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S. HRG. 114–256 

HOW INNOVATIVE EDUCATION SYSTEMS BETTER 

PREPARE STUDENTS TO ENTER THE WORKFORCE 

(PART 2) 

FIELD HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

FEBRUARY 20, 2015 

Printed for the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov 

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(II) 

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

DAVID VITTER, Louisiana, Chairman 

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland, Ranking Member 

JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho 

MARCO RUBIO, Florida 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

TIM SCOTT, South Carolina 

DEB FISCHER, Nebraska 

CORY GARDNER, Colorado 

JONI ERNST, Iowa 

KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts 

CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey 

CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware 

MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii 

GARY C. PETERS, Michigan 

ZAK BAIG, Republican Staff Director 

ANN JACOBS, Democratic Staff Director 

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(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

OPENING STATEMENTS

Page 

Vitter, Hon. David, Chairman, and a U.S. Senator from Louisiana ................... 1 

WITNESSES

Statement of Barbara Hanson, Chancellor, Louisiana Delta Community College ........................................................................................................................ 5 

Statement of John Jones, Vice President of Policy and Federal Legislative 

Affairs, CenturyLink ............................................................................................ 8 

Statement of Dana Talley, Network 2 Deputy Leader, Louisiana Department 

of Education .......................................................................................................... 15 

Statement of Nick Bruno, President, University of Louisiana at Monroe .......... 21 

ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED

Hanson, Barbara 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 5 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 7 

Jones, John 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 8 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 10 

Talley, Dana 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 15 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 17 

Bruno, Nick 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 21 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 25 

Vitter, Hon. David 

Opening statement ........................................................................................... 1 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 3 

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(1) 

HOW INNOVATIVE EDUCATION SYSTEMS 

BETTER PREPARE STUDENTS TO ENTER THE 

WORKFORCE (PART 2) 

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2015 

UNITED STATES SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS

AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, 

Monroe, LA. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:24 a.m., at Delta 

Community College, 7500 Millhaven Rd., Hon. David Vitter, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. 

Present: Senator Vitter. 

Also present: Representative Abraham. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DAVID VITTER, CHAIRMAN, 

AND A U.S. SENATOR FROM LOUISIANA 

Chairman VITTER. Let’s now go to the Senate Small Business 

Committee field hearing portion of the program, and that’s entitled 

‘‘How Innovative Education Systems Can Better Prepare Students 

to Enter the Workforce.’’ 

I have some opening comments with slides, and then I’m going 

to introduce our witnesses today. 

You know, the exciting thing is there is really good economic development and jobs coming to Louisiana. In a lot of instances, the 

American energy boom, cheap American energy, because of great 

entities in this part of the State like CenturyLink and their new 

partnership with IBM, the Cyber Innovation Center down I–20 in 

Bossier. Some great jobs are coming this way. 

But we need to link up those jobs with the skill sets folks need 

to fill them and to prosper. Right now, Louisiana’s workforce is 

about 2.3 million working adults. Over 1 million of these have not 

obtained a college degree or a post-secondary credential, and another 600,000 don’t have a high school diploma. And today’s industries rely very heavily on skills, technology, so those folks are just 

going to be left in the lurch unless we connect those dots and get 

them that training. 

Now, here in Louisiana we have taken several positive steps. Our 

high school students now have greater access to career courses, the 

Jump Start program. Ralph mentioned that a minute ago. That’s 

positive to highlight at the high school level that good careers are 

available through skills training, but we need to go further and 

really put that on steroids. 

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A lot of the problem is at the federal level where Ralph and I 

work. Too many federal programs are really antiquated and don’t 

allow for flexibility and for access to skills training. We talked 

about Pell Grants. That’s for traditional four-year higher ed. That’s 

great if you want and need traditional four-year higher ed. It’s not 

if you want skills training and want to go into those sorts of jobs 

here in Louisiana or elsewhere. 

So that’s what we’re talking about here today, where we are, particularly in Louisiana, how we get to a better place. And to help 

us in that dialogue we have four really great witnesses. Three are 

here; one is on the way. I’m going to introduce all four of them 

now, and then in the order I introduced them they will each give 

a short, five-minute presentation, and then we’ll have a dialogue 

about all of these thoughts. 

First, Dr. Barbara Hanson. She served as Chancellor of Louisiana Delta Community College since January 2013, but she has 

over 29 years of higher ed experience, with 17 years in community 

college administration, and that includes serving as Chief Academic Officer, Executive Director for Program Development, and 

Dean of Instruction. 

Thank you in particular, Barbara, for helping host us here today. 

Next will be John Jones. John is Vice President for Public and 

Federal Legislative Affairs for CenturyLink, and he’s been a very 

active participant in several significant federal and state telecomm 

reform initiatives. Prior to joining CenturyLink, John served as 

Public Affairs Director and adjunct communications faculty member for the university for 12 years, and he was recently appointed 

by Governor Jindal to the Louisiana Workforce Investment Council. 

Next will be Dana Talley, who serves as Deputy Leader for Network 2 in the Louisiana Department of Education. Ms. Talley is 

part of the team that works with local school districts to implement 

initiatives in the areas of high school programs, including Jump 

Start, Early Childhood, District Planning, Principal Support, and 

Teacher Leaders. 

And finally is Dr. Nick Bruno, who is caught in some traffic and 

is on the way. Dr. Bruno became the eighth President of the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 2010 and has more than 35 years 

of work in Louisiana higher education. In 2012, President Bruno 

was appointed to the West Monroe-West Ouachita Chamber of 

Commerce Board of Directors, the Monroe Chamber of Commerce 

Board of Directors, and the St. Francis Medical Center Board of Directors. So he is obviously involved in many of these issues in the 

community. 

Thanks to all of you for being part of this program. We look forward to your testimony. We look forward to follow-up on that, and 

we’ll start with Dr. Hanson. 

[The prepared statement of Chairman Vitter follows:] 

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STATEMENT OF BARBARA HANSON, CHANCELLOR, LOUISIANA 

DELTA COMMUNITY COLLEGE 

Dr. HANSON. Good morning, everyone. Thank you so much for 

the opportunity to be here today. 

This is my first time doing this, so I’m not exactly sure if I’m 

supposed to read my statement or read—— 

Chairman VITTER. What you’re comfortable with. 

Dr. HANSON. Excellent. I wanted to start with a quote, and that 

is kind of what I had in my statement. It goes like this: ‘‘This is 

a critical time in our economic history. Those who do demographics 

are projecting severe shortages in skilled workers in the next 10 

years. While the skills gap will be in crisis, the lack of basic skills, 

technical skills and competencies is an issue for industry right now. 

