KRVN Chat with the Chancellor

Ronnie Green Author

10/09/2017 Added

1 Plays

Description

Ronnie Green discusses the ways the university is continuing to pursue growth amid the state's budget challenges, highlights from his 2017 State of the University address, and record fall enrollment.

Searchable Transcript

Search:

[00:00:00.404]Brandon Bennett with the Rural Radio Network
[00:00:02.451]joined by Dr. Ronnie Green, the chancellor
[00:00:04.707]at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln
[00:00:06.473]for our weekly Chat with the Chancellor,
[00:00:08.099]here in the fall, 2017 semester.
[00:00:11.108]Dr. Green, I've talked with President Bounds
[00:00:13.289]a number of times about the university system's
[00:00:15.241]$49 million budget gap and with Chancellor Christensen
[00:00:18.705]about how that impacts UNK.
[00:00:20.445]So can you give us what recommendations
[00:00:22.715]that the budget response teams have made
[00:00:24.701]for the Lincoln campus and your process there at UNL
[00:00:28.223]for implementation and moving forward?
[00:00:30.735]Well Brandon as you know, we are in a little bit
[00:00:33.944]tighter times in our state with the economy
[00:00:37.276]being at the point that it's at,
[00:00:39.127]in particular around the ag economy in the state.
[00:00:41.677]And as a result of that, our state legislature
[00:00:45.198]has been grappling with reduced revenues to the state
[00:00:49.232]and budget process this past year to figure out
[00:00:52.462]how to get through the times that we have.
[00:00:55.353]So as President Bounds has indicated before,
[00:00:58.254]where that left us at the end of the day
[00:01:00.815]with the current two year budget that we we're
[00:01:03.613]now in the front end of, for the university
[00:01:06.660]being just shy of $50 million of a deficit
[00:01:09.975]for us to cover during this biennium and going forward
[00:01:14.387]from here, that's a big number.
[00:01:16.884]We've been able to mitigate part of that through tuition
[00:01:20.962]and enhanced tuition revenue to the university.
[00:01:23.982]We're very fortunate at UNL as the flagship campus
[00:01:27.309]of the system to be up in enrollment and
[00:01:30.124]be up significantly last year and up again this year
[00:01:33.363]so that increased enrollment growth
[00:01:35.520]helps us in this process.
[00:01:37.765]But it still leaves us at the end of the day
[00:01:40.081]even after that growth and after enhanced tuition revenue
[00:01:45.041]of having about a $17 million shortfall that we're facing
[00:01:48.886]at the Lincoln campus and our programs across the state
[00:01:52.980]to address this year and next year in our budget.
[00:01:57.421]So we're deep into that process,
[00:01:59.909]about 2/3 of that amount for UNL will end up
[00:02:04.564]being resolved by some budget efficiencies
[00:02:08.196]through the budget response teams that you mentioned
[00:02:11.128]at the central administration level, things like
[00:02:14.149]consolidation and shared services and human resources and
[00:02:19.188]financial and accounting and procurement
[00:02:21.882]and printing and copying and travel
[00:02:24.547]and facilities management and planning and energy,
[00:02:27.473]across those kinds of areas, business service areas
[00:02:31.235]of the university where we're implementing change.
[00:02:34.430]They are across the system and sharing services
[00:02:37.300]across the four campuses of the university.
[00:02:40.133]So we expect to recoup about 2/3 of that deficit
[00:02:44.117]for the UNL campus through that process.
[00:02:47.321]But we still have about the $8 1/2 million
[00:02:51.212]that we'll have to cut programmatically
[00:02:54.091]at the university to be able to balance our budget
[00:02:57.083]going into the next biennium.
[00:02:59.563]And we're in the front end of that process now,
[00:03:02.940]identifying where we can reduce programs,
[00:03:06.427]in some cases eliminate programs that are
[00:03:09.984]a lower priority for us in order to balance that budget.
[00:03:13.827]So we're doing our part, certainly feeling like
[00:03:17.173]we need to do our part in helping the state
[00:03:21.081]weather this downturn that we're currently in.
[00:03:24.478]And we're well underway with that process on the campus.
[00:03:28.055]The last thing I'd say there is that
[00:03:30.145]as I mentioned about growth, we're at a really interesting
[00:03:33.350]time for the flagship campus where we've been experiencing
[00:03:36.814]a lot of growth and momentum over the last
[00:03:39.656]number of years at Lincoln.
[00:03:42.096]And as a result of that we're trying to manage our way
[00:03:45.191]through the budget process in a way
[00:03:47.056]that doesn't arrest that growth,
[00:03:48.905]it doesn't arrest momentum that we're experiencing
[00:03:51.606]across all three of our mission areas in teaching
[00:03:54.870]and research and in the land-grant mission around
[00:03:58.269]extension in the state.
