2015 State of the University Address

Harvey Perlman Author

09/30/2015 Added

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Chancellor Harvey Perlman delivered his annual State of the University Address on September 30, 2015.

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[00:00:06.635]Thank you.
[00:00:13.108]So, I've entitled these remarks
[00:00:16.303]"Short Remarks From A Short-Timer."
[00:00:20.181]Sounded better than
[00:00:21.401]"Stale Remarks From A Stale Chancellor."
[00:00:25.643]Since I announced last April one
[00:00:27.794]that this would be my last year,
[00:00:29.269]I was determined not to give a
[00:00:30.952]State of the University Address.
[00:00:32.485]I concluded that it would be more appropriate
[00:00:35.352]and in some ways, more symbolic,
[00:00:37.210]if on April one of this coming year
[00:00:39.973]I gave a farewell address.
[00:00:42.225]I still intend to do that.
[00:00:44.048]However, my staff, with that mysterious black box
[00:00:47.809]known as The Senior Administrative Team,
[00:00:50.328]urged me to give a State of the University speech.
[00:00:53.335]They argued it was traditional, there would be
[00:00:55.413]a serious void without it.
[00:00:57.248]They also correctly observed that we had to fill up the time
[00:01:00.905]between the employee recognition and the picnic.
[00:01:07.539]It's difficult to know what to say.
[00:01:09.383]I'm no longer in a position to set a long-term agenda
[00:01:12.182]for the campus, and it would not be fair
[00:01:13.981]to my successor for me to try and do so.
[00:01:18.780]I plan to provide my final assessment on the state of the
[00:01:20.438]University next April before handing the reins
[00:01:22.911]over to a new Chancellor, and at that point,
[00:01:26.022]I will have no political restraints on what I might say.
[00:01:33.278]But that doesn't leave much for this address.
[00:01:35.599]Of course, some might argue that lack of substance
[00:01:37.818]hasn't stopped me before.
[00:01:41.776]Many have asked me recently how I was able to serve
[00:01:44.551]as Chancellor for such a long time.
[00:01:45.978]I reply with the following sage advice:
[00:01:49.056]Don't retire until you've irritated enough people
[00:01:52.678]to make it worthwhile.
[00:01:55.719]I think I've satisfied that criteria.
[00:01:58.934]One of the honors associated with being Chancellor
[00:02:00.989]for the last 14 years has been that many of you
[00:02:03.299]cared about what I said at the State of the University.
[00:02:05.796]I'm also quick to acknowledge that one of the strengths
[00:02:09.639]of this University, and one of the reasons for our success
[00:02:13.052]has been that this campus has had the good sense
[00:02:16.093]to ignore some of the suggestions that turned out
[00:02:18.393]to be impractical.
[00:02:20.436]The beaurocracy of any institution of shared governance
[00:02:23.594]can seemingly embrace an idea with open arms
[00:02:26.171]and then, in mysterious ways, make it all but disappear.
[00:02:31.674]I just wanted you to know that I recognized
[00:02:34.018]when that was happening.
[00:02:37.037]So, without being too specific, I want to report to you
[00:02:40.078]on the state of the University and give you an idea
[00:02:41.530]of the agenda I will try to pursue during this
[00:02:43.898]last year as your Chancellor.
[00:02:46.453]I recognize that the focus of the campus
[00:02:48.135]will be on the search process for my successor,
[00:02:50.771]as it rightly should be.
[00:02:51.653]The University should be well-positioned to attract
[00:02:54.497]good leadership and I'm confident they will.
[00:02:58.213]As I said before, in leading the University, I tried
[00:03:00.372]to follow the advice in Jim Collins' book
[00:03:02.392]"Good to Great"
[00:03:03.611]which is to hire good people and get out of their way.
[00:03:07.256]I've been fortunate, more often than not,
[00:03:09.230]to find extraordinary talent and if I have made
[00:03:12.295]any contribution, it was to have the good sense
[00:03:14.453]to free them to lead.
[00:03:16.951]I'm indebted to Vice Chancellors Ronnie Green,
[00:03:18.865]Prem Paul, Juan Franco, Chris Jackson,
[00:03:21.246]Mark Askren and the others who have served
[00:03:24.914]on the Administrative Team during my tenure.
