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ommeraasen: caring for
"3rd largest Nebraska city"
By Gina Hills
Miles Tommeraasen wasn't exactly nominated for
the position of UNL's vice chancellor of business and
finance. H didn't even apply for the job.
Instead, Tommeraasen raid he was "drafted" for
the position in 1969.
For this 52-year-old father of three, it was a case of
being in the right place at the right time.
He came to UNL in 1964 to teach accounting and
finance in the College of Business Administration
(CBA).
In 1968 he was advanced to the position of
assistant dean and held that position for one year
before being "drafted."
In 1969, UNL's president, Joseph Soshnik, "came
to me and said that he needed to have someone in the
business and finance position who had a doctors
degree, who had been a faculty member and who
appreciated what an educational institution, was
about as opposed to the typical business
organization," Tommeraasen said.
And although he said he misses teaching, he also
said he likes his administrative position.
"The odd thing is," he said, "in this kind of a job,
it seems like while there is a thread that runs through
the problems, you get new problems every day that
are different than they were before."
Tommeraasen said his job is to represent the
chancellor in all areas of fiscal and business
operations at UNL.
"Most people know what the vice chancellor for
academic affairs does. Most people know what the
vice chancellor for student affairs is doing and what's
involved in that. All the rest of the operations of the
University fall under business and finance," he said.
Specifically, his job breaks down into two parts,
the fiscal and the business operation.
Fiscal operations, which are primarily controlled
by the comptroller, include accounting, payroll,
treasury operations, the budget office, the bursar,
handling of cash, collection of bills, payments of
accounts, grants and contracts, he said.
r
The business operations include purchasing, stores,
inventory, housekeeping, the police and everything
else, he added.
Since UNL "is about the third largest city in the
state, we have all the same kinds of problems" that
Lincoln and Omaha have, he said.
With about 27,000 people, including students,
faculty, and staff, the University has housing, food
and police problems, he said. "We've got all the
supply and clean-up that would be involved in any big
operation," he added.
For example, of the 500 largest food buyers in the
world, the University of Nebraska is about 185th, he
said. "We're one of the biggest in the world," he
added.
"Other state agencies come in and buy food from
us primarily because of the good prices that we get
for the quantities we're buying," Tommeraasen said.
The University also has an auto pool, with more
than 300 vehicles, where repairs can be made and cars
can be serviced, he said.
Other University stores also fall under the
supervision of Tommeraasen's office. They include
the photographic, general, glass, food and scientific
stores, he said.
Even the new windows in CBA, Andrews and
Teacher's College are approved through the vice
chancellor's office, he said.
Not only do these windows save energy because
they're tighter, but they also make the buildings
"blend in with the new library building," he said.
"All of these things are so varied, so diverse and
there are so many of them that come under business
and finance, that it really is fascinating,"
Tommeraasen said.
The vice chancellor also has an important role in
determining UNL's budget.
"When the budget request is made up, it will be the
chancellor and myself who will talk to the system
about it," he said. "We come up with the budget for
the Lincoln campus."
Tommeraasen added that if the governor's
'J
:.
Miles Tommeraasen, Vice Chancellor for Bus
iness and Finance
proposed budget passes, "where we're going to get
hurt is in salary increases. What we really would need
in terms of getting to the average of other Big eight
schools. . .would be roughly a 15 to 16 per cent
salary increase this year," he said.
The governor's budget would give around eight per
cent for salary increase, he added. "Lower paid
employes will do better on this because the employes
making $6,000 to $7,000 a year will get a 12 per cent
raise. This isn't too bad, but it's not enough to keep
up with inflation," he said.
In addition, the governor didn't appropriate
enough money to accomodate operating expenses, he
said. "This year there're talking about an eight per
cent increase. . .and that still won't give us enough
money," he said.
Inflation in chemicals and paper prices for
example, has increased as much as 80 per cent, "And
we've only gotten three, for and five per cent
increases in those accounts," he said.
But the governor is right in saying "If .you've got
to have a tight budget, then you need to give the
University the flexibility to maneuver around in that
budget," Tommeraasen said.
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daily nebraskan
page 9
Wednesday, march 5, 1975