March 27, 2003

Elbert Dickey, left, works with DeLynn Hay, associate professor and program leader for Cooperative Extension, in Hay's office. Dickey has been dean and director of NU Cooperative Extension since May 2001.

Agriculture has always been a part of Elbert Dickey's life

Extension dean says teamwork creates success

By Kim Davis, University Communications

Growing up in rural Southern Illinois, Elbert Dickey was a typical farm kid. He worked on 4-H projects, rode horses and played football with the neighbors. Off the field, though, as the oldest of five children, Dickey found himself pulling a heavy load.

"I was in the seventh grade and Mom and Dad both had jobs off of the farm that year, so I did all of the farming. I planted the crops and harvested the crops. They took me out of school for two or three weeks to get that done," Dickey said. "When I look back on it, I have a lot of pride that they had that level of trust in me. That created my work ethic, right there."

The hard work and commitment that goes along with farming only deepened Dickey's love for agriculture, which he uses to this day in his position as dean and director of NU Cooperative Extension.

When it came time to make decisions about college, Dickey found direction from his high school guidance counselor. During a meeting, it became clear that Dickey's desire to work in agriculture combined with his capacity for understanding math would be a good match at the University of Illinois.

"He said, 'You know there's a curriculum called ag engineering at the University of Illinois, you should try that,'" Dickey said. "So I just enrolled in ag engineering and never gave it a second thought."

Dickey quickly discovered, however, making that decision would be the easy part. The real test was the transition for a naïve farm kid from southern Illinois moving to the big city.

"The first time I went to the University of Illinois, I kept looking for the building where the university was going to be, not realizing it was a family of buildings," Dickey said. "I don't know how I made it."

He did make it, though. And after struggling through his first year, Dickey became quite comfortable with college life. So comfortable in fact, that while home for weekend visit, he made a gutsy phone call that would introduce him to "Ms. Right."

"I didn't have a date, so I looked through my brother's yearbook and said, 'Oh, I'll call her,'" Dickey said. "I called (Peggy) and asked her if she wanted to go on a double date and she said OK. We were married a year later."

With Peggy by his side, Dickey completed two bachelor degrees, in ag science and ag engineering. Soon after, Dickey began working for the Illinois Department of Highways. While there, Dickey received a call from his alma mater.

"They said we've got a new position here, would you be interested in applying? So I applied and was successful," he said. "I worked on a research project for a year or two and they said they liked the work I was doing, and asked me to get my master's degree. So, I worked full time and got a master's and that somehow led to a Ph.D. program. I was a professional student for eight years."

Dickey enjoyed conducting research and teaching. His passion was apparent and landed him on Illinois's list of best teachers his first year.

Dickey came to UNL in 1978 as an assistant professor and extension specialist in ag engineering. He became the assistant dean of extension in 1991. His work kept him close to agriculture and rural communities across the state, eventually leading to his current post. Dickey says he delights in the opportunities to work with the people of Nebraska, but says any success he owes to teamwork.

"I have been blessed with a wonderful administrative team and extension faculty," Dickey said. "I always think about the team. It's not me; I just take the best ideas they have and go from there."

Dickey says he quickly learned that success does not come without its share of obstacles. Extension's primary issue is changing public perception, he says.

"The biggest challenge we have is helping people understand the breadth of the program, as well as the depth," Dickey said. "There are a lot of people who know Extension from their point of touch. If they touch us from the 4-H standpoint, they think Extension is 4-H. But they may not know about the educational programs we offer in all different areas. It's difficult to get past that."

Dickey says there is still a lot he hopes to accomplish in his career, but says he's already learned a valuable lesson.

"I used to think that anyone with hard work could pull themselves out of a situation, but I've learned that's not really true," Dickey said. "There are a lot of people who work really, really hard and they are still caught in a set of circumstances that will not allow them to flourish."

Dickey remains positive in difficult times and is pleased with the direction Extension is going. In the last three to four years, Dickey says "strong and important" relationships have been developed with the units on East and City campuses.

"We (the deans) have developed a camaraderie that is really helpful," Dickey said. "That makes the job enjoyable. It's a great atmosphere."

Dickey says the challenges ahead are many but is focused on moving Extension ahead.

"Technology will be an important component of helping provide educational information to Nebraskans so that they can make informed decisions," Dickey said.

