Football interview - Arkansas State

Ronnie Green Author

09/05/2017 Added

5 Plays

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Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Services & Enrollment Management Amber Williams joins the chancellor to discuss the university's new partnership with the Trenchard Foundation in support of students in the Nebraska College Preparatory Academy.

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[00:00:00.000](mellow music)
[00:00:03.032]Welcome back, Countdown to Kickoff here
[00:00:04.259]on the Huskers Sports Network.
[00:00:05.209]Tonight, Nebraska opens the season against Arkansas State,
[00:00:07.932]and each and every week before each game,
[00:00:09.800]we're gonna have a great chance to sit down
[00:00:11.490]and talk with University of Nebraska-Lincoln
[00:00:13.244]Chancellor Ronnie Green.
[00:00:14.610]Here it is!
[00:00:15.443]I know you're excited.
[00:00:16.573]I know you can't wait to get this season underway.
[00:00:19.107]Absolutely!
[00:00:19.961]I mean, this time of year,
[00:00:21.390]I've been sayin' it for the last several weeks,
[00:00:23.165]when we hear the drums start beatin' on campus,
[00:00:25.096]and the band start showin' up, and
[00:00:27.798]we're workin' toward season and the start of school
[00:00:30.000]and classes a couple of weeks ago,
[00:00:32.086]it's just a really special time of year on campus,
[00:00:34.735]and now to kick off the season,
[00:00:36.528]now with a lot of anticipation today,
[00:00:38.570]Memorial Stadium couldn't be better.
[00:00:40.775]We talk a lot on the Network about the recruitment
[00:00:42.862]of student athletes, but you and I talk an awful lot about
[00:00:45.537]just the recruitment of the general student body.
[00:00:49.360]It's a day-to-day process, isn't it?
[00:00:51.161]If you have to work at this all the time
[00:00:52.672]to keep these numbers.
[00:00:53.613]Oh, absolutely.
[00:00:54.667]We have a large and very talented
[00:00:57.566]admissions and recruiting group,
[00:00:59.169]who works round-the-clock, round-the-year,
[00:01:02.071]all the way down into middle school-aged kids
[00:01:05.654]that we're now beginning to talk to
[00:01:07.996]at that stage of their career and development
[00:01:10.367]about where they want to go to school,
[00:01:11.881]and why they need to go to school,
[00:01:13.309]and what the opportunities are.
[00:01:15.513]We're very pleased, you know, we got our fifth year
[00:01:18.093]consecutive year, of enrollment growth this fall on campus.
[00:01:22.664]We believe when our numbers are final here
[00:01:24.863]in a couple of weeks,
[00:01:25.803]that we'll break our all-time record again.
[00:01:28.207]Very exciting to see that happening.
[00:01:31.992]Big growth in first-generation educated college students,
[00:01:34.944]we're seeing a spike in that again,
[00:01:36.959]like we saw 25, 30 years ago,
[00:01:39.547]with a new set of first-gen students
[00:01:42.001]that we're very excited about.
[00:01:44.217]And we know that there is a growing need, expanding need,
[00:01:48.744]for two and four-year degrees
[00:01:51.566]for the future that young people are going to have
[00:01:54.760]ahead of them, to a point now that we have about
[00:01:57.621]five million more people enrolled today,
[00:02:00.949]in higher education in the United States,
[00:02:03.045]than we had 17 years ago, at the turn of the century.
[00:02:07.319]Exciting enrollment growth, we continue to see that happen,
[00:02:10.301]and I know you've got a really special guest here today
[00:02:12.871]who has been right at the head of that,
[00:02:14.709]and leading that for us
[00:02:16.930]in our admissions and recruiting enrollment growth.
[00:02:19.938]Well, it's Amber Williams,
[00:02:21.250]who's the Assistant Vice Chancellor.
[00:02:22.555]Before I bring Amber in here,
[00:02:24.027]she's certainly had a nice history here at the school,
[00:02:26.736]and is a very valued member of your team.
[00:02:28.742]Absolutely!
[00:02:29.727]I think she may have just celebrated,
[00:02:32.705]I just gotta get this idea and hint that she may have
[00:02:36.421]just celebrated her 15th anniversary
[00:02:39.159]here at the University,
[00:02:40.422]and as I said when I found out about that,
[00:02:43.330]she has affected thousands and thousands of people
[00:02:46.653]on our campus in those 15 years,
[00:02:48.627]and our graduates, and is really an exceptional leader
[00:02:52.204]that we're very blessed to have on our team.
[00:02:54.489]Amber Williams is with us.
[00:02:55.322]Assistant Vice Chancellor
[00:02:56.288]for Academic Services and Enrollment Management.
[00:02:58.575]Let's start with that.
[00:03:00.046]How quickly did 15 years go by here?
[00:03:02.211]Oh my goodness, I keep saying the majority of my
[00:03:04.743]adult life has been here at Nebraska.
[00:03:06.581]I'm originally from Kansas, but I'm definitely a Nebraskan,
[00:03:11.212]through and through, so it's been a great year, great years.
[00:03:14.208]You and I share that Kansas connection, as well.
[00:03:16.288]Let's talk with the Nebraska College Preparatory Academy
[00:03:19.674]sounds like an amazing partnership with
