 Moeser Sets Goals for
Sesquicentennial
By Kim Hachiya, Public Relations
At his annual State of the University address, Chancellor James Moeser
said that the university needs to increase its level of sponsored funding
for research, boost enrollment, and improve the learning experience for
undergraduates.
Moeser, speaking at the Lied Center on Aug. 20, said that if the
university
could double its level of sponsored funding, primarily from federal
sources,
then reallocations and budget cuts would be more easily absorbed.
Nebraska
lags behind its peers in sponsored funding, he said.
"We are excessively reliant upon state revenues and tuition for
our support. We need to be more self-reliant and less dependent upon
state
support," he said.
Moeser suggested that boosting enrollment to 25,000 students would
generate
significant income. The campus infrastructure can easily support that
many
students, he said, however current enrollment is about 23,000. An
additional
2,000 students on the Lincoln campus would add about $4 million in
tuition
revenues.
"We must build our enrollment in the context of a strong
commitment
to quality in everything that we do-a commitment to excellence in
teaching
and a supportive system of academic advising and mentoring," he
said.
The chancellor set several campuswide goals.
o "Let us state two ambitious goals for ourselves, first, that in
five years, we will increase the first-to-second year retention rate to
84 percent. Second, let us pledge to increase our six-year graduation
rate
from today's roughly 50 percent to 60 percent by 2006."
o "Let us establish a universitywide First-Year Charter Seminar
to introduce first-year students to the academic community and the skills
needed to be a successful student."
o "Let us add structure and function to the definition of a
University
Learning Community."
o "Let us establish an Orientation Planning Committee to
coordinate
planning and implementation of an academic- and value-centered program of
activities for the very first days that new students spend on
campus."
o "Let us resolve to increase our federal funding by $10 million
in four areas over the next five years-a cumulative increase of $40
million-will
more than double our federal support."
The chancellor said the land grant mission of teaching, research and
outreach has been updated to the active terms of learning, discovery and
engagement. The latter, he said, is how the university is involved in the
lives of citizens through problem solving activities and leadership.
His goals for engagment are:
o Include in each college strategic plan, as well as the overall plan
for the campus, a clear statement of goals and action plans to further
our
engagement with the people of Nebraska;
o Dedicate the resources of the university to assist communities,
schools,
and families with critical issues affecting children and youth in
Nebraska;
o Work in partnership with local communities to help maintain
sustainability
of local economies and cultures;
o Become a national leader in the field of extended education and
life-long
learning.
Moeser also announced that since the inception of Campaign Nebraska in
July 1993, a total of $350 million has been pledged or given to the
Lincoln
campus. In the past year, UNL received a total of $155 million, of which
6.9 percent was directed toward athletics. The remainder-more than 93
percent-went
to academic support.
To read the full text of the 1999 State of the University address, see
http://www.unl.
edu/pr/soua99/
html/transcrpt.htm on the Internet.
Traveling NU Faculty to Teach
Teachers-to-Be
Federal Grant's Goal: More Native Teachers
by David Fitzgibbon, Public Relations
The superintendent of Omaha Nation Public School sees a new program at
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Teachers College as one answer to an
escalating
teacher shortage on the reservation.
Beginning this fall, traveling NU faculty will teach Native American
para-professionals to become badly needed certified teachers in
Nebraska's
reservation schools.
"For us it's going to give opportunity to local people,"
said
Todd Chessmore, superintendent of Omaha Nation Public School in Macy.
Chessmore knows too well the importance of creating those
opportunities.
His reservation school faces a near-desperate situation; a junior high
teaching
position advertised this year received no applications. A social studies
opening received only two.
"We're rural with a low socio-economic situation, and lack of
housing
creates a situation where teachers have to live out of town. We probably
have all the things that make it difficult to recruit any teacher,"
Chessmore said.
The "career ladder" project hopes to turn that around by
enhancing
the teaching credentials of those who are already part of the community,
according to Beth Franklin, the NU Teachers College professor who's
administering
the program.
The project goal is to enable 30 Native Americans, who currently work
as para-professionals, to become certified teachers with endorsements in
English as a Second Language. Incentives will include tuition assistance
and students will be released from half of their para-professional
responsibilities
to provide time for learning activities.
"We think the result will be stronger K-12 education programs
enhancing
teaching and learning of Native American students, which will in turn
lead
to greater academic success," Franklin said.
Made possible by a $1.1 million federal grant, the program will offer
on-site instruction by NU faculty at two targeted school districts on the
Omaha Indian Reservation. However, applicants from other reservations are
welcome, and there are future hopes of expanding the program to
Nebraska's
Santee Indian Reservation.
The program builds collaboration between the university, the Omaha
Nation
Public School and the Nebraska Indian Community College, which will
develop
an associate of arts degree program for candidates in need of such
credentials
to enter the NU program.
