KRVN Chat with the Chancellor

Ronnie Green Author

08/20/2018 Added

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Ronnie Green talks about recent visits to communities across Nebraska and the upcoming milestone of 150 years since the university’s charter was written on February 15, 1869. Ronnie Green also speaks about the university’s growth and momentum since joining the Big Ten Conference in 2011.

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[00:00:00.170]Brandon Benitz with the Rural Radio Network,
[00:00:02.050]and our weekly Chat with the Chancellor here
[00:00:03.840]at the end of Summer 2018 semester.
[00:00:06.180]This week we're once again joined by a special guest,
[00:00:08.360]Dr. Ronnie Greene,
[00:00:09.310]the Chancellor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[00:00:12.110]Dr. Greene, you're joining us here in studio
[00:00:13.910]as part of one of your many statewide trips
[00:00:16.040]that you and the rest of your staff have taken
[00:00:18.010]really over the last several years,
[00:00:19.380]and will continue to take.
[00:00:20.630]Give us the latest update on where you've been
[00:00:22.830]on this particular trip this week.
[00:00:24.630]Well, Brandon, really a pleasure to be in Lexington
[00:00:27.420]and be here on site with you.
[00:00:29.009]We've been, this week, out in the south central
[00:00:31.780]part of the state,
[00:00:32.750]and Southwestern Nebraska out in the corner
[00:00:34.960]and Southwestern Nebraska.
[00:00:36.240]So we've been in York with folks,
[00:00:37.687]Hastings, Minden, and here in Lexington,
[00:00:41.350]and then out in Imperial, and North Platte,
[00:00:43.860]and Ogallala, Grant area of the state,
[00:00:46.510]and then finishing up,
[00:00:47.710]actually here in the Lexington schools.
[00:00:49.810]So just an opportunity for us on a routine basis
[00:00:53.060]to really visit communities in the state,
[00:00:55.420]engage with everything from alums and parents of students
[00:00:59.960]at the university currently to civic leaders in
[00:01:02.560]the school systems, the K12 system,
[00:01:04.980]community colleges, economic development city government,
[00:01:08.370]you name it.
[00:01:10.080]It's been great to see so many communities this Summer.
[00:01:13.130]Chancellor Greene, the university's 150th anniversary
[00:01:16.000]is coming up this February,
[00:01:17.480]and planning, we've talked about, is already well underway
[00:01:19.930]to celebrate that in a big way.
[00:01:21.920]And as that date approaches, and we look to the future,
[00:01:24.810]but also we look back on its history,
[00:01:27.040]what do you think the legacy is for
[00:01:29.500]the University of Nebraska and how do you anticipate
[00:01:32.470]that growing in the future?
[00:01:34.150]Well, you know, 150 is a big number, right?
[00:01:37.340]None of us can really relate to that
[00:01:39.580]because it's bigger than us in a lot of ways,
[00:01:42.250]and hearkens back both to the history of the university
[00:01:45.370]as well as the impact over now 15 decades for us.
[00:01:49.420]And it also makes us think a little big about the future
[00:01:52.220]and about the next 50 years, the next era of history for NU.
[00:01:57.460]So it's a poignant moment for us to be celebrating that
[00:02:00.772]150th anniversary.
[00:02:01.960]Officially, it will be February 15th of 2019,
[00:02:06.370]so this coming calendar year that we're gearing up towards
[00:02:09.800]a kickoff in January is a year that will be filled with
[00:02:12.820]celebrating the past and looking to the future
[00:02:15.255]simultaneously for the university.
[00:02:19.090]The way I describe it is that the university and the state
[00:02:22.880]really grew up together.
[00:02:25.190]If you think about that, the state of Nebraska,
[00:02:27.787]the year before last, we celebrated statehood
[00:02:31.170]so it was the centennial of the state in 2017.
[00:02:35.360]Now we're celebrating the anniversary of the university
[00:02:38.300]in that same way.
[00:02:39.530]We really have grown up together,
[00:02:41.840]and I characterize it as, the university is the DNA
[00:02:45.840]of the state in many many ways.
[00:02:48.423]It's the land-grant university,
[00:02:49.963]it's the people's university, the public institution
[00:02:53.520]of access to education and research and outreach
[00:02:56.710]that tri fold mission of being a land-grant university
[00:02:59.960]has had huge impact on this state.
[00:03:02.340]As it's grown, as it's developed, it's become a leader
[00:03:05.620]in a number of fields and industries,
[00:03:07.900]and continues to be that as we move forward.
[00:03:10.610]So exciting to celebrate, both the alums,
[00:03:14.970]many of our prominent alums, many of our prominent faculty,
[00:03:18.330]the research accomplishments of the university,
[00:03:21.110]here in the coming year as we celebrate our 150th.
