KRVN Chat with the Chancellor

Ronnie Green Author

03/21/2018 Added

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Ronnie Green discusses his visits with Nebraskans across the state and how the university is moving forward in developing its strategic plan. He also discusses the impactful research insight delivered through Nebraska Extension, especially through the on-farm research network.

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[00:00:00.411]Brandon Benitz with the Rural Radio Network
[00:00:02.326]and our weekly Chat with the Chancellor
[00:00:03.568]here in the Spring 2018 semester!
[00:00:06.095]This week we're once again joined by a special guest,
[00:00:08.156]Dr. Ronnie Green, the Chancellor
[00:00:09.509]at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[00:00:11.703]Dr. Green, we're actually able
[00:00:13.055]to speak face-to-face this week
[00:00:14.345]and I appreciate you stoppin' into our studio.
[00:00:16.301]This is the latest in your stop on a state-wide tour.
[00:00:18.762]This past week you visited Lincoln, Omaha,
[00:00:21.245]Hastings, Scotts Bluff, North Platte and St. Paul,
[00:00:23.800]so talk a little bit about the state-wide tour
[00:00:25.801]and give us a summary of your message,
[00:00:27.854]and the different stops that you've made around the state.
[00:00:29.813]Well Brandon, it's been a real pleasure.
[00:00:31.454]I always enjoy it when I get to traverse
[00:00:33.942]across our state-wide campus, and the state,
[00:00:36.389]and this past week, as you mentioned, we've had
[00:00:39.117]meetings with alums and supporters of the university
[00:00:42.765]in Lincoln and Omaha last week,
[00:00:45.096]and then in Hastings and in Scotts Bluff
[00:00:47.960]and in North Platte and in St. Paul
[00:00:50.270]on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this past week,
[00:00:52.904]and so it's been really great to be able
[00:00:55.033]to connect in those communities and those areas of the state
[00:00:58.429]with so many Nebraskans and alums of the university.
[00:01:02.201]We've been discussing in those sessions
[00:01:04.526]certainly a update on the university
[00:01:07.003]and what's happening on the campus
[00:01:08.857]as we approach our 150th anniversary this coming year,
[00:01:12.758]the big momentum that we have in student enrollment,
[00:01:15.834]and programs on the educational side of the university
[00:01:18.986]as well as some research programs,
[00:01:20.880]and growing level of research, and a continuation
[00:01:23.752]of the big engagement and extension mission
[00:01:26.457]that the University of Nebraska serves.
[00:01:28.628]It's the (mumbles) university for the state,
[00:01:30.863]so, exciting to talk about that momentum,
[00:01:33.102]that very palpable momentum of the university,
[00:01:36.296]and then also talkin' a little bit
[00:01:37.679]about the challenges associated
[00:01:39.516]with the state budget, currently,
[00:01:41.600]and our part of that, in dealing with
[00:01:44.057]the financial constraints that the state is facing,
[00:01:47.279]and resolving our budget challenges.
[00:01:49.115]So, been great to be in those communities,
[00:01:50.710]we've seen a lot of Huskers and a lot of alums
[00:01:52.952]through the course of the last week to ten days.
[00:01:55.761]Dr. Green over the last few weeks I've talked with you,
[00:01:57.992]and the other chancellors from the different campuses,
[00:02:00.262]as well as President Bounds, about
[00:02:01.533]the ongoing budget situation and, aside from that,
[00:02:04.508]or I should say, regardless of that,
[00:02:06.421]the university still has to move forward,
[00:02:08.377]and a big piece of that is, like with any campus,
[00:02:11.077]your strategic plan.
[00:02:11.910]So give us an update on what that strategic plan looks like,
[00:02:15.052]and the blueprint moving forward.
[00:02:16.757]Not only for the rest of this semester,
[00:02:18.725]but maybe for the next couple years.
[00:02:20.350]Well, as I mentioned we are moving very rapidly
[00:02:24.269]in 2018 toward 2019, and we'll celebrate
[00:02:28.365]our 150th anniversary on February 15th, in 2019.
[00:02:32.902]We have been planning for some time
[00:02:36.080]how this year we would be really looking at
[00:02:39.788]the framing and vision for this next 25 year period.
[00:02:43.866]Thinking about going into 150 to 175,
[00:02:47.218]in time period history of the university.
[00:02:51.542]We have recently appointed what we are calling
[00:02:54.142]the N-150 Commission for UNL,
[00:02:57.287]where we are doing big visioning for the university
