It was a mere formality that the University of Louisiana Board of Supervisors made official last Friday – it unanimously appointed Dr. Ramesh Kolluru the new president of UL Lafayette, removing the interim tag that he had since November. One of Kolluru’s first tasks as he assumes the role full time is to balance the school’s budget, and he says he plans on doing so without any government bailouts.
“We started the year with a $50 million deficit. We have worked through about $38 million of that deficit. We’ll have $12 million more to go, between now and the end of the fiscal year,” Kolluru explained.
Dr. Kolluru says he wants to enhance the student experience, and that includes all facets like health and wellness, financial assistance and connecting them with business and industry as soon as possible.
“I would love for them to work in the private sector, work with our industry partners, so that by the time they are ready to graduate, they have job offers, possibly even competing job offers that they can choose from,” Kolluru said.
Before being appointed interim president last year, Kolluru was the university’s vice president for research, innovation and economic development – a role he held for more than a decade. Now that he’s the full-time president, Kolluru says he will continue to grow UL Lafayette as a research institution.
“We have a team in place, that I’m supremely confident, that can continue and will continue the growth of our research program and build on the momentum that we already have in the area of academics and research,” Kolluru said.
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