out how to manage online distance with outline local and make it cost effective and working with the Registrar’s Office was another piece that we did together.  The work of the Registrar is really hidden.  David Short has done a tremendous amount working with me on how to make things better for students and faculty. Yes, and especially graduate students.  They know what they want to do and they’ve kind of settled into their role.  Sometimes undergraduate students are still trying to figure out what they want to do and what they want to be when they grow up.' 

 As Provost

 ‘Well, I think we survived COVID.  We helped students continue taking classes face to face, but many people went online.  And, I was kind of surprised because people who kept saying they couldn’t go online found ways to do it.  And, so it was a motivator.  I think a lot of what I was trying to do was get us ready for our SACS reaffirmation and trying to move towards a solid budget process that made sense in terms of enrollments.  Not just who had a position and lost one or had one to fill, but who needed the position.  And, so we worked really hard on the budget pieces overtime to make sure we were making the best decisions, the best way we could.  And, we used as much data as we could.  That was kind of a priority, and I was looking at what we were doing and what we were not doing and where we had holes.  And, as Provost and as Dean, but more as Provost, there was a lot of fundraising.  There are a lot of people that are local that are so supportive and committed to Lamar University.  It was always fun to interact with them because they wanted the best for their university.  That pride came through in everything they did.’ 

 Accomplishments of Provost Dr. Brenda Nichols

As Dean of the College:

• Increased retention rates for the College by 12% over 4 years. Expanded the College Advising Center.
• Increased enrollments, and graduation rates.
• Increased external funding from $300K to more than $3.2M for the past three years.
• Increased the number of donors to the College by 3%/year.

Ø  Received donations from area hospital system, ExxonMobil, Entergy, and area individuals for scholarships. Averaged more than $100,000 for past 6 years.

Ø  Collaborated with Development Office to fund a Distinguished Professorship for $200,000 and participated in $2.0 M gift to name a department, $1M in unrestricted gift to another department.

• Key role in the public-private partnership for distance education high school dual credit and Implementation of four undergraduate degree programs:  BAAS; the BGS, the BSN (for Registered Nurses) and the BS in Criminal Justice.
• Supported and Collaborated on the Development of a University Wide Advising Center to improve retention.
• Collaborated with departments and College of Education to enhance teacher preparation.

• Chair Strategic Planning for the College and a member of the University Long-Range Planning committee.
• Worked with Master Planning Committee, Facilities Management, Architects, builders, faculty and staff on redesign plans and complete renovation of five buildings: the physics ($2.5M), social and behavioral sciences ($2.2M), geology ($2.7M), chemistry I ($750K) & II ($7.2M) and science auditorium ($500K). Participated in the remodel of several small areas: mathematics, modern language laboratory, nursing and a College Advising Center. Will be liaison for first new classroom building to be constructed on our campus in more than 25 years.
• Guest Lecturer in Doctoral in Education Program. Served as a member for four educational doctoral committees.
• Teach at least one graduate nursing course per year as a graduate faculty member.
• Restructured the College to add 2 departments and to divide another into 2 components.
• Appointed by the President to serve as Hearing Officer for Presidential Appeals (2004-present).
• Implemented Faculty Council meetings.

 Vice Provost for Digital Learning. Reorganized and restructured Distance Learning into the office of Digital Learning.  Worked to increase the number of courses that had been created with instructional design assistance and that had passed Quality Matters review.  Examined admission, retention, and graduation funnel.  Retention rates ranges from mid-50% to 89% in 2015; currently the rates range from 78% to 94%, depending upon the program.  Worked with Provost to develop consistent analytics and examine issues surrounding progression and graduation rates both online and on campus. Developed two retention plans as well as developed a process for graduating students needing one-to-three-hour credit. 

 As Vice Provost for Digital Learning 

Accomplishments include:

• Collaborated in development of Blackboard to Banner Grade system.
• Implemented a Part of Term designation that enhanced reporting of SCH. 
• Implemented an online student dispute resolution process. 
• Worked to implement a process in Banner to merge CDE and AP courses into one database. 
• Served as the Grievance Officer for a number of cases for the President. 

 During Hurricane Harvey developed an Internship for credit in exchange for student’s volunteering. More than 500 students completed some hours with 309 completing the orientation and more than 45 hours of service.  One hundred and nine students completed the above plus a final conference and two readings with journal documentation and received credit. Assisted in development of a student Emergency Fund, more than $300,000 donated by alumni. This project would not have been possible without the assistance of Dr. Alyssa Hicklin, an alumnus, with an interest in student success.  She was the shortest Big Red in history and President of SGA. Thanks also goes to Shannon Tanner and to Tommy Tanner for their time, insight, and coordination of this massive project.  Ms. Tanner also a Lamar alumnus, worked diligently with Judge Jeff Brannick to coordinate student efforts. (So, 109 X 45 =4905 hours, but we had another 200 students who gave 30 hours or more but didn’t finish the “course requirements”  so 6,000 more hours—unofficial total was more than 10,000 hours (4905 +6000).