AMY HOPKINS, a senior art major, adds detail to a piece of pottery Feb. 3 while in an Intermediate Ceramics class in the Woods Art Building.

Faculty, Student Exchanges Are Blossoming

Partnership with Alcorn State Reaping Benefits

By Tom Simons, Public Relations

It's still growing and it's getting healthier all the time. That's the general assessment on both sides after one year of the partnership agreement between UNL and Mississippi's historically black Alcorn State University.

"It has gone better than I thought it would," said Melvin Davis, Alcorn's vice president for academic affairs, who was in Lincoln last month during the 2000 King Day celebration. "The fear when we started this agreement was that you can initiate an agreement at the administrative level, but that agreement can only be sustained at the faculty and student level.

"It's not the first partnership agreement that we had signed with someone else, but it is by far the most successful partnership agreement that we've had. The interest level at ASU among students and faculty is much higher than it was when the agreement was signed a year ago - and I think the same is true at UNL."

Suzanne Ortega, who has coordinated the UNL end of the agreement as associate dean of Graduate Studies, agreed.

"The amount of interest, enthusiasm and energy demonstrated by faculty and students has exceeded the expectations of everyone who has been involved," Ortega said.

The partnership was designed to create student, faculty and administrative exchanges between UNL, a Carnegie I research institution, and ASU, the first historically black land-grant institution and state-supported institution for the higher education of African Americans in the United States. The exchanges between UNL and its Lorman, Miss., partner would increase diversity on the UNL campus and give Alcorn students and faculty access to the resources of a research I institution.

Student exchanges got off to a particularly good start in the first year, Davis said. Two Alcorn students came to Lincoln last year to do their student teaching, eight others came to UNL for summer programs in 1999 and UNL began receiving Alcorn graduates into its graduate program. In the other direction, three UNL undergraduates are attending Alcorn State this spring on full scholarships arranged by Davis' office.

"We also had several deans and faculty members visit UNL," Davis said. "A highlight was when a team of four UNL faculty members led by Suzanne Ortega met at a conference in Jackson, Miss., to facilitate research funds. So faculty members at the two schools are now beginning to collaborate in securing research funds.

"Also, Dr. Sheila Scheideler, a poultry researcher at UNL, took two days out of her very busy schedule and came to Alcorn and spent time with our poultry research scientists."

Davis said the next step will be a faculty exchange in which a UNL faculty member would teach a semester at Alcorn and vice versa. He said he hopes that will happen this fall.

"We're probably one or two years away from having an administrative exchange, but we expect to see that happen," Davis said. "Just like students are learning more and the faculty members are learning (through the exchange), there are some valuable lessons for administrators to learn that can only be learned if they spend time on a campus in a cultural setting different from theirs."

Scholarship Fund Honors Work of Melvin Jones

By Robb Crouch, NU Foundation

A scholarship fund in memory of Melvin W. Jones provides the university and greater Lincoln communities a way to honor his life and continue his work toward ensuring that young people be given the opportunity to pursue their dreams, said M. Colleen Jones, Melvin's widow.

Melvin Jones served the university as vice chancellor for business and finance from February 1996 until his death on Sept. 27, 1999, after suffering a heart attack while in the nation's capital to give a speech to the Institute for International Research.

The Melvin W. Jones Leadership Fund is an endowed fund created at the University of Nebraska Foundation by his friends and family. Its goal is to assist undergraduate and graduate students pursuing leadership roles in business, government public service, political science and higher education. These areas were represented in Melvin Jones's career path, and he sought to enhance opportunities for others in those fields.

It was an early and intuitive decision to establish this lasting tribute, said Colleen Jones, assistant professor of management in UNL's College of Business Administration.

"Melvin's passing had a profound effect on so many people, and they wanted to do or give something that honors the spirit of his life and is more lasting than flowers or cards," she said. "This scholarship is very appropriate, because Melvin was committed to mentoring and assisting people to achieve leadership opportunities by being prepared for and establishing good career paths."

