August 20, 2024
Last month, I completed my first year as the 21st Chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Over the last year, I have asked a lot of questions and have listened intently. I have explored and studied all parts of our campuses and traveled our great state from Nebraska City to Scottsbluff. I have heard from our faculty, staff, and students during listening sessions, Faculty Senate meetings, and in everyday encounters at the Nebraska Union, at Husker Athletics venues and arts events, and in countless other ways. I have also heard from our alumni and supporters and seen firsthand the many ways UNL serves Nebraskans through its mission of education, research, and engagement. My main takeaway is that there is a deep love for this institution and truly there is no place like Nebraska.
I am so proud of what we have accomplished together in a short amount of time, thanks to you. Importantly, we are anticipating that we will break a 6-year trend of enrollment declines this fall. Our retention and graduation rates are rising. Our research productivity, creative activity and awards have risen to record levels, and we continue to positively impact communities across Nebraska.
I have also heard from you that we have more work to do to live up to our full potential. And I agree.
As I enter my second year as Chancellor, it is clear to me that:
- We must clarify our priorities; our identity; and our place in the future of higher education.
- We must increase enrollment and ensure that our students graduate on time and well-prepared to contribute to Nebraska’s future on day one.
- We must lean into our status as Nebraska’s Big Ten research university and elevate our national and international profile to become more AAU-like.
- We must continue to improve people’s lives in Nebraska and beyond through impactful engagement.
We must do all of this and still live within our budgetary means. To achieve success, we will have to operate differently; come together across campuses, colleges, and our individual roles as administrators, faculty, staff, or students; make hard decisions; and move forward more quickly than we might like. I am confident we are up to the challenge.
As we begin the academic year, I am taking several actions to move us forward and help us work differently. First, I am restructuring the Executive Leadership Team and Cabinet to better position us to create and implement a shared vision, and in the coming weeks, I will initiate processes to update our institutional strategy and to address our budget challenges.
Restructuring of the Executive Leadership Team and Cabinet
- In order to further strengthen shared governance and collaboration, I am adding faculty, staff, and student representatives to my Cabinet. The President of Faculty Senate, President of Staff Senate, and ASUN President, or their designees, will join my Cabinet and serve as the voice of our community at the leadership table.
- The Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs will become the Vice Chancellor for Student Life and will report directly to me. Nothing is more important than ensuring that our students are successful and have a positive experience while at UNL. I believe that updating the name of this unit and the reporting line emphasizes our commitment to this work and brings us into alignment with best practices across the country. Over the coming months, we will review the range of student life and student success initiatives that we offer and determine whether additional changes are needed to grow and strengthen the comprehensive student experience.
- The Office of Research & Economic Development will be renamed the Office of Research & Innovation and will align its operations to emphasize our priority of elevating our research profile and stature to be more AAU-like. The Vice Chancellor of Research & Innovation will coordinate closely with UNMC and the Office of the President in pursuit of these goals.
- After considerable reflection and a thorough review of both the national landscape and the specific needs of our institution, the Office of Diversity & Inclusion will be dissolved, and the position of Vice Chancellor for Diversity & Inclusion will be eliminated. We will reimagine how we approach this work at UNL. I fully grasp the weight of this decision and its implications, but a centralized approach to this work is no longer right for our institution.
Let me be unequivocal – we will steadfastly uphold the principle that every person and every interaction matters, and we will continue to recruit and support faculty, staff, and students from all backgrounds and identities.
It is incumbent on each of us to foster a welcoming environment for all members of our community. I am charging the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor with responsibility for supporting and building a sense of community and belonging for our faculty; the Office of Business & Finance for our staff; and the Office of Student Life for our students. These offices will closely coordinate with each other and with Colleges and support units to ensure that each member of our campus community knows that they are valued and supported.
Importantly, the Chancellor’s Commissions will continue to serve as the voice of our community, ensuring our commitment to serving all is upheld. The existing Diversity Advisory Board, comprised of external stakeholders, will be elevated and serve as the Chancellor’s Advisory Board on Community and Belonging.
- I have heard concerns from many colleges that some business practices, and especially our hiring practices, are unnecessarily cumbersome. I have charged Vice Chancellor for Business & Finance Mike Zeleny with reviewing our hiring practices through a "one-UNL" methodology to ensure that our people management practices are positively driving hiring, retention, and organizational development. UNL must return to being an employer of choice and, following the review, we will search for a new Assistant Vice Chancellor for Human Resources who will also serve as our Chief Talent Officer and will regularly update Cabinet on progress.
- As we face a range of challenges and opportunities, both locally and globally, it will be essential that we are guided by a strategic vision for our institution, aligned with the University of Nebraska System. In an expanded role, Josh Davis will serve as the Vice Chancellor for Institutional Strategy & External Relations overseeing the process of updating our strategic plan, implementing strategic initiatives, and coordinating this work across the leadership team and with our system partners while continuing to serve as my Chief of Staff.
Throughout our 155-year history, we have had to adapt. I was recently reminded of this as I read the university strategy “Toward Excellence” from 1973.
“The University of Nebraska is influenced by the monumental changes which are taking place in students, faculty, educational processes, and the larger society about us. We must adapt but we must also preserve.”
Over 50 years later, those words are just as relevant! We have survived...and thrived because of our ability to adapt while preserving the things that make this such a special place, and we can do so again. Our future is bright and only limited by our imagination and creativity. This moment in our history requires us to be bold and courageous trailblazers. I hope you will join me in charting the way forward.
Rodney D. Bennett
Chancellor