VP Rotary Club welcomes recent guests

By: HEATHER
BOGARD
Lifestyles Editor

November 24, Meeting
Rotarian Dr. Ted Ardoin invited Dr. Kimberly A. Russell, LSUE’s new chancellor, to address the November 24, meeting of the Ville Platte Rotary Club. She gave a brief background, noting her father was the second to last of 13 children and that she was the first in her family to graduate from college. She was previously with Tyler Jr. College in Tyler, Texas, for 16 years before taking over the reigns at LSUE in September 2015. She said she has experience in what students go through while in college and said she was thankful to be in the warm area of South Louisiana and is looking forward to serving the area.
Russell noted that enrollment at LSUE had tapered off since 2010, which she said is not unusual for two-year institutions. She said that when the economy is bad, enrollment peaks, and then levels off. With the oil and gas economy currently down, LSU has partnered with Lake Charles to provide training for the projected increase in population to the area as the workforce begins to increase. She noted that LSUE will play a role in this training, as many of the projected influx of residents may move into the Ville Platte, Eunice areas.
She also said that degree demand in high tech fields will continue to grow and noted that the school is working with the workforce development group to create programs to meet the needs of our region’s economy. To that end, she said that LSUE is looking to partner with other four year campuses and shared that beginning in the fall of 2016, a recruiter from LSUA will be on campus at LSUE to assist students.
Russell stated that of course LSUE and LSU in Baton Rouge have an ongoing partnership with many two plus two programs available in many fields.
She said the school will be expanding the nursing and health sciences fields including an lpn to rn transition program to help fill the shortage of rns statewide. She added that the nursing staff and hospitals have stepped up to help with the amount of students.
Russell noted that LSUE has a great student transfer rate of success due to the “less intimidating” campus.
She said LSUE is looking into expanding it dual enrollment program, which will allow students to earn college credits while still in high school.
She closed by saying she was excited to be here.
December 1, Meeting
Rotarian Bill Brunet invited attorney Alex “Sonny” Chapman to address the December 1, meeting of the Ville Platte Rotary Club. Chapman has been a practicing attorney for 36 years and currently serves as the director of the Evangeline Parish Indigent Defender Board (IDB), a position he has held since 2007.
Chapman gave a brief history of the indigent defender program, noting it faced major changes in the late 1950s when Clarence Gideon of Florida filed a writ with the Supreme Court saying the Bill of Rights gives citizens the right to have the assistance of an attorney if they could not afford one. In 1961, the Supreme Court ruled in his favor.
In 2007, Chapman noted, the state began funding the program and Evangeline Parish was provided with four felony attorneys, two juvenile attorneys and two investigators. Two thirds of the funding for the attorneys’s fees came from the state, and the other third came from local court fees. He noted that the board is on budget through May, despite less funding coming in from the state. The board now has three felony attorneys and two juvenile attorneys.
He noted that each attorney on the board handles approximately 200 felony cases each year, even though they should only be handling about half the number of cases. He closed by noting that his practice is approximately split 50/50, with half of his cases from his private practice and the other half from the IDB.