University Times

Albert Etheridge

Albert L. Etheridge, former provost and vice president for academic affairs at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La., became the fourth president of Pitt's Johnstown campus on July 1.

Etheridge replaced David Dunlop, who had been serving as UPJ's interim president since Frank Blackington III stepped down from that post last December.

A biologist, Etheridge earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Arkansas in 1964, his master's degree from the University of Mississippi in 1965 and a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1968.

Since earning his Ph.D., Etheridge has served on the faculty of Louisiana State University, 1968-1971; the University of Arkansas, 1971-1978, and the University of Texas, summers 1971-1976.

From 1981 to 1989, Etheridge served as vice chancellor for academic affairs and graduate dean at the University of Arkansas. He became provost and vice president for academic affairs at Nicholls State in 1989.

In announcing Etheridge's appointment as president of UPJ in June, former Interim Provost Mark Nordenberg said: "Dr. Etheridge will bring to Johnstown an impressive list of accomplishments as an academic leader. He is highly regarded by those who have worked with him in the past, and he was very positively received by those who met with him during the course of this search.

"I can report from my own close dealings with him that he is very excited both about what UPJ is and what it can become," Nordenberg added.

To find out how Etheridge views UPJ and what he believes the future might hold for the campus, University Times writer Mike Sajna recently interviewed Etheridge in his Johnstown office.

At Nicholls State, you were known, as "a mover and shaker who didn't just move and shake, but got things done." For instance, shortly before you became provost and vice president for academic affairs at Nicholls, the Louisiana State Inspector General had issued a report critical of the school's administration and there was a lot of bad blood between the faculty and administration. Yet, within just nine months, you were able to put together a new governance document that gained you the respect of the faculty. What do you think was your greatest accomplishment at Nicholls State? I am not sure I can point to one thing that was my greatest accomplishment. I think that, looking back on it, among all of the things, perhaps my greatest accomplishment was building a sense of collegiality among the faculty and building trust between the faculty and the administration, providing an atmosphere for collaboration and cooperation.

You have said that coming to UPJ is a very exciting opportunity for you and you are looking forward to working within the Pitt system. Why did you want to come to UPJ and what excites you about Pitt? During my interview here, there were several things that interested me and struck me as being very appealing. On this campus, it was the faculty and the student body.

The faculty, I think, have unusual strengths in that they teach a full load, usually 12 credit hours, and they are very much involved in their discipline. They're very much involved in their scholarship, publishing and activities that continue to develop the individual professionally and continue to keep that person on the cutting edge of their discipline. The people I met with were very eager individuals, very excited and displayed a desire to learn and a desire to grow as individuals. That was a very attractive set of circumstances.

My attraction to the Pitt system? Of course, Pitt is well known nationally and has a fine reputation not only as a fine undergraduate university, it has a fine reputation in research and law and medicine. It was an opportunity for me to a part of a dynamic system. That was very appealing.

You also said that you thought UPJ has tremendous potential. What did you mean by that and how do you plan to use that potential? I think it has potential in terms of modest, controlled growth in terms of additional students coming in. I think it has a faculty that can sustain and promote a very strong program in both the liberal arts and the professional areas, teacher education, business, engineering.

I think there is a potential here to offer additional programs to the western Pennsylvania area we serve. I think there is the potential for UPJ to become more involved with the community in terms of assisting the community with some of its endeavors, economic development for example.

In what way do you think UPJ will be able to help the Johnstown area economically? If we look around the nation, there are a lot of models of how universities are involved with their communities' economic development. I would like to explore, and intend to explore, with the community ways in which we can assist them by providing training, by developing institutes to assist them with economic development issues they are concerned with, whether it be small business development or attracting new industry to the region.

What did you mean when you said UPJ has potential for modest, controlled growth? For UPJ to grow, it is going to have to chart its course very carefully. Right now we are basically oversubscribed in some areas. We have a tremendous enrollment in the natural sciences. Our enrollment in some of the other areas is not as high as we would like for it to be. We need to balance our enrollment. We need to look carefully at where our enrollments are. We need to look at new program development. I am not suggesting right now that we need new programs, but I think that is something we need to review. So when I say modest and controlled, I am not advocating a major campaign to recruit students to UPJ. We have to look at growth carefully because there are some areas in which we can handle additional students and some areas where we can't with our existing faculty and resources.

