Louisiana Là - Mark Zappi stepped into the position as the new dean of the University of Louisiana's College of Engineering on Aug. 16. Zappi replaces Anthony Ponter, who has returned to the classroom. The new dean shared his plans and goals for the college with Advertiser reporter Marsha Sills.

Q How is it being back at UL?

A I got my civil engineering degree here. It's great to be an engineer in this town that's so technically savvy. Lafayette has a long history with those in the oil industry, telecom, government and academia invested in technology.

Q What do you see are some of the challenges you face as the new dean?

A The obvious one, which is something that literally popped out of the Gulf, is Katrina and Rita. The dramatic cuts in higher education are painful. Some of the challenges outside of the funding cuts are to grow undergraduate student numbers. I really see with any amount of effort it should be fairly easy to grow. Now we have about 1,200, and I'd like it to be 1,600 in a few years. The same with the graduate student effort. We have such a potential to grow our research productivity. One day I envision a Ph.D. program offered in the college.

Q How do you plan to work on recruitment?

A I've been comparing UL's engineering program to about 20 colleges. By percentage it's slightly below average for the southeastern United States. ... I see a lot of room for growth. I want to grow diversity of the college both in faculty ranks and students. I'm a firm believer in recruiting, but retention is just as important. If a student only stays a semester or two or three and then they leave, then we've failed.

Q What other goals do you have for the college?

A Another key aspect of growth in the college is economic development. I'm coming from Mississippi State where we were one of the major drivers of economic development. I'm used to working with state, local and federal policy-makers. I want to continue that role.

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Marsha Sills