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You Have 1,001 Notifications

You Have 1,001 Notifications

You Have 1,001 Notifications

It starts with the magic iPad. That’s what I call it. All Regents are assigned a designated iPad for all communications to do with the university. It comes with some pretty fantastic programs designed to help us keep organized. There’s ‘Receptionist,’ which aggregates news that has to do with academics. There’s ‘Board Effect,’ which manages supporting documents associated with meetings and committees. It’s a great tool. What it doesn’t come equipped with, however, is an instruction manual for how to prioritize the tsunami of information that comes our way.

On any given day, there will be a flood of invites to events, meetings, groundbreakings, ceremonies, and more – all worthwhile, almost all overlapping.

My inbox is populated with everything from press release notifications to football updates to emails from some reliable regulars who aren’t shy about sharing their pointed, sometimes sarcastic, typically funny and insightful thoughts. 

I feel pulled in a hundred directions all at once.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good problem to have, I am just still trying to figure out how to give everyone and everything the attention they deserve. Did you know that about ten days prior to a committee meeting Regents will receive ‘supporting documents’ pertinent to that meeting, and that they often add up to about 300 pages? I sure didn’t. That’s a novel’s worth of information, and it’s all really important to make a sound, informed decision. It’s a big responsibility, and not one that I take lightly.

So as I’m wading through the flood of directions for August graduations, invites, notifications and a ton of documentation, there are three things I try to keep in mind:

I can’t do everything, but I will do as much as I can.

It’s all about what’s best for the school, the community.

Keep breathing.

 

 

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

150 going on 200

150 going on 200

150 going on 200

I’ve walked you through my experience of getting ready for my first Regent committee meeting. Today I want to share what I discovered that day and continue to learn about how we’re trying to address pressing issues but also how we’re trying to think big picture ten, twenty, fifty years down the line. Because it’s critical to think ahead. Because we want to be ready for the future when it arrives. Because it goes by fast. Because as an institution and as a community, we really are 150 going on 200.

Let’s start with something physical, tangible. There’s a lot of discussion around maintenance – particularly deferred maintenance – which is an ongoing need when you’re dealing with buildings that are 150 years old and need everything from updated electronics, sprinkler systems, and a whole host of general upkeep.

A lot of colleges struggle with this issue.

And when our state doesn’t put any money toward the badly needed deferred maintenance (with the exception of Memorial Stadium, the only building that receives continual maintenance) then we’re looking at some tough decisions about whether to refurbish a building or to tear it down. I’m kind of a softie for historical buildings but I discovered that there is actually a formula that has been developed to help make that determination. Still, it’s not always an easy choice: to build or to maintain?

Speaking of physical, let’s talk about sports. We know that concussions in football are a serious problem, so much so that in Florida the youngest leagues that started in kindergarten have been suspended for fear of long-term damage to children’s brains. We also know it’s a beloved team sport that can have a big impact on people’s lives. So where’s the middle ground between protecting students’ health and celebrating a beloved sport?

There’s a new helmet design out there with the capacity to record and measure all kinds of impact data and relay that information wirelessly to a computer on the sidelines monitored by the coaching team.

That way teams can monitor (and in theory, respond proactively to) potentially damaging or dangerous situations that could put the student athlete at risk. Could be very useful. 

But hey, let’s go a little further down the sports-talk rabbit hole. We have an almost religious devotion to football but there are a number of other engaging, dynamic sports to consider.

Our women’s volleyball team for example is a national champion and their games are constantly sold out.

Maybe it would be worth moving their games to a bigger arena, sharing the spotlight, encouraging more variety in our athletic devotion. When there’s so much to celebrate, why not widen our focus?

At the end of the day, deferred maintenance and school sports are just two of many, many aspects of our university that will benefit from some forward thinking. Whether it’s academic, social, financial, or structural, a successful future will require an openness to explore new ideas today.

And all of these discussions got me thinking about this: what is a Regent’s role in preparing for the future?

In some ways, I see us as guardians. As guides. We’re here to do all we can to ensure that the entire University of Nebraska community has reason to celebrate its 200th birthday as much as its 150th.

 

 

 

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

First Day of (Regent) School

First Day of (Regent) School

First Day of (Regent) School

It started with the outfit. I wasn’t really sure what to wear. What says First-Time-Regent-Long-Time-Educator-Open-To-Learning-Anything-and-Everything? A pants suit? A dress? I was excited but also nervous. It was time for my first committee meeting as Regent of University of Nebraska. The topic? Audit and Risk Management.

That morning kicked off a real growing awareness of how critical Regents’ jobs are to the University system, the economy, the whole state. So, you know, no pressure.

When I was a girl my parents used to bring me to the East campus across the street from Varner Hall, where the hospitality program lived for special family dinners. The waiters used to wear white gloves and my mother would tease me about the “cuties,” much to my constant embarrassment. They were fond memories, even when my cheeks flushed or I felt butterflies in my stomach. Varner Hall – a familiar sight – serves as an admin building and as I walked through for the first time as a Regent, with the warm greetings and enthusiastic welcomes, it felt like a homecoming. The butterflies returned as well, although for a very different reason.