What did Pitt's senior administration tell you about their expectations for UPJ? I don't think there was anything in particular that they told me. We had many discussions about the academic programs here and we had many discussions about the strategic planning process that the University is promoting. Most of our discussions, and their comments, had to do with growth, but quality growth. So, I think we are in sync. We are in agreement with the way I envision UPJ growing. There were no programs that were put into a priority. There was no particular program that they wanted developed here. We talked about curriculum development and strengthening of the programs already here at UPJ.

UPJ has promoted itself as a premier undergraduate college for teachers with a focus on the liberal arts. Do you see that changing? No, I don't see that changing. I think the strength of UPJ as a strong undergraduate college for teachers evolved from when it was founded in 1927. I don't foresee that changing in the near future. I believe we will continue to strengthen and promote the liberal arts. But we also will look at professional programs and continue to promote those. Teacher education is particularly strong here. Engineering is particularly strong, as is business. It's a comprehensive college in that it is not just liberal arts. We also have professional programs.

The new Cambria County Community College opens its doors this fall. It is a school that charges $45 per credit, while UPJ charges $170 per credit. How is UPJ going to deal with the opening of the community college? Do you think it is going to hurt UPJ in any way? I haven't had an opportunity to visit with Dr. [John] Hunter, the president of Cambria County Community College. But I don't view the Cambria County Community College as a competitor. I think there is room in this area for a community college and UPJ to co-exist. I think that the community college will bring some educational opportunities to the community that perhaps UPJ had not been planning to bring to the community. So, I don't see it as a direct competitor. Dr. Hunter and I will be having discussions and talking about the relationship between the community college and UPJ. I spoke to him briefly, but we haven't had any in-depth discussions about that.

Do you have any thoughts on how you are going to deal with the budget cuts that are being instituted throughout the Pitt system? Unfortunately for UPJ, we did have a budget cut this year. I suppose, fortunate for me, I came in at the end of the fiscal year and most of the decisions concerning the budget for fiscal year 1995 already had been made. This year I was spared some of the more difficult decisions in terms of where we are going to make the cuts and how we are going to provide the students with the services that they need and that they are expecting.

A number of conferences already have been booked at the still uncompleted living/learning center. What is the status of that project and will conferences at the center help UPJ financially? The living/learning center is in the final phase of completion. We are hoping, and the architects and the contractors are assuring us, that most of the center will be available for use by the latter part of August. [The residential portion is now open.] As far as the conference center and its relations to UPJ, I think it is going to be a tremendous asset. It is a very unique concept. During the academic year, we will have students housed in the living/learning center, while during the summer months we will be able to house individuals who attend conferences. I have been told by some individuals who are interested in scheduling conferences here that Johnstown is very attractive and UPJ is very attractive to conferences. It's a beautiful setting. We'll have meeting rooms available. We'll have a cafeteria available. Transportation will be provided in the form of shuttle buses or vans should conference participants desire to go downtown. I think it is going to be a tremendous asset.

Will it assist the University financially? We think so. We don't expect a bonanza immediately. But we think in the long run it's going to assist the University. Not only will it assist by bringing in money from conferences, but we believe it will be a tremendous recruiting tool because the more people who come to UPJ from outside the region, the better known we will become. I hear people say that UPJ is one of the best kept secrets in western Pennsylvania. I believe that is correct. So, I think the living/learning center will be an asset both as a direct financial benefit and as a recruiting tool.

Your predecessor launched a major capital improvement project several years ago. Almost everything in the project has been completed except for the administration/classroom building. What is the status of that project? We are waiting for the Office of Budget to approve it. At that time we will be ready to seek bids. We are hoping that that will occur and we will have a successful bidder some time this fall.

College enrollment in the Northeast has been dwindling for several years now. Competition among liberal arts schools is fierce. How is UPJ coping? Over the last two or three years we've had a slight downturn in enrollment. Last year, that downturn seemed to bottom out and began coming up slightly. This year, we are expecting a slight improvement over last year. Right now, in terms of number, we have the largest freshman class that we've had in many, many years. We believe here at UPJ that the decline in enrollment that was noticed about three years ago is behind us. But we certainly are not going to assume that to be the case. We are going to continue to recruit diligently and effectively.

On a personal note, how do you like the Johnstown area? Love it. Wonderful. I've never lived in Pennsylvania, but I like the mountains. Nicholls State is southwest of New Orleans. I told a friend this morning that my wife and I, when we made a decision to move here, we moved from one extreme to the other, both geographically and possibly culturally, since we moved from the heart of the Cajun country of south central Louisiana. It's flat, semi-tropical, hot and humid. So, my wife and I are enjoying western Pennsylvania very much.