[00:03:00.757]moving forward into this next era of our history,
[00:03:03.973]with the plan that that group,
[00:03:06.089]and all of the dialogue that they will lead
[00:03:08.289]across the campus and across our stakeholders
[00:03:10.632]and our alums, and across the state,
[00:03:12.599]to a strategic plan launch that we will do
[00:03:15.487]on that birthdate, when we reach February 15th next year.
[00:03:19.351]Incorporated into that is a lot
[00:03:21.789]of the growth and momentum that I've been talking about
[00:03:24.742]in these sessions this past week with our folks,
[00:03:27.738]and our vision for a larger university
[00:03:30.671]in terms of enrollment moving forward, as we grow in size,
[00:03:34.371]and the focusing on research areas,
[00:03:37.854]and scholarship and contribution,
[00:03:39.851]in terms of knowledge and innovation,
[00:03:42.102]and development of that knowledge
[00:03:43.839]out into the public for Nebraska.
[00:03:45.948]Specifically, related to things
[00:03:47.767]that are very important for us,
[00:03:49.433]that we're already doing, but we want
[00:03:50.938]to focus on being even more prominent in, in the future.
[00:03:54.553]Things like water and food security,
[00:03:56.836]things like early childhood development and education,
[00:04:00.216]things like engineering research
[00:04:02.714]that is related to not just civil infrastructure,
[00:04:05.432]and the things we think about in the support
[00:04:08.428]of our roads and bridges, and infrastructure
[00:04:10.356]that we have, in a civil engineering way,
[00:04:12.634]but also things like working with the Department of Defense,
[00:04:15.456]around protection of our nation,
[00:04:17.825]and weapons of mass destruction,
[00:04:19.773]and ways that we combat weapons of mass destruction.
[00:04:22.646]Big focus on research moving forward.
[00:04:26.634]And then, how we really believe that the university
[00:04:30.057]is increasingly an economic development engine for the state
[00:04:34.259]and how we perceive that becoming
[00:04:37.382]even more and more in the future,
[00:04:40.140]as we move forward with things like
[00:04:42.029]public-private partnerships,
[00:04:43.645]and the development of innovation campus
[00:04:45.805]that we're into our beginning of that process,
[00:04:48.790]and our phase-one work there.
[00:04:51.000]All of that getting rolled together
[00:04:53.311]into this vision for the future
[00:04:55.417]of a bigger and a bolder university,
[00:04:58.103]moving into our next 25 year period.
[00:05:00.455]So, excited about that.
[00:05:01.597]That group started their work about a week-and-a-half ago,
[00:05:04.516]the steering committee of that group was formed
[00:05:06.651]and they spent a day together kinda plotting the course
[00:05:09.623]of how they would lead this discussion across the university
[00:05:13.448]and we, very excited about that N-150 commission,
[00:05:16.476]and what they'll be bringin' forward.
[00:05:18.311]Brandon Benitz with the Rural Radio Network
[00:05:20.402]and our weekly Chat with the Chancellor segment
[00:05:21.897]here in the Spring 2018 semester.
[00:05:23.716]Once again joined by a special guest;
[00:05:25.418]Dr. Ronnie Green, the chancellor at
[00:05:27.008]the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[00:05:29.328]Dr. Green one of those areas that UNL
[00:05:30.866]has, probably the biggest impact across the state,
[00:05:33.066]is its delivery of impactful research insight
[00:05:35.497]through the Nebraska Extension.
[00:05:37.213]One highlight of that work is the unique opportunity
[00:05:39.937]available through the On-Farm Research Network.
[00:05:43.450]Give us a recap of the scope, and the scale,
[00:05:45.278]of that program from the past year.
[00:05:48.599]Brandon, in these sessions we've had
[00:05:51.159]in communities across the state,
[00:05:52.911]one of the big discussion points that we talked about
[00:05:55.392]is the power and strength of Nebraska Extension,
[00:05:58.128]both historically, that the present
[00:06:00.111]and we believe moving forward.
[00:06:02.186]We're very fortunate in this state to have
[00:06:04.642]one of the very top extension and outreach programs
[00:06:07.482]in the country, we're very proud of that.
[00:06:10.270]Proud of the people who make up Nebraska Extension
[00:06:12.984]spread throughout the state, both in counties, locally,
[00:06:16.505]as well as in our regional research and extension centers
[00:06:19.511]that we have across the state.
[00:06:20.545]I was out in North Platte, couple-a days ago,