"It's clear employment at good jobs, permanent jobs, requires a
bachelor's degree in our economy," said Schuyler Houser, president
of the Nebraska Indian Community College. "Most of our students have
family responsibilities, so being able to provide both associate and
bachelor
level courses in the community is really key to helping people take the
professional steps they want."
Likewise, Chessmore is hopeful the career ladder project will help
build
a group of teachers with a connection to his school.
"Instead of having teachers who drive in from Sioux City, we'll
have educators who live right here; their volunteer activities and social
activities will happen right here and their kids are in our system,"
Chessmore said. "The new teachers will be invested in the
community."
BOB GIER, supervisor of Moving Services, wheels a hand truck into the
recently-remodeled building at 420 University Terrace. Below: a
driver's-eye
view of the building from 16th St.
Building Was Formerly Fraternity House
Offices Hang Shingles at 420 University Terrace
By Kim Hachiya, Public Relations
Several university units moved into a former fraternity house at 420
University Terrace over the last month. And while renovation in and near
the building is ongoing, it's business as usual. Most of the new tenants
moved from offices along R Street although some were scattered
campuswide.
Those now housed at University Terrace are Summer Sessions, Academic
Senate and Ethnic Studies/International Studies. Moving after Labor Day
are those associated with International Affairs. Phone numbers for all
units
remained unchanged.
Summer Sessions spent about two years in the old Kinko's site and
later
moved to the second floor of International Affairs as it awaited
renovation
of the new site, said Janet Wagner, associate director.
Wagner said the building has a new elevator. The basement, yet to be
renovated, will contain large and small conference rooms and a break room
with a small kitchen area.
International Affairs will move on Sept. 7. Peter Levitov, associate
dean of international affairs, said the office originally was to move in
early August, but renovations were incomplete. They decided it was better
to move after school started in order to better serve international
students
who would be arriving on campus the middle of August.
Levitov said the building offered some advantages for his unit. It's
closer to residence halls so student access is easier. The entire office
will be housed on one floor, rather than three as is now the case. The
coordinator
for the international affairs major in the College of Arts and Sciences
will work in the building, which facilitates interaction between that
person
and International Affairs.
One problem, both Levitov and Wagner said, was that University Terrace
is not well-known on campus.
"It's effectively 16-and-a-half street," Levitov said. Both
agreed that more signs and education will be needed to inform folks of
University
Terrace's location.
Ret Pennell, secretary for the Institute for Ethnic Studies and
International
Studies, said she expects coordination to be easier now that all the
units
are together. Before, individual ethnic studies coordinators were in
Bessey,
Andrews, Lyman and Oldfather halls. All will have office space in
University
Terrace, which Pennell said will make it easier to meet with students and
to meet together. A goal is to set up a library and resource center for
students and faculty, she added. Pennell's group moved Aug. 12 and
13.
Academic Senate offices moved Aug. 16. Karen Griffin, coordinator,
said
she appreciated not having to deal with the "monster bugs" that
frequented the old office, which formerly housed a donut shop.
She is having to store some files on the third floor, which will not
be renovated, because her office is smaller.
Griffin said she was amazed at the renovation because when she first
saw the space last summer, it was decrepit. The building was filled with
graffiti, had smelly beer-stained carpets and a kitchen refrigerator
filled
with year-old food.
Griffin and other said that she really felt like she was "on the
edge of campus."
"Maybe that will change as more students come back and as more
people
get to know where we are," she said.
Lincoln Campus Elevated to 2nd USNews Tier
By Tom Simons, Public Relations
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln returned to the second tier of
national
universities as ranked in the 2000 edition of U.S. News and World
Report's
"America's Best Colleges" guide book.
The guide, on newsstands Aug. 24, also lists Nebraska in a tie for
45th
among national universities labeled "Great Schools at Great
Prices."
In addition, NU's undergraduate engineering program ranks in a tie for
85th
among institutions with doctoral programs in engineering and the College
of Business Administration tied for 51st as one of the country's top
undergraduate
business programs.
"Our purpose in strengthening our academic programs is to offer
our students the best education we can give them," said Chancellor
James Moeser.
"It's gratifying to be acknowledged by a publication such as U.S.
News and World Report, and it's particularly gratifying to be recognized
as a 'great school at a great price'-which we think we are. But the
rankings
themselves are merely guidelines. They show the company we're in and they
can sometimes help us identify trends. The trend this shows us is that we
are moving in the right direction."
U.S. News ranks national universities in four tiers. The top 50 are in
the first tier and are ranked numerically. Seventy institutions are in
the
second tier, 56 in the third tier and 52 in the fourth. Institutions are
listed alphabetically in the second, third and fourth tiers. Nebraska was
in the third tier in 1999 after a second-tier ranking in 1998.
