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Presidential Search Update!

Presidential Search Update!

by | Oct 29, 2019 | Regent Firsts, School Uniqueness

Presidential Search Update: We Have a Primary Candidate!

Wow. I am proud to say we have a new primary presidential candidate who will take the University of Nebraska to a whole new place.

His name is Ted Carter!

The meetings of the Search Committee were intense and totally focused on finding the right person. Not just a good person or even a great person, but the right fit for the school, the community, and the state.

We asked each candidate to answer the same questions when we met with them. One pleasantly surprising aspect of this process is that it resulted in multiple pages of notes about ideas and programs these intelligent candidates were implementing in their own universities.

This has been and will be a wonderful gift to explore in the years to come.

If a university could be run by a committee, we had an amazing group to do this intensive work. Everyone knew that choosing a primary candidate for the next University of Nebraska President was of critical importance. Members made it a priority. Conversations were respectful and conducted with open minds.

It’s a joy to report that Ted Carter was moved forward with a unanimous vote of 23 out of 23.

He is great with faculty and students, and focuses on student success. Something I did not know was 58% of Naval Academy faculty are tenured faculty. He also has an incredible life partner in his wife, Linda. She is truly committed to their joint goal of bringing the best to the University of Nebraska. 

Ted brings incredible experience to this work. His service to the country has seen him commanding over eighty ships from his bridge on aircraft carriers. He emphasizes communication. He has worked with Congress, state legislatures, mayors and donors alike. He emphasizes the importance of mental health and was assigned to lead a national commissioned report on suicide.

His references say he’s the best of the best.

My favorite thing is that he believes in second chances. He inspires students to seek the best from themselves. I was a big yes on naming him as our primary candidate. I look forward to our thorough vetting period as you get to meet him before we take our final vote!

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

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University Seeking President. Regent Seeking Sleep.

University Seeking President. Regent Seeking Sleep.

by | Oct 21, 2019 | Regent Firsts, School Uniqueness

University Seeking President. Regent Seeking Sleep.

It’s not that I was expecting being a Regent to be a cakewalk. Quite the opposite. And with 300 page reports that come out a week before each committee meeting that deserve a full and detailed read, I’m no stranger to long hours or hard work.

Even so, I’ve been surprised by the amount of time required to seek a new President for the University of Nebraska. Just recently the required reading for the week was at a staggering 800 pages. Let me tell you, that leaves barely enough time to eat and breathe. Forget sleep.

But the commitment of all twenty-three people on the committee to be at every meeting has been remarkable – everyone from Fortune 500 CEO’s to our 4th year med student.

And while there are long days, it’s also a joy to work with such a diverse group of people.

The process has changed significantly since the search for President Bounds. Legislative changes to the process have greatly increased the willingness of interesting qualified candidates to come forward. The biggest difference is that we promise potential candidates confidentiality throughout the process until the board votes to identify a primary candidate.

Then we only announce the primary candidate’s name after he or she is elected by a vote.

Previously, we were legally required to announce the names of the top four candidates forwarded to the board for consideration. What that meant for the candidates is that they had a 1 in 4 chance of landing the position, which really complicated things for those who weren’t selected. That kind of public candidacy could potentially imply that they weren’t happy in their existing position (not necessarily the case) and hurt their ongoing efficacy.

Hence the reluctance of many to even engage in the process.

Now how it works is the Search Advisory Committee forwards names for consideration to the board. The Regents there review the candidates and select one as their primary candidate. This person then spends the next thirty days visiting with all the constituencies across the state to answer questions, which gives all those interested an opportunity to vet their next potential President. After thirty days the committee meets again to vote – yes or no – on the candidate.

If for some reason the candidate or the board decide against the person, the process starts again.

Despite the long nights, the heavy reading, the impossible schedule, I’m feeling hopeful about where we’re headed. I think we can get it right the first time.

 

 

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

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When it Rains, it Floods

When it Rains, it Floods

by | Oct 14, 2019 | School Uniqueness

when it rains, it floods

Even though the writing was on the wall, one of the things that I did not foresee was how much the University of Nebraska would need to deal with flooding issues in the state. To be honest, I don’t think I was the only one in the state who was caught somewhat off guard.

But when the worst did happen and the floodwaters surged across the state, I’m proud to say that everyone on all of our campuses jumped immediately into action.

Flooding hit the town of Kearney hard and fast. When longtime residents as well as travelers in hotels were driven out by dangerous rising waters, University of Nebraska Kearney opened its dorms – which were one of the areas of campus thankfully unaffected – to over 250 people in need of shelter and safety.

Food, bedding and games were provided, additional clothing was available to buy for those who had to leave their luggage and extra clothes behind. UNK staff, students and faculty welcomed everyone with open arms and saw to it that all who needed assistance were taken care of. That, to me, is the definition of what it means to be a community.

When the waters finally did recede, buses were organized to return people to their cars and personal belongings were sent to the addresses provided.

Weddings planned for ballrooms in damaged communal spaces were moved to safe areas on the UNK campus so that people could still celebrate. In fact one couple was so touched by what UNK had done to make their special day happen that they donated the money they received as gifts to UNK to express their gratitude!

It’s easy to be polite and welcoming when everything is going well. When disaster strikes, that’s when you discover the true character of a person, or a place.

Every last person who stepped up and met those challenges and the community with open hearts – acting on behalf of the University and all of us Nebraskans – showed their true colors and made us proud.

 

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

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The Writing on the Wall

The Writing on the Wall

by | Oct 7, 2019 | Education Budget

The Writing on the Wall

These days I think I spend 90% of my time reading. In addition to the reading I have to do for the committee meetings, I am also reading as much as I can about innovations in higher education. I like to tune into Nebraskans talking about what they think about our university system.

One point that’s been made loud and clear is the need to find a way to retain and accelerate students toward the 13,000 unfilled employment opportunities in our state.

Generally, Nebraska’s best and brightest tend leave after high school for educational opportunities offering better financial packages, among other things. Take the University of Nebraska Regent Scholarship for example. The scholarship is prestigious and it covers tuition (a waiver of tuition fees), which is great but these same talented students are being offered scholarships from other schools that cover all expenses, including tuition, room and board, books, etc. To give you a sense of what that means to a prospective student, those non-tuition costs account for up to 40% of the cost of going to a four-year school. That’s a significant sum.

The hard truth is that we cannot be competitive with scholarships that are tuition remission only.

We must find a way to match other scholarship offers. We need to offer more incentives like pathways to interesting internships that entice students.

Okay, Barbara, you say – that’s all well and good but many students want to have an experience outside of Nebraska. What about that?

For one thing, we can work to entice them back with graduate school scholarships, try to win them back with post-grad school connections and job opportunities.

There’s no one easy answer, but what I’m saying is let’s get creative. Let’s try to keep as many promising students as we can and make our graduate programs and opportunities so amazing that even if they do go out of state for their undergrad degree, we can attract them back for grad school. 

All three of my children left Nebraska for school, and all three came back home for the incredible jobs Nebraska had to offer.

There’s nothing wrong with change, with branching out, with exploration. But let’s not forget what we as Nebraskans have to offer, and how we can think outside of the box to make it even better.

Let’s read the writing on the wall… and then rewrite it.

 

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

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