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What Next?

What Next?

by | Jul 31, 2020 | Regent Firsts, Uncategorized

What Next?

This might seem like a weird statement while we are struggling to get a grasp on the present, but I’m going to go ahead and say it: we need to plan for the future.

How do we do that when we don’t know what tomorrow looks like, you ask? Good question. I’m not entirely sure, but I have some ideas.

While reading an article last week talking about how critical it is right now to continue planning for the future, I was struck by what young people must be going through. This formative period when kids grow into young adults comes with enough stress, doubt, and anxiety as-is.

The question I keep hearing when I listen to people talk about what’s going on is, “what’s next?”

What’s next for me as a student? What’s next for my family as a parent? What’s next for me as a professor? What’s next for children, or for my career? That question creates whole new level of anxiety on top of what we’re facing right now, which is why it’s important to keep an eye on investing in the future.

Even though we don’t know exactly what the future will look like (do we ever, really?), we need to collectively believe it can be a good one if we invest in it the right way.

Not only do we need to keep our students safe, we also need to create better, more effective systems that move them efficiently into what they want to do after university. And education needs to be accessible regardless of your background or financial situation.

On that front, I really appreciate that President Ted Carter is so proactive. He’s someone who addresses reality, comes up with a plan, and keeps moving forward. Initiatives like the Nebraska Promise and freezing tuition are important to start to answer that question of what’s next.

For better or worse, everything we do is being called into question – what we teach, how we teach, where we teach it. The curious side of me wonders how we parlay this challenge into a bright and safe future for anyone who wants to finish a degree, change their job, simply learn more about the world, or get certified in a field they love and care about.

It’s also critical that we help students stay in school. That requires outstanding advisement, access to resources, and clear communication between students, faculty, staff, and advisors.

My hope is that we emerge from this crisis with new willingness to re-think things regularly, and to make change more timely.

Let’s start looking at what we want in the future so that we can reverse engineer it. Start the process in the present. So that when time is right, we’ll be ready.

 

 

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

 

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Huskers Unite

Huskers Unite

by | Jul 23, 2020 | Regent Firsts

Huskers Unite

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that some of you are football fans. Maybe even Big Red fans. I’m also going to guess that some of you reading this love watching women’s volleyball, and that a lot of you are Huskers at heart.

If you’re anything like me and you love our athletes and want to see them play in the fall, there are three things we can all do to try and make that happen.

Wearing masks. Social distancing. Good hand hygiene.

That’s it. A simple trifecta. Our behavior now affects our student athletes’ ability to play safely down the road. It boils down to a combined and concerted effort to take care of each other. I wholeheartedly believe this is something we can achieve, we just need to unite our efforts and make it happen.

It’s not enough to start wearing a mask when you walk into the football stadium for the first time, or into the gymnasium to watch our incredible women’s volleyball team. The more responsible we are now, the more reward come fall.

There are a lot of questions out there about how best to move forward while keeping overall safety and quality education as our top priorities. While there is somewhat of a black hole with political leadership and guidance around COVID-19, we’re fortunate to have such a thoughtful, proactive President in Ted Carter. His entire team, in tandem with other University of Nebraska leadership, are continually evaluating and adjusting based on the latest information and scientific research.

Even so, I’ll admit I’m personally a little nervous about the upcoming regents meeting in August. It’s the first face-to-face meeting since the pandemic kicked off. Given that I’m part of a vulnerable population health-wise, I’m worried about being in a room for three to four hours at a time, even with a mask.

However, since this is a public meeting, I can’t participate as a regent – meaning I can’t vote, or properly fulfill my duties – if I don’t go. It’s a tricky spot to be in. I know I’m not alone in facing these kinds of choices.

All that to say, I know we are each confronted with a lot of challenging questions right now. It’s a continual adjustment. It’s a struggle for me to decide about one meeting, let alone an entire season or semester. With whole conferences looking at canceling their fall sports, we have to consider what it would take to keep everyone safe.

What if we could all get behind the idea of wanting to keep each other protected?

What if our desire to see our football team, or our volleyball team, were part of that motivation? I don’t think that would be a bad thing. Whatever it takes for us to mask up, keep our distance, and keep our community safe.

 

 

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

*Photo credibility: NU Athletic Communications

 

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Secure IT

Secure IT

by | Jul 13, 2020 | Regent Firsts, School Uniqueness

Secure IT

One of our jobs as regents is to keep watch over all the physical systems at the university. We constantly review the work being done to ensure that we are avoiding any risks to the security of our policies and systems.

This includes many more arenas than I ever considered. The trickiest (in my estimation) is the cyber networks.

These networks are used on all of our campuses by everyone – students, faculty, administration, and researchers. It’s a massive and critical operation.

So you can only imagine the challenges that the IT department has to deal with on a daily- no, hourly basis. Equipment varying in age only adds to the challenge of defending our university network against all kinds of phishing and ransomware attacks.

Last week our committee heard from the incredible people in charge of dealing with this.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t realize the scope of the problem. It’s truly mind-boggling. Just recently they stopped 36,000 phishing attacks and three ransomware attacks.

And don’t get me started on Zoom. As a result of the pandemic and the need to operate virtually, we’ve used thirty-five million minutes of zoom conference time.

One Sunday the IT department found a major breach and the team had help from all its campus teams and the med center to solve the mystery and end the attack. While these kinds of attacks are frightening to think about, I was impressed and encouraged by the swift and focused teamwork.

While fending off attacks, this team has also been working to create a seamless system that monitors, repairs and secures our campuses across the state. The university partners with other universities like Rutgers, Duke, Indiana and Northwestern to strengthen each other’s systems.

Part of this effort has been a complex study of how to stop bad actors from damaging or stealing our data through firewalls and other innovative prevention programs. All of this work keeps our data safely encrypted and equipment operating while the pandemic has disrupted our classes and had us sheltering in our homes.

In a world of so much unknown, it’s a relief to know such smart, dedicated people are working hard to keep the university running. They’re keeping all of us connected.

 

 

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

 

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Independence Day

Independence Day

by | Jul 2, 2020 | Uncategorized

Independence Day

I love a good celebration.

The anticipation, the excitement, the food – everything. The Fourth of July is coming up and I’ve got my accessories ready to go.

Of course this year big BBQ’s and large gatherings are a no-go, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate.

At our last Regent meeting I was pleased at how thoughtful the discussions were, how collaborative everyone was, and how hard everyone is working to navigate the pandemic uncertainty with safety as a priority. That’s something to celebrate.

At end of the meeting they asked us for comments and most remarks were about the amazing leadership we’ve had with Ted Carter and Varner Hall administrators. The team has done such a good job of working together and understanding that student success is our most important goal.

 

I personally shared with the group that I’ve been feeling more hopeful, more confident, and astonished at what this leadership has been able to accomplish. That, too, is something to celebrate.

While we’re at it, and in the spirit of Independence Day, I’d like to take a moment to celebrate that the Constitution and the fabric of this nation calls for an educated citizenry. When every person regardless of circumstance has access to quality education, we have healthier communities and a better society for all.

We need to take our country’s blueprint seriously.

This I can promise you – I take this role as Regent very seriously. I am proud to represent you in bringing inclusive, accessible and quality education across the state.

Thank you for believing in me, for believing in the promise of education and our community. Think about what we can achieve when we work together. There’s much to celebrate.

Have a safe, socially-distanced Fourth of July!

 

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

 

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