To meet this challenge, we need to invest in worker education and 

training. Now is the time to take a more strategic approach to 

workforce education and training and create seamless, dynamic, 

and sufficiently funded systems for advancing the skills and credentials and productivity of our entire workforce.’’ 

What is most interesting about this quote is that it was written 

in 2003. It was produced in a document called the National Center 

on Education and the Economy. 

Although we have made great strides over the last 10 years as 

a Nation, we still are experiencing that skills gap that is referenced 

in this quote that took place almost 10 years ago. Our inability as 

a Nation and as this great State that we live in, in Louisiana, not 

to address—our inability to address the needs of our workforce will 

cripple us, and it continues to bring us down. 

What we have in the State of Louisiana is not a budget problem. 

It is a revenue problem, and the solution to that problem is to provide the training for people to go to work. That is what we need. 

Those people who go to work live in communities. They contribute 

to the tax base. They worship in their place of worship. They go 

to the grocery store. They buy homes. They raise their families. 

And they enjoy the economic prosperity that this great State and 

this great country wants for each citizen in our country. 

We need to continue to provide workforce and educational training opportunities to all of our constituents so that each and every 

one can realize the dream that should be theirs. 

Louisiana in particular I feel has made great strides over the last 

couple of years. You’ve heard mention of the Jump Start program. 

That is an excellent initiative. You’ve heard mention of the WISE 

program. That is also an excellent initiative. It really started, in 

my mind, with the Louisiana Economic Development Division, 

when they reached out and did their statistical analysis and projected what business and industry is going to need in the next 10 

years in this State. 

Jump Start was aligned to help prepare students in high schools 

to meet those needs. The WISE Fund was enacted whereby institutions of higher education to include all four systems could apply for 

money, and the money that they applied for had to be in alignment 

with what was the projected needs in this State, and it was 

incentivized for business and industries. There was an incentive of 

a 20 percent match that needed to come from business and industry so that we could all work together. 

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In my mind, the solution is our ability to collaborate, to think differently, and to take this great State and what made this Nation 

great, which is the middle class, to the next level and let them 

achieve the prosperity that they deserve, and to do it through the 

engine of education. 

[The prepared statement of Dr. Hanson follows:] 

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Chairman VITTER. Thank you very much, Dr. Hanson, and thank 

you again for hosting us here at Delta Community College. 

Next is John Jones with CenturyLink. 

STATEMENT OF JOHN JONES, VICE PRESIDENT OF POLICY 

AND FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS, CENTURYLINK 

Mr. JONES. First, Senator Vitter and Representative Abraham, 

thank you so much for hosting this. This is a very timely topic for 

our company and for this area. While we’re talking today, there 

have already been numerous discussions like this down in Baton 

Rouge that we’ve already participated in. So, thanks so much for 

bringing it to north Louisiana. 

For the record, I’m going to go ahead and read my statement 

within five minutes. 

Good morning, Mr. Chairman and fellow participants. We appreciate your interest and leadership in calling today’s hearing addressing innovation, education, and workforce development preparation. We believe much good work has already been done in this 

area. However, with the rapidly changing economic and employment environment of our State and the rest of the Nation, we believe more work remains to be done to achieve greater alignment 

between education and the business community. My role here 

today is to discuss the workforce development challenges and opportunities we face as a telecommunications provider 

headquartered in Louisiana as it relates to education. 

CenturyLink is the third largest telecommunications company in 

America today. We operate one of the largest communications networks in the United States and provide high-speed Internet, data, 

voice, managed cloud, and IT hosting and entertainment to more 

than 13 million customers in all 50 states and overseas. We employ 

approximately 45,000 people worldwide, the majority of them with 

technical, service-oriented backgrounds, along with hundreds of 

others in supporting non-technical fields. 

We are in the process of finalizing the construction of a 250,000- 

square-foot technology center on our campus that will open this 

spring. The building will provide state-of-the-art network monitoring, research and development, and IT and engineering support 

to our service footprint. 

As most of you know, we have agreed to increase our total jobs 

in Monroe by 800 positions within the next several years. We are 

moving forward with that commitment, but we do face some challenges in filling some of those positions, one being finding and attracting more senior-level technology-trained and other professional 

employees to Louisiana and north Louisiana; and the second being 

competing with larger markets in our State and elsewhere for college graduates with the skill sets we need. 

We spoke with David, Senator Vitter yesterday about this challenge at length. We have made significant inroads in exploring 

partnership opportunities in Northeast Louisiana with ULM, Louisiana Tech, and Delta Community College; and within the past 

year we have also met with the faculties of Grambling, LSU, 

Southeastern and Northwestern Universities. 

Each meeting has been a learning experience for both parties in 

terms of gaining a betting understanding of curriculum needs, as 

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well as our potential job availability for graduates. These discussions have been invaluable for identifying both resources and opportunities. Ultimately, the students will be the net winners of 

these discussions, and they will benefit from enhanced curriculum 

development that translates into actual job opportunities or possibilities in our State. 

Going forward, we see our company, and also our vendors like 

IBM, as serving in an advisory role with the universities, and also 

our K–12 partners in discussing creative partnerships and curriculums that will work. 

A recent example of a partnership opportunity was this week, 

and that’s the announcement by IBM and the State of Louisiana 

and our company earlier this week. The IBM center in Monroe represents a transformational partnership, and I encourage you to 

watch this carefully as it unfolds. That will include expanded higher education programs related to computer science, as well as create new economic growth opportunities in this area. The IBM center will employ a broad range of college graduates and experienced 

professionals with backgrounds in computer science, engineering, 

mathematics, and science. And that all sounds very technical, but 

you also have to realize the support functions that will pop up 

around that entity, and also on the 88 acres that we’re developing 

across the road that will require skilled labor. The State of Louisiana is providing $4.5 million in funding over 

10 years to expand key higher education programs, including the 

computer science program at ULM, the cyber engineering program 

at Louisiana Tech, and the data analytics program at Grambling 

State. Additionally, IBM will work closely with local professors to 

recommend curriculum innovations focused on technology, math, 

and the sciences. 

In conclusion, I will leave you with three thoughts. 

We believe that finding additional ways to improve the communication and alignment between the business community and our 

colleges and universities will foster additional partnerships and 

curriculums aligned with good jobs. This approach will benefit 

small businesses as well as larger companies. 

We should also focus on meaningful education reform in our elementary and secondary education schools and curriculums. We 

would like to see additional development of STEM programs and 

integration and alignment of K–12 and higher education programs. 

Louisiana, and in particular the I–20 Corridor, have great potential to embrace technology as a key economic development driver. 

If our State is going to move forward with a high-tech economy, we 

must begin focusing our education goals towards math and the 

sciences today. This will also foster more skilled labor employment. 