[00:06:22.683]out in Scotts Bluff couple-a days ago,
[00:06:24.736]at those research sites, so we're very proud
[00:06:27.536]of the work that our Nebraska Extension effort
[00:06:29.699]brings to life every day.
[00:06:31.816]One of those things that has a long history in the state
[00:06:35.365]is the Nebraska On-Farm Research Network.
[00:06:38.594]Laura Thompson is the current coordinator
[00:06:40.826]of that effort in the state.
[00:06:42.237]This past year some 80 On-Farm research projects
[00:06:46.892]across the state were coordinated through that effort,
[00:06:50.263]where Nebraska Extension works with producers
[00:06:53.323]directly in the field, with research projects on-site,
[00:06:57.355]in their operations with everything to do
[00:06:59.904]that you can imagine with production.
[00:07:02.028]Last night I was talking with one of our leaders
[00:07:04.646]in the North Platte area, that has coordinated
[00:07:07.243]part of that effort called TAPS,
[00:07:09.410]that deals heavily with water,
[00:07:10.863]where they're actually competing.
[00:07:12.661]The producers are actually competing
[00:07:14.402]with one another, in a friendly way,
[00:07:17.635]using all of their data on everything from
[00:07:20.676]nitrogen utilization, to type of seed utilization,
[00:07:25.034]to water application, to use of sensor technology,
[00:07:28.361]all the way through to marketing,
[00:07:31.010]and the way that their products
[00:07:32.304]are marketed through to the end result,
[00:07:34.313]with a profitability endpoint, right?
[00:07:37.382]They use all of that data and compare all of that data
[00:07:40.933]amongst themselves to learn from one another.
[00:07:44.206]These kinds of efforts, like the On-Farm Research Network,
[00:07:48.079]like the TAPS program, help us to extend that knowledge,
[00:07:52.163]and at the same time learn, have the opportunity
[00:07:55.501]for producers to learn from one another,
[00:07:57.730]all coordinated through Nebraska Extension,
[00:08:00.438]through those opportunities, so very proud of that work,
[00:08:02.742]and the meaning that it's had for a number of years.
[00:08:05.400]It also creates a database, if you will,
[00:08:07.802]so you now have, through that On-Farm Research Network,
[00:08:12.172]600 farm projects that have occurred
[00:08:15.487]over the years in that effort,
[00:08:17.200]that is a database of rich information
[00:08:19.464]that Nebraska Extension uses to help producers
[00:08:22.965]understand and learn from those projects over time.
[00:08:26.297]Big, important effort as we continue to innovate
[00:08:29.559]and continue to look for greater efficiencies
[00:08:32.665]in production agriculture, in this bread-basket
[00:08:35.593]part of the world that we call Nebraska.
[00:08:37.763]Dr. Green, the last word is yours.
[00:08:40.405]What's goin' on, with the spring break starting tomorrow,
[00:08:42.985]what's on your mind this week on campus?
[00:08:44.699]Well, I was reading this past week,
[00:08:46.999]as we were traveling across the state,
[00:08:48.932]students go on spring break, they're off for a few days,
[00:08:51.874]to have a breather in the middle of their semester
[00:08:54.306]as they work toward graduation,
[00:08:56.135]for some of those students coming up here
[00:08:58.414]shortly in a couple-a months, and others,
[00:09:01.031]that next notch of the next year done
[00:09:03.722]in their degree programs, and these students,
[00:09:06.324]they go all over the world,
[00:09:08.024]and they're doin' all kinds of really neat things.
[00:09:11.214]I was reading about students that we have in South America,
[00:09:14.448]workin' with families in poverty conditions
[00:09:17.789]through programs like MedLife, for example,
[00:09:20.669]that help them to do service work,
[00:09:23.934]and learn in that process.
[00:09:25.413]We have students that go on spring break
[00:09:27.153]all over the world and do those kinds of things,
[00:09:29.336]it's very heartening to see that,
[00:09:31.319]and I hope that they get their rest and they come back
[00:09:33.702]and they do really well the rest of the semester
[00:09:35.839]as we continue to educate that next work-force
[00:09:38.431]for Nebraska through the University of Nebraska.
[00:09:41.051]Great to be with ya Brandon.
[00:09:42.287]That was Dr. Ronnie Green joining us once again
[00:09:44.182]as a special guest for our Chat with the Chancellor series,
[00:09:46.301]here in the Spring 2018 semester.
[00:09:48.800]With the Rural Radio Network, this is Brandon Benitz.

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