"We've got to focus on critical issues that will make a difference to the individual, families and communities across the state and affect their economic, environmental and social well being."

APC hearings on budget ideas under way

The Academic Planning Committee has scheduled discussion sessions and public hearings to gather input on the proposed university budget reductions that were announced March 10 by Chancellor Harvey Perlman. In addition, the chancellor will also offer a listening session. All sessions are open to the public.

Discussion sessions will consist only of invited testimony, while hearings will accept public comment. Speakers wanting to provide written testimony for the committee should bring 18 copies to the session for distribution.

The schedule:

• March 28, 1:30 p.m., Nebraska Union: Perlman and Senior Vice Chancellor Rick Edwards will hold a public listening session.
• March 31, 1-3 p.m., Nebraska East Union: Discussion session on the proposed elimination of the Bureau of Business Research, and hearing on any Phase 1 budget-reduction proposal (if continuation from an earlier hearing on March 26 is required). Those wanting to testify at the hearing must sign in at 12:30 p.m.
• April 7, 2-5:15 p.m., video conference from 116 L.W. Chase Hall on East Campus: Hearing on the proposed elimination of state funding for the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum, the Nebraska Forest Service and the Veterinary Student Contract Program. From 2-2:45 p.m., testimony will be heard from Clay Center and from 3-5:15 p.m., testimony will be heard from North Platte, Norfolk, Scottsbluff and Lincoln. The session is available via satellite at the South Central REC Building at the Meat Animal Research Center; West Central Research and Extension Center in North Platte; Lifelong Learning Center in Norfolk; and the Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff. Those wanting to testify should sign in with a moderator at each site.
• April 9, 2-5 p.m., Nebraska East Union (room posted): Discussion session on the proposed elimination of the research division of the University of Nebraska State Museum and the master's degree program in museum studies.
• April 11, 9 a.m. to noon, Wick Alumni Center, Dana Board Room: Discussion session on proposed budget reductions in the divisions of Business and Finance, and Student Affairs.

Complete documents related to the budget reduction process can be found at <www.unl.edu/pr/chancll r/2003-5budget>.

Questions about the hearing process may be e-mailed to Craig Eckhardt, chair of the academic planning committee, at <ceckhardt1@unl.edu>.

On the web Chancellor Harvey Perlman sent an e-mail on March 17 discussing the ongoing process of budget reductions and the budget situations facing Nebraska and many state governments. It can be read at: <ww w.unl.edu/pr/chancllr/2003-5budget/emails/20030317.htm>.

Proposed reductions for student affairs, business and finance

The documents released March 10 on the chancellor's proposed budget reductions did not include specific reductions in Business and Finance and Student Affairs. Those specifics were released March 17:

Reduce Funding for Activities and Offices of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs ($750,000, 13.25 FTE)

University Health Center: Withdraw all state-aided support for student counseling at the University Health Center. Increase student fees ($3/student per semester) for all enrolled students and effect operating reductions of $167,943.

Nebraska Unions: Remove $63,000 of state-aided support for custodial and facilities maintenance expenses. Shift student fee income to cover the cut; eliminate 1.0 FTE staff position and 0.49 FTE graduate assistant positions in Student Involvement and reduce operating expenditures.

Career Services: Eliminate office/service support position for credentials management services, consolidate business operations with the Nebraska Unions, and move annual placement report to web.

Registration & Records: Eliminate two office/service positions and a 0.49 FTE graduate assistant position. Requires policy changes that will permit more efficient processing of "Incomplete" grades, greater reliance on the automated degree audit system for tracking admission deficiencies, and streamlining of grade processing.

Admissions Office: Eliminates the positions of associate director for international recruitment, transfer credit coordinator, and Texas-based admissions representative (0.5 FTE) and reassigns responsibilities to other staff members. Travel expenses are reduced, particularly as related to international recruitment efforts. Additional budget reductions are to be achieved through administrative reassignments and process changes that are not yet final.

Scholarships and Financial Aid: A currently vacant processing position will be eliminated, and the workload will be covered by reassigning the two front desk workers and the two telephone service providers from 8-10 a.m. This will mean that staff-provided services to students will be unavailable during that time period. Additional efforts will be made to reduce operating expenses by relying on e-mail and web-based processing rather than mailings.

Multicultural Affairs: Reduce the state-aided budget by shifting 0.75 FTE of a senior staff member to grant support.