Lastly, let’s not forget North Louisiana. The colleges and universities in this area have provided education for literally thousands 

of students who possibly could not have gotten those degrees because of distance and cost, and these universities are strategically 

located and help thousands of people get their education. We are 

hopeful that funding for our local colleges will be restored and meet 

the workforce needs of our State and overcome the negative outside 

perception of education our State experiences today. 

Thank you, and I’ll be glad to take questions. 

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[The prepared statement of Mr. Jones follows:] 

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Chairman VITTER. Thank you very much, John. I appreciate it. 

Next is Dana Talley from the Louisiana Department of Education. 

STATEMENT OF DANA TALLEY, NETWORK 2 DEPUTY LEADER, 

LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Ms. TALLEY. I would like to thank Senator Vitter and Representative Abraham for the opportunity to speak to all of you about 

Jump Start today. 

The greatest factor in both the growth of our State’s economy 

and the ability of our high school graduates to become productive 

citizens will be the skills with which young people are equipped. 

While most jobs do not require a four-year college degree, highgrowth high-wage jobs in Louisiana almost always require education after high school. 

Today, Louisiana students complete either a TOPS University or 

Jump Start TOPS Tech graduation pathway. The two diploma 

pathways ensure ninth and tenth grade students focus on mastering a set of foundational academic skills in core subjects. This 

provides students with the opportunity to explore and discover 

their true interests, rather than forcing them to commit to a single 

graduation path too early in high school. 

During the eleventh and twelfth grades, students will develop 

basic and advanced college and workplace skills that will prepare 

them for college and career success and ensure they are competitive in any workplace or academic environment. 

Jump Start is Louisiana’s new program to provide career courses 

and workplace experiences to high school students. Regional Jump 

Start teams comprised of school districts, higher education, the 

State Economic Development and Workforce Commission, and business and industry are formed to identify appropriate career and 

credentialing opportunities for high school students. These regional 

Jump Start teams develop and/or adopt pathways that outline career courses, workplace experiences, and industry-based credentials 

in career fields most likely to lead to high-wage jobs. The pathways 

developed and/or adopted by each regional Jump Start team are 

specific to the workforce needs in that region of the State. 

Examples of Jump Start pathways this region will be offering include the following, and there are actually about 16 total, but I’m 

going to give you just examples of three. One is Health Sciences 

Patient Care Management. This can lead to an industry-based credential in Certified Nurse Aid, Emergency Medical Responder, or 

Emergency Medical Technician basic. 

There’s also Hospitality, Tourism, Culinary and Retail. This can 

lead to an industry-based credential in Certified Hospitality and 

Tourism Management Level II, Customer Service, or ServSafe. 

Also, there’s Agriculture Tech, which can lead to an industrybased credential in NCCER Level 1 or 2 in Carpentry, Electrical, 

or Welding, for example. 

Louisiana’s Course Choice Program, referred to as Course Access 

in other parts of the country, enables Louisiana families and students to select from hundreds of online and face-to-face courses not 

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cess makes sure that all students have access to the courses they 

need to succeed in college and career pathways. 

Through Course Access, students can gain access to dual-enrollment courses offered at the State’s four-year universities and career courses through private training providers and the Louisiana 

Community and Technical College System. Students now have access to foreign language courses, career and technical education 

courses culminating in industry-valued certification, Advanced 

Placement and TOPS-aligned college courses, ACT prep courses to 

increase chances of qualifying for a State scholarship, and math 

courses using Khan Academy. All of these can be difficult to staff 

and offer in rural areas but are now available to all students in all 

public schools around our State. 

Jump Start regional teams, the Department of Education, Louisiana Economic Development, and the Louisiana Workforce Commission continue in their work to create a variety of graduation 

pathways, each with industry-valued credentials attainable by all 

Louisiana high school students on their way to on-time graduation. 

This includes specific pathways developed for and accessible to students who have typically struggled, as well as certain students 

with disabilities when determined appropriate by their IEP teams. 

In order to extend these same opportunities for these students, 

the Jump Start programs have been scaffolded to identify multiple 

credentials that students may pursue based on their interests and 

abilities. For example, some students may be interested in and able 

to complete the series of courses and training needed to be a welder 

and achieve an NCCER industry credential. Other students may 

not be able to complete the welder curriculum, but can achieve a 

welder’s helper credential. Both provide economic opportunity for 

students and are aligned to our State’s workforce needs. 

No other state’s education department has partnered so closely 

with school districts, higher education, state agencies, and business 

and industry to identify appropriate career and credentialing opportunities for high school students. Jump Start regional teams develop and submit proposed graduation pathways to a multi-agency 

review panel which consists of members from Louisiana Department of Economic Development, Louisiana Workforce Commission, 

and the Louisiana Department of Education. This panel collaborates with the regional teams to ensure that course offerings in a 

pathway are relevant, that credentials are relevant and rigorous, 

and that sample schedules provide appropriate guidance to school 

counselors and educators. 

The decision to approve proposed Jump Start pathways is driven 

not by state or local education bureaucrats but by business and industry, which certifies that the pathway is indeed responsive to the 

needs of our State’s employers and economy. If the proposal does 

not meet the mark, the panel provides valuable feedback on how 

to adjust the proposal to make it meaningful and relevant. 

I hope the innovative partnerships I have described show just 

how much is possible when we begin with the end in mind, when 

we prioritize the needs of our students and our State, and when we 

admit that we as educators cannot do it alone. Thank you for the 

opportunity to share this exciting work with you today. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Talley follows:] 

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Chairman VITTER. Thank you very much, Dana. 

And now our final witness, Dr. Nick Bruno, President of ULM. 

Dr. Bruno, I explained you were hung up in traffic, and I’ve already provided a glowing 33-minute introduction of you. 

[Laughter.] 

So it’s all teed up. 

STATEMENT OF NICK BRUNO, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF 

LOUISIANA AT MONROE 

Dr. BRUNO. Thank you, Senator and Congressman Abraham. 

Thank you for allowing me to participate. 

I want to thank Senator Vitter for the opportunity to address the 

very important topic of higher education and the challenges and opportunities we face as we work toward facilitating and advancing 

innovation within our institution. Innovation and focus are critical 

in preparing our students for the workforce. 

The current workforce needs in Louisiana are very diverse. We 

continue to have considerable necessity for a significant blue collar 

workforce, but that workforce requires different skills and technology from their predecessors. 

The reliance on technology in all applications requires training 

at a higher level. These jobs, such as process technology, are intensive and comprehensive training programs that provide not only 

the skills to operate in a modern plant environment but also facilitate these jobs with a greater understanding of the processes. 

Our community and technical colleges are doing well in the preparation of this workforce and in helping to fill the demand for 

trained professionals. In addition, they are preparing many of those 

students for the opportunity to earn a four-year degree. 

