December 18, 2003

UNL Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Rick Edwards holds a copy of the 2020 Vision report, which he helped to create as a summary of goals for the university to attain before its 150th anniversary in 2019. Edwards will step down as senior vice chancellor on Dec. 23 and will take a few months off before beginning an appointment in the Center for Great Plains Studies and in the economics department in the College of Business Administration. Photo by Brett Hampton.

Edwards proud of university's achievements

Senior vice chancellor returns to academic appointment in 2004

By Kelly Bartling, University Communications

When Rick Edwards formulated his goals as the new Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs as he arrived on campus in 1997, he had a wide-ranging mission, and a determined vision for excellence.

His ideas focused on creating a more student-centered campus, facilitating collaboration between east and city campuses, improving faculty and student diversity, redefining the land-grant mission, fostering the UNL honors program, improving student recruitment, and "engaging students in learning with the same passion faculty show in research."

It's six years later, and a wiser and weathered Edwards smiles when reminded of his original goals, which he knows well. He points to a few more gray hairs and lets a few moments pause before articulating a summary of his successful "reign."

"This has been fun. I've enjoyed it immensely. I've always felt that," Edwards said from his vice chancellor's office on one of his last few days. "I never wanted to be an administrator. I've always insisted to myself that I wanted to be a change agent. Someone to make a difference. The fun part is trying to make a difference, and we have seen a change in the last six years."

Edwards is pleased with the university's accomplishments and he's issuing a challenge to his colleagues and successor, the new senior vice chancellor.

"I feel like I'm leaving at a time of enormous promise and momentum for this campus ... despite the budget cuts. I marvel at all the things happening on all parts of campus where people have stepped up to embrace excellence. I find that extremely encouraging and exciting."

Edwards' legacy is in his vision, leadership and his insistence on excellence, issued by way of challenge and collaboration in the 2020 Vision report, administrators and faculty said. The process of establishing the 2020 report and Chancellor Harvey Perlman's embracing of the report's goals are Edwards' greatest pride as he steps down and back into a role of teaching and research.

"When I appointed Rick Edwards to be senior vice chancellor, I did it knowing that it would most likely be the single most important appointment, and one of the most important decisions in any category, I would make as chancellor at Nebraska," said James Moeser, former UNL chancellor. "Looking back, I know that to be the case. I am proud of what Rick has accomplished as vice chancellor.

"I think Rick's legacy to UNL will be that he dared the campus to envision a culture of excellence."

Edwards admits he hasn't always been popular, and his directions haven't been easy. But he wasn't hired to be necessarily likable or easy, he said.

"I think the thing that I'm happiest about is creating a framework where the resources of campus were put in bigger motion than they were before. And in some ways that's summed up in the 2020 report. That we knew we could be more ambitious than we were, we needed to measure ourselves more directly against national standards of accomplishment, and we needed to become more a part of the national university network.

"Looking back at those things I stated in 1997, that has been my agenda, and I think we've made good progress on all of them."

Edwards arrived at UNL at the opportune time to challenge long-held beliefs, Perlman said. After serving as dean of arts and sciences at the University of Kentucky, chair of economics at University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and earning master's and doctoral degrees at Harvard, Edwards was surprised to encounter a UNL dynamic that he believed failed to challenge its own reputation or define its vision.

"When I arrived, the prevailing sentiment was that we shouldn't worry about national reputation, and 'What do we care what the east or west coast thinks about us?'" Edwards said. "People (here) would say 'We're really a lot better than our national reputation would suggest,' which might or might not have been true, but I always found it peculiar that there was a certain pride taken in that. I think that was also something of a dodge or excuse, when we didn't have the reputation that we ought to have had, it could be excused by saying 'We're better than that.'

"I think there has been a major turn in how the institution sees itself and against whom it evaluates itself."

Edwards' "vision thing," according to faculty member Linda Pratt, chair of the English department, soon became evident to faculty.

"Soon after Rick joined UNL and started sending faculty 'white papers' about important issues that he wanted us to discuss, we knew we had a different kind of senior vice chancellor," Pratt said. "He brought a new level of intellectual breadth and depth. Under Rick's leadership, 'vision' meant something more than just another dull mission statement full of platitudes. Sometimes faculty were disturbed by his ideas. He clearly meant to shake up the status quo, and that can be scary. More often we were excited and challenged by his ideas. He pushed us all, and more often than not, we found we could indeed be better than we had imagined."

Edwards also is proud of his role in establishing the UCARE (Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experiences) program, which he says moves the discussion about undergraduate learning and engagement to an entirely new level.

"There is a new dialogue about how we engage undergraduates in the activities of the campus," he said. " I think we're moving beyond the old discussion of teaching vs. research to say that we need to incorporate our undergraduates in the research activities of the campus."

