Countdown to Kickoff interview – Northwestern

Ronnie Green Author

04/27/2017 Added

2 Plays

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Discussion of the State of the University highlights, including largest freshman class, enrollment numbers, and emphasis on 4 year degrees.

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[00:00:00.412]We're back at Ryan Field in Evanston
[00:00:02.041]getting ready for the Huskers game against the Cats tonight,
[00:00:04.751]6:42 is our actual kickoff.
[00:00:06.951]We're delighted now to be joined
[00:00:07.991]by University of Nebraska, Lincoln
[00:00:09.640]Chancellor Ronnie Green.
[00:00:11.271]Good to have you here on the road with us.
[00:00:12.620]Hey Greg, it's great to be here today.
[00:00:14.231]We're looking forward to a big win,
[00:00:15.920]signature win for the Huskers today.
[00:00:18.022]It's great to be here.
[00:00:18.855]I saw you right after the game last week.
[00:00:20.512]That was a little fun wasn't it?
[00:00:21.850]It was more than a little fun.
[00:00:23.902]You know I stretched some muscles
[00:00:25.722]that I didn't know I still had.
[00:00:27.741]Now I understand you referenced
[00:00:30.020]that later in the week saying you
[00:00:31.381]want to make every day at
[00:00:32.392]the University of Nebraska, Lincoln just like that.
[00:00:34.760]Well you know I had the opportunity
[00:00:36.481]to dialogue with the whole campus,
[00:00:38.342]all of our faculty and staff for
[00:00:40.251]the first time in my first state of the university address
[00:00:43.323]on Thursday and I kind of set the stage
[00:00:45.912]for that by saying that if you were
[00:00:47.891]in the stadium last Saturday or you were
[00:00:50.042]linked in to the stadium or you were piped
[00:00:51.682]in to the stadium however you were there,
[00:00:55.072]that you couldn't have missed the eagerness
[00:00:56.332]and the excitement and the enthusiasm
[00:00:58.172]and the hope for the team.
[00:01:00.372]That's kind of the way I feel
[00:01:01.205]about the university every day when I get up
[00:01:03.594]because the place we're at and the things
[00:01:06.072]that are happening at UNL are just
[00:01:09.512]pretty unprecedented in our history.
[00:01:12.382]It was a lot of fun to talk with
[00:01:13.654]the campus today about things we're celebrating
[00:01:16.559]as well as the future that lies ahead.
[00:01:18.472]Let's dive into some of those comments.
[00:01:20.010]Lay out, tell our audience who may have seen
[00:01:22.370]press reports about things you said.
[00:01:24.679]A couple of those things you hit on.
[00:01:26.651]Well certainly talked about our record enrollment
[00:01:28.790]that we have currently at UNL.
[00:01:31.280]Biggest in our 147 year history.
[00:01:33.611]We'll be 150 years old three years from now.
[00:01:37.709]Most diverse enrollment we've ever had,
[00:01:40.261]biggest freshman class we've ever had
[00:01:41.998]in our history, not by a little
[00:01:43.320]but by quite a lot, up about 640 students over
[00:01:47.061]our previous record which was last year.
[00:01:50.390]Just excitement that generates
[00:01:52.202]the students that we're bringing to Nebraska
[00:01:54.599]from Nebraska and outside Nebraska.
[00:01:57.789]A lot of students from Chicago,
[00:01:59.179]right here where we are today
[00:02:01.490]who are choosing to come to
[00:02:02.581]the University of Nebraska and do
[00:02:04.040]their undergraduate and their graduate work.
[00:02:06.199]Couldn't be more excited about that.
[00:02:07.440]Talked about record research funding
[00:02:09.119]that we had this past year, 285 million dollars
[00:02:13.327]this past year at the university.
[00:02:15.491]Very exciting on the scholarship
[00:02:16.870]and the research contribution side.
[00:02:19.511]Then we spent quite a lot of time
[00:02:20.439]talking about nine years from now
[00:02:22.579]we'll hit the quarter century mark.
[00:02:24.730]It's pretty hard to believe for us older folks
[00:02:28.100]that we're almost going into that
[00:02:30.408]middle point of the next century
[00:02:33.072]that we looked forward to for a long time.
[00:02:36.172]I talked about how we expect to grow
[00:02:37.839]as a university, 26,000 almost students today.
[00:02:42.878]We expect by the time we hit the quarter century mark
[00:02:46.011]we might be up close to the 35,000 student mark.
[00:02:49.909]That's gonna be a win for Nebraska
[00:02:52.031]as we bring that talent to our state
[00:02:54.279]and increase in scholarship and expertise
[00:02:56.530]and research that matters to Nebraska.
[00:02:58.639]It's a really exciting time
[00:03:00.381]to be able to talk about those things.
[00:03:01.931]You mentioned growing enrollment.
[00:03:03.490]How about growing graduation rates?
[00:03:05.371]Talk about the emphasis on that.
[00:03:07.038]We talked a lot about that.
[00:03:08.641]We talked about growing the impact of our students
[00:03:11.799]who receive degrees from the University of Nebraska
[00:03:15.509]and from its flagship at UNL.
[00:03:17.167]We talked about how we're seeking to raise
[00:03:20.039]the retention rates of our students
[00:03:22.011]from a first year to the second year
[00:03:24.639]is where that biggest retention hurdle is