Louisiana’s workforce is evolving and becoming more technology 

based. With companies such as IBM, CSC and CenturyLink operating in Louisiana, the need for more workers with training in 

STEM-based degrees is growing faster than the universities’ ability 

to produce these graduates, but we continue to work toward finding 

students who are well-suited and better prepared for entrance into 

these fields. 

In addition, the need for health science professionals will continue to grow as a result of our aging Baby Boomers who are nearing retirement. This is also a very important issue related to quality of life for companies as they choose where to locate. These 

trends are not limited to Louisiana and are seen across the country. 

Student well-being and support are important to both recruitment and retention. As state support for higher education decreases across the country, students bear a greater proportion of 

the costs for their college degrees, which is resulting in higher debt 

burden. We are confident that continued conversations about lowering interest rates for these loans will provide incentives for students to earn post-secondary credentials and reduce the economic 

burden they face later in life, and this burden is felt by both traditional and non-traditional students. 

Non-traditional workers provide a significant source of potential 

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dents, institutions must alter what has been a delivery model focused upon students of traditional age. 

Institutions should understand that non-traditional students 

bring with them many life experiences which add value to their 

classroom instruction. Universities will need to look more closely 

and adopt effective systems of granting credit for both the life and 

work experiences non-traditional students have gained through 

their careers. 

Another issue is that of convenience. Non-traditional students 

usually work or maintain households and families. Providing classes at times convenient to these students is critical in maximizing 

their attendance and success. For example, online instruction provides this convenience. At ULM we have redesigned our online offerings by creating a separate division referred to as eULM. 

eULM provides eight-week modules which allow students to opt 

in and out as they wish. It also provides a more expedient path to 

completion. We offer 36 online degree programs ranging from associate to doctoral level degrees. ULM has also initiated several postbaccalaureate certificates which provide individuals, generally nontraditional, the opportunity to certify in high-demand fields such as 

accounting, computer information systems, and financial analytics. 

Finally, faculty must be made aware of the sensitivities of the 

non-traditional student. These sensitivities include work and family demands that are not as prevalent for most traditional college 

students, and we try to provide services—like the child development center; a full-time student advocate and retention coordinator 

to help students resolve problems with university procedures and 

policies; and four full-time academic advisors for online students— 

that help our non-traditional students advance in their coursework 

while maintaining full-time careers and families. 

At ULM, our community partnerships are also important to the 

sustainability of our university. We have been very aggressive in 

developing collaborative agreements with local businesses, as well 

as educational partners like Louisiana Delta Community College. 

ULM’s business partners include Chase, CenturyLink, Angus 

Chemical, area hospitals and clinics, and school systems, to name 

a few. 

In these partnerships, we become more aware of the needs they 

have for the graduates we produce. To ensure our graduates are 

prepared, we work with our partners to adjust curricula, co-sponsor 

pertinent and timely symposia, and pursue research in areas which 

will have broad-based benefit for our students, who will hopefully 

become their employees. 

Together with Arkansas State University, ULM has been contracted by the Delta Regional Authority to operate a leadership institute in the lower Mississippi River Delta. In fact, the Louisiana 

Delta community is also a partner in that grant. The program 

trains community leaders and develops their skills to face the global challenges of the 21st century. 

We are also currently working with JPMorgan Chase to develop 

a post-baccalaureate program in mortgage analytics that will help 

their employees use data more effectively. We have also partnered 

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nancial literacy program that has been taught to thousands of high 

school sophomores throughout the region. 

ULM faculty have visited local high schools to deliver the training and have developed an online version of the program as well. 

In addition to basic financial literacy concepts, the program emphasizes the importance of education and preparation for good paying 

jobs. The program has exposed students to careers in business, an 

area that has many in-demand career opportunities in Louisiana. 

ULM faculty and staff worked closely with CenturyLink to develop two innovative post-baccalaureate certificate programs to 

help meet CenturyLink’s workforce needs in accounting and computer information systems. ULM and CenturyLink collaborated to 

define the curriculum that would prepare existing CenturyLink 

employees to move into high-demand positions. Classes are offered 

onsite at CenturyLink, and the Workforce Commission has provided funding to support those programs. 

Our Office of Continuing Education provides courses for area 

dentists and dental hygienists, and numerous certification programs also are available in areas such as diabetic wound care, 

phlebotomy, and certified nurse assistance. 

ULM has also developed degree programs focused on the use of 

unmanned aerial systems in the field of precision agriculture. A regional Center of Excellence was also established and has received 

its first external funding grant—I thank the Senator for his assistance with that—from the Delta Regional Authority. It will help 

train farmers in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and the data 

they collect. 

ULM partnered with a local farmer to pilot the application of 

ULM’s UAS drone in precision agriculture. The ULM drone has 

been flown over farmland throughout the growing season, capturing images that have led to decisions regarding application of 

fertilizer, chemicals, and water. Through this partnership, ULM 

anticipates enhancing its ability to capture data through the use of 

drones, but more importantly, develop expertise in data management including data representation, analysis, and interpretation. 

We continue to develop courses and curricula based on the use 

of unmanned aircraft and await the establishment of Federal Aviation Administration policies and procedures which will allow the 

developers of intellectual property to proceed within federal laws. 

Innovation is a by-product of the discovery process. Most innovation materializes as a result of pursuing another discovery. For example, Post-It Notes was invented as a result of a failed adhesive 

product. Regulations regarding unmanned aircraft must be formulated and issued in order to maximize the opportunities for expansion of innovation. Delays in FAA regulations for these programs 

prohibit universities from maximizing the benefits and opportunities these aircraft can afford. 

Similar to our UAS program, ULM’s innovative outdoor Construction Practices Lab simulates a construction site and allows 

students to gain critical hands-on experience managing the various 

aspects associated with construction projects. A majority of equipment and supplies for the lab have been donated by local and regional construction companies. 

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ULM works toward preparing our students for the workforce by 

giving them the connections with community and national partners, coupled with the skills needed to be competitive in both the 

classroom and the ever-evolving job market. Our goal is to ensure 

that we provide each student an education they can be proud of 

and that they can use to provide intellectual capital to our region 

and to our State. 

We also, I’m happy to announce, are meeting with a group of investors today which will explore the opportunities of commercializing several of our patents in the pharmaceutical area. 

As you can tell, I am very passionate about higher education, especially at ULM. Thank you again for the opportunity to provide 

input to this committee. 

[The prepared statement of Dr. Bruno follows:] 

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Chairman VITTER. Thank you very much, Dr. Bruno. 

And now we’re going to continue the conversation, with Ralph 

and I alternating and making comments, asking questions. 

I’ll kick it off. And, John, I’ll start with you as the private-sector 

guy there, not only from the private sector but from a company 

that just made exciting positive announcements with your new 

IBM partnership and all of your expansion and construction. 