Three years after Edwards took the position, he faced a personal crisis: life-threatening cancer. He wrestled with how to handle his illness, whether to resign, and how to balance his health needs with his responsibilities. He decided to take a leave of absence in June 2000 and return with his health. In January 2001, after a six-month leave and bone marrow transplant, he re-entered his role. He admits that he held on to the job because he needed it to help pull him through, but also because he knew he had unfinished business.

"I wrestled a lot with that decision about what to do, and those questions about getting the balance between the personal and professional factored into my decision to step down as well," he said. "I did feel that I did have things left undone at that point. That process of taking a vision for what the campus could and should be to the campus and bringing people to that vision was in a much more fragile state. We were in the midst of changing chancellors and I thought that the pockets of support that these newer aspirations and newer ideas had on campus might well have dried up if there weren't someone to carry (them) forward. That was part of it.

"One of the things that sometimes people don't understand about this job is while there are certainly negative and stressful aspects to it, it is a position that gives one a lot of energy and a lot of personal satisfaction. When you're able to make things happen that gives you energy. That provides personal satisfaction. I needed some of that too."

"Rick demonstrated incredible courage in dealing with his own illness, never losing his wonderful wit, humor and humanity in the process," Moeser said.

After taking a few months' leave in 2004, Edwards is excited now about a scratch-pad of ideas that he's had tucked in his drawer: exploring topics of depopulation in the Midwest, economics and labor research, and higher-education policy. He will have an appointment in the Center for Great Plains Studies and in the economics department in the College of Business Administration. A year from now, he hopes to be standing in front of his first class in many years to teach economics.

"That excites me," he said. "I have not taught for a while, but when I did teach I always enjoyed it a lot. It's very quick feedback. When you go in, you're prepared, and you have a good time with the class. Part of my learning process will be learning how to be a successful instructor with students who are a different generation from the students that I taught years ago, but also at a different institution and a different part of the country. Those are challenges for me."

The university's challenges, in Edwards' view, are in continuing to redefine itself and to strive for excellence. He would like to see his ideas continue to advance.

"I think that the most important task of the (senior vice chancellor) is to have a vision for the academic programs of the campus and engage deans and department chairs and faculty and others in discussions about that vision, to try to win people," he said. "To have them not only accept but to embrace and be enthusiastic about that vision. That's certainly what I spent the most time on and the most emotional energy on. If I have been successful in that, then that's what I think is most important in my record."

"I think his clearest contribution to the university is his insistence on excellence and high ambitions for the university," Perlman said. "I believe, when the history of the university is written, that Rick will appear as a central character in changing the culture of the university to one that has the confidence to compete with the best universities for students, for faculty, and for recognition across the broadest range of disciplines. Change is discomforting for many and many were discomforted by his insistence on quality. But in the end, he will be recognized for his persistence, his candor and his intelligent grasp of what is at the heart of a great university."

Said Moeser: "The bottom line is that Nebraska is a better university today because of Rick Edwards."

1,450 to graduate at Dec. 20 ceremony

Richard Edwards, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at UNL, will give the address at UNL commencement exercises Dec. 20. Mary A. Zimmerman of Northwestern University will receive an honorary doctor of letters.

Chancellor Harvey Perlman will preside over the commencement ceremony, which begins at 9:30 a.m. in the Bob Devaney Sports Center. About 1,450 students will receive diplomas. Live webstreaming of the ceremony will be available on the UNL website, <www.unl.edu>.

A doctoral hooding ceremony for those receiving doctoral degrees will be conducted at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 19 at Kimball Recital Hall. Doctoral degree recipients will receive their diplomas at the Dec. 20 commencement exercises.

All ceremonies are free and open to the public. Tickets are not required.

Edwards will return to the teaching and research faculty at UNL at the end of this month after completing a 6 1/2-year tenure as the campus's top academic officer. In that tenure, which included a six-month medical leave-of-absence in 2000 while he successfully battled cancer, Edwards worked to promote academic excellence campuswide, efforts that were reflected by the adoption in 2000 of "A 2020 Vision: The Future of Research and Graduate Education at UNL." The document was a faculty-driven effort that called for UNL to become "one of the premier public research universities in the United States" by the time the university celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2019.

It was also during Edwards' tenure that the university established the UCARE program, which has taken undergraduate involvement in research activities to a new level, and the J.D. Edwards Honors Program in Computer Science and Management.

An economist, Edwards came to Nebraska from the University of Kentucky, where he had been dean of the College of Arts and Sciences since 1991. He earned his bachelor's degree at Grinnell College in Iowa (1966) and his master's (1970) and doctoral (1972) degrees in economics at Harvard University. He was a member of the economics faculty at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst for 18 years before going to Kentucky. He is the author or co-author of 10 books.

After a few months' leave early next year, Edwards will return to the UNL faculty with a joint appointment in the Center for Great Plains Studies and the Department of Economics in the College of Business Administration. David Brinkerhoff, former associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, will serve as interim senior vice chancellor until a permanent replacement for Edwards is in place.

