October 11, 1996



Building School Spirit

Sam Vetter, right, and Matt Epp drape fabric on their Homecoming display outside the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity Wednesday afternoon. Homecoming Royalty will be announced during halftime of the Nebraska-Baylor football game on Saturday. Other Homecoming highlights include a Come on Home reception today at 4:30 p.m. at the Wick Alumni Center, and a 5:30 p.m. carnival in the Green Space north of the Nebraska Union. UNL's new alma mater hymn also will receive its debut during halftime of Saturday's game (see related story, page 3.) (Photo by Richard Wright)

Broyhill Fountain Going Out in Style

It's been a fixture for nearly three decades, and now it's time to say good-bye.

UNL's Broyhill Fountain, scheduled to be removed for the upcoming Nebraska Union expansion project, will be "shut down" following the Broyhill Finale scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 16.

According to Daryl Swanson, director of the Nebraska Union, the fountain will be lit for the event, which will include bands, speakers and a formal ceremony to shut down the fountain.

Swanson stressed the the ceremonial nature of the event, and noted that the fountain will continue to operate this fall as long as weather permits. The plaza area will remain open for public use until the holiday shutdown in late December.

Swanson said that when faculty, staff and students return from the holiday break in January the north plaza will be closed, and a temporary west entrance will replace the existing north entrance to the union. The temporary entrance will be situated in the west wall of the lounge area, just opposite the bakery.

The union expansion project will include a new plaza and fountain. The new fountain will be situated about 50 feet north of the current fountain, between the Greenspace and the new north entrance.

The public is invited to attend the Broyhill Finale.

Van Horn Explains University Insurance Switch


By Kim Hachiya
News & Information

The most likely change UNL employees will see with the switch in insurance carriers is better service, Jim Van Horn, vice president for business and finance, told the UNL Academic Senate on Oct. 8.

The NU Regents in September approved switching the university insurance carrier from Mutual of Omaha to Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Nebraska. Van Horn said the switch will in particular help NU employees not located in Lincoln and Omaha because more doctors and hospitals out-state are affiliated with BC/BS's preferred provider network.

While it seemed like the switch came up suddenly, Van Horn said the university usually rebids the insurance plan every five years. The last time the bid was let was in 1991, he said, and 1996 was the scheduled year to rebid.

"We were seeing diminution in quality of claims processing with Mutual of Omaha," Van Horn said. "We also felt a bid process might help drive a better bargain and improve quality."

Three companies submitted bids, he said, and BC/BS was the clear favorite in terms of price and service.

While premiums probably won't go down, he said, they will not go up. And because the coverage is identical, employees will see no changes in what types of items are covered.

However, the 9,500 employees enrolled in the health insurance plan will have more choice of network providers. In Lincoln, for instance, 425 physicians belong to the BC/BS network, as opposed to 306 in Mutual's. Nearly all the Mutual providers are part of the BC/BS network, he said. About 300 more providers belong to the network in Omaha and more than 1,000 providers belong to the out-state network. There also are 76 hospitals in greater Nebraska affiliated with BC/BS as opposed to 50 with Mutual.

Van Horn said the university will audit the claims process to ensure good service from BC/BS. The goal is to have 99 percent of claims processed within 30 days. And if the employee satisfaction rate falls below 75 percent, BC/BS will pay a financial penalty back to the university.

Van Horn said he hopes to see none of the penalty money, however, because that would indicate unsatisfactory service.

The change to BC/BS covers only those employees with Mutual's indemnity coverage and not those involved in Mutual's or other providers' HMO plans, he said.

NUFlex materials regarding insurance coverage will be sent to all employees in mid-November with a Dec. 6 due date.

Chancellor Outlines UNL Planning, Budgeting Process

Following discussions with the Academic Planning Committee and other key groups, Chancellor James Moeser has announced that the university is now at a point where it must begin to identify the resources necessary to move forward in its planning and budgeting process.

In a memorandum to all faculty and staff dated Oct. 9, Moeser recalled remarks he made at the State of the University Address, where he stated that "if we are to realize our potential to be one of the nation's truly great universities, we must take our planning process to a new level of criticality - linking planning to resource allocation, including allocations of faculty and staff positions as well as operational support, assignment of space and the renovation of physical facilities."

In the memo, Moser states that "UNL's strategic planning and budgeting process has identified several important priorities that will enhance the overall stature and quality of the University as we look to the future. Several of these priorities are included in the Capital Campaign and the 1997-99 appropriations request to the legislature. Because resources are limited, however, I am also initiating a two-year university-wide reallocation process that is designed to redirect internal resources towards our highest priorities. Later this week each Vice Chancellor will distribute to their respective Deans and Directors guidelines to be used in this reallocation process.