Division of Business & Finance ($1,073,778; 19.25 FTE)

Vice Chancellor: Eliminate an associate vice chancellor position and shift some of the job responsibilities to vice chancellor and assistant vice chancellors. Some of the legal responsibilities of this position will be shared with NU's Legal Counsel, and part of the savings from this elimination are used to jointly fund with Central Administration a 0.50 FTE within NU's Legal Counsel.

Facilities Management: Eliminates state support for custodial services to the Alumni Association and shifts funding support for this service to the Alumni Association. Shift Alumni Association utilities cost to the Alumni Association.

• Eliminates state support for custodial services to the Lied Center and shifts funding support for this service to the Lied Center.
• Eliminate all campus recycling except for environmentally regulated programs.
• Defer building maintenance on minor repairs including furniture, ceilings, walls, and other low-priority requests.
• Eliminate the manager of education programs position, which is responsible for educational programs associated with UNL's Botanical Garden and Arboretum.
• Eliminate state-supported landscape services surrounding auxiliary buildings.

Fiscal Affairs: Eliminate use of Visa and implement a 2.25 percent convenience fee to use Master Charge, Discover and American Express to pay student bills.

• Eliminate position after implementation of lockbox operation in spring 2003. This may create longer lines at Bursar's Office for those who wish to pay their bills in person vs. utilize the automated processes (lockbox or web payment.)
• Reduce staffing provided by student wages due to increased use of purchasing card.

Purchasing: Reduce staffing provided by students (student wages) due to increased use of purchasing card.

Human Resources: Reduces staffing provided by students (student wages) during Benefits Open Enrollment and eliminate all student help in HR.

• Combine the State of the University and Service Awards programs into a single program.
• The Benefits Office will now require employee "self-service" for benefit signups and changes. This change requires software upgrade from the ASG team to implement and will require 1/2 year of temporary funding in FY 2004.

Environmental Health & Safety: Redesign UNL's worker compensation assessment system for campus units so that units with higher worker compensation claims will pay higher workers compensation rates. Include funding for these positions in the rate structure.

• Transfer funding of the BioSafety Officer position to Indirect Cost F&A reimbursement. The BioSafety Officer exists to support research programs.

Wright Morris papers given to Libraries

A special gift made to UNL Libraries will provide insight into the mind of Wright Morris, a major 20th-century author.

Josephine Morris, his widow, bequeathed a collection of manuscripts, books and correspondence to the UNL Libraries.

"Though he is more than a regional writer, Nebraska and the Great Plains provided Morris with a great deal of inspiration," said Katherine Walter, chair of special collections and preservation at University Libraries. "We are very fortunate to have received this important collection from Josephine Morris. She had confidence that the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries would honor and preserve Wright's legacy."

Born in Central City in 1910, Wright Morris spent his early childhood years in central Nebraska. Though he spent most of his adult years in California, Nebraska's influence remained in his work. Morris began his writing career in 1935 and published his first novel, My Uncle Dudley, in 1942. In the 1940s Morris became interested in photography and aligning photographs and text in his works of fiction. He called these works "photo-texts." Morris returned briefly to Nebraska as a visiting professor at UNL in 1975.

He won the 1957 National Book Award for fiction for The Field of Vision and the American Book Award in 1981 for Plains Song: For Female Voices.

Morris died in 1998 and is buried in Chapman.

"This gift puts UNL at the forefront of Wright Morris scholarship in the nation," said Susan Rosowski, Adele Hall distinguished professor of English at UNL.

Walter noted that among Morris' correspondents were many well-known literary figures such as Saul Bellow, Nebraska graduate Loren Eiseley and Wallace Stegner.

The collection also includes about 400 manuscripts of his novels, photo-texts, short stories and articles, some in multiple versions.

Rosowski said she is excited about the synergy this collection provides with the other major collections in Archives and Special Collections. Correspondence by Morris can be found in the papers of Robert Knoll, Virginia Faulkner and the Loren C. Eiseley Collection.

"These collections are working in conversation, and researchers will be attracted to the many resources clustered together," Rosowski said.

Symposium In honor of this gift, University Libraries and the Plains Humanities Alliance have planned a symposium, "Wright Morris: American Dreamer," for April 10-12 at UNL. Information on the symposium can be found at <www.unl.edu/rcplains>.