Volleyball vs. Michigan

Rodney Bennett Author

10/09/2023 Added

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Chancellor Rodney Bennett talks about providing leadership for the state's land-grant university, the abundance of marquee programs at UNL including Engineering and its partnershp with Kiewit, and the recent Mid-American Transportation Center research grant.

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[00:00:00.150]Well first John, I want to thank you
[00:00:01.620]for having me on the broadcast.
[00:00:03.210]I mean, any opportunity I have to visit with you
[00:00:05.940]and our fans and listeners and supporters,
[00:00:09.000]I'm always grateful to do that.
[00:00:10.590]So thank you for carving out a little bit of time
[00:00:12.390]for the chancellor.
[00:00:14.280]The University of Nebraska Lincoln has not disappointed.
[00:00:18.000]It has exceeded every expectation that I had
[00:00:20.910]about the institution and the city
[00:00:23.550]when I was a candidate,
[00:00:25.290]but I go back to the equity that is inherent
[00:00:28.530]in the Big Red End that so many people across the country
[00:00:31.786]and around the world know about the University of Nebraska.
[00:00:36.510]I think the ability to provide leadership
[00:00:40.920]for the state's land grant
[00:00:42.690]and flagship institution while being a member
[00:00:45.960]of the Big 10 Athletic Conference
[00:00:48.270]really is for a person like me,
[00:00:50.760]30 years in public higher education,
[00:00:53.220]is really a dream come true.
[00:00:55.830]I'm obsessed as are a lot of your listeners
[00:00:58.800]or all of your listeners
[00:01:00.390]with our woman's volleyball program.
[00:01:03.360]They just seem to keep getting better and better and better.
[00:01:08.220]I watch some of their social media posts
[00:01:11.010]and I know that they're just good young women
[00:01:13.710]and really good role models,
[00:01:15.960]and so I'm just proud to be affiliated with an institution
[00:01:19.680]and with a program who's committed to excellence,
[00:01:23.460]who's really elevating not only the sport of volleyball,
[00:01:26.820]but elevating the university
[00:01:29.490]and serving as positive role models for young people,
[00:01:33.930]not just young women, but really for young men and women.
[00:01:37.590]That's just something very special
[00:01:39.120]and something that none of us should take for granted.
[00:01:42.840]My observation after all these years is
[00:01:44.820]that these are true student athletes
[00:01:47.400]and it's a joy to interact,
[00:01:48.990]have a little box seat observing
[00:01:50.730]these true student athletes doing what they do best.
[00:01:53.460]You mentioned, Chancellor, equity.
[00:01:55.920]My guess is that's something that's near and dear to you
[00:01:58.890]and it's something that a lot of students and families
[00:02:02.460]may think, uh-oh, University of Nebraska's too much,
[00:02:04.680]it's too expensive perhaps, or it's beyond.
[00:02:07.560]What is the University of Nebraska doing
[00:02:08.910]to make sure that every Nebraskan
[00:02:10.560]and non-Nebraskan can study here and excel here?
[00:02:14.460]I think that the conversation there, John,
[00:02:16.920]really starts with embracing our land grant, excuse me,
[00:02:21.300]our land grant designation
[00:02:23.430]and our land grant mission,
[00:02:24.900]which really leads us to access,
[00:02:27.630]really creating an opportunity for any Nebraskan
[00:02:30.780]that wants to go to college,
[00:02:32.280]that wants to go to University of Nebraska Lincoln,
[00:02:35.160]to have an opportunity to do that.
[00:02:37.500]I always want to caution
[00:02:39.360]when I'm talking to prospective students and their parents
[00:02:42.600]about the cost of attendance,
[00:02:44.310]because there are some ways and sometimes in which
[00:02:48.420]we have to increase what it costs to attend.
[00:02:51.150]You know, like any other industry,
[00:02:53.580]we have some fixed costs that are real cost to us
[00:02:56.820]and we have to be able to pay those invoices, as it were.
[00:03:00.840]But I'm very sensitive to not pricing families out
[00:03:05.100]of access and out of the market and out of the opportunity.
[00:03:08.730]So as we think about our resources, first of all,
[00:03:11.670]from a taxpayer perspective,
[00:03:14.310]we really work every day to be good stewards
[00:03:18.030]of the resources that have been appropriated to us
[00:03:21.120]through the legislature, through the taxpayers,
[00:03:23.910]and to really honor those resources
[00:03:26.100]both in letter and in spirit.
[00:03:29.070]And then when we have to increase tuition or fees,
[00:03:32.040]we try to do that from the perspective
[00:03:34.020]of what do we really need this for