[00:03:26.993]We all recognize that the output of the University
[00:03:31.032]is generated by the faculty and staff,
[00:03:33.146]whether it is teaching, research or engagement
[00:03:36.454]and without their creativity and energy
[00:03:39.287]the University cannot be successful.
[00:03:42.608]At the same time, the Deans and Vice-Chancellors
[00:03:44.406]and others in Administration make the critical decision
[00:03:47.193]about when to invest, and in what to invest,
[00:03:50.431]so that the limited resources we have will
[00:03:53.230]maximize our collective success.
[00:03:56.633]We have all be blessed with very talented Vice-Chancellors
[00:03:59.105]and Deans who've made a real difference in our trajectory
[00:04:01.773]and now that I'm soon to transition back to the faculty,
[00:04:04.873]I can say that without being too self-serving.
[00:04:08.948]I'm particularly grateful to Ronnie Green.
[00:04:10.574]After the difficulties of attracting candidates
[00:04:12.791]for Senior Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs,
[00:04:15.311]willing to work, to sign on to work
[00:04:17.726]for a short-term Chancellor.
[00:04:19.526]He agreed to bear the burden of holding two positions
[00:04:22.207]and to being in two places at the same time.
[00:04:26.085]As the past several months have proven,
[00:04:27.686]he is up to the task.
[00:04:30.450]I say all of this as context to my summary of
[00:04:32.830]the state of the University.
[00:04:35.129]Nebraska is not the University we were 15 years ago,
[00:04:38.368]because of good fortune, extraordinary external support
[00:04:43.128]from friends and alumni and a collective internal
[00:04:46.203]commitment to drive this University forward,
[00:04:49.650]we are now a far better University.
[00:04:53.506]We are a member of the Big Ten.
[00:04:55.666]There are issues in which we are regarded
[00:04:57.221]as the premier source of talent and
[00:04:59.404]information in the world.
[00:05:01.563]We are engaged in cutting-edge research that tries to solve
[00:05:04.129]some of the most intractable issues
[00:05:06.310]facing the human condition.
[00:05:08.563]We are actively engaged as a land-grant institution
[00:05:10.966]in improving the economy of our state,
[00:05:13.369]and most significantly, we have an undergraduate program
[00:05:17.584]that is increasingly vibrant, exciting, broad
[00:05:21.427]and attractive to young people from Nebraska,
[00:05:24.467]the country, and the world.
[00:05:27.708]We're also at an inflection point.
[00:05:30.528]An institution like ours that is not moving forward
[00:05:32.700]is falling behind.
[00:05:35.184]We have achieved a plateau well above the valley
[00:05:37.807]we once inhabited but well below
[00:05:40.385]the peaks of our potential.
[00:05:43.205]As in any climb, the air becomes more rarified
[00:05:45.969]and the climbing becomes more difficult.
[00:05:48.907]We have achieved because we took calculated risks.
[00:05:52.285]There will always be those who seek the comfort
[00:05:54.061]of the present or who fear the expected reactions
[00:05:56.881]of those who resist change.
[00:05:59.366]We cannot let them fashion our future.
[00:06:02.745]I remain content with the goals we set a few years ago
[00:06:05.264]to increase enrollment, increase research,
[00:06:08.341]increase faculty numbers and faculty recognition.
[00:06:12.427]We have made some progress, but we cannot rely alone
[00:06:14.621]on the units that have already demonstrated success.
[00:06:18.824]We must also stimulate and incentivize those units
[00:06:21.459]who have, to this point, not contributed as much
[00:06:24.965]as they could to our collective enterprise.
[00:06:29.145]Over the course of last year, I called out Architecture
[00:06:31.245]as a college that was not reaching its full potential.
[00:06:36.226]Our efforts to merge the college were borne solely out of
[00:06:39.244]our assessment that they could do more to engage
[00:06:41.938]in the University's momentum.
[00:06:44.619]Notwithstanding that the merger was not to be,
[00:06:47.057]I remain committed to the idea that there is potential
[00:06:50.157]to do something very special with that college,
[00:06:52.641]and we will continue to engage with
[00:06:55.184]Interim Dean Scott Tillinger, and the faculty to assure
[00:06:58.156]that they work towards that end.
