Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/59979
Headlines After the Storm When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States in August, Angelo DeNisi had been dean of the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University in New Orleans for just under two months. But Katrina's arrival wasn't just an over- whelming test of leadership for one new dean. School administrators in Louisiana,Mississippi, and Alabama have had to cope with the devasta- tion and flooding caused by Katrina and her aftermath. Some schools sus- tained minimal damage and soon reopened. Others, particularly those in New Orleans, were forced to shut down as they faced a city in tumult, a student body scattered, and a host of questions about what happens next. These schools moved quickly to set up blogs, chat groups, and emer- gency Web sites to keep students, staff, and faculty informed and con- nected. "What everyone wanted most was to know whether everyone was safe," says J. Patrick O'Brien, dean of the College of Business Administration at Loyola University New Orleans. In fact, the near-mirac- ulous power of the Internet has allowed these schools to regroup their administrative teams, working from multiple sites in far-flung cities to communicate, plan their next moves, and even hold a semblance of a fall semester online. One of the first orders of business for these schools was to reassure stu- dents that they would not be forgot- ten and faculty that they were still employed. For instance, at the University of New Orleans, full-time faculty were told they would be paid at least through the end of the fiscal year. Adjunct faculty received salaries through September 30 and some 10 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2005 On September 7, the Tulane University campus in New Orleans is covered by floodwaters following Hurricane Katrina. were rehired on a case-by-case basis, particularly those who could conduct classes online. The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg not only guaranteed faculty a payroll, it worked with FEMA to help find housing and other necessities for staff members whose homes were destroyed. "We're trying to keep people engaged in their lives and moving forward," says Harold Doty, dean of the College of Business. A major goal for all affected uni- versities has been helping their stu- dents find places at other academic institutions.Many Loyola students were able to enroll as transient stu- dents at other Jesuit universities, and thousands enrolled in Louisiana's state university system. In fact, according to Paul Hensel, interim dean of the University of New Orleans' College of Business Administration, so many UNO stu- dents enrolled at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge that some UNO faculty began teaching LSU classes to help with the overflow. But schools across the country and around the world have offered academic homes to the evacuated students, either waiving tuition alto- gether or charging only a minimal fee. "I want to thank sincerely all those universities that have opened their arms to our students," says Hensel. "We've got students at Brown, Oklahoma State, Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, and North Texas State. I have six French- speaking students here from Africa, and the University ofMontreal want- ed to take them in." SouthernMississippi is one of the dozens of schools that have accepted displaced scholars as "visiting stu- dents." Although the Gulfport cam- pus sustained enough damage to be closed at least for the semester, the Hattiesburg campus was up and run- ning again in early September and poised to hold a full semester of classes. According to Doty, "I've declared that any student who was enrolled in higher education at the start of the semester will be admitted. That's without benefit of transcripts. We're fudging on some rules, and we know DAVID J. PHILLIP / AP WIDE WORLD PHOTOS