by Leah Jackson
Northwestern State University President Dr. Marcus Jones has announced the appointment of Cole Gentry of Natchitoches as Executive Assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Initiatives.
Gentry, who will join NSU on Feb. 7, “will be involved in all aspects of the university’s operations and initiatives as a liaison to the president’s office and a member of the administrative cabinet,” Jones stated.
Gentry has served since 2019 as Director of Marketing for Southern Scripts of Natchitoches, a national pharmacy benefit management company that has experienced extensive growth and expansion since it was established in 2011.
Before joining Southern Scripts, he served for six years as Director of University Marketing and Branding at Northwestern.
While serving in the Northwestern position, he was also the Digital Media Consultant for the University of Louisiana System that is comprised of nine universities, including NSU.
Gentry was a multimedia development specialist at Northwestern for four years before becoming Director of Marketing and Branding.
Jones said, “Cole has valuable and wide-ranging experience in developing and enhancing the status and prestige of both public and private organizations and in creating and maintaining positive, consistent images for entities and institutions.”
He said Gentry “will provide input and support in enrollment management strategies, budget planning and policies, internal and external communications, academic initiatives, marketing and promotions, student engagement, fund-raising endeavors, information technology, economic development, community service, coordination of events and other projects and programs.”
The NSU president said Gentry “will collaborate closely with the president’s office, vice-presidents, and other administrative personnel to enhance aesthetic consistency across university websites and other platforms, as well as the efficacy of institutional positioning.”
A 2008 graduate in computer information systems from Northwestern State, Gentry received a master’s degree in graphic information technology from the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University in 2018.
Gentry said, “It is an honor to join Dr. Jones and his team at my alma mater, which has such rich history and traditions and a national reputation for excellence in higher education. It is also meaningful to me that both of my parents were on the faculty and staff at NSU for many years and have intense loyalty and respect for the university.”