[00:07:01.198]Both the faculty, and the discipline of Architecture,
[00:07:04.019]have very significant perspectives that can contribute
[00:07:07.061]well beyond the students in the
[00:07:08.698]Professional Architecture Program.
[00:07:11.601]We need their help in achieving our objectives.
[00:07:15.722]Our focus also has to be on the College of Engineering.
[00:07:18.843]That college has made real progress during
[00:07:20.561]the last three years, and implementation of a strategic plan
[00:07:23.836]approved by the Board of Regents is critical,
[00:07:26.460]not only for the University, but the State of Nebraska.
[00:07:30.244]For the University, the college should contribute to our
[00:07:32.764]enrollment growth and should play an increasingly central
[00:07:35.818]role in sustaining our research momentum.
[00:07:39.301]For the State of Nebraska, the production of more
[00:07:41.681]engineering graduates is critical for its economic
[00:07:44.397]advancement, and here, we are in competition
[00:07:46.998]with every other state, all of whom face
[00:07:50.003]a critical shortage of STEM graduates.
[00:07:53.557]Computer Science, particularly in software applications,
[00:07:56.541]is another field where demand for graduates exceeds supply,
[00:08:00.279]and where we are in a unique position
[00:08:02.403]to keep Nebraska competitive.
[00:08:05.294]We are increasingly well-positioned to do so.
[00:08:08.417]Our Computer Science and Engineering Department
[00:08:10.262]is developing a new Software Engineering Program
[00:08:12.875]to respond to industry demands, and we were fortunate
[00:08:16.857]to have attracted Professor Steve Cooper,
[00:08:18.934]from Stanford, to build on the
[00:08:20.015]extraordinary success of the Raikes School.
[00:08:24.380]With active computer education programs,
[00:08:26.260]both in Lincoln and at UNO,
[00:08:27.919]and the unique capabilities of the Raikes School,
[00:08:30.718]we must find ways to respond to the workforce needs
[00:08:33.818]of Nebraska companies -- needs, I should add,
[00:08:36.500]that are experienced by companies around the world.
[00:08:41.039]We have also begun significant initiatives lead by
[00:08:43.095]Vice-Chancellor Prem Paul and Dean Joe Francisco
[00:08:45.961]to engage the Humanities and Social Sciences
[00:08:48.759]in our institutional efforts.
[00:08:51.895]I am convinced that both Humanities and Social Sciences
[00:08:55.621]will be proven to be more and more critical to solving
[00:08:58.731]the problems that face the world, including
[00:09:01.472]food production, global climate change,
[00:09:04.293]early childhood education, the growing income disparity,
[00:09:08.297]cyber-security and so many more.
[00:09:12.037]These disciplines must not be left out
[00:09:13.859]of our innovation initiatives,
[00:09:15.856]our economic development initiatives,
[00:09:18.492]or our international engagement.
[00:09:22.091]Even in the age of science, human interactions and
[00:09:24.969]human understanding will have much to say about
[00:09:27.872]the acceptance and translation of scientific findings
[00:09:31.830]into public policy.
[00:09:34.152]I do not think it is heresy to explore how the Humanities
[00:09:37.729]can contribute to economic development.
[00:09:41.176]Amazon and Google were, after all, initially built
[00:09:44.798]on the content of the Humanities.
[00:09:48.293]Our recent announcement of the
[00:09:49.674]Nebraska Early Childhood Research Academy,
[00:09:51.578]lead by the College of Education and Human Sciences,
[00:09:53.971]illustrates how marshalling the social science
[00:09:57.774]and other expertise
[00:09:59.308]of the University has the potential
[00:10:00.353]to make an important difference.
[00:10:04.126]We will continue to pursue our enrollment goals.
[00:10:06.726]We are at a record high enrollment in
[00:10:08.352]the history of the University.
[00:10:10.673]I have full confidence we will reach
[00:10:12.113]our objective of 30,000 students.
[00:10:15.595]An important part of that increase will be
[00:10:17.394]the current growth of graduate student enrollment
[00:10:19.973]and increased faculty capacity.
[00:10:22.932]Whether we will do so in the timeframe I initially
[00:10:24.872]announced will remain to be seen.
[00:10:28.064]If we don't, I know it will be attributable --
[00:10:29.749]it will not be attributable to any lack of skill
[00:10:32.824]or energy on our Admissions staff or
[00:10:35.088]the full commitment of the campus community.