So the way it works with Regents is that each of us serves on two different committees. There are four total: Academic Affairs, Business Affairs, Executive Committee, and Audit and Risk Management. That last one sounds like a party, huh? It was decided for me that as a new Regent I’d serve on the Business Affairs and Audit and Risk Management Committees. I’ll be honest, I was a little surprised that I wasn’t assigned to Academic Affairs, given my teaching background. I wanted to be helpful, useful.

I thought to myself, “how can I possibly ever learn enough to make wise decisions that benefit everyone and balance the interests of students, faculty, and taxpayers alike?”

Fortunately, I didn’t have to answer that alone. You see, all new Regents serve on the Audit and Risk Management Committee because it is one of the best ways to get familiar with the system as a whole. I realized how clever it was – how necessary – to have such diverse backgrounds on this particular committee, and how understanding the big picture gives you a greater appreciation for how different pieces of the University can work together in tandem, in harmony.

The decisions we make have implications for years to come. That started to sink in.

As did the fact that at a giant roundtable of intelligent and well-spoken people, my specially assigned iPad (for Regent communications) was the only one not working. Fantastic.

Overall, it was a great experience. Painful sometimes – first days usually are in some ways – but invaluable. At the end of the day, the butterflies flew off, replaced by the overwhelming energy of welcome.

 

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

*Photo Cred: University of Nebraska, Lincoln

A Woman for President? Yes Please!

A Woman for President? Yes Please!

A Woman for President? Yes Please!

A Woman for President? Yes Please!

An incredible first happened last week.

The Regents voted to make our interim President for the University of Nebraska… a woman.

Not just any woman, our new interim President who will keep the university system moving in the right direction while we work to find a permanent replacement is Dr. Susan Fritz, current Provost and second overall in the administrative hierarchy.

Part of what’s so wonderful about this choice is that she and Dr. Bounds (our outgoing President) are a great team and have worked very well together for four years, which should help to smooth this otherwise unpredictable process.

There is no proven “right” way to choose a new university President – there are a lot of ideas about how to conduct the search, and where, and with whom. We still have quite a journey ahead of us before we’re swearing in a new permanent President to lead the University of Nebraska. But I am both relieved and completely thrilled to know that in the meantime, the school and community I love and adore will be in Dr. Susan Fritz’s capable hands.

She knows the university through and through, having been a student, then a professor, then an Associate Dean and an Associate Provost before she was appointed Provost. She has always met students and faculty where they were, both geographically and relationally, and was one administrator who made sure to frequent other campuses. Her blood runs Husker and she’s certain to be an intelligent, conscientious, and compassionate leader.

Our very first woman President!

Come August 15th she’ll start her work as Interim President and I can’t wait to see what she’ll accomplish. It’s been a long time coming and it’s so exciting to be a part of this historic moment in the university’s history – I look forward to working with her.

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

The Future is Cow

The Future is Cow

The FUTURE IS COW

The future is now, and not just in our smart phones and appliances. That’s how it felt to see how the University of Nebraska research center is using technology to benefit agriculture in the cleverest ways.

Take cattle feed, for example. Not something that comes up in everyone’s every day conversation, sure, but if you’re a rancher it’s a popular topic. The research center is studying the most beneficial feed plan for cattle.

“They have different breeds of cows in pens and each cow has an ear tag with a chip in it. The pen has a feed trough with bars that only one cow at a time can stick their head through to reach the feed.”

 

The chip in the cow’s tag sends a signal to a computer that weighs the feed before and after the cow eats and pulls its head out. They can then track the feeding data for each cow, so as the cows grow they gather statistics on how they put on weight, size, and can monitor the health of calves.

Research like this helps our Nebraska ranchers raise their herds with the best possible outcome in the most resource efficient manner. To take the guesswork out of feed is to save time, money, and raise healthy, happy cows. Not to mention happy ranchers.

Whether it’s cows or corn or anything in between, efficiency in agriculture is critical.

The same research center has a simulator that trains crop-dusting pilots in wind tunnels that can produce winds up to two hundred miles per hour. Because crop-dusting entails a lot more than just getting from point A to point B, this simulator can also measure the size of chemical droplets, the density of the plant coverage, and the amount of drift expected (how much chemical is flying into the wrong crop area).

“They are experimenting with water conservation by running tubes under crops at different heights to determine if they can save water from evaporation by dispersing it underground.”

Every variable is tested – should the tube be eighteen inches below the plant? Twelve inches? Computers measure environmental factors like rain for their part of the plant cycle to get a full picture of what works best.

“Did you know there are more than thirty-five invasive weed species in Nebraska?”

The University of Nebraska research center has samples of each species taken from many different environments, climates, and soil around the state.

“They found that thirty-five species became over 1,500 variations.”

Wild, right? Well they’re testing all 1,500 weed variations for how they absorb chemicals and working with the EPA to help reduce the amount of chemical needed. Good for plants. Good for people.

 

 

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