7 questions with ... new LIT President Sidney Valentine

With more than half a year at the helm under his belt, The Enterprise sat down with President Valentine in his LIT office to discuss what his tenure has been like so far and what his plans are for the institution.

Q: Tell me a little bit about how you found yourself at LIT. How did you discover the college, and why did you ultimately choose to work here?

A: As far as wanting to take the job, every last one of my degrees is in engineering. I have one in electrical engineering and the last two in computer engineering. To say that skill set fits like a hand in a glove with this institution would be an understatement because we're heavy (into) technology (and) we're heavy into technology all the time. So, when I was looking to apply here, I was looking for a presidency that would be a very good fit. I wanted to go somewhere that could make an impact. Being here, the types of programs I want to start, we're going to be able to ramp them up very quickly. There's a lot of really good things going here. I've always liked Texas -- I've been to a lot of national conferences here and I've really liked the area.

(On getting the job) I got a call on a Thursday for a (Zoom) interview on a Monday; the next morning I got asked to come to Houston for an in-person interview, did the interview that Monday. When the plane landed in Orlando (Florida), they called and asked me to come back to Austin to interview with (Texas State University System Chancellor Brian McCall) and then as we do in Texas, (there) was a 21-day waiting period. The (Board of Regents) approved me on the 10th of August and then I started the next day. This is probably the single fastest move I've ever made in my life. From the time they hired me to the time I was here, it was three weeks.

Q: Tell me what your tenure has been like so far. Has there been anything that surprised you? Any challenges?

A: Not really. Oddly enough, this school was what I thought it would be. The faculty and staff are fantastic. It's been very clear to me that everyone at this institution is really student-centered. I like that. It's not that all schools aren't, but some schools are more than others. Our faculty, our staff, they really engage the students. I like the fact that all of our instructors here, especially the ones in the technical and allied health areas, have been practitioners in the field. It's nice when you're looking at a student and can tell them, 'This is what I actually did as part of my career.' 

Everybody thought I would have a hard time getting used to Beaumont coming from Florida, but I love it here. These are very nice people, it's a great community. Everybody I've ran into are as nice as they can be and are in it for the success of LIT and the various colleges in the area. You can tell they're very genuine, they make sure that I get to meet who I need to make sure that we can get into the various areas for student success, to be able to do something for the students. In that regard, there were no surprises. I live in Beaumont because I like to live in Beaumont and be in Beaumont. I think it's important if you represent the institution, that you live in the community that you represent.

When I moved here, they were dropping off my furniture and things and (one of the movers) said, 'Why Beaumont?' And I said, 'Why not?' You're not looking at what I'm looking at. You're not seeing what I'm seeing. Beaumont, Texas, the possibilities are endless.

Q: At the passing of the torch ceremony in August, you said your broad vision for LIT was to 'dream bigger.' What are some of the big dreams you have for this college?

A: I think this college is primed and ready for a National Science Foundation grant to start an advanced technology centered that's funded by (the foundation). Those grants are anywhere from $9 to $12 million a grant. They go for three to five years and you can apply for it over and over again. I think if we pick the right (program), such as process technology, it would put this college on the map to be the national leader in process technology. That would be huge for this area.

When I looked at this institution, when I was going for my interview, they asked me a question like, 'How are you going to make it bigger?' And when you see things like BASF gives a donation, ExxonMobil names a building, how do you compete with that? What I noticed from an outsider looking in, is there's no reason in this world (LIT) shouldn't be on a national stage with all of that huge support. I want this college to be the hub of where business and industry comes to get their workers. The one question (businesses looking to come to the area) always have is 'Where are we going to get our workers?' I want them to be able to come to this college and say, 'OK, you've got 4,700 students, how can we get those students and utilize them in our facilities?' Why don't we train them early? The vision is that when they (graduate), they're work ready immediately. You shouldn't have to spend the next six months training them, they should walk in the facility and be immediately useful and immediately adding value to that company.

I think we're there, we just need to do it bigger now. We need to dream bigger than we ever have. Don't assume LIT is a small institution -- LIT is bigger than most (institutions) in a two-year sector. We're sized just right to be able to do big things for these industries that we're involved in around here. Over time, it would be very nice to get up to 6,000-9,000 students as long as we grow smart and we're not just throwing masses of people into the workforce where there's not a job. We have a 95% placement rate of people that graduate from here, I want to keep it that way.