[00:10:39.372]We have also restructured our enrollment managment effort
[00:10:41.333]under the interim leadership of Amy Goodburn
[00:10:43.666]and have asked James Volkmer to fill the new position
[00:10:45.827]of Director of Enrollment Management Analytics.
[00:10:50.424]It remains critical that we meet our enrollment objectives.
[00:10:53.210]This state desperately needs an expanded
[00:10:55.950]young, skilled workforce.
[00:10:59.432]We should not underestimate the importance diversity has
[00:11:02.626]in not only achieving our tangible goals related
[00:11:04.971]to enrollment and research, but also our more general
[00:11:08.210]of enhancing the stature of this University.
[00:11:13.225]I'm extraordinarily pleased that in the past five years,
[00:11:15.430]the percentage of freshmen who are students of color
[00:11:18.008]has increased from 11% to 16%.
[00:11:21.932]Over the course of last year, we have implemented
[00:11:24.324]a restructuring of our diversity efforts.
[00:11:27.284]We refocused the Office of Equity and Compliance
[00:11:30.268]and were fortunate toward the end of the last academic year
[00:11:34.064]to attract Susan Foster from her law practice
[00:11:37.048]to join us as Director.
[00:11:40.484]Her arrival coincided with increased attention nationally
[00:11:44.048]on the role of universities in implementing Title Nine
[00:11:47.148]and she has been literally consumed with these issues.
[00:11:52.243]She is positioning us well to meet our responsibilities
[00:11:54.380]and as we build her office, she will have more of
[00:11:57.468]an opportunity to broaden those activities.
[00:12:01.647]The restructuring also contemplated that
[00:12:03.448]Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and Human Resources
[00:12:06.803]would identify a Diversity Officer in each unit
[00:12:09.763]to be responsible for activities and programs
[00:12:12.641]designed to improve our diversity efforts.
[00:12:16.240]We need to have our faculty and staff reflect,
[00:12:18.180]if not America, at least the diversity of our student body.
[00:12:23.381]During last year, Joy Castro from Ethnic Studies was asked
[00:12:26.387]by Academic Affairs to think through our diversity efforts
[00:12:29.859]and to make recommendations.
[00:12:32.529]She has provided a report with a broad, thoughtful set
[00:12:35.141]of recommendations that should be considered.
[00:12:38.380]Some, we have already implemented.
[00:12:40.981]One of those recommendations seems
[00:12:42.583]a precursor to the others:
[00:12:44.766]an outside, independent diversity audit of our program.
[00:12:48.423]I intend to implement that audit.
[00:12:52.078]Academic Affairs will be moving forward to recruit
[00:12:54.262]a full-time Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Diversity.
[00:12:58.441]In cooperation with President Bounds and
[00:13:00.903]the active involvement of our now
[00:13:02.307]Vice-Chancellor Mark Askren, we are looking seriously
[00:13:05.848]at how the Information Technology staff at UNL
[00:13:08.739]and at Varner Hall can work more closely together.
[00:13:13.104]Three positions have been consolidated,
[00:13:15.182]saving resources to invest in higher priority activities,
[00:13:18.827]and more may be forthcoming.
[00:13:22.682]Through Mark's leadership, earlier this year,
[00:13:24.842]UNL joined the Unison Consortium as a founding member,
[00:13:29.241]along with approximately a dozen other leading Universities,
[00:13:32.224]including many of our Big Ten colleagues.
[00:13:36.206]This community of institutions is working together
[00:13:38.378]to significantly improve teaching technologies
[00:13:41.698]which benefit both our faculty and our students.
[00:13:45.460]Specifically, we will gain access to improved
[00:13:47.596]learning management systems,
[00:13:49.186]open digital repositories,
[00:13:51.705]and next-generation learning analytic tools
[00:13:53.981]which will help us produce collaborative learning
[00:13:56.639]outcomes well beyond what we could do on our own.
[00:14:00.297]In a joint initiative between Academic Affairs and ITS,
[00:14:03.465]and with cooperation of the
[00:14:04.963]Faculty Senate Information Technologies
[00:14:07.158]and Services Committee, we are piloting use of the
[00:14:10.176]Canvas Learning Management System
[00:14:11.836]as part of that Unison engagement.