NU is one of seven Big 12 Conference institutions in tier two, joining
Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Missouri and Texas A&M. Texas
was the only Big 12 school in tier one.
In the "Great Schools at Great Prices" listing, Nebraska was
joined by three Big 12 schools-Missouri (first), Texas (eighth) and Texas
A&M (tie for 14th)-and top private institutions such as Cal Tech,
Notre
Dame, Stanford and the University of Chicago.
ANIMATED: Secretary of Education Richard Riley and Chancellor
James Moeser chat at the Peter Kiewit Institute dedication. UNO
Chancellor
Nancy Belck and Walter Scott, chair of the institute's policy advisers
board,
are in the foreground. Below: Moeser speaks at the dedication.
 Peter Kiewit Institute Dedicated at Aksarben
A state-of-the-art technology university campus, created to educate
future
technology workers and engineers in a unique atmosphere, was officially
dedicated Aug. 21 in Omaha. Among dignitaries attending was U.S.
Secretary
of Education Richard Riley.
The University of Nebraska Peter Kiewit Institute was designed to help
meet the needs of the nation's technology and engineering firms by
providing
a top-flight education to students interested in pursuing careers in
information
science, technology and engineering.
The facility is the result of an alliance of education and industry
and
offers exceptional career opportunities for students, while providing the
business community with a growing labor pool of skilled
professionals.
The $70-million facility is supported by the University of
NebraskaLincoln's
College of Engineering and Technology and the University of Nebraska at
Omaha's College of Information Science and Technology. The Institute has
an 11-member policy advisers board composed of Nebraska business and
industry
leaders who work with the university to ensure the institute remains
responsive
to business needs.
University of Nebraska President L. Dennis Smith called the Peter
Kiewit
Institute a national model that demonstrates how education and business
can work together to supply skilled workers.
Smith said the institute would have been impossible without the
support
of state government, which contributed $23 million to the project.
Two-thirds
of the $70-million cost of the institute was raised by the Omaha business
community. In addition, the land for the Institute was donated by First
Data Resources, one of Omaha's largest employers, and several Omaha
employers
created scholarships and internships to help the institute recruit high
ability high school technology students from around the country.
Walter Scott, chair of the institute policy advisers board, said
Omaha's
future depends on businesses and education working together to meet the
technology worker shortage in the area. "When something is needed
today,
we don't serve ourselves or society well by putting it off," said
Scott.
"Colleges have a reputation for being slow to change, but the
institute
is an incredible example of higher education being responsive to the
needs
of business, and willing to find a solution."
The Institute's unique features and programs include:
o An innovative "living lab" building design that exposes
much
of the infrastructure so engineering students can learn from the
electrical
wiring, heating and cooling systems.
o An "Experts-in-Residence" program that encourages
executives
from the world's high-tech companies to spend a year or more teaching and
mentoring students at the institute. Early participants include senior
management
from Boeing and IBM.
o An innovative curriculum that encourages cross-disciplinary
education
of students designed around real-world business challenges. The institute
offers degrees in more than a dozen information science, technology and
engineering areas.
o Venture capital support for student business start-ups, as well as
joint research and development opportunities with area businesses.
o A telecommunications engineering laboratory that allows
undergraduate
and graduate students to focus on networking, wireless and optical
communications.
o A collaborative computer classroom that encourages students to work
in teams to adjust, modify or react to work locally, nationally or
internationally.
o A structures laboratory that provides testing of construction beams
from bridges or buildings against a reaction wall capable of withstanding
600,000 pounds of pressure. It also includes a 25-ton overhead movable
crane.
Tom McClung, interim dean of UNO's College of Information Science and
Technology, said the institute started accepting students and offering
classes
within 10 months of forming the new college. He said the opening of the
new building means a full complement of classes will begin with the fall
term.
"We've put together a model that can be emulated across the
country
between the academic and business worlds," said McClung.
"Pulling
together engineering and information science and technology, so we can
collaborate
across those disciplines and build interdisciplinary programs, is
unique."
A key to the success of the institute was the removal of traditional
boundaries between the Lincoln and Omaha campuses. "The Institute
strengthens
UNO and further reinforces our mission as a metropolitan
university,"
said Nancy Belck, UNO chancellor. "This facility not only brings us
closer to the business community, but also as a university system because
administration and faculty of both campuses can work closely
together."
"We're preparing students to have the most sought after qualities
in technology," said James Moeser, UNL chancellor. "At the same
time, we're also creating new standards for how students, faculty,
administrators
and business leaders work together. It's an exciting concept that offers
tremendous potential for future endeavors."
The institute has already received accolades from some of the leading
institutions in the country, including the National Science Foundation
and
Carnegie Mellon. | 