[00:03:24.310]Dr. Greene, one of those events that happened
[00:03:26.760]within that 150 years is about seven years ago,
[00:03:29.940]when UNL left the Big 12 Conference and joined the Big Ten.
[00:03:33.380]Any kind of change like that is, of course, gonna make
[00:03:35.470]a big impact on an institution and in so many ways
[00:03:38.140]that go far beyond athletics.
[00:03:40.100]What has been that key ingredient, that secret in the sauce,
[00:03:43.900]so to speak, that has allowed UNL to make that transition
[00:03:47.040]so well, and even become a leader academically
[00:03:50.430]and otherwise within the Big Ten?
[00:03:52.970]Talking about history, I kind of mark the transition
[00:03:56.180]to the Big Ten personally, because the day I started
[00:03:59.986]in the university in 2010 in the Institute of Ag
[00:04:04.600]and Natural Resources position that I had the pleasure
[00:04:07.410]of serving in previously,
[00:04:09.450]that month was the month that the decision was made,
[00:04:13.090]and the announcement was made that UNL would be joining
[00:04:16.870]the Big Ten and moving over to the Conference
[00:04:20.240]as a new member the following year.
[00:04:23.729]It is a big, big deal for us to have made that move,
[00:04:29.270]to have been successful in making that move.
[00:04:31.860]The Big Ten Conference has some of the very leading
[00:04:35.030]institutions in the United States.
[00:04:37.370]It has expanded, of course, since Nebraska joined
[00:04:40.810]the Big Ten in 2011 with the addition of Maryland,
[00:04:44.050]and Rutgers, and in more recent years now,
[00:04:45.930]14 institutions across the conference.
[00:04:48.723]As we've said often, it was a big move academically,
[00:04:53.760]as well as athletically, in the athletic conference,
[00:04:56.950]and being in the likes of the Michigans, and the Wisconsins,
[00:04:59.737]and the Illinois, and Ohio States and Purdues
[00:05:02.190]and Penn States, all the way down the line is a big deal.
[00:05:05.590]It has elevated our game as a result of that, academically.
[00:05:10.000]It's elevated our game in business.
[00:05:11.880]It's elevating our game in engineering.
[00:05:13.860]It's elevated our game in education in a number of key
[00:05:17.730]areas of emphasis in the university because
[00:05:20.490]we now are among some of the very elite schools
[00:05:23.630]in the nation in those fields, very big programs,
[00:05:27.160]very prominent programs, and we've stepped our game up,
[00:05:30.790]if you will, as a result of that in those areas
[00:05:34.250]that we're building.
[00:05:35.730]Good example: our business college.
[00:05:38.300]So the College of Business, formerly known at Nebraska
[00:05:41.650]as CBA, the College of Business Administration.
[00:05:44.420]We just recently changed that name
[00:05:46.140]to College of Business last year.
[00:05:48.410]Our College of Business is 40% larger than it was
[00:05:51.730]when we entered the Big Ten in student enrollment.
[00:05:54.450]It's grown in size of faculty, almost 30% increase
[00:05:57.140]in our faculty.
[00:05:58.920]Brand new $84 million home of the College of Business
[00:06:02.640]on our campus that we opened a year ago.
[00:06:05.300]Same time that we opened that a year ago,
[00:06:07.480]a 15% increase, last Fall, in our enrollment
[00:06:10.870]in the College of Business, and big jumps in the rankings,
[00:06:14.380]about 20 points of jumps in the rankings
[00:06:17.130]of the College of Business as we've elevated
[00:06:19.540]that college to become a true Big Ten college of business.
[00:06:23.523]It's a big deal for us, and we continue to look forward
[00:06:27.650]to growing higher levels in those colleges in particular
[00:06:31.690]as we move forward in the Big Ten.
[00:06:33.660]Brandon Benitz with the Rural Radio Network
[00:06:35.430]and our weekly Chat with the Chancellor here
[00:06:36.830]in the Summer 2018 semester, once again joined by
[00:06:39.880]a special guest, the Chancellor of the
[00:06:41.280]University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Dr. Ronnie Greene.
[00:06:44.460]Dr. Greene, you mentioned earlier several of those
[00:06:46.760]different areas that exist within UNL.
[00:06:49.013]Higher education is one of the those occupations
[00:06:51.370]that sometimes sees a good deal of turnover
[00:06:53.280]from year to year in those areas.
[00:06:55.180]You've recently filled the Dean position for the
[00:06:56.950]College of Engineering as well as a Vice Chancellor
[00:06:59.340]for Research and Economic Development,
[00:07:00.900]and currently have four Deans and two Vice Chancellors
[00:07:03.340]serving on an interim basis.