[00:14:16.003]The University will reach its potential only if it continues
[00:14:20.381]its efforts to engage on a global scale.
[00:14:24.177]Almost 10% of our student body now comes from abroad.
[00:14:28.401]We are engaged in programs to increase our efforts
[00:14:30.399]to convince our domestic students to study abroad.
[00:14:34.080]From the 1950s, when we helped to create
[00:14:37.121]an American Land-Grant-style University in Turkey,
[00:14:40.441]we continue to use our expertise
[00:14:42.497]to assist countries around the world.
[00:14:45.897]Here are some of our unique efforts:
[00:14:48.917]An expanding engagement in India with the
[00:14:51.494]recent announcement of a collaboration
[00:14:53.142]with Jain Irrigation, a private-sector company.
[00:14:56.695]A new partnership in water research with the
[00:14:58.495]Ministry of Science and Technology.
[00:15:01.234]The College of Engineering's relationship
[00:15:02.499]with IIT Madras,
[00:15:05.262]The College of Education and Human Sciences' work
[00:15:07.480]in Early Childhood and Family Studies with
[00:15:09.918]the Tata Institute of Social Sciences,
[00:15:12.832]and Food Sciences' partnership with
[00:15:14.399]their National Institute of Food Technology.
[00:15:18.196]In China, we recently formulated
[00:15:20.900]a joint degree program in Food Science with
[00:15:23.536]Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University
[00:15:26.240]with a course of study formulated by
[00:15:28.691]faculty from both institutions.
[00:15:31.639]About 60 students entered the program this year.
[00:15:35.076]These students will take their first two years in China,
[00:15:37.456]from Chinese faculty,
[00:15:38.860]a third year in China from our faculty,
[00:15:41.833]and their last year here at UNL.
[00:15:45.535]This adds to a strong and developing relationship with
[00:15:48.276]Xi'an Jiaotong University in areas such as mathematics,
[00:15:51.875]and our partnership with The Confucius Institute
[00:15:54.475]that is opening Chinese language and
[00:15:56.472]culture to Nebraskans statewide.
[00:15:59.874]In Brazil, expanding beyond growing relationships
[00:16:03.577]in agriculture, the College of Education and Human Sciences
[00:16:06.712]is working on innovative collaborations that will put
[00:16:09.916]research enterprise to work on mutually beneficial actions
[00:16:13.793]in the fields of early childhood, social inequality
[00:16:17.194]and adolescents at risk.
[00:16:20.794]With support from the US Congress and other sources,
[00:16:23.069]we will be one of four universities partnering with
[00:16:26.157]the Harvard Kennedy School to create an
[00:16:28.456]American-style, Fulbright University in
[00:16:32.148]Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
[00:16:35.595]Our National Drought Mitigation Center and other faculty
[00:16:37.953]at INR, with support from USAID, will be working
[00:16:41.714]to create a similar drought mitigation center
[00:16:44.697]for the Middle East in North Africa.
[00:16:47.797]Our Physics Department and the Holland Computing Center
[00:16:50.096]are deeply engaged in the Hadron Particle Collider project
[00:16:53.555]at the CERN lab in Switzerland, one of the largest
[00:16:56.110]and most complex scientific experiments in history.
[00:17:00.776]These are just a few of the many ways in which
[00:17:02.471]our flag is flying across the world.
[00:17:06.395]David Wilson, who has served as
[00:17:07.869]Senior International Officer, has brought a real passion
[00:17:10.970]and energy to our international engagement activities.
[00:17:14.986]David has announced his intention to return to the faculty.
[00:17:18.353]We will initiate a national search for a
[00:17:20.292]Senior International Officer to be
[00:17:22.695]an Associate Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
[00:17:26.666]Tom Farrell, Associate to the Chancellor
[00:17:28.373]for International Activities, will serve as the Interim.
[00:17:31.971]Tom brings an extraordinary resume,
[00:17:33.909]including a career in the US State Department as
[00:17:36.151]Director of the Fulbright Program and at
[00:17:38.287]The Institute for International Education.
[00:17:41.373]He has been intrumental in many of the international
[00:17:43.465]institutional engagements we currently enjoy.