Zimmerman, a former Lincoln resident, is a playwright, director and professor of theater at Northwestern, her alma mater. She is a member of the Lookingglass Theatre Co. and is an artistic associate of the Goodman Theatre, both in Chicago. She has earned national and international recognition as a playwright and has received many awards, including a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, often called a "genius grant," which she received in 1998. She has won more than 20 Joseph Jefferson Awards for her creative work and in 2002 received the Tony Award for Best Direction for Metamorphoses, which was also nominated for Best Play. Other acclaimed works include Journey to the West, The Odyssey, The Arabian Nights, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci and Eleven Rooms of Proust.

Zimmerman earned her bachelor's degree in 1982, her master's in 1985 and her Ph.D. in 1994, all at Northwestern. Her mother, Dorothy Zimmerman, is an emeritus professor of English at UNL. Her father, E.J. Zimmerman, is an emeritus professor of physics at UNL.

Order closes UNL on Dec. Administrative leave will be used for day

In conjunction with a federal government closing order, all Nebraska state government agencies will close Dec. 26.

At UNL, that day will be considered a day of administrative leave for all employees who accrue leave. Eight hours or any increment thereof for floating holiday that would have been used on Dec. 26 will be carried over into 2004 and will be used on Jan. 2.

Employees required to work a holiday or on Dec. 26 should refer to the Oct. 1 Payroll Processing for Holiday Closing memo, which can be viewed at <http://hr.unl.edu> or <http://payroll.unl.edu>.

For information, visit <http://hr.unl.edu/ spotlighthr.cfm> or call the payroll office at 472-2010.

Computer program helps corn farmers make choices

By Dan Moser, IANR News Service

A computer program in the works at UNL could help corn producers make more informed management decisions during the growing season, a soil scientist said at UNL's Agronomy and Horticulture Highlights program.

Achim Dobermann was one of several faculty members who spoke Dec. 11 at the annual meeting hosted by UNL's Department of Agronomy and Horticulture to discuss its research, teaching and Cooperative Extension programs.

In his talk, "Growing Corn in a Computer," Dobermann discussed the development at UNL over the last two years of the Hybrid-Maize computer simulation model. The program allows users to experiment with various crop-management factors - planting date, weather conditions, hybrid choice, plant-stand density and more - to adjust yield goals and make management changes mid-growing season.

One key to the potential success of the Hybrid-Maize simulation in Nebraska is "one of the best online weather statistics networks that you'll find anywhere in the country," Dobermann said. That network is hosted by UNL's High Plains Regional Climate Center at <http://hprcc.unl.edu>.

Results so far are encouraging. In one instance, the model predicted a corn silking date of July 23 and a yield of 287.2 bushels per acre, compared to actual results of July 22 silking and 285.3 bushels.

"Some may say that's just luck," Dobermann said, "but if we know how to exploit this, we can actually expect significant gains" in yields.

The Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources team working on this project hopes to have the Hybrid-Maize model available for testing by producers and crop consultants next year.

In opening remarks, department head Ken Cassman provided some context on the state of agriculture and the Nebraska economy.

The state's ag sector has been buffeted by drought the last few years, and four rounds of budget cuts to the university over the last two and a half years have taken their toll, but there are signs of a turnaround. Commodity prices have been on the rise, and Nebraska tax receipts in November were ahead of projections. An energy bill now under consideration in Congress offers further hope, Cassman said. It would significantly boost ethanol production - good news for Nebraska, where 23 percent of corn and 70 percent of sorghum now goes into ethanol.

Also at the Dec. 11 meeting, Turf Scientist Terry Riordan said a new professional golf management major is expected to be available by next fall.

UNL would be only the 15th university to offer the program, and one of only two in the region. Already, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources has had 80 unsolicited contacts from students and several already enrolled who are interested in pursuing the major.

The new major, which will include classes in turfgrass science, business, nutrition, hospitality and restaurant management, mostly uses faculty and other resources already in place and ultimately could draw 200 to 300 news students, said Riordan, director of the program. That's critical at a time when CASNR has seen enrollment drop.

"We're investing in a program that's going to bring in a lot of students who are different from our typical students," Riordan said.

The program still needs accreditation from the Professional Golfers Association, which was scheduled to visit UNL Dec. 16.

In another presentation Thursday, Soil Scientist Richard Ferguson said important irrigation-related research is continuing in south central Nebraska even after the budget-driven closure of the research and extension center there.

The South Central Agricultural Laboratory replaced the South Central Research and Extension Center July 1. Despite the scaled-down operation, Ferguson said long-standing research on linear irrigation systems, long-term tillage/rotation, rainfed crop rotation and furrow irrigation continues.

Research on subsurface drip irrigation is scheduled to begin in 2004, and funding is being sought for research on organic production, Ferguson said.