Two related questions. First of all, how would you grade the responsiveness of institutions here, particularly educational institutions, when you go to them and explain the exact skill sets you 

need? 

Number two, what’s the conversation like in your boardroom or 

with IBM when this issue of continuing higher ed budget cuts and 

other things comes up? 

Mr. JONES. Sure. To the first question, the discussions we’ve had, 

not only with higher ed but also K–12, have been really kind of exciting in a way. You can see the energy level in the room rise as 

educators start tapping into what we’re trying to do. And then 

we’re also learning at the same time what they’re able to provide. 

We’ve made some great discoveries right in our backyard we 

weren’t aware of, so the dialogue is very encouraging. We had 

Northwestern University’s president and provost in just this week. 

We don’t know that much about Northwestern. It’s not that far 

away, but we don’t know that much about their programs, and they 

didn’t know that much about us, really. They did a little homework, but we had about a one-and-a-half-hour conversation and 

found about four different synergies there where we could partner 

in a lot of different ways. 

They had two curriculums we didn’t know they offered. One was 

a cyber-forensics curriculum. We’re one of the largest cyber providers in the country for the government, and they had an engineering technology program we did not know they had. 

So that’s just an example, and that’s been duplicated over and 

over again. We’ve met with high school principals. We met with 

both superintendents here. Again, the STEM education keeps coming up as a focal point. 

Chairman VITTER. Great. 

Mr. JONES. The discussions with IBM you wanted to know more 

about, the reaction to education? 

Chairman VITTER. Yes. I mean, obviously, these days we’re talking a lot about continuing perspective higher ed cuts, and I know 

that’s got to be part of the discussion you have, particularly with 

partners like IBM, and I just wanted some flavor of that. 

Mr. JONES. That’s really a big issue. The Internet is our best 

friend and our worst enemy. We’re recruiting from all over the 

world. Our new strategic executive VP of planning came from the 

Netherlands. So we’re recruiting some of the top talent that’s out 

there today. They’re systems people and network people and engineers, and they have a choice of going anywhere they want. This 

individual had been with Samsung that we just recruited. So they 

are very picky about where they bring their families. 

So if you’re thinking about going to Seattle and you had small 

kids, the first thing you would do is go check on the education system, you would check on crime, you would check on everything 

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that’s out there, and these people are no different. So they read 

about our city council, they read about our school boards, they read 

about the politics and they say, you know, I’m not really sure. 

So when IBM comes, as an example, they do the exact same 

thing. And I’ll give the Governor’s Office credit, they have done a 

great job of recruiting them to Baton Rouge and to here. But the 

way we actually work that is that when we engage with a vendor, 

and IBM will be doing significant business with us—I’ll give Glen 

Post credit for this—Glen Post asked them to put down significant 

stakes in this community. I think Dr. Bruno will testify to that, is 

that one of those was you will partner with the universities here 

in some capacity. 

So we actually make a request that if they’re going to service us, 

then they are going to also walk the walk with us as well. That’s 

how we’re actually working with our vendors who are considering 

coming here. 

But their perception of education in this State and in this area 

is not good, for lack of a better term. It’s not good. So we have to 

overcome that perception. We have to show them their opportunities. Once they get here and they see the educational opportunities 

we have here, they see the passion of the universities, then they 

get engaged. But getting them here is sometimes a challenge just 

based on a global perception of Louisiana and how it ranks in education. 

Chairman VITTER. Ralph. 

Representative ABRAHAM. First a statement, and I’ll use a poor 

analogy, but it goes back to the ISIS question. 

The good news about what we’re doing here today is we’re defining the problem, and once you define the problem, then you can 

work on the problem; unlike, unfortunately, we don’t call ISIL 

what it is. 

And what a privilege for me to be among you guys. I think we 

sat down and talked to everybody but Dana. But to get four of you 

talking together, for me it’s just huge for my district. 

Two questions, and I’ll ask the first one to you, Dr. Nick. 

There is active discussion with Senator Vitter’s group in the Senate and certainly us in the House about reducing the interest on 

the student loans down to 1 to 2 percent instead of 6 to 8 percent, 

where it fluctuates now. Would that help immensely in your arena? 

Dr. BRUNO. Congressman, certainly it will help those students. 

As tuition increases have been recurring, part of the challenge is 

that with state funds restricted to maintain the university’s operations at a minimal level, the students are being asked to pay more 

and more of those operating costs. So they are forced to take loans, 

grants. Pell funds have been capped, which now ULM tuition exceeds Pell monies. So students are forced to borrow money, which 

puts them in a position of—at some point you want a student who 

graduates to get a good job and to be able to get a good quality of 

life. If they are saddled with student loans for 20 or 30 years and 

those rates continue to escalate, they will never have the opportunity to buy homes or to reach that quality of life they had hoped 

for when they pursued their degrees. 

So, yes. I think—and I will commend him for that effort, I think, 

to minimize those interest rates. But I think the system has to be 

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reviewed completely as to—I think we have to do a better job counseling those students that you can only borrow so much within the 

field you’re in. We have to do a little better in giving them financial 

advice, that if you’re majoring in certain fields, the amount of 

money that you’re borrowing you will never pay back. 

So I think there are some factors that are involved that when a 

student can stay in and borrow $75,000 or $100,000, if they’re majoring in history or math versus majoring in pharmacy, the probability of payback for them is going to be significantly different and 

much more adverse. 

So, yes, I think if we can do that all within the concept of some 

additional financial counseling to help them as it relates to student 

loans and overall debt that they assume while they’re in the university. 

Representative ABRAHAM. If I might, one more? 

Chairman VITTER. Sure. 

Representative ABRAHAM. Dana, I just have a question. 

Dr. Hanson, do you have a comment? 

Dr. HANSON. Yes. I would just like to also comment. We here at 

Louisiana Delta Community College, we have access to student 

loans as well as Pell Grants. From my perspective, one of the 

things that I hope—and I’m in agreement with the idea of having 

the conversation about lowering the percentage rate. But one of the 

challenges that we face is dealing with the 600,000 folks in the 

state of Louisiana who do not have a high school credential and 

who do not have any kind of training whatsoever. They do not 

qualify to apply for those types of student loans or for Pell Grants. 

So any conversations that can be held relative to looking at using 

the Pell Grant in particular, and perhaps student loans for shortterm training whereby a student can prepare themselves and that 

they’re going to go out and get a job. 

We were recently awarded the opportunity to provide Sallie Mae 

grants for a non-credit program, and that was a big deal. That’s not 

something they usually do, but we had a good reputation for the 

program. It’s our area application program. Crop dusting, basically, 

is what it is, and Sallie Mae, after much discussion, said yes. Our 

position was, look, you have someone who is coming in, and it goes 

to what you were saying, Nick. You have someone who is coming 

in who, within a very short period of time, will be eligible to go out 

and earn six figures, and we ask you to loan them $50,000; whereas you might have someone who is going to spend four years and 

not get a pharmacy degree but get an English degree, and they 

may or may not be able to get immediate employment. 

