It has begun. The search for the new University of Nebraska President is on. And here’s how it works.

No one person chooses the next President. Instead, an Advisory Committee is formed that then recommends a few carefully chosen candidates to the board. But how do we determine who those candidates should be?

It was recommended to us that we hire a firm that specializes in these kinds of searches. So we did.

When there are professionals who make it their business to find the right fit, why not make use of their talent? The first thing they did was to interview a range of people across all four campuses in order to put together a profile of what we wanted in our next university President.

After a lot of listening, they went over their summary with us, which included a list of what they understood to be our priorities.

This sort of back and forth – listening, processing, repeating – has been really helpful and I feel like we’re on the right track.

Another benefit of this professional search team is that they have connections across the country and not only do they know who’s actively looking for a new position, they have an excellent sense of people who might be a great fit but haven’t actively thrown their hat in the ring. Other than this educational matchmaking, this firm also offers training sessions for academic positions and issues, working all the time to understand and communicate what’s happening in the academic world. This is why they need to get to know us really well, through and through.

But ours aren’t the only voices they want to hear, and rightly so.

They told us they wanted to go to each campus and invite students, faculty, and community members for opening listening sessions.

We’ve conducted a first round and a second round is coming up soon. The first of those sessions was enlightening to say the least. But that’s another story…

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

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.

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