The University welcomes a new vice president for student success

Dr. Andy J. Benoit Jr. returns to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette after 10 years, stepping into the role of vice president for student success. This newly created position integrates student affairs and enrollment management. 

The appointment was approved by the UL System at its Feb. 26 meeting, and announced by the University on March 5, one day after Dr. Ramesh Kolluru was named president.

Benoit served at UL Lafayette from 2012 to 2016 as director of admissions and recruitment and, later, assistant vice president of enrollment. He shared that his time with the University was a highlight of his higher education journey, so being able to return hugely influenced his decision to assume his new position. He said, “It was a no-brainer for me to be able to come home to the area, and to UL.”

“A little over four years that I spent here, working here, was some of the best of my career.”

Benoit has more than 30 years of experience as a higher education executive on his belt. He shared that over the span of his career, the roles that he took up and the opportunities that he received helped him gain a deeper understanding in student affairs. He said, “All the experiences I’ve had working across the student life cycle… It gives me a unique perspective to understand everything that’s happening in higher ed today relative to those areas.”

“It’s something that I’ve always loved doing,” Benoit said.

Benoit also said that with his experience, he has confidence in what he can bring to the table for the University. “All those things bring a perspective for me to come into this role, to be able to provide the knowledge and expertise and ability to be able to provide a strategic vision for us, to be able to go in a good direction.”

In assuming his new position, Benoit fills a hole in UL Lafayette’s leadership, replacing the former structure where Dean of Students Patricia Cottonham served as vice president for student affairs, and Dr. DeWayne Bowie served as vice president for enrollment management. This restructuring began in December 2025 as a result of budget cuts. 

Explaining the new Division of Student Success which he now oversees, Benoit said that there are 23 departments in the division, all designed with the intention of serving students throughout the entire student life cycle. This includes recruitment, access, retention, graduation and career outcomes, according to UL Lafayette.

He said, “When you merge them all, there’s one singular focus, and that singular focus is the outcome.”

Sharing the approach he intends to take going into the role, Benoit emphasized support for students in ensuring they strive for success. He said, “We want our students to be going through, to navigate the process, to learn, to get the experiences that they need to be successful and to help them find their purpose while they’re here.”

The appointment of Benoit as the new vice president for student success comes amidst a time of recovery for the University from a structural deficit, which saw changes to leadership and administration. Benoit said, “Right now we’re doing, with the new administration, everything, we have a lot of opportunities to be able to move forward.” 

“Impact is something right now that collectively as a cabinet and collectively as an administration, that we are all aligned on because we not only want to make an impact in our community, in the state, our region, but for our students,” he said, commenting on the new leadership and their plans to not just recover from the fiscal crisis, but to also sustain the University for years to come.

Born and raised in Southwest Louisiana, Benoit earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from McNeese State University, Ph.D. from Louisiana State University (LSU) and Doctor of Education from Liberty University.

Benoit has led recruitment, admissions and enrollment efforts at McNeese State University, LSU, University of New Orleans, UL Lafayette, Lander University and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. His most recent position was as vice chancellor for enrollment management at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he helped to rebuild enrollment and fix a structural deficit.