Good morning, Regents, colleagues, and distinguished guests. It is always a pleasure to be with you as we discuss the future of the University of Nebraska and our role in shaping a stronger Nebraska.
I would like to thank our guests this morning.
Thank you for being here, Senator Arch, Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature. Speaker Arch has spent more than three decades in health care administration, including serving as CEO of Boys Town’s hospitals and clinics. His leadership and expertise have been invaluable to Nebraska’s health care training, research and delivery landscape and now in your statewide leadership role. Speaker Arch, we are honored to have you here today to share a legislative update, and we look forward to working with you and your colleagues in the months ahead.
I also want to thank Brigadier General Craig Strong. Gen. Strong is the 34th adjutant general of the Nebraska Military Department, which oversees the Nebraska Army National Guard, Air National Guard, and the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. He has had a very distinguished career, including deployments to Iraq and the U.S. Virgin Islands for hurricane recovery efforts. He also has expertise in law, having practiced employment and commercial law outside of his military service. General Strong, we are grateful for your service and pleased that you have joined us here today.
The University of Nebraska is deeply committed to serving our state. Through education, research, and engagement, we contribute to the economic vitality, well-being, and success of Nebraska, and I’m grateful to the faculty and staff who work so hard to advance our institution and our state, as well as to the students and their families who trust us with their futures.
I’m very proud that during my time in the role of the president of the University of Nebraska our focus has only sharpened. We remain steadfast in our mission to serve the people of Nebraska, and we are working hard – more on that in a bit -- to do so in the most effective and responsible way possible.
As you know, Governor Pillen recently released his proposed budget, which includes significant support for Project Health, a public-private initiative aimed at expanding workforce in critically needed professional health programs on the UNMC campus as well as all others. We are grateful for this support, which will help address critical health care workforce shortages that result in serious access and economic hardships in our state.
However, the proposed budget also includes a 2.07% reduction in our base state-aided budget. Along with elimination of the long standing biomedical research support and the unfunded tuition remissions, this results in a $31.5 million—or 4.55%—annual negative budget impact across the NU system.
Additionally, recent federal actions have brought new uncertainties for our research and federally supported programs and for our students, faculty and staff. All of these proposed budget and policy changes, in the context of ongoing inflation trends, our very limited reserve funds and our future commitments individually and together present significant multidimensional challenges for your university campuses, colleges, institutes, centers and so much more.
These are challenging times, but we are prepared to face them with humility, civility and data, as well as with a steadfast belief in the power of our 155 year legacy land-grant university. Above all, we strive to be a good partner as we work toward solutions that support the long-term success of Nebraska.
Throughout this hard work, we will be guided by a new strategic plan and a new strategic planning structure. At our last Board meeting, I introduced the five pillars that will guide the plan. Those pillars are:
- Extraordinary Teaching and Learning: Creating innovative, inclusive, and impactful educational experiences.
- Extraordinary Research and Creative Activity: Driving discovery and innovation to address critical challenges.
- Extraordinary Partnerships and Engagement: Strengthening collaborations that benefit both rural and urban communities.
- Extraordinary Culture and Environment: Building a dynamic and supportive university community.
- Extraordinary Stewardship and Effectiveness: Ensuring responsible and sustainable use of our resources.
Since our last meeting, we have worked diligently to build upon these pillars. Working with leadership from each of our campuses and many of the communities that we serve, we have identified 16 strategies that support those pillars. Those strategies include enhancing curriculum innovation, establishing a unified NU research identity, and reliance on data-driven decision-making to maximize impact.
In the coming weeks, we will engage with faculty, staff, students, community leaders, alumni, donors, and stakeholders to ensure our strategic direction broadly aligns with the needs of Nebraska. This university belongs to the people of our state, and it is our responsibility to reimagine NU as a truly extraordinary institution that drives Nebraska forward.
As an important part of this future, I am pleased to share that we remain in close contact with the Higher Learning commission, the body that accredits all of our campuses, and will embark upon the next step of combined accreditation for UNL and UNMC shortly. This will facilitate combined reporting of faculty, learner and program outcomes, and is highly consistent with our peer institutions, the very top tier institutions of our nation.
Another one of the ways the University drives our future is reflected in our growing economic impact. At our last meeting, Dr. Paul Umbach from the consulting firm Tripp Umbach shared preliminary findings of the University of Nebraska’s economic impact report.
The data is clear: the university contributes $6.4 billion annually to Nebraska’s economy and returns $10 for every $1 invested by the state. This represents just over 10% growth since our last study just three years ago.
On February 11, Dr. Umbach will join us in Lincoln for a news conference where he will share the full analysis, national trends and the formal report. I’ll share a small spoiler, which is that the incredible economic impact of the University of Nebraska is not the national norm for a public university such as ours. Even through the challenges of recent years, when the economic impact of many other universities has remained flat or fallen, the impact of the University of Nebraska has soared. That is a testament to the work of everyone in this room, as well as many, many others.
Part of the reason for this impact is that we are focused on preparing a talented workforce ready to face the challenges and embrace the opportunities they encounter throughout their careers. Across the NU system, you can find many examples of programs that equip students to do that, including one new program that is on the agenda today. The UNMC College of Dentistry and UNO College of Business Administration will offer a dual DDS/MBA degree. Both degrees currently exist, and offering a dual degree would allow DDS students to complete the MBA in fewer credit hours and equip future dentistry professionals with the business and leadership skills required in the modern healthcare environment. Programs like this one help future dentists develop the skills they need to build and maintain thriving practices in Nebraska and beyond.
There are so many other examples of good work taking place across our university system, but for the sake of time, I will share just one more. In January, I was very honored to join UNL’s own combined choir, led by Professor Peter Ecklund, to perform at the U.S. Presidential Inauguration in the rotunda of the US capital. This was a wonderful opportunity to showcase some of our incredibly talented students on a national stage. And for the students, it was an incredible opportunity for them to experience our nation’s capital in a way that few Americans do. I can tell you they sounded absolutely beautiful. But don’t take my word for it.
At the Inauguration, in the rotunda of our nation’s capital, the students performed “One Voice.” I can’t think of a more appropriate soundtrack to the work we are doing here today, as we work toward a collaborative and unified University system, for the advancement and continued success of our current and future students and our state.
And now, to share the amazing talents of our students and faculty, it is my pleasure to invite Professor Eckland and our students to share this historic moment with us here today.
Thank you.