Q: Were there any goals that you set for yourself to achieve in your first year, either for yourself or the college as a whole?

A: To keep enrollment going up. This college has done quite well with that. You hear a lot of people out there in the world today giving their opinions on education. Education is necessary for anything, some version of education, be it a certificate, be it a Ph.D.

Our enrollment continues to rise here. Right now, sitting in this seat today, I think we're up another 10% or 11%, which is great. I want to try to get more traditional-for-our-sector students in here. Our dual credit (program) is growing in leaps and bounds. I want to start getting more of those traditional college students in here, anywhere from 18 to 80 (years old). People that have already graduated and now they're looking at LIT as their school of choice and that's important. When I came here, I wanted this to be (students') school of choice, not 'I had to go there,' (but) 'I want to go there. That's the institution I picked a long time ago because I see my future and I see it starting right at LIT.' 

One of my goals was to make sure our students see themselves as 'gold-collar workers' (people who keep everything running). Our students are the foundation of anything that goes on. Obviously one of the goals for the long term (is to) create that technology center to put LIT in the map because Beaumont deserves it. A lot of really smart people way before me figured out that this institution could help grow this community. I just want to put something in place here that continues that growth and highlights what we actually do.

Q: We talk a lot about growing or maintaining growth -- how do you make sure that the institution can keep up with that growth and sustain, say, 5,000 more students enrolling in the college?

A: You always want to be recruiting good adjuncts, recruiting good instructors. You have to stay ahead of the game, recruiting more staff, revising because retention is huge. We want to have our retention rate up to 65-70%. We have to do something every year, that's a building utilization study. If we're finding that we're using buildings too close to capacity, that's when I go down to the Chancellor's office and say, 'OK, we need to start figuring out how we can work to get legislators to help fund this,' because we have a capacity problem. We don't have capacity problem right now, but that's what master plans are for.

That's what long term planning is for. You look at programs, unfortunately, that aren't helping the community, you're not getting lots of students, you phases those out to phase new ones in. But if you get the right kind of instructors, they can teach in multiple areas. So it really doesn't affect the instructors per se, you get your faculty and staff professionally developed so that they're always ahead of the next big thing. We just put out what the market will bear and we work with a lot of the companies to say, What do you see coming?' We have advisory groups for every one of our programs and they tell us what that model is looking like over time.

Q: How have you worked with Lamar University and the Lamar State Colleges of Port Arthur and Orange?

A: I have no business to compete with the other colleges in my area, we work like a hand in a glove. Going back to what you asked, something that surprised me here is that all the Lamars work so well together. We really do. When I first saw all these colleges in close proximity to each other, I wondered. But the Chancellor and his staff and all of our presidents work very, very well together and the system makes sure it stays that way.

We talk to each other when we're starting programs -- you would never see me starting a maritime program, Dr. (Tom) Johnson does quite well with it at Orange, we literally have him coming in here to do that for us. That's how you sustain that growth. If I see students coming in, it's not all for Dr. Valentine and for LIT.  It's 'OK well, you guys are going to be a growth in that program, go see them in Orange.' I have no problem with that, just as they would do for me. If a student came in here and said, 'I'm determined, I want to go to the university,' then we'll figure out a way to put them in some of our programs to help them transfer, so that we're not flooding the market or trying to be something that's foundationally what we aren't. You watch what's coming in, you watch market trends, you talk to industry, you talk to business, you talk to the other colleges and you make sure you're making the smart decision for everything.

Q: What do you wish more people, either students, community members in general, knew about LIT and how will you work to get our that message?

A: You could come here from anywhere for six months to two years and make a career out something that will benefit you for the rest of your life. Something that you can turn into your own small business, something that you could very easily support a family on and them some and then make a very good career out of. 

I want (people) to see LIT as the place that if you want to be a truly skilled technical individual, you come here. It's almost like we're one of the best kept secrets in Beaumont. I see it as the next big thing.

olivia.malick@hearst.com

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