For those who knew him and those who did not, the memorial provides a testimony of guiding principles by which Melvin lived his life.

"It represents Melvin's legacy, which was to have 'each one, teach one' and 'to lift as you climb,'" said Mrs. Jones. "Throughout his professional career, Melvin quietly - and consistently - offered his experience, time, talents and perspectives to students, staff members and colleagues who had the desire to do more and do better, for themselves and their communities."

Jones family members said he was able to see the inner spark of creativity, intelligence, motivation and commitment in others and help them to soar. Often, a well-placed recommendation, or opportunity or suggestion was all that was necessary. However, for others, he served as a beacon to a brighter future by helping them locate enhanced career opportunities, avenues for advanced study or sources of funding to pursue a dream.

"The other piece of his legacy was to 'never, ever, ever, ever, ever give up,' and sometimes people give up when they don't have resources or can't see a way to financially meet their goals," said Colleen Jones. "This fund is a lasting tribute to Melvin and will make it possible to continue his work and provide assistance to students for many years."

You may support this memorial effort by sending a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation, P.O. Box 82555, Lincoln, NE 68501-2555. Include a note specifying the Melvin W. Jones Leadership Fund with your check made payable to the University of Nebraska Foundation. Call Tom Ernst at 472-2151 if you have questions about this fund.

Full Implementation to Begin in 2000-2001 Academic Year

University Launches Marketing Communication Strategy

By Kim Hachiya, Public Relations

The university is in the beginning stage of implementing an institutional marketing communication plan designed to bolster the academic reputation of the university. Under the plan, key messages will be directed toward three specific groups: students of promise, alumni and higher education leaders.

The plan has been under development for about 14 months under the leadership of team co-chairs Meg Lauerman, assistant professor of advertising, and Phyllis Larsen, director of public relations. Chancellor James Moeser appointed a 17-member team to study the university's image. Team members were recruited from across the university and included faculty, staff and administrators.

"The team was asked to come up with ways to build this university's academic reputation and to address the need for the university to communicate with a unified voice," Moeser said. "I asked them to look at our communication opportunities and how we might use them to best advantage for the university."

The team followed the concepts of developing an integrated marketing communication plan, a method used increasingly by other universities and in industry.

"An integrated marketing communication plan provides a way to achieve consistency in our communications to strengthen our position in the minds of those who associate with the university," Larsen said. "This is a data-driven process that uses research to develop messages that reinforce one another. It also includes evaluation of goals and tactics to measure results."

The team spent several months collecting information on the university's image among the key groups. It found that UNL lacks a consistent image, that athletics is a dominant image, and that the audiences they queried are somewhat unaware of UNL's academic and research successes.

"Once we knew that, we realized that we need to capitalize on our reputation for excellence in athletics by reinforcing our messages about academic and institutional excellence," Lauerman said.

A number of strategies and tactics have been developed to address the needs of the three target audiences, she said.

The university's messages will be true and credible, she added. "We can't over-promise what we can deliver. We believe that our messages will resonate because they are true."

For example, a key message for students is that the university is friendly and supportive, large enough to offer a diversity of programs but small enough to be a real community. A key message for higher education leaders is the quality and success of the university's academic programs. A message for alumni is that association with the university enhances the success of its graduates.

Larsen said full implementation of the plan would begin in the 2000-01 academic year. An overall coordinator will be named soon.

One important aspect of the plan is evaluation, Lauerman said. Quantifiable markers of success will be created and frequently measured. That way, tactics can be altered or in some cases overhauled to ensure effectiveness.

Moeser said the benefits of establishing the plan are many. Boosting enrollments, a stronger base for faculty recruitment and retention, more effective use of communications resources, a stronger sense of community among faculty and staff, growing the ranks of alumni association members and improved prestige among institutional peers are some of the advantages.

Presentations of the Institutional Marketing Team's report are available to interested university groups. For information, contact Barbara Bowers, assistant to the director of public relations, at 472-0088.