Sports Nightly interview

Ronnie Green Author

05/01/2017 Added

4 Plays

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Discussion with new senior administrative leaders Donde Plowman and Mike Boehm on a variety of topics from growing academic trajectory to making community visits.

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[00:00:00.264]Well, we've got some special guests
[00:00:01.565]in the studio with us here tonight,
[00:00:03.557]including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln chancellor,
[00:00:05.794]Ronnie Green, and a couple members
[00:00:07.703]of his upper administration,
[00:00:09.351]including Donde Plowman, executive vice chancellor
[00:00:12.278]and chief academic officer for UNL, in a new role for Donde.
[00:00:16.675]We're gonna get to her in just a minute.
[00:00:17.931]Also, Mike Boehm, vice chancellor
[00:00:19.460]for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources
[00:00:23.119]at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
[00:00:25.193]and also vice president
[00:00:26.821]for the University of Nebraska system.
[00:00:29.674]Chancellor, always great to see you,
[00:00:30.852]we're gonna begin with you.
[00:00:31.867]This is quite a group you've assembled here
[00:00:33.982]to be a part of your leadership team.
[00:00:35.854]Well, you know Greg, I've said in the past year,
[00:00:39.721]as we looked out ahead of building the new administration
[00:00:42.971]for UNL and having the opportunities
[00:00:44.800]that we have ahead of us, that it was gonna be
[00:00:47.238]really important that we get the very best leadership team
[00:00:50.206]in higher ed anywhere in the country
[00:00:52.309]because of the place we are as a university
[00:00:55.033]and the momentum that we have at the university currently,
[00:00:58.023]where we want to go in the future to build on that.
[00:01:00.993]So we went out and looked for the two senior leaders
[00:01:04.614]of the UNL campus, who lead all of our academic programs
[00:01:09.698]across the university.
[00:01:12.060]The past, you know, six, eight months, we've been involved
[00:01:15.326]in that search for those two new leaders,
[00:01:18.289]and I couldn't be more pleased with the two rock stars
[00:01:20.204]that we brought onto board here,
[00:01:22.448]in Donde Plowman and Mike Boehm, in these positions.
[00:01:26.306]A big national wide-net search that we did
[00:01:29.584]across higher ed, and industry too,
[00:01:32.923]to look for leaders to bring into these positions.
[00:01:36.304]And we were very fortunate,
[00:01:38.091]we found the very best two people in the country for them.
[00:01:41.506]Both started January 1st.
[00:01:43.542]So they're both in the very front end of their tenure
[00:01:47.155]of these positions, and we couldn't be more pleased
[00:01:50.533]with what they're bringing to leadership
[00:01:52.688]for your university.
[00:01:54.475]Donde, I mentioned you've got a previous life
[00:01:56.266]in Nebraska, you were the very successful dean
[00:01:58.089]of the College of Business here in Nebraska,
[00:02:00.040]moving to a new position now.
[00:02:01.587]I know you've been out around the state the last few weeks.
[00:02:04.431]What have people been interested in?
[00:02:06.150]What are they asking you about the university?
[00:02:08.262]Well, you know, Nebraskans love this university,
[00:02:10.746]whether they went here or not.
[00:02:12.495]So they were so eager to hear about what's happening,
[00:02:16.236]what Ronnie Green has in store.
[00:02:19.613]And that's serious.
[00:02:20.499]Right.
[00:02:21.332]Yeah, they know Ronnie Green.
[00:02:22.817]And they were just very excited to meet us.
[00:02:24.685]And so we got lots of questions about what's next
[00:02:26.959]for the university, how are you gonna build this place,
[00:02:29.201]how are you gonna grow it.
[00:02:30.502]And we couldn't have been happier to talk to them
[00:02:33.261]about all those things.
[00:02:34.094]And what messaging were you wanting to get out to them?
[00:02:36.247]I'm sure you wanted to get things across to them.
[00:02:38.162]Well, one of the things I love to talk to people about,
[00:02:40.274]and some of your listeners fall into this category.
[00:02:42.917]Everybody in Nebraska has absolutely no doubt
[00:02:46.887]that our athletic programs can be top, top, top.
[00:02:51.517]Everybody thinks that we should be
[00:02:52.725]at the top of that game.
[00:02:54.339]Mike and I are all about being at the top
[00:02:56.005]of the academic game.
[00:02:57.385]And so part of what we're talking about is how to grow that.
[00:03:00.071]How to move it.
[00:03:01.291]And how to keep our academic trajectory really growing.
[00:03:05.643]So for example, when we went into the Big 10,
[00:03:08.203]that made a huge difference,
[00:03:09.545]not just athletically, but academically.
[00:03:12.109]Those are some of the most prestigious colleges,
[00:03:14.430]universities in the world, and there we are.
[00:03:18.329]And so, for example, I don't know
[00:03:20.038]if a lot of people know this, but we're,
[00:03:21.622]by being part of that athletic conference,
[00:03:24.020]we're part of the academic alliance,
[00:03:26.332]the Big 10 Academic Alliance.
[00:03:28.203]That means twice a year, I'll be at a meeting
[00:03:30.847]with all the other provosts in the Big 10.
[00:03:33.329]That's fourteen of them, as everyone knows.
[00:03:35.484]And that's a great opportunity to benchmark,
[00:03:38.249]share best practices, learn about
[00:03:40.161]what those phenomenal universities are doing.
