Meet the President

Brand New Day Header Art

Dr. Wade Rousse was announced on April 25, 2024 as the eighth president of McNeese State University.

As an undergraduate, the time I spent living and learning at McNeese provided the foundation for everything that came after in my life. Returning here in 2019 felt like coming home. I’m so excited about taking on this new role and being able to give back to the university that gave me my start! My entire journey has been preparing me for this moment, and I could not be more excited about what lies ahead.

Dr. Wade Rousse
Dr. Wade Rousse headshot

It’s a Brand New Day at McNeese!

The last few years have been challenging times at McNeese, but I am convinced that our brightest days are still ahead! With a clearly-defined and streamlined set of measurable enrollment goals, a focus on life-changing student success, and a unified and re-energized brand, McNeese will be positioned to thrive as a regional leader in workforce development.


New 2024 Horse and Rider academic logo
McNeese State University

Enrollment.

Our initial primary university goal will be to stabilize enrollment. We must stabilize enrollment to stabilize the budget, and to do this, we must prioritize two factors that contribute to our overall enrollment — recruiting new students and retaining existing students.

We will focus on recruitment at all levels: high school graduates, online students, adult learners and more.

We will find opportunities to create exceptional McNeese Student Experiences by leveraging our very unique, family-like Southwest Louisiana culture to facilitate networks that support our students academically and professionally. This will increase persistence rates.

Every employee at McNeese has the power to positively impact student lives, so every employee has an important role to play in stabilizing and growing enrollment. To support this goal, the Executive Leadership Team is redesigning the reporting structure of the university to enable everyone to measure success with clear and quantifiable objectives.

Job Placement.

McNeese is a regional leader in workforce development and we consistently demonstrate our significance in terms of economic impact in Southwest Louisiana.

We will ensure that our academic curricula are market-driven, and that our students leave McNeese with the skills they need to be gainfully employed upon graduation. We also want our graduates to be lifelong learners, so our exceptional faculty will continue to inspire students to be curious, to be pioneers in their chosen discipline, and to achieve more than they imagined.

McNeese State University