"I am extremely proud of the past accomplishments of UNL and genuinely appreciate the individual contributions each of you make to our overall institutional role and mission. Since arriving on campus in January, I have become increasingly aware of the excellence of our academic programs and the exceptional quality of our faculty. Although I recognize that the reallocation process I have initiated will produce discomforts as well as opportunities, I am convinced that it is absolutely essential for us to pursue this course in order to stimulate change in directions important to the goals we have set and the type of institution we want UNL to be in the future. I sincerely appreciate your support and assistance during this academic year as we look for ways to implement initiatives identified through the strategic planning and budgeting process."

Chancellor Discusses Athletic Study at Senate


By Kim Hachiya
News & Information

Chancellor James Moeser told the Academic Senate Oct. 8 that he is reinstating the associate's program for women and minorities. That program, initiated by former Chancellor Graham Spanier, allowed release time for women and minorities to "shadow" senior administrators.

The program was aimed at developing more candidates for senior administrative positions. Moeser also suggested that the senate pursue adding paid maternity leave for faculty to the mix of discussion points on expanded benefits at the systemwide level. He said he supported such a proposal.

Moeser said positive discussions are on-going regarding "post-tenure review" of faculty. A draft document has been forwarded from the senate executive committee to the Academic Rights and Responsibilities Committee. It will come before the senate for discussion in November.

He announced that Joan Laughlin, associate dean of human resources and family sciences, will chair a committee responsible for UNL's self-study in anticipation of an accreditation review by the NCAA.
Moeser also announced he would soon appoint a consultant to inspect the athletic department and its treatment of women.

The chancellor took some heat regarding his beliefs on the Athletic Department's treatment of women athletes. James Ford, senate president elect, objected to the chancellor's "defense" of the athletic department in a television interview.

Ford asserted that the chancellor's views would predispose the consultant to find no wrong-doing within the department.

Moeser defended his beliefs, noting that the department has made strides and is correcting problems.

"I have to think that we have one of the more progressive athletics programs in the nation in regards to women," he said. Physical changes in the athletic department's training table area and the addition of an intensive sensitivity training workshop were cited.

"I believe the department is sincere and energetic not only in pursuing equity and parity for women but also in seeking a truly hospitable, warm, welcoming and healthy environment," he said. "I believe we have nothing to hide and will get a good report. I am not trying to prejudice the consultant but it is what I believe."

The chancellor guaranteed that the report would be made public.

In other action, the senate heard reports from the Academic Rights and Responsibilities Committee, the Dismissal and Appeals Committee and the Grading and Examinations Committee.

UNL Project Boosts Manufacturer's Productivity


By Robert Sheldon
News & Information

"It's a win-win situation," said Fred Choobineh, UNL professor of industrial and management systems.

Both UNL and Lucent Technologies expect gains in productivity to result from a contractual arrangement between UNL and Lucent's Omaha manufacturing plant, he said.

Choobineh used the "win-win" phrase several times as he discussed the contract under which several UNL faculty members are helping the manufacturer better integrate its human and material resources into the production process.

Choobineh and Bill Brown, associate professor of agricultural leadership education and communication, are principal investigators for the project, which also utilizes the services of Douglas May, assistant professor of management and Richard Torraco, assistant professor of vocational and adult education.

Ray Swartz, operations and engineering manager for Lucent's Outside Environment Plant group, thinks of the UNL faculty members as part of his manufacturing excellence team, the internal cluster of engineers and supervisors responsible for making the most of human factors and plant machinery and equipment in the area he manages.

"I believe we have to remain focused on the interaction between human and engineering factors in order to be competitive," Swartz said. "I think this project is well worth it and will help us achieve our goals in the workplace."

"Lucent Technologies is the largest manufacturing plant in Nebraska and probably the most modernized," Choobineh said. "It provides a great opportunity for us to see what's happening in a real-world situation and put theory into practice. What we learn will benefit our individual research and our classroom teaching."

Both Choobineh and Brown have held contracts with Lucent Technologies previously for separate projects; Choobineh since 1989 and Brown since 1992. Plant manager Swartz, they said, came up with the idea for the UNL contract which in effect made Choobineh and Miller members of the Outside Environment Group's management effectiveness team.

"You have to take human factors into account," Choobineh said. "I've done that over the years, but until this study, I and the engineers I've worked with hae had to rely on gut feelings and anecdotes. We haven't had hard data."

"By human factors, Brown said, "we mean the attitudes of people, their relationships with the company, whether they like their work, are being treated fairly, and so forth," Brown said.

Even though the $160,000 contract provides for a year-long study, preliminary data collection has already provided feedback to the company to help them pinpoint critical areas.

The data collected through the project is based largely on surveys and interviews developed and conducted by Brown, May and Torraco.

Brown said it became obvious early in the study that there was as much as a 25 percent variance in productivity in about 25 different areas studied - variations in the percent of time that units met their schedules in terms of completed goods and shipping of product on time.

"In other words, some parts of the organization were producing better than others," Brown said. "And about one-fourth of the variation in productivity could be accounted for by human factors. What we did was look at the characteristics of high performance units and the characteristics of units that were struggling. The most striking difference was in the relationship of workers to their supervisors."