So that type of consideration in discussions of providing funds 

that support student access would be very beneficial. 

Representative ABRAHAM. Dana, that leaves me the question I 

have for you. Everyone in this room knows that we couldn’t start 

our car every morning if it wasn’t for the technical component of 

this society, thank God for them. I know it’s probably early to have 

actual data, but have you seen an attitude in your high school as 

far as less apt to drop out since Jump Start has been started or 

processed? 

Ms. TALLEY. I want to start with I think it’s going to take a little 

bit of time for us to change the mindset of parents and kids about 

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a career diploma, and those in education know that. We have to 

really start with the end in mind of what this can do for you. 

What I’ve heard is, I’ve heard a lot of parents who are educators 

say to me if only this were available when my kid was in high 

school. So, yes, we don’t have any data yet, but I’m having districts 

tell me that they think 40 to 50 percent of their kids will end up 

going the Jump Start route. 

Again, what we’re trying to do with the credentials is scaffold 

them so even those kids with disabilities or those kids who have 

struggled will have an opportunity maybe to not have a full industry-based credential but to be well on the way to the credential 

when they graduate high school. And if they see, if a kid is sitting 

in high school and sees that in the end I’m going to have this credential that’s going to help me be more marketable to employers, 

I think that’s going to be the incentive. 

So I think whether or not this impacts drop-out rates is going to 

be how we frame it to parents and kids. 

Representative ABRAHAM. Okay. Thank you. 

Chairman VITTER. Dr. Hanson, we’ve been talking about Pell 

Grants. Are there particular requirements under that program 

right now which make it difficult in some circumstances to use a 

Pell Grant here at Delta? 

Dr. HANSON. Over the course of the last few years—and I think 

every institution of higher education has experienced it—there has 

been a limitation relative to how Pell Grants can be used. It was 

imposed, and I think it was probably done as a cost-saving measure, and perhaps those who have more in-depth knowledge would 

be better able to respond to the actualities of it. 

But right now, you have to be involved in a program, a course 

of study that is so many weeks in length, has so many contact 

hours. You have to be going at least half-time or full-time. And 

that’s great, except a lot of what we want to be able to provide for 

students is short-term training where there are jobs where they 

can spend 8 weeks, 10 weeks, 12 weeks. They could very easily 

have education in that period of time and go out and get a real job 

making a minimum wage—not a minimum-wage job, making above 

minimum wage, a life-earning wage. And that is not available right 

now with the Pell Grants. 

I know last year that Senator Landrieu had put forward a bill 

on the federal level called the Jobs Act bill, and I don’t remember 

all of the particulars of it, but in general my understanding was 

that it would provide an opportunity to apply for Pell Grants for 

short-term training, thereby moving around some of those particular types of limitations that are put on the current Pell Grant. 

Chairman VITTER. Right. For all of you, after Pell Grants and 

student loan rates—those are two obvious categories—what else on 

the federal level is an impediment that we need to break down to 

make this work better? 

Dr. HANSON. In terms of student access? 

Chairman VITTER. In terms of anything that impacts this sort of 

skills training. 

Dr. HANSON. Well, I don’t know if it’s the federal level. I think 

it’s the entire level. It’s something that Ms. Dana just alluded to. 

Somewhere along the way, if I may, it’s a cultural issue. There’s 

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32 

a stigma attached to going into career and technical education. 

Somewhere along the way it became a dirty word. It was something less than a four-year. 

It is not less than a four-year. It is different than a four-year 

education, and there is a need for both. But somewhere along the 

way in our Nation, we decided that unless you’re going to get a 

four-year degree, it’s not good. But that’s not what made our Nation great. 

I heard a speaker a couple of years ago who is the president of 

Snap-On Tools, and he spoke very passionately about the fact of 

what made this country great was those folks who went out into 

the workforce who had skilled jobs, and they contributed to the economic well-being of this Nation, and that’s where we are in Louisiana right now, and that is not to say that there is not a need 

for four-year education. There is. 

We have professional programs that we have to have, such as our 

pharmacy school and our teacher training and things like that. But 

I don’t know what the federal government can do in terms of trying 

to change the culture. It is different. 

And I will end with telling you just one little story, if I may. It’s 

very short. 

I always think of myself, not to be prideful, but as a fairly intelligent person. But I took a mechanical aptitude test once, and the 

gentleman who adjudicated it asked me not to walk within 300 feet 

of a machine. 

[Laughter.] 

My mind just doesn’t work that way at all, but someone’s does, 

and that’s an intelligence that I don’t have but they have. 

So I think we need to get back to the point where we recognize 

that there are many, many different intelligences, and to help people understand that there’s not ‘‘better than.’’ It’s ‘‘different than,’’ 

and we need all sorts of trained workforce. 

Chairman VITTER. Well, first of all, I agree with you completely. 

I’m hoping one of the ways we change that attitude and even the 

playing field, at least here in Louisiana, is when in the next few 

years those folks with the right skills training at 21 step into a job 

at $55,000, and in five years they’re at $100,000. That can start to 

change some attitudes quickly when people notice. So I think that’s 

part of it, not all of it. 

Any other thoughts about changes at the federal level to make 

this work better? 

Ms. TALLEY. For us, it’s the exact same thing that she said. It’s 

about changing the mindset so that we can get kids into careers 

that are going to meet their abilities and the things that they’re 

interested in. So I think she said it perfectly. 

Dr. BRUNO. From a four-year perspective, of course, rulemaking 

as I referred to in FAA. We have a technology there that has the 

opportunity to really touch on all levels, as Dr. Hanson is dealing 

with here at Delta, but also at the university from the data collection and so forth. There are so many opportunities in this new 

technology. 

Currently, it’s slipping away from us simply because you can buy 

them now on the Internet. So you’ll find individuals who are flying 

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33 

them everywhere. They don’t know what they should be doing, and 

we haven’t focused that attention. So rulemaking is critical. 

I think that we also need to look at the grant process, the grant 

from a research perspective. It becomes quite laborious. It engages 

so many people, so much time consumed, that if proposals are done 

they take months and months and months to be evaluated and responses done. 

If we’re going to advance technology, advance innovation, we 

have to have a more expedient manner in which research dollars, 

which have been reduced, research dollars have to be increased at 

the federal level and brought back to the universities in order to 

bring us to that next level. We have not had significant investments in research since the space program. So we need to revisit 

that and to ascertain what are the emerging areas that the country 

needs, not just the states but what does the country need, and 

allow the universities with that skill to move forward on grants to 

develop those innovations and technology issues. 