[00:17:48.027]With our expanded global presence,
[00:17:49.629]it's important that we develop an administrative structure
[00:17:52.671]that can leverage and better support in a strategic way
[00:17:56.409]our international engagement.
[00:18:00.345]Finally, let me make a few comments on Innovation Campus.
[00:18:03.886]In a week, we will have its Grand Opening.
[00:18:06.510]Seems like we've been talking about it for a long time.
[00:18:10.526]The reality is that land development and
[00:18:12.313]building construction are far from quick processes.
[00:18:16.343]In studying other developments, we know that success
[00:18:18.769]is best assured if there is a strong,
[00:18:20.789]initial University presence on the property.
[00:18:24.226]The Centennial Campus at North Carolina State,
[00:18:26.444]one of the models we tried to follow,
[00:18:28.590]became successful only after it moved selected
[00:18:31.771]academic units to the development.
[00:18:34.929]We have imitated that approach with Food Science,
[00:18:37.367]focusing on an area that's one of our
[00:18:40.467]comparative advantages, and with a department
[00:18:42.951]that has a long history of
[00:18:44.403]engagement with the private sector.
[00:18:46.968]I hope you will all have an opportunity to tour
[00:18:48.651]the Food Innovation Center.
[00:18:50.788]It is a state-of-the-art facility,
[00:18:52.286]unmatched anywhere in the world.
[00:18:55.652]We have benefitted in its design and construction
[00:18:57.869]from the full engagement of the Food Science faculty,
[00:19:00.690]the invaluable assistance from Con-Agra Foods,
[00:19:03.709]and the willingness of INR to make critical investments.
[00:19:08.005]It has enhanced the work environment for our
[00:19:09.885]Food Science faculty and accordingly,
[00:19:12.323]has significantly increased our expectations
[00:19:15.725]for their achievement.
[00:19:18.289]Our challenge now is to fully exploit this facility
[00:19:21.065]as well as the opportunities it creates
[00:19:22.807]for the entire University.
[00:19:24.687]Food Science is broad enough to
[00:19:26.847]include a wide segment of disciplines.
[00:19:29.702]Providing food for consumption is a major industry.
[00:19:33.824]It is an industry in part life-sustaining,
[00:19:37.248]and in part, entertainment.
[00:19:40.069]It is both art and science.
[00:19:42.682]It depends on the physical sciences for production
[00:19:44.841]and the human sciences for consumption.
[00:19:48.800]It's difficult to think of a discipline that could not
[00:19:50.703]participate if we set out to claim Food Science
[00:19:54.083]as a Best-of-Class feature of this University.
[00:19:58.342]Indeed, I am even considering teaching Food Law
[00:20:00.466]when I return back to the Law School.
[00:20:03.648]Accordingly, Vice Chancellor Green and I,
[00:20:06.748]working with the Deans, intend to create
[00:20:08.385]an interdisciplinary task force to have members
[00:20:11.183]from all colleges, to explore how the various disciplines
[00:20:14.620]do, or could, impact the production or consumption of food.
[00:20:19.879]We will be reaching out to local,
[00:20:21.980]as well as national expertise for assistance.
[00:20:25.567]There is significant potential here to collaborate
[00:20:27.807]with the Medical Center, to engage President Bounds'
[00:20:30.547]system-wide initiative on Food Security and Health.
[00:20:34.425]My hope is that the task force could not only
[00:20:36.364]describe existing opportunities, but also
[00:20:39.045]to think creatively about how we might create
[00:20:41.866]a campus-wide national center of innovation
[00:20:44.339]for the food industries.
[00:20:46.766]When the food task force completes its task,
[00:20:49.483]I promise I'll buy them dinner if, of course,
[00:20:53.685]they report while I'm still Chancellor.
[00:20:59.943]More significantly, the world seems to be
[00:21:01.742]moving in our direction.
[00:21:03.461]There is increased recognition that feeding
[00:21:05.085]a growing world population is a global problem
[00:21:07.500]of enormous dimensions, not only with the obvious
[00:21:10.565]impact on human life, but also in terms
[00:21:13.120]of world stability.
[00:21:15.395]The nexus between food, water and energy is rising
[00:21:18.123]as part of this nation's research agenda.
[00:21:21.722]NSF, in its fiscal 2016 budget request,
[00:21:24.776]seeks to initiate The INFEWS Program:
[00:21:28.663]Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems.