Brown said that the quality of leadership at the first-line supervisory level was the most significant factor contributing to higher performance by an individual unit. Good supervisors, he said, inspire their workers, help them see the meaning and purpose in their work, pay individual attention to them, encourage the setting of personal goals in productivity, and stimulate workers to look at what they are doing in new ways.

How individual workers organize themselves was also found to be an important indicator of a unit's productivity.

"We looked at how groups of people worked," Brown said. "Did they work independently, or did they work together? Did one worker have to complete his task before someone else could do theirs?

"One of the most interesting things we found was that low performance units were characterized by what we call 'independent flow.' That's where one person has to do his thing without connecting to other people in his unit.

"Units that require teamwork and collaboration, where one worker has to complete his task before others can complete theirs, were higher in productivity than units characterized by independent flow."

Accumulated data is turned over to Choobineh and engineers he works with in the design of efficient manufacturing systems that take the human side into account.

"Even Brown's preliminary data influenced our thinking," Choobineh said. "We 're learning to think in terms of the culture of the people in the plant, whether it is a culture favorable to heavy team work or one where the employees are more individualistic."

The insights provided are important but are not the overriding determinants in the design of a good manufacturing system, Choobineh said.

"Brown and his colleagues found that a team-oriented approach is most successful in maximizing productivity. In general, that's true, but a good system depends on a lot of things, especially in a complicated manufacturing system like the one at Lucent.

Lucent, one of the three corporations formed after the breakup of AT&T, is the corporation that took over the research, design and manufacturing components of AT&T. And in the Omaha plant, the manufacturing process is vertically integrated - especially in the manufacture of environmental enclosures for outdoor electrical and engineering equipment and controls. In Swartz's area, which employs about one-third of the plant's work force, that means that the total manufacturing process begins with raw sheet metal for each enclosure and ends with the last electrical or electronic component put into place in the completed product.

Because of the complexity of the process, it isn't a given that a team-oriented approach will guarantee improved productivity in all situations, Choobineh said. Some tasks require a more independent approach, and the system has to be designed accordingly.

Even so, the cooperative project has been very useful, Choobineh said. "It's important for us to understand the motivational aspects and perceptions employees have about their jobs. The information that Professor Brown and his colleagues are obtaining is essential to designing effective manufacturing systems."

"Disagreements are the fun stuff," Brown said. "It's fun to work with people who bring different experiences to a situation. We learn from each other that way. I'm learning all the time.

"There's never complete predictability with anything that has human factors associated with it," Brown said. "But we think that it is important for us, as academicians, to help somebody important to our state's economy solve some of their problems. If we do, we make them more competitive and the State of Nebraska benefits."

New Medical Director Prescribes Health Mix


By Carol Ash
University Health Center

Finding the right mix to promote healthy student lifestyles is key in creating a healthy student environment. A mix including prevention, health education and comprehensive services is just what new medical director Linda Herrmann, M.D., (shown at left), prescribes for students at UNL's University Health Center.

"Students are at a time in their life when they are finding out who they are and what they are all about," said Herrmann. "This is our opportunity to look at their habits, especially at a time when they may be experimenting, and share information and ideas to encourage healthy lifestyle choices."

Students, faculty and staff are a definite part of creating and evaluating this mix, she said, especially as the health care environment continues to change.

"At the University Health Center we have a variety of components that contribute to promoting a healthy student environment mix in the quality comprehensive services we offer students," Herrmann said. "In addition to having a variety of clinic services throughout the health center that pull the three elements of this mix together, we have a strong Community Health Education Department which focuses on the heavy issues facing today's college students, like drugs, sexuality, nutrition and overall health promotion issues."

With a background strong in health administration and quality improvement programming, Herrmann places importance on collecting information regarding what services are needed and wanted.

Peg Blake, director of the University Health Center, said Herrmann will do a great job of listening to student, faculty and staff feedback.

"She has an understanding of the clients we serve and the direction college health is going nationwide," Blake said. She added that Herrmann would be a student advocate relaying student, faculty and staff input to university administrators.

Herrmann will see patients in the clinic about 50 percent of the time. She will also act as an administrator overseeing the University Health Center's medical staff (six physicians and two physician assistants), nursing staff, medical laboratory, medical records and appointment desk.

Herrmann received her bachelor's degree in 1972 from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. She graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1982 and specializes in internal medicine.

Her experience includes serving as director of the health center at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. Most recently, Herrmann was medical director of the outpatient primary care clinic at the University of Illinois in Rockford and taught undergraduate medical students there.

Learning about UNL's health services and getting settled is Herrmann's first priority before she outlines any plans or changes for the University Health Center.

"It's an exciting time to be a part of the health center staff," Herrmann said. "There are many changes in the internal organization, and I'm filling a position that has been vacant for a year and a half. Plus I am replacing someone who had been here for more than three years."

Russell Labeau, M.D. was the medical director at the University Health Center before Herrmann. He served in that position from June 1992 until February 1995.

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