Chairman VITTER. Great. 

Go ahead. 

Representative ABRAHAM. John, just a quick question for you. I 

know everybody in the room appreciates the economic engine for 

this area. 

Dr. Bruno, you said that there are many STEM applicants and 

maybe not enough resources, and that’s actually a good problem to 

have, in my opinion. 

John, I’ll fall back on my medical. When we have student loans in the medical field, sometimes $200,000, $300,000 when we graduate, and if we go to an underserved area, or if we sign a contract 

for six or eight years, that hospital, that company, whoever, agrees 

to help us pay back that loan. 

Is there a dialogue, is there discussion in companies of your mag- nitude that if an applicant with a $150,000 student loan comes to 

you and agrees to—let’s say an engineer signs on for six or eight 

years, is there any discussion or thought about maybe helping loan 

repayment? 

Mr. JONES. First of all, my brother is a physician, and he actually paid off his loan in Columbia, Louisiana. 

Representative ABRAHAM. Good deal. I paid mine off. 

Mr. JONES. So I understand that part of it. 

We have not, to my knowledge—I’ll check with our HR Department, but to my knowledge we have not had to broach that issue 

yet. I guess, at best, we would hope that the salary and benefits 

we pay would help them pay down that loan faster, because we do 

pay a little bit above average. 

But I think those are the types of questions that are surfacing, 

to be honest with you. We are getting questions like that from individuals because the debt load is so much higher than when I went 

to school. So I’m thinking that the WISE program actually also— 

it’s not a perfect corollary, but that also got us thinking about how 

we use our budget in the company to actually get the type of people 

that we need. 

So I think it’s really just a question at this point, but as we keep 

getting deeper into the education process I’m thinking that’s something we will have to deal with going forward. 

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Representative ABRAHAM. Okay. Thank you. 

Dr. HANSON. I had a comment about that. 

Chairman VITTER. Sure. 

Dr. HANSON. Just along those lines, and it may be something 

that could be addressed at the federal level, and certainly at the 

state level. Many states that I have had the opportunity to serve 

in have engaged in loan forgiveness programs on the state level for 

high-demand jobs. For example, when I was in Arizona, the nursing. If you got a nursing loan to go to school, you had to sign a 

promissory type situation where you would agree to stay in the 

state and work for a certain number of years, and a percentage of 

that loan would be forgiven every year. But it was to grow your 

own, so to speak, what was needed in the state, and that might be 

something that would fit well with aligning the things that we’re 

doing with Jump Start and WISE that would affect both the community and technical colleges as well as the university for those 

programs where we have folks that really we need to train them 

for this State, but there’s an incentive then to keep them in the 

State. 

Chairman VITTER. Right, absolutely. 

Dana, let me follow up. You talked about Jump Start, which obviously is a very important initiative that goes directly to these 

issues. I’ve seen it very developed really being implemented aggressively in some systems and not in others. 

How do we really sort of put it on steroids and accelerate it 

state-wide? 

Ms. TALLEY. And I’ve seen that as well. We have some districts 

in part of the State that have already been doing career ed really 

well for a long time, and other districts that have not really had 

any kids on the career diploma route prior to Jump Start. 

I think what I am seeing—and I just can really speak to the 14- 

plus Lincoln districts that I work with, and George is here today. 

I am seeing a real level of energy with the folks at the district level 

who understand what this can mean for kids and how this can totally change whether or not they even stay in school. We know if 

they don’t stay in school, they have really no chance. 

So what we’re trying to do is really now dig into the logistics of 

what pathways would these kids be interested in, what courses 

should they take, what credentials can they potentially earn, and 

I am actually seeing—like if you had asked me six months ago 

about the Northeast and where we were, I would say, well, we’re 

kind of just slowly moving along. 

I will tell you in the last two months I have seen a tremendous 

boost in energy and attention and movement, and I think we’re 

well on our way. I think we are well on our way, and I see George 

is shaking her head. I think we’re continuing to learn from other 

districts that are more advanced in terms of where they are here, 

and our folks are willing to do that. So I think we’re in good shape. 

Chairman VITTER. Great, great. 

Ralph. 

Representative ABRAHAM. When Senator Vitter and I and the 

rest of the Louisiana delegation talk about mega-sites, we’re fortunate to have several here in Louisiana. The companies are always 

asking the elephant-in-the-room question about technical labor. 

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They are not seeing it, and sometimes that’s a hindrance to bring 

in the Volvos, the big companies here, because there is a limited 

technical labor force. 

I guess the question is, is there a mechanism that we can reach 

out to those companies individually and market what we have here 

in the State? We have just a wonderful group of technical people 

that are very skilled, but I don’t think we have done well enough 

to market our skilled labor. Just thoughts on that? 

Dr. HANSON. I’ve been here two years, so I still have the, I guess, 

opportunity to sometimes look from the outside in. What I think we 

have here in Louisiana that people don’t always understand—and 

I’m not just saying this because you’re all sitting in the room—is 

the caliber of people that live in Northeast Louisiana, their work 

ethic, their sense of pride and their character. 

You may not like and sometimes think you don’t have everything 

you should have, but this is phenomenal, this whole culture that 

we have in this part of the State. I’ve been other places. 

So for me, again, looking from the outside in, there are so many 

riches in the State, and particularly Northeast Louisiana, because 

that’s where I like to be. But I sometimes think that we may not 

do a good job of presenting ourselves as who we are and what we 

are, the cohesion that we do have and the sense of pride that we 

have here. 

Representative ABRAHAM. Can we help you do that on the federal 

level? That’s what we’re asking. We want to help. 

Dr. HANSON. Right. But I use that as a preface because I think 

there are a lot of other things that need to be met immediately in 

terms of that technical workforce that you may need from the twoyear perspective. There are so many folks, particularly in Northeast Louisiana, who have not, for whatever reason—life happened, 

and they didn’t get that high school degree, and they can’t take 

that first step, and they can’t qualify for federal loans because they 

didn’t get the high school. 

There’s the piece of the culture of this area, of the people that 

live here, their strengths. At the same time, we have a lot of socioeconomic challenges in this area. So to get them to that next level, 

what we can do at the federal level from my perspective is to 

incentivize those short-term trainings to allow folks to bring back 

the ability of benefit testing that would allow someone who can 

demonstrate that they have the ability to benefit from education, 

they can get into school even without that high school equivalency, 

things like that. 

I think we have so much, and we sometimes miss that pathway. 

I don’t know if I answered your question or not. 

Representative ABRAHAM. It helps. 

Yes, John. 

Mr. JONES. Representative Abraham, as some people in the room 

know, we are leading an effort to get the community ready for 

what’s coming in terms of not only the employees but the 800 or 

so spouses that are coming with them who need jobs as well. 