[00:03:21.520]the University and schools.
[00:03:22.787]How long's that been around, and just describe that
[00:03:24.907]for our audience.
[00:03:26.221]Yes, we've had the Nebraska College Preparatory Academy
[00:03:28.709]since 2006, and it is such an amazing program.
[00:03:32.762]I will tell you, when I talk about my experience
[00:03:34.393]at that University, it will be my legacy,
[00:03:37.430]and it will be the University's legacy,
[00:03:38.903]each student that we push through this program.
[00:03:41.720]It's a program for first-generation,
[00:03:43.272]low-income students.
[00:03:44.474]It originally started at Grand Island Senior High,
[00:03:48.155]and in 2008 we expanded to Omaha North.
[00:03:51.544]Basically, we select students in the eighth grade.
[00:03:54.452]If they do the things that we ask them to do,
[00:03:56.039]which, there's a lot there, both requiring
[00:03:59.393]lots of academic rigor, lots of leadership opportunities,
[00:04:03.839]as well as character-building.
[00:04:05.430]But if the students do what we ask them to do,
[00:04:07.019]they get a full ride to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
[00:04:10.562]and just last year, we announced an expansion
[00:04:13.951]to Omaha South High School.
[00:04:15.565]We received a $2.5 million grant
[00:04:17.642]from the Sherwood Foundation to expand,
[00:04:20.192]and we've also expanded our services
[00:04:21.786]at Winnebago High School, as well.
[00:04:24.133]So, doing amazing things.
[00:04:27.278]Two things that I'm super proud of about the program
[00:04:30.506]is that 100% of the students who complete our program
[00:04:33.092]go on to college.
[00:04:34.161]That is amazing, but even more importantly,
[00:04:36.488]they're graduating, and our retention rates
[00:04:39.339]at the University for students in our program
[00:04:41.145]is over 90%.
[00:04:42.662]Our high has been 95%,
[00:04:45.544]and on top of that, we are on track to have
[00:04:47.761]a five-year graduation rate of about 80%,
[00:04:50.045]so we are just doing amazing things
[00:04:51.961]with this program.
[00:04:52.824]The students are exceptional.
[00:04:55.600]Well, the start of a new school year,
[00:04:56.979]the start of a football season here tonight,
[00:04:58.737]and yesterday, you had a big announcement
[00:05:00.737]about a new partnership.
[00:05:02.088]What can you tell our group about that?
[00:05:03.763]You know, I guess what I would say is,
[00:05:05.529]our students have proven that it's worth for us
[00:05:09.155]to invest in them, and so we've had a family,
[00:05:11.033]the Trenchard family, who has announced
[00:05:13.525]a special partnership
[00:05:14.668]with the Nebraska College Preparatory Academy.
[00:05:17.795]Pending Board of Regents approval,
[00:05:19.405]we are going to rename our retention program,
[00:05:21.614]which is currently called the Institute of Excellence,
[00:05:23.827]but pending of the Board's approval, we'll now be called
[00:05:26.361]the Trenchard Foundation Instutute of Excellence,
[00:05:28.778]and Bob and Norma and the family
[00:05:31.598]are donating a significant amount of money
[00:05:33.436]to scholarships to help support the students in the program.
[00:05:36.248]Exciting!
[00:05:37.081]And Chancellor, I know you're going to be with them,
[00:05:38.498]and we'll see you on the field later in this game.
[00:05:40.952]Well, we're very, very pleased to be able to honor
[00:05:43.521]the Trenchards for, as Amber said,
[00:05:45.637]investing in our students, investing in their future.
[00:05:49.278]I know they believe very passionately
[00:05:51.607]about the effect that NCPA has had, as Amber described.
[00:05:56.059]So, we're gonna get a chance to say thank you to them
[00:05:58.254]during the game, and let the Husker Nation say thank you
[00:06:00.500]to them, as well.
[00:06:02.591]They don't like the limelight,
[00:06:03.698]but we really want to let them know how much
[00:06:06.364]this is going to mean for generations to come,
[00:06:08.909]so great, great development.
[00:06:10.304]Well, congratulations to both of you,
[00:06:11.774]and the start of another school year and the numbers.
[00:06:13.931]Amber, it's up to you, I mean, it's on you and your staff,
[00:06:16.874]so congratulations, and thank you for
[00:06:18.301]all you've done for the University of Nebraska
[00:06:19.809]here in Lincoln.
[00:06:20.642]Thank you, and I guess I would just say, go Big Red!
[00:06:23.115]It's really about the students
[00:06:24.668]and the community of Nebraska.
[00:06:26.176]Everyone's been so supportive.
[00:06:27.858]Thank you also, K through 12, for encouraging our students
[00:06:32.556]and really challenging students so that they can
[00:06:34.311]come to the University and be successful.
[00:06:36.393]Amber Williams, Assistant Vice Chancellor
[00:06:37.939]of Academic Services and Enrollment Management,
[00:06:40.018]and of course, Ronnie Green,
[00:06:41.614]University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor
[00:06:43.283]with us here on Countdown to Kickoff.

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Football interview - Arkansas State

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