[00:03:37.650]and then how can we honor the integrity
[00:03:40.620]of what we're asking students and families to pay more for
[00:03:45.360]and being a good steward of that.
[00:03:46.890]So when it happens, I always feel good about it,
[00:03:50.400]us getting the number right
[00:03:51.900]in terms of what the increase is gonna be
[00:03:54.360]and then using it for the purposes
[00:03:56.580]in which we said we were going to use it for.
[00:03:58.830]I recently learned a lot about the Carson School
[00:04:02.370]about a hundred yards from where we're talking right now
[00:04:04.290]in your office here.
[00:04:05.820]And that's really a unique program seemingly
[00:04:08.460]for not just computer science but for creative sorts
[00:04:11.400]and it combines those two.
[00:04:13.380]That gets me excited.
[00:04:14.640]I'm wondering, after three months here,
[00:04:16.380]is it the new engineering building,
[00:04:18.150]is there something else that you think about
[00:04:20.220]that makes you especially proud that it's right here
[00:04:22.230]and maybe unique to right here at University of Nebraska?
[00:04:24.900]Well there are so many programs and services
[00:04:28.380]and opportunities that are marquee
[00:04:31.980]for the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
[00:04:34.580]And you know, as the Chancellor, I love them all.
[00:04:37.590]You know, it's sort of in some ways asking a mama
[00:04:39.690]or a daddy to pick their favorite child or grandchild.
[00:04:43.410]You know, you kind of love them all.
[00:04:45.390]But there are some that are definitely marquee programs
[00:04:49.320]for us and some that I think will lead us
[00:04:52.050]towards positioning ourselves for readmission into the AAU,
[00:04:57.210]which is a goal that we've been talking about
[00:04:59.460]for most of the summer and even before then.
[00:05:02.910]When I think about what we're doing
[00:05:04.950]through Lance Perez over in the College of Engineering,
[00:05:09.180]the engineering program is a very important part
[00:05:13.740]of the way forward for us.
[00:05:15.780]I think the investment
[00:05:17.100]from the Kiewit Foundation as the lead gift
[00:05:20.162]for the expansion of the building is really important.
[00:05:23.730]We want to continue to elevate engineering
[00:05:26.730]not only for UNL, but across the state
[00:05:29.139]and across the Big 10.
[00:05:31.290]We want the best and the brightest students
[00:05:33.300]to see their engineering futures here.
[00:05:36.660]We wanna rise in the national rankings.
[00:05:38.940]We know that in so many parts of our daily lives
[00:05:43.170]the role that engineers and engineering plays,
[00:05:47.010]whether it's chemical or electrical
[00:05:49.020]or industrial or you know, pick an emphasis,
[00:05:53.310]it really begins to change and elevate
[00:05:56.790]and improve the quality of life for all of us who are here.
[00:06:01.500]We want our students to see themselves as global citizens
[00:06:05.430]and there are so many issues
[00:06:06.780]around the world that our College of Engineering graduates
[00:06:10.470]could help solve.
[00:06:12.210]And so as Lance Perez leads that college
[00:06:15.090]and our outstanding faculty who are there
[00:06:17.760]are interacting with our students,
[00:06:19.080]we want them to take what they're learning here in Lincoln
[00:06:22.410]and apply it broadly to elevate communities
[00:06:25.680]wherever the need might exist.
[00:06:28.290]I might mention to you, John, and to your listeners
[00:06:31.500]that on September 26th, we celebrated a $15 million grant
[00:06:37.230]for the Mid-American Transportation Center.
[00:06:41.160]That is a collaborative partnership that involves
[00:06:45.113]region seven for the WS Department of Transportation
[00:06:49.560]and region seven is Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas.
[00:06:55.080]And the College of Engineering in Lance Perez
[00:06:57.750]was a big part of helping us to secure that grant
[00:07:01.380]and it demonstrates the interdisciplinary work
[00:07:05.340]that takes place here
[00:07:07.140]of all of us pulling in the same direction,
[00:07:09.930]of all of us being aligned,
[00:07:11.910]of all of us not sort of working in silos
[00:07:14.610]only thinking about what's best for us,
[00:07:17.730]but rather thinking about what's best for the university.
[00:07:20.820]So if you or our listeners are not as familiar
[00:07:24.810]with the Mid-America Transportation Center
[00:07:28.170]and the $15 million that we were just awarded,
[00:07:31.260]it's another feather in our cap and I'm very proud of it.

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Volleyball vs. Michigan

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