Representative ABRAHAM. That’s right. 

Mr. JONES. So we see at some point we could have a lot more 

people looking for jobs, skilled or otherwise. 

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But some of the thoughts that we’ve had, even in the education 

area—and again, we’re learning as we go from the people we’re trying to recruit. We’re getting direct feedback as to why they didn’t 

come or why they did come, and we’ve even talked about the Web 

sites of the schools in the parishes and the city. 

My view of them a year ago is we were really talking to people 

in Ouachita Parish in terms of how we presented those Web sites 

and what the schools offered, and now we actually have people 

clicking on those Web sites from all over the world to check in to 

see if they’ve got these programs you’re talking about. So we really 

need to kind of learn to re-market ourselves. It’s a global society. 

But little things like that, how we look at ourselves and what we 

have to offer, we really need to start thinking about who we are 

communicating with, and then adapt our messages and our marketing, whatever it may be, to those audiences. The Volvo CEO 

may be clicking on northeast Louisiana to find out more about us. 

Representative ABRAHAM. That’s right. Okay. Thank you. 

Dr. BRUNO. I think Louisiana has done an amazing job selling 

our State from an economic development perspective. As we look 

around, we see the evolution of the workforce that’s transpiring 

now with IBM, CSC and, of course, CenturyLink. But it’s throughout the State, in New Orleans with GE and different areas. 

If you look around the country, the areas that have sustained the 

least variation in economic progress have been those that have 

been focused around great educational systems. People talk about 

Austin, Texas. Austin was a well-educated area before it grew. 

Businesses want workforce before they invest their dollars. In 

chats with IBM in the last several weeks, they want to employ 400 

people, of which I think 70 or 80 percent will be new graduates. 

Just to give you a perspective, ULM, Louisiana Tech and Grambling produce less than 100 graduates a year in those fields. So 

we’re already behind. So we’re a little bit out of sync. We’ve sold 

a product that we’ve not yet made, and if we’re going to grow and 

recruit the Volvos and more technology firms and so forth—because 

I think John has seen it. I think CenturyLink has seen—four years 

ago or five years ago, CenturyLink was pretty much the only game 

in town for certain positions. Now as you’ve added IBM and CSC 

and a firm in Lafayette and General Electric down in New Orleans, 

the demand for those graduates has gone through the roof, which 

has forced them to now look internationally and nationally for employees. 

Education has got to be the center, and it starts at our K–12. 

They have got to prepare those students for community colleges. 

They’ve got to prepare them for four-year schools. They’ve got to 

prepare them for the technical colleges. And the more we can educate our population, the more it will grow on itself. 

I was the first person in my family, both father’s and mother’s 

side, to get a college degree. But with them, there was no doubt, 

they wanted better for their children. We have to instill that. We 

have to change the culture. I’m not sure quite how to do it, but it 

begins in that K–12. It begins in K–4. We have to get them reading. We have to be able to accept students at the four-year programs that can do math, that can read and write, that have mastered the English language in writing and speaking. 

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The community colleges are in place. We turned down 400 freshman applications this year at ULM. Our freshman class is less 

than 1,400. So almost over a third were turned down because they 

did not meet the admissions standards. So just think, if ULM could 

have accepted 400 more students, what that could have done to 

this entire community. I’m sure Dr. Hanson would have loved to 

have accepted 400 more in her program. 

Dr. HANSON. We did. 

[Laughter.] 

Dr. BRUNO. That’s good, because if we have more high school 

degreed students who are prepared, they move on to the community colleges or four-year schools. 

That workforce that we’re talking about is going to evolve, but 

it has to start today. We have to get funds into our programs, 

wherever they come from—the state, local, federal—because just 

this week I lost three math faculty, and I can’t recruit because they 

don’t want to come to Louisiana because of budget issues. They 

don’t want to come because of uncertainties, and pay. We’re paying 

significantly less than competitive states. 

I told someone yesterday I know of a dean in one of our Louisiana universities that just left to go to Mississippi. Now, when we 

begin to lose people to Mississippi—— 

[Laughter.] 

Representative ABRAHAM. It’s bad, it’s bad. 

Dr. BRUNO [continuing]. It should be a clarion call that we have 

to do something. 

So I appreciate what you all are trying to do, but I’m not sure 

federally how we can facilitate that other than assistance for students to pursue higher ed. But from a State level, which you all 

certainly have some influence on, it’s important that we focus on 

that and try to make sure that we stabilize these budgets and give 

us more resources to meet those demands. 

Chairman VITTER. Absolutely. 

Dr. Hanson. 

Dr. HANSON. Just to piggyback on what you said, Nick, and you 

correct me if I’m wrong. We’ve had this conversation. I’m also a 

first-generation college graduate in my family. My family was in 

business. But in any case, we’ve often had the conversation about 

we just need that generation that has gone to college or is thinking 

about sending their kids to college, and then that next generation 

they’re going to be coming in droves, whether they’re going to a 

two-year or a four-year. It’s going to be more of the orientation. 

But it begins, for me, as I said before, with northeast Louisiana. 

Despite the riches, we have a lot of folks that have economic challenges, and they have educational attainment challenges. 

So we’ve got to figure out a way to meet that need to create the 

pipeline so that they can go in through high school and they can 

go to the community college, they can go on to the university if that 

is their goal, whatever we can do to make that fluid. 

Chairman VITTER. Right. 

Okay, we’re going to wrap up. I want to start to wrap up by 

thanking our great witnesses. They are obviously the heart and 

soul—— 

[Applause.] 

DeShaun on LAP51NQ082 with DISTILLER

38 

They were the heart and soul of our discussion on this topic 

today. Even more importantly, they’re doing great work in this 

vital area. So, thanks to all of you. 

Dr. Hanson, thanks in particular for hosting us here at Louisiana Delta Community College. This was the perfect setting both 

in terms of the great facility and in terms of being at a center for 

this sort of training. 

I also want to thank my great colleague, Ralph Abraham. 

Ralph, thanks for joining us. 

[Applause.] 

Chairman VITTER. Appreciate it. 

And thanks to all of you for coming out. 

As you know, I’m in this part of the State, like in every part of 

the State, on a real regular basis with different forums and town 

halls. So please continue to come out to those; and in-between 

them, don’t hesitate to call, email, write with comments, concerns 

and suggestions. 

You have a handout, and on that handout there’s a blue column 

on the left-hand side. That’s all of my contact information. That includes our Monroe office. That includes our Web site, which has 

easy email access. So please keep that handy. 

But thanks for coming out today. Thank you very much. 

[Applause.] 

[Whereupon, at 11:30 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

Æ 

DeShaun on LAP51NQ082 with DISTILLER