[00:03:59.932]And we're, I think accomplishing that
[00:04:02.105]on the front end here very well.
[00:04:04.666]Chancellor Green, when you and I talked back in August,
[00:04:07.898]you hinted at what you expected would be
[00:04:10.222]record enrollment numbers and just now talking about
[00:04:13.257]those enrollment numbers here so what can you report
[00:04:15.748]about the enrollment at UNL this fall?
[00:04:18.796]Well we were really excited Brandon to
[00:04:21.554]see our record enrollment broken again this year.
[00:04:24.739]Last year we were just under 26,000 students,
[00:04:29.022]25,897 to be exact
[00:04:32.343]students studying with us at UNL.
[00:04:35.241]And that was a new record for us in our history,
[00:04:38.503]largest number of students we've ever had,
[00:04:40.787]the previous record was in 1981
[00:04:43.616]when we had just over 25,000 students.
[00:04:46.955]So a big jump last year.
[00:04:49.257]We were very pleased when we got our enrollment data
[00:04:52.342]finalized for this fall term this year that we're up again,
[00:04:56.159]just over 26,000 students,
[00:04:58.930]26,079 students enrolled with us
[00:05:02.521]this semester across all of our programs.
[00:05:05.502]And as I shared with our campus, a couple of weeks ago,
[00:05:08.415]the significance of that can't be overstated because
[00:05:13.239]under the current circumstances, a lot of uncertainty
[00:05:16.775]that is out there both locally and nationally,
[00:05:19.908]to be up in enrollment at a time when
[00:05:22.965]that's not the trend nationally, to be bucking that trend
[00:05:26.457]nationally says a lot about our institution,
[00:05:29.379]says a lot about the quality of the institution.
[00:05:32.300]And to see more students from Nebraska than ever
[00:05:35.454]studying with us at UNL, more students than ever
[00:05:39.291]from outside of Nebraska either domestically
[00:05:42.094]or internationally, have our largest first-time
[00:05:44.817]freshman class ever in our history, just over 4900
[00:05:49.046]freshman students studying with us, most diverse,
[00:05:52.015]15% minority enrollment in our history in that class.
[00:05:56.753]All the while even while we're growing,
[00:05:59.835]maintaining the academic credentials which is
[00:06:02.975]another accomplishment that we're very very pleased about.
[00:06:06.207]Our college of business that just opened its new
[00:06:09.470]$84 million Hawks Hall home here on the main campus of UNL,
[00:06:14.486]it's the first year in its use saw a jump of almost 15%
[00:06:18.715]in its freshman enrollment in the college.
[00:06:21.434]Just to give you an idea of some reflection
[00:06:24.294]of how excited we are about that growth.
[00:06:27.669]So very very pleased and we expect to see that continue,
[00:06:31.121]we're working hard already on next year's incoming class.
[00:06:34.755]We expect to see that enrollment increase of two to three,
[00:06:38.053]maybe 4% on the upper side annually as our goal
[00:06:41.536]moving toward a 30 to 32,000 student campus
[00:06:45.463]as we look out, you know, eight, nine,
[00:06:47.452]10 years into the future.
[00:06:49.195]Brandon Bennett with the Rural Radio Network
[00:06:51.585]joined by Dr. Ronnie Green, the chancellor
[00:06:53.533]at the University of Nebraska Lincoln for our weekly
[00:06:55.756]Chat with a Chancellor here in the fall 2017 semester.
[00:06:59.627]Chancellor Green, a couple of weeks ago,
[00:07:01.802]you gave your 2017 State of the University address
[00:07:04.895]where you recounted a number of university achievements.
[00:07:07.575]Obviously one of those was the increased enrollment.
[00:07:10.380]But what are some, or what were some of the highlights
[00:07:13.189]that you also talked about over the past year?
[00:07:15.367]Well Brandon I can tell you for hours about
[00:07:18.232]things that people don't know about their university
[00:07:20.830]and the accomplishments that are happening daily here.
[00:07:23.804]We have an outstanding faculty across our nine
[00:07:26.945]academic colleges that are constantly being awarded
[00:07:30.964]and recognized nationally, internationally.
[00:07:33.991]Last year was a record for us, we had more
[00:07:36.157]nationally prominent awards made to our faculty
[00:07:39.309]than ever in our history.
[00:07:40.860]So I could talk a long time about
[00:07:43.229]those kinds of accomplishments, but a few things
[00:07:45.263]that were highlights for the last year,
[00:07:47.666]our college of law recognized for the second year in a row
[00:07:51.337]as number one best value college of law in the country.
[00:07:54.597]Continued elevation in the national rankings.
[00:07:57.848]US News and World Report rankings
[00:07:59.972]for our college of business now amongst the very top 50
[00:08:03.296]business programs across all universities in the country,
[00:08:06.988]a big accomplishment and climbing in the rankings for
[00:08:10.469]our business college over recent years.