[00:03:42.720]So sometimes people out in the state find
[00:03:45.076]that very interesting,
[00:03:46.095]to know that we actually get together,
[00:03:47.843]and unlike any other conference, I think,
[00:03:50.527]that's out there, we share and collaborate together.
[00:03:53.823]So that's one of the things
[00:03:54.754]I'm really excited about, as well.
[00:03:56.301]One of those great institutions
[00:03:57.853]that you reference is the Ohio State University,
[00:04:00.339]and that's where Mike Boehm came to Lincoln from.
[00:04:03.674]You were the vice provost for academic
[00:04:05.786]and strategic planning, and also a professor
[00:04:07.985]of plant pathology there.
[00:04:09.571]You've been on the job here in Lincoln for a few weeks now,
[00:04:13.634]what have you seen so far here, in the State of Nebraska?
[00:04:16.761]Well, we're getting out and about the state, Greg,
[00:04:19.282]so that's been fun.
[00:04:20.423]I have to tell you that Nebraska is well known
[00:04:23.832]across the United States, for it's programs
[00:04:25.780]in agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences,
[00:04:28.986]and I'm really thrilled to be here and be a part of that,
[00:04:31.585]to help drive that forward.
[00:04:33.049]I'm really honored, the people that I've met,
[00:04:35.162]so for me, it's really been four things.
[00:04:37.274]It's about the people and our faculty, staff,
[00:04:40.082]and students are right up there at the top,
[00:04:42.239]but the citizens, the Nebraskans across the state,
[00:04:45.406]are just amazing people.
[00:04:46.627]The story going all the way back generations,
[00:04:49.758]to the homesteaders and thinking about their resiliency,
[00:04:53.582]that resiliency, and the values-driven way
[00:04:56.506]that Nebraskans go about their life,
[00:04:57.970]is just really spectacular.
[00:05:00.209]And it's alive and well in the Institute of Ag
[00:05:02.571]and Natural Resources.
[00:05:03.866]The place is just phenomenal.
[00:05:05.817]No question about it.
[00:05:07.077]From the hydrology and the cropping systems,
[00:05:09.598]from the panhandle, from Scottsbluff to Omaha,
[00:05:13.300]from Valentine to Beaver City, and everywhere in between.
[00:05:16.303]Been to, just clicked my 40th county in the state.
[00:05:20.163]That's pretty good,
[00:05:21.045]so that's what is driving me right now.
[00:05:25.801]I think the other part of this is
[00:05:27.513]that the tri-part type mission of the land-grant is
[00:05:29.957]absolutely embodied in our faculty, our staff,
[00:05:34.954]but also in the institute.
[00:05:36.092]So it's about teaching and learning, it's about research
[00:05:38.367]and creative works, and it's about taking our discoveries
[00:05:42.351]and our intellectual capacity to our communities
[00:05:45.390]with the sole goal
[00:05:46.447]of helping people and communities succeed.
[00:05:49.171]Ronnie, they both mentioned being out
[00:05:50.837]and around the state.
[00:05:51.890]You were on some of these visits with them, as well.
[00:05:54.897]What kind of feedback did you get when you were
[00:05:56.787]out on the tour?
[00:05:57.844]Well, we've had the opportunity now,
[00:05:59.798]we just finished up here recently, our 15th, I think,
[00:06:05.324]community visit over a period of a few weeks,
[00:06:09.189]and we have a bunch more planned in February, March,
[00:06:12.159]and April out ahead of us.
[00:06:14.235]And it was kind of a resounding message.
[00:06:16.841]The resounding message that we heard is
[00:06:18.832]how proud people are of their university.
[00:06:21.594]How much they expect from their university.
[00:06:24.397]And how they look to us to help to populate the leaders
[00:06:28.510]of our state in the future through the education
[00:06:32.049]and the research, and the extension of that out
[00:06:34.566]that we do every day on the university.
[00:06:38.143]How excited they are about the state in the future.
[00:06:41.513]You know, and how we want to grow the state
[00:06:44.520]in the future.
[00:06:45.984]They're obviously always excited about Husker athletics,
[00:06:49.602]we talk about on this program the identity
[00:06:51.597]that the state has, and that we are very proud of
[00:06:55.210]around our athletics programs and our student athletes,
[00:06:58.747]and what they do every day both on
[00:07:01.346]and off the field and the court.
[00:07:03.215]So a lot of optimism, a lot of excitement,
[00:07:05.622]a lot of excitement about
[00:07:07.692]where they see the university headed.
[00:07:09.564]And when I was able to be out with Donde and Mike
[00:07:12.199]at a number of these events, a lot of excitement about them,
[00:07:15.978]which didn't surprise me at all,
[00:07:18.298]about where they see them being able to lead
[00:07:21.386]and take the university in the future.
[00:07:23.905]So, good times ahead with these two great new leaders,
[00:07:27.355]and I couldn't be more excited about having them here
[00:07:30.444]and getting off to a great start.
[00:07:33.210]And you'll see more to come.
[00:07:34.553]Wonderful.
[00:07:35.386]Well, it's great to have all of you here with us tonight.
[00:07:36.873]And Mike, welcome to Lincoln.
[00:07:38.583]Donde, congratulations on your new role here.
[00:07:40.370]Thank you very much.
[00:07:41.466]You're gonna be awesome, and Ronnie, always great
[00:07:42.851]to see you, as well.
[00:07:43.684]Go Big Red.
[00:07:44.930]And, great panel discussion here on Sports Nightly.
[00:07:47.654]Sports Ticker coming up next.

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