[00:07:04.820]So, how would you describe the leadership team
[00:07:07.540]at the university as it sits now,
[00:07:09.430]and what are you looking for in a successful candidate
[00:07:11.857]for permanent hires in each of those roles to come?
[00:07:14.860]You know, Brandon, we have had a fair amount
[00:07:17.090]of transition and change in the senior leadership team
[00:07:19.930]of the university in the last couple of years.
[00:07:22.110]That's a natural consequence as the leadership changes
[00:07:24.693]in the university.
[00:07:26.530]My predecessor, Harvey Perlman, who did so many
[00:07:28.930]great things for the university,
[00:07:30.580]was Chancellor or 16 years.
[00:07:32.360]And as a consequence of that, just by nature, so to speak,
[00:07:36.370]a lot of the leaders in the university were very senior
[00:07:39.310]and retired over the last couple of years,
[00:07:41.930]and we've replaced almost all of our key senior
[00:07:45.110]leadership at the university-wide level.
[00:07:47.600]Donde Plowman is our new Executive Vice Chancellor
[00:07:49.870]and Chief Academic Officer,
[00:07:51.210]and Mike Boehm, our Vice Chancellor of the Institute of Ag
[00:07:53.900]and Natural Resources, both about a year and a half
[00:07:55.871]into their roles in those two key academic
[00:07:59.200]leader positions for the campus.
[00:08:01.600]We have new leadership in Business and Finance
[00:08:03.730]with Bill Nunez.
[00:08:04.570]We have new leadership with Student Affairs
[00:08:06.480]with Laurie Bellows.
[00:08:08.120]So a big turnover in leadership at those
[00:08:11.280]university-wide roles.
[00:08:13.460]We also have recently welcomed Bob Wilhelm
[00:08:16.490]as our new Vice Chancellor of Research and
[00:08:18.370]Economic Development.
[00:08:19.840]We had that position under recruitment for about a year
[00:08:22.530]and a half, identifying the right leader to come in
[00:08:25.470]and lead that very significant part of our enterprise,
[00:08:28.120]about a $300 million enterprise annually
[00:08:30.640]for research across the statewide campus of UNL.
[00:08:34.750]Bob came to us from the University of North Carolina,
[00:08:36.930]started in May, and we're very, very pleased about his
[00:08:40.050]expertise, not only because he's an engineer,
[00:08:43.110]an area that we want to build on our campus further,
[00:08:46.660]but also because he has a very significant history
[00:08:49.490]in economic development and working with private industry
[00:08:52.540]and public-private partnerships, and helping us
[00:08:54.850]build out further Nebraska Innovation Campus.
[00:08:57.750]That's a key element and a key part of the university now,
[00:09:00.910]as we're moving into the future.
[00:09:02.920]We currently have a number of our Deans positions,
[00:09:06.710]non-academic colleges, each led by a Dean on the campus.
[00:09:11.030]Some recent new appointments there, our reasonably new
[00:09:14.150]College of Law Dean, Richard Moberly,
[00:09:16.220]who's been in that role now for about a year and a half,
[00:09:19.400]exceptional leader that came out of the college.
[00:09:22.410]He was the Associate Dean previously, and is doing
[00:09:25.520]a great job at leading our College of Law.
[00:09:28.250]Lance Perez, recently named the permanent Dean.
[00:09:31.730]He had been the Interim Dean of the College of Engineering
[00:09:34.410]for the last couple of years.
[00:09:36.540]Lance is an electrical engineer, world-renowned.
[00:09:39.830]He's been on our campus since the mid '90s as
[00:09:42.190]a faculty member and as a campus leader.
[00:09:45.020]He was formerly the Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty
[00:09:48.890]across all of the university in his previous role
[00:09:51.870]and was Dean of our Graduate School for several years
[00:09:54.580]before taking on this role.
[00:09:56.160]So Lance is now the leader that's going to take that
[00:09:59.410]College of Engineering to the next level
[00:10:01.540]that we talked about earlier.
[00:10:03.320]We're very excited about his leadership.
[00:10:05.810]We have two key Dean searches that we're recruiting
[00:10:09.410]this Fall, for new permanent Deans of our College
[00:10:12.370]of Education and Human Sciences.
[00:10:14.550]Some people think of it still as Teacher's College,
[00:10:17.150]but our College of Education and Human Sciences,
[00:10:19.860]Marjorie Kostelnik, the long time leader of that college,
[00:10:23.610]national leader in that field, is now leading at
[00:10:26.680]the university-wide level across all of the four campuses,
[00:10:30.580]the budget consolidation process and budget efficiency's
[00:10:34.340]process that we've been working so hard on
[00:10:36.400]the last couple of years.