[00:21:33.017]With our investments in food on Innovation Campus,
[00:21:35.456]the Daugherty Water for Food Institute
[00:21:37.639]and the Nebraska Energy Center funded by MPPD,
[00:21:41.377]no university is better positioned
[00:21:43.175]to take advantage of this initiative.
[00:21:46.299]In fact, yesterday's announcement of the
[00:21:47.633]$13.5 million grant from the Department of Energy
[00:21:51.174]is central to the food-energy-water nexus.
[00:21:56.562]But Innovation Campus should be more than just
[00:21:58.013]a set of new buildings on the former State Fairgrounds.
[00:22:00.776]It should energize and infect the entire campus
[00:22:03.377]with a spirit of innovation, of risk-taking
[00:22:05.454]and of entrepreneurship.
[00:22:07.696]I again salute the faculty advisory committee
[00:22:10.120]that is pushing us to exploit this potential.
[00:22:13.396]The Maker Space, now The Innovation Studio,
[00:22:15.879]has captured the imagination of our student body
[00:22:19.398]and the larger community.
[00:22:21.476]We are exploring, again at the faculty's suggestion,
[00:22:23.972]an Innovation Curriculum that could prepare students
[00:22:27.778]in all disciplines to approach life with
[00:22:30.438]a better understanding of how innovation occurs
[00:22:33.062]and how they might contribute to that process.
[00:22:37.078]I believe the next 15 years marks an opportunity
[00:22:39.378]for us to build some areas where we are
[00:22:41.200]the acknowledged leader in the world.
[00:22:43.417]I believe Innovation Campus has the potential
[00:22:45.101]to invigorate the economy of Nebraska.
[00:22:48.096]More importantly, I believe it has the potential
[00:22:50.198]to refashion the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[00:22:54.539]I want to express my gratitude to all of you
[00:22:56.118]who have allowed me to serve as
[00:22:57.279]your Chancellor for the last 14 years.
[00:23:00.518]I will have more to say, and perhaps a tear or two,
[00:23:02.957]on April one when I address you again.
[00:23:06.636]For now, it's enough to say that the most important work
[00:23:08.679]to be accomplished this year, for all of us,
[00:23:11.698]is to help attract the next Chancellor to the University.
[00:23:16.237]Of course, the best selling-point we have
[00:23:18.338]are the accomplishments you have accumulated
[00:23:20.313]over the last decade or more,
[00:23:21.752]but we shouldn't leave the choice to chance.
[00:23:25.536]I hope all of you will actively engage
[00:23:27.497]in the search process.
[00:23:31.295]So, announcing your retirement has certain consequences.
[00:23:34.871]I won't bore you with more than one story at this point.
[00:23:38.876]A faculty member, who will, for now,
[00:23:41.349]remain anonymous, came to my office and told my assistant,
[00:23:48.048]Kim Rauscher,
[00:23:49.497]that it was critical, critical, that the Chancellor speak
[00:23:52.471]at a banquet to be held next October
[00:23:54.793]and wanted to get it on my calendar.
[00:23:59.007]Kim told him that I had announced my retirement
[00:24:01.328]and would not be Chancellor in October.
[00:24:04.857]The faculty member went away,
[00:24:06.808]and came back 15 minutes later,
[00:24:09.234]and in even stronger terms, insisted that I must
[00:24:11.731]speak at the banquet in October.
[00:24:15.167]Kim, again politely said that I was retiring
[00:24:18.114]and would not be Chancellor in October.
[00:24:22.028]The faculty member left, came back for the third time,
[00:24:24.848]slammed his fist on the desk, and shouted at Kim,
[00:24:28.890]"Look! I want Chancellor Perlman
[00:24:31.026]"at that banquet in October!"
[00:24:33.753]Kim, always unflappable, said
[00:24:36.075]"Look, Harvey Perlman has resigned
[00:24:39.106]"and won't be Chancellor in October."
[00:24:42.031]At that point, the faculty member smiled and said,
[00:24:44.853]"Great. I just wanted to hear it one more time."
[00:24:47.987](audience laughter)
[00:24:50.273](applause)
[00:24:52.387]Enjoy the picnic.

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2015 State of the University Address

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