April 2019 - Weitz Up

Best Kept Secrets

by Alisa | Apr 29, 2019 | School Uniqueness

WANT TO HEAR A SECRET (or three)?

I have a secret. Actually, I have many secrets. While they’re not exactly juicy tabloid fodder, they’re more than front-page worthy. Do I have your attention yet? Good. Because as Regent, I’ve discovered that these three programs are some of the University of Nebraska’s best kept secrets – and they shouldn’t be.

Secret #1: M.O.R.E. is More

It stands for Mobile Operating Room Experience. It’s a state-of-the-art training lab fitted with an ER, ambulance bay, and even moving, talking “dummies” that act as patients. It’s changing lives. Oh yeah, and it’s on wheels. Housed in a semi-truck and funded by a grant, this specialized lab can roll into any little town or rural area to provide much-needed medical training to local hospitals and fire departments. Did I mention that because it’s funded by a grant, it’s also free.

We’re talking about a necessary service here – a high-tech, much-needed, mobile training oasis in the medical desert. What M.O.R.E. do you need?

Secret #2: There’s Just Something About Yoga Balls

You may already know that University of Nebraska has an excellent record for teacher training. You may also know that there’s a town called Kearny about three hours’ drive from Omaha. And I assume you’ve heard of yoga balls. We’re off to a good start. Did you know that one of the Education professors at the Kearney campus (yes, it exists) conducted an experiment in elementary school classes with – you guessed it – yoga balls?

One local 2nd grade class was given yoga balls to sit on as chairs, a different 2nd grade class was given extra recess, and a third 2nd grade class went about business as usual. The idea was to study the behaviors of all three classes to determine whether the yoga balls had any effect on the students’ performances. Spoiler alert: they did. The kids on the yoga balls – having a consistent, non-distracting outlet for their excess energy – outperformed their classmates and had an easier time focusing on the class. Imagine what schools across the state could do with this study – if only they knew about it.

Bottom line: education is innovation.

Secret #3: Rolling in Green

How would you feel about riding horses to school? Being on a rodeo team? More importantly, how would you feel about having a guaranteed job upon graduation in a field you care about? Sounds like a pipe dream in this economy, right? Well if you’re interested in agriculture or becoming a veterinarian, our tiny campus in Curtis, Nebraska is where such pipe dreams come true.

This exceptional program teaches students everything they need to know about ranching and farming, but also critical technical skills like how to fix a center pivot irrigation system. Think about it – if you’re out in the middle of nowhere and your system goes down, you’re going to have to wait forever to get it fixed… unless you know how to fix it yourself. Save time, save money, save your business. Companies, ranchers, and vet’s offices are waiting in line for this program’s graduates because – get this – there are only three hundred students. The only reason this program can’t host more interested students is because it’s on the campus of an old boy’s tech school and the University could only afford sprinklers for one dorm. Sprinklers.

These are just three of University of Nebraska’s many innovative and dynamic programs that have the potential to make some major waves in Nebraskans’ lives and communities. The first step: someone has to hear about it.

Secret’s out. And that’s a good thing.

*Barbara’s thoughts as written by Kate based on weekly (fascinating) conversations.

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What’s Wrong With This Picture?

by Alisa | Apr 24, 2019 | Education Budget

What's wrong with this picture?

Picture, if you will, a prison. Tall, solid, concrete, surrounded by ample fencing and gleaming barbed wire. Cells freshly painted a neutral beige, high-end electronic security systems installed throughout. Throngs of inmates are watched closely by prison guards in crisp uniforms. It’s new, it’s expensive, and it shows.

Now, picture a campus. Cheerful brick buildings surrounded by greenery where students make their way to a variety of classes. The teachers are the brightest and the best, and the attendance in well-equipped classrooms reflects that. In the cafeteria, students chat about weekend plans, career ambitions, and competing job offers, rather than dread of tuition hikes and crushing loans. It’s not impossible, it’s within our grasp, and that matters.

college campus, affordable tuition, university jobs

You may think these two visions have nothing to do with one another.

Unfortunately, they very much do. Because where states choose to invest is a clear statement of priorities. It’s a sad fact that as state tax revenues go down the legislature has cut the University of Nebraska’s operating budgets to lower and lower amounts, while simultaneously pouring money into industries such as – you guessed it – the prison system. Now I’m all for safety and justice and a solution to overcrowding but let’s think about this for a moment.

By continually slashing the budget for education, universities turn to raising tuition rates, putting even more undue pressure on students to shoulder the financial burden, which in turn leads to students dropping out altogether. It also means fewer incentives for great teachers and staff to stay in a system plagued by uncertainty that undervalues them at every turn. As budget cuts continue we risk losing our best faculty and students, our future thinkers and leaders to other states that invest wisely in their university systems.

Let’s look at how this plays out in another practical sense.

Nebraska has a problem with workforce shortage, which leaves companies shipping jobs out elsewhere. One solution? Shore up universities to ensure that we’re recruiting, educating, and releasing into the workforce a large cadre of excellently trained people who will grow and strengthen our industries and economy across the state. It’s pretty straightforward. But what’s the solution that the Governor and some lawmakers are currently pushing for? Give tax incentive packages to large companies to entice them to build here. Here’s why that doesn’t work: let’s say these companies come – they make plenty of profit, pay next to nothing in taxes to support the local infrastructure, and then after a couple years of skilled labor shortage, they jump ship and go elsewhere. How on earth is this a solution that benefits Nebraskans?

There are ways we can find additional resources to make up the funding gap, but we have to think creatively, we have to be bold. Public and private partnerships, entrepreneurship opportunities, even creating our own form of student loans that prioritize student need rather than bleeding them dry before they’ve even had a chance to succeed. Ultimately though we have to ask ourselves – what really matters to us, as Regents, as students and teachers, as Nebraskans?

Picture, if you will, a future for your children and grandchildren that fills you with hope and pride. Now tell me, is there any barbed wire in sight?