[00:08:12.910]A group of our students from the journalism
[00:08:14.762]and mass communications college received recognition
[00:08:17.910]with the Kennedy Journalism Award, Robert F Kennedy Award
[00:08:21.751]in DC a couple of months ago from work they did
[00:08:24.681]around the Whiteclay issue in our state.
[00:08:27.476]First time ever that award was given to a group of students
[00:08:31.424]at a university, very, very proud of them.
[00:08:34.689]Our Military and Veteran's Success Center,
[00:08:37.322]under leadership the last couple of years of
[00:08:40.406]Darrell Everhart who leads that for us at the university.
[00:08:43.940]Being ranked now as a top school
[00:08:46.201]by Military Advanced Education & Transition.
[00:08:49.025]Moving to 24th in the country in being the Best For Vets
[00:08:53.222]ranking by Military Times.
[00:08:55.440]A lot of people don't recognize that we now have
[00:08:58.757]on our campus over 800 student veterans studying with us
[00:09:02.437]which is about four or 5% of our undergraduate enrollment,
[00:09:06.393]very, very proud of that fact.
[00:09:08.390]And I could go on and on.
[00:09:09.681]You know we broke our research record again last year
[00:09:12.325]with about $300 million in research expenditures.
[00:09:15.756]We've roughly doubled that over the last 10 years
[00:09:18.607]at the university.
[00:09:19.931]We have a new Food For Health Center that was established,
[00:09:23.195]anchored here at UNL also involving collaboration
[00:09:27.031]with partners at UNO, and the U-med center in Omaha,
[00:09:30.873]first of its kind in the world facilitated by
[00:09:34.298]major gifts from Jeff Raikes, a native of Nebraska
[00:09:38.044]who was formerly the CEO of the
[00:09:39.725]Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a joint gift with them
[00:09:43.078]to really be working in ways that create foods that are
[00:09:47.805]preventative in health that help to prevent
[00:09:50.462]unfavorable outcomes in health in the future.
[00:09:53.332]Our extension service, I mentioned that
[00:09:55.403]in our tripartite mission of teaching,
[00:09:57.732]research and outreach, recognized nationally
[00:10:00.712]as one of the very top extension programs in the country,
[00:10:04.032]our 4-H program continues to be one of the top programs
[00:10:07.288]nationally, it's just a very exciting time
[00:10:10.455]at the university as we continue to see these kinds of
[00:10:14.022]major accomplishments and milestones reached,
[00:10:16.635]as we're observing as the state's comprehensive
[00:10:19.439]land-grant university now and in to the future.
[00:10:22.324]Dr. Green, the last word is yours.
[00:10:25.245]It's been two months since we've talked,
[00:10:27.170]what's been going on on campus?
[00:10:28.536]I think the last time I talked with you
[00:10:31.016]a couple of months ago I said this
[00:10:33.662]and I'm gonna say it again, you know this land-grant mission
[00:10:36.812]that we serve has never been more important
[00:10:39.947]than it is today.
[00:10:41.196]You know next school year we'll be celebrating
[00:10:43.276]our sesquicentennial anniversary of the state's university.
[00:10:47.436]And that mission, that land-grant mission
[00:10:49.896]we were established under to be the peoples' university,
[00:10:52.908]to serve the state in our teaching and in our research
[00:10:56.270]and in our outreach and engagement across the state,
[00:10:58.987]I would argue has never been more important
[00:11:01.527]than it is today.
[00:11:03.130]Higher education has never been more needed
[00:11:05.474]for career success and lifetime success than it is today.
[00:11:09.952]Research and innovation that's important to our state
[00:11:13.731]has never been more important than it is today.
[00:11:16.945]And there's been few times in the last 15 decades
[00:11:19.853]that we've existed where understanding the benefits
[00:11:23.428]of higher education and what is delivered
[00:11:26.261]through higher education, the economic development
[00:11:29.577]that comes from that has never been more in demand
[00:11:32.661]than I think it is today.
[00:11:34.152]So exciting time to be at the university,
[00:11:38.381]exciting times that we're in in delivering that mission
[00:11:42.654]for the state, couldn't be more excited to have
[00:11:45.657]the opportunity to serve in this way
[00:11:47.717]and to lead the university.
[00:11:49.957]That was Dr. Ronnie Green, the chancellor
[00:11:51.772]at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln joining us
[00:11:54.329]for a weekly Chat with the Chancellor
[00:11:56.013]here in the fall 2017 semester.
[00:11:58.624]With the Rural Radio Network, this is Brandon Bennett.

The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!

You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.

Comments

0 Comments

KRVN Chat with the Chancellor

Description

Searchable Transcript

Comments icon comment

Related Channels

Comments