[00:03:27.012]is our students go into four year degrees.
[00:03:29.949]We want to shoot to be a 90% retention school.
[00:03:32.598]We're kind of in that 83% level today.
[00:03:36.311]Then we talked about you know it'd be really nice
[00:03:38.278]if we needed Pinnacle Bank Arena twice
[00:03:41.431]every May and December to graduate
[00:03:44.572]larger graduating classes.
[00:03:46.688]I talked about how we want to uncover
[00:03:48.801]every rock on our campus to see
[00:03:51.781]that we've got a clear path for all
[00:03:53.600]of the capable students who come to us
[00:03:55.740]and who work hard to be able to graduate in four years
[00:03:58.820]with a degree from UNL.
[00:04:01.000]We hope that number will be 80%
[00:04:02.750]as we move ahead.
[00:04:05.891]People who are listening to us
[00:04:06.950]who may have children in school
[00:04:09.971]or about to come to Lincoln to school,
[00:04:12.520]you mentioned four years.
[00:04:13.869]Is that an emphasis to get them through
[00:04:15.320]the system in four years?
[00:04:16.421]Absolutely
[00:04:17.350]The University of Nebraska system,
[00:04:19.010]all of our campuses we've talked over
[00:04:21.042]the last year about committing to complete,
[00:04:24.522]you know getting through that degree
[00:04:26.198]in four years time and getting out
[00:04:27.990]into the world and making a difference
[00:04:29.720]and contributing through the use
[00:04:31.781]of their degree.
[00:04:33.740]We really are serious about that.
[00:04:36.700]We not only want to attract the best students
[00:04:38.570]to our university that have those capabilities
[00:04:41.321]to succeed, but we also want them
[00:04:43.620]to be very successful once they get there
[00:04:45.780]and end up with a highly valuable UNL degree
[00:04:48.159]that they take out into the world.
[00:04:50.169]It was an exciting time.
[00:04:52.080]I talked at the end about the legacy
[00:04:56.480]of Sam Foltz as we honored at
[00:05:00.231]the opening football game this season,
[00:05:03.029]just a few weeks ago and talked about
[00:05:05.399]his quote that fits the university so well
[00:05:09.011]at this point in our history when he
[00:05:10.590]talked to his teammates and he talked to his friends
[00:05:13.208]as a leader on the team of working hard, staying humble
[00:05:17.420]and dreaming big and that's what we're doing
[00:05:20.151]at the University of Nebraska and Sam couldn't
[00:05:22.200]have said it any better for us
[00:05:24.121]as we look forward.
[00:05:25.200]Sure did.
[00:05:26.033]I know we're proud of our land grant university history.
[00:05:29.520]I'm looking down on a grass field here
[00:05:31.041]at Ryan Field that quite honestly needs some work.
[00:05:34.361]Can we help these people out a little?
[00:05:35.829]Well I kind of Tweeted about that
[00:05:36.971]a little bit earlier today.
[00:05:38.410]I got here and I had heard a little bit
[00:05:40.169]from some of my friends who had made
[00:05:42.010]their way to the stadium here at Northwestern
[00:05:45.130]and saw that there's a little bit of turf challenge there,
[00:05:49.930]a natural field here in the stadium.
[00:05:52.859]I think we've got nev guide or two
[00:05:54.340]in our extension program you know.
[00:05:56.533]We've got really good turf grass management people.
[00:05:58.751]I'm gonna hook them up with my colleagues
[00:06:01.061]at Northwestern and see if they can help them out.
[00:06:03.822]I think they would be wise to accept that guidance
[00:06:07.432]from our school.
[00:06:08.921]Off to your left I see the Husker marching band
[00:06:10.814]has made the trip up here.
[00:06:11.761]It's gonna be neat to see them perform
[00:06:12.773]in here tonight.
[00:06:13.606]This is a traveling game for them.
[00:06:15.051]I think they got to stop a little bit
[00:06:16.503]on their way across Iowa.
[00:06:17.954]I was hearing about that today and practice
[00:06:20.711]in the community of Davenport I think they stopped in
[00:06:23.184]and did a practice run there.
[00:06:25.654]So a big day for them.
[00:06:26.932]I just actually ran into a couple of alums
[00:06:28.853]from the band, Cornhusker marching band
[00:06:30.843]over in the festivities area.
[00:06:33.531]Looking forward to them being here
[00:06:34.782]and adding to the festivities.
[00:06:35.943]We're gonna paint the place red I think today
[00:06:38.091]based on the number of people we see in town.
[00:06:40.682]Last night the alumni association hosted
[00:06:43.403]an event down town.
[00:06:45.754]About 1,500 people were there strong and loud.
[00:06:49.713]We're expecting a big Husker crowd here
[00:06:51.492]to cheer our Huskers on to victory today.
[00:06:53.892]Very good, great to have you stop in
[00:06:55.254]and chat with us before this one today.
[00:06:57.114]Congratulations on your state of the university address
[00:06:59.452]and we'll look forward to visiting with you next week.
[00:07:01.530]You bet, go big red.
[00:07:02.693]Ronnie Green, University of Nebraska Lincoln Chancellor
[00:07:04.449]with us here on Countdown to Kick Off.

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Countdown to Kickoff interview – Northwestern

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