[00:10:37.940]So we'll be filling a new permanent Dean role there
[00:10:40.800]from a national search.
[00:10:42.380]And in our College of Arts and Sciences,
[00:10:44.540]we'll be recruiting a new Dean for that college,
[00:10:47.170]the largest single college on the campus
[00:10:49.440]over the course of the Fall as well.
[00:10:51.830]And lastly, I shouldn't leave it out,
[00:10:54.232]the College of Ag Sciences and Natural Resources.
[00:10:57.010]The Dean's role, the academic leader of the college there,
[00:11:01.180]Steve Waller, had served in that role for about 16 years,
[00:11:05.110]recently transitioned out of that role and retired,
[00:11:08.820]and we'll be recruiting that position.
[00:11:10.660]So what we're looking for, of course,
[00:11:13.140]is we want the dream team of leaders, academically.
[00:11:17.150]From a research perspective, we're looking for people
[00:11:19.940]that can guide and lead and have the vision for those
[00:11:22.760]colleges to grow and delivering on their mission.
[00:11:25.770]And as I said earlier, especially in these areas
[00:11:28.680]that we're building, and we're growing,
[00:11:30.620]we're looking for someone who can do that,
[00:11:32.920]and can lead that vision as we move forward.
[00:11:35.430]So it's exciting to have those leaders coming on board,
[00:11:38.599]and we're looking forward to the next wave of that talent
[00:11:42.080]to be put in place through the rest of this calendar year.
[00:11:45.600]Dr. Greene, we're here at the end of the Summer 2018
[00:11:49.100]semester and just about to kick off Fall classes.
[00:11:51.770]The last word is yours.
[00:11:53.470]Well, you know Brandon, here we are, the week
[00:11:56.177]before classes start.
[00:11:58.510]So it's when the blood starts pumping at a much higher
[00:12:01.570]level and everybody feels it.
[00:12:04.130]As I've been out across
[00:12:05.190]the state the last week or so, as schools start to kick
[00:12:09.210]back into motion, you know I was here in Lexington
[00:12:11.640]visiting with the Lexington school superintendent
[00:12:13.850]and talking about when they're kicked back into school here,
[00:12:16.460]the same happening in Minden,
[00:12:18.360]so you have that sense of excitement.
[00:12:20.100]Trust me, there is that sense of excitement in Lincoln
[00:12:22.630]as well, where on Monday, when we open our doors
[00:12:26.310]for the first day of classes, we expect to have
[00:12:29.030]record enrollment at the university for the fourth
[00:12:32.140]year in a row.
[00:12:33.130]So that's a big, big deal for us.
[00:12:36.370]We won't put the number in the slot until we know that
[00:12:39.100]sixth day of when we count, and put our official count out
[00:12:42.560]for enrollment,
[00:12:43.680]but we think we're gonna be up several hundred
[00:12:45.570]more students beyond our record last year,
[00:12:48.170]and that's exciting.
[00:12:49.313]Just to have that level of talent all coming back in
[00:12:53.000]to the university where they're getting
[00:12:54.640]that universal education in the high quality way
[00:12:57.950]that we know we deliver it at Nebraska,
[00:13:00.610]that's a pretty exciting time.
[00:13:01.780]I'm looking forward to when I look at that large
[00:13:03.560]freshman class and I say to them,
[00:13:05.547]"The world is yours.
[00:13:06.997]"This is the experience of a lifetime for you to have
[00:13:10.447]"the access to this high quality education to become
[00:13:13.627]"a husker, to hopefully in four years be done with
[00:13:16.215]"that degree and be out into the world changing the world"
[00:13:19.910]as we just finished celebrating with graduates
[00:13:22.110]last Saturday.
[00:13:23.350]5500 graduates from UNL this past year.
[00:13:26.950]Again, a record over our last three commencements
[00:13:30.810]making up the year.
[00:13:31.960]So just huge excitement,
[00:13:33.440]and then, you know, we're all looking forward to
[00:13:35.010]the end of the month, when husker football kicks off,
[00:13:37.080]for that great year ahead of us, and be able to go to
[00:13:39.710]go Big Red.
[00:13:41.070]That was Dr. Ronnie Greene, the Chancellor
[00:13:42.510]at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
[00:13:44.090]once again joining us as a special guest
[00:13:45.910]here on our Chat with a Chancellor
[00:13:47.180]in the Summer 2018 semester.
[00:13:49.380]With the Rural Radio Network,
[00:13:50.930]this is Brandon Benitz.

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