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November 19, 1987 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 87 No. 6|
Report says UNL has become stagnant
By Kip Fry
Staff Reporter
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has
become stagnant because of financial cutbacks,
low faculty morale and loss of faculty mem
bers, according to a report released Wednesday
by SRI International of Menlo Park, Calif.
Because of this, UNL has not been as active
as other systems of higher education in “pursu
ing new initiatives and developing new areas of
excellence,” the report said.
The report recommends the university
“develop close ties between the business com
munity and schools and universities in the state
to ensure relevance and responsiveness in
educational programs.”
H ighcr education should be seen as a critical
agent of change for the state, said Ted Lyman,
associate director of SRI’s Center for Eco
nomic Competitiveness. Lyman was project
director for the study, financed by the Peter
Kicwit Foundation and commissioned by the
Nebraska Press Association.
Industry also needs to be varied in Nebraska
if the state is to keep its edge on competing
slates, according to the report.
“We have strong magnets outside the state
right now,” Lyman said. ‘We need stronger
ones inside the state to draw the state together.”
The report named three strategies for ad
vancing Nebraska’s competitiveness.
The first strategy included redirecting agri
culture and adapting it to a global reality,
expanding food processing, diversifying
manufacturing, and expanding export-oriented
services.
The second strategy would enhance the
work force in Nebraska and targeting innova
tion to enhance entrepreneurship.
“We suggest that technical schools have
considerable involvement with industry,”
Lyman said.
The Iasi strategy said ties between urban and
rural places in the state should be strengthened
along with economic capacity.
“Moving ahead clearly will not be easy,”
Lyman said.
Lyman said pharmaceuticals, priming and
publishing, finance, and telecommunications
industries will be major factors in the economic
rejuvenation of the state.
“It’s our view, clearly, that agriculture is a
driving component in Nebraska’s economy for
more than a century,” Lyman said, but services
in the stale have to be better developed to bring ^
added revenue the state needs.
Gnesen submits
goals for office
Financial aid improvements set for June '88
By Lee Rood
Senior Reporter
James Griesen, vice chancellor of
academic affairs, submitted to
AS UN senators Wednesday night a
tentative schedule for implementing
improvements in the Office of Schol
arships and Financial Aid.
Griesen said he hoped all the
improvements could be imple
mented by June 1988, but he could
not make any promises because some
of the changes require money the
office docs not have.
“I am not Santa Claus," Griesen
said, “I can’t just reach into my bag
for $100,000 and make all of the
problems disappear."
Some of the plan’s proposed
changes include: hiring additional
graduate assistants and a new office
manager; locating additional space
for the office; procedural changes to
improve student traffic flow; and job
aumfsto upgrade clerical positions.
Senator Laura Schlabloskc said
she had talked with some anonymous
office employees who expressed
concern about the plan because many
of the changes were only temporary.
Griesen said he realized not many
i
permanent suggestions arc in plan.
But he said there are “no quick fixes”
to the office’s problems, and perma
nent changes require funding.
Stanley Liberty, dean of engineer
ing, spoke with senators about the
pro{X)sed S20 surcharge added to
engineering students’ tuition.
The surcharge, to be voted on by
the NU Board of Regents Friday
morning, would be used for under
graduate instructional equipment
and help keep the accreditation of the
college. Liberty said.
Liberty said if the surcharge was
not added to students' tuition, the
issue could lose visibility and the
college may experience great diffi
culty in trying to find funds through
other means later on.
Later in the meeting, senators
voted not to support the surcharge
because it could set a precedent for
similar charges added to students’
tuition whenever colleges need fund
ing.
Senators were also expected to
approve electoral rules for student
government elections, but after
much debate, the rules failed to pass
because some senators said they
required further scrutiny.
-1
Pep rally planned for NU/OU game
By Lee Rood
Senior Reporter
The Association of Students of
the University of Nebraska and
! KFRX vvill sponsor a pep rally and
bonfire for the Ncbraska-Okla
homa game at 5 p.m. Friday near
Broy hill Fountain along 15th and S
streets.
Shawn Boldl, 1st vice president
of AS UN, said former Nebraska
Comhusker football players Vince
Fcrragamo, Jerry Tagge and Jeff
Kinney, assistant football coach
George Darlington and the UNL
pep band will attend the rally.
The pep rally promises to be a
great one, Boldl said, and all stu
dents are encouraged to attend.
raint your wagon
Andy Williams (left), a pre-law and pre-med sophomore at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln, and Mike Freel, a speech communication sophomore, paint the University of
Oklahoma logo on the hood of their “Switzermobile” Wednesday afternoon. The two
Cather Hall residents are preparing the car for a "car bash" at Broyhill Fountain from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. Sooner-haters will be able to buy two bashes with a sledge hammer for $1.
The money raised will go to the Cather-Pound residence halls' activities fund.
Regents vote today on surcharge
By Lee Rood
Senior Reporter_ _
The University of Nebraska Board of
Regents will vote Friday morning on
adding a $20 surcharge to engineer
ing students’ tuition to help in their
college’s accreditation.
Joe Rowson, director of public
affairs, said the regents haven’t said
much about the surcharge, but some
students said at last month’s meeting
that they could not afford the in
crease.
Rowson said an agricultural re
port also will be discussed at the
meeting. The report suggests ways
Nebraskans can use existing prod
ucts and knowledge to help solve
agricultural problems in the slate.
“It shows how wc can work from
the strengths we’ve already built up,”
Rowson said.
The regents will not discuss fac
ulty salaries until their December
meeting. Additional lime is needed
to obtain information necessary for
the regents to vote on the issue,
Row son said.
Officials need time to compare
the University of Ncbraska
Lincoln’s faculty pay to other peer
institutions, he said.
“Besides, the longer you wait, the
belter information you have as to
what the state revenue situation is,”
Rowson said.
The meeting will be Friday after
the.regents’ subcommittee reports at
8 a.m.
Engineering dean: proposed surcharge may raise $250,000
By Micki Haller
Staff Reporter
If a proposed one year tuition
surcharge for engineering students is
passed by the University of Nebraska
Board of Regents Friday, the added
income will be distributed fairly, said
Stanley Liberty, dean of engineering.
At an open forum Wednesday in
. Love Library Auditorium, Liberty
said money raised by the surcharge
will be used to buy undergraduate
laboratory equipment in July. Most
of the equipment will go to junior
classes, followed by senior, sopho
more and freshman classes, accord
ing to the number of engineering
courses each one takes.
In addition, normal laboratory
fees will be waived while the sur
charge is in effect, and discretionary
scholarships will be awarded to stu
dents who are the hardest hit by the
surcharge, Liberty said.
The surcharge proposal resulted
when an Engineering Accreditation
Commission team criticized the col
lege of engineering’s undergraduate
laboratory equipment. Liberty said
lab equipment has been a concern for
most engineering colleges in the
country. _
The commission insisted the col
lege show a specific budget plan to
update the equipment, or risk losing
accreditation, Liberty said.
The surcharge of $9 per credii
hour for engineering courses will
1 raise more than the $2(X),(X)() to
$250,000 usually spent on under
graduate equipment, Liberty said.
1 he excess, and additional reve
nue Liberty expects to raise from
private sources, will also be spent on
undergraduate lab equipment, he
said.
“We are not an average college ol
engineering,” he said. The college is
in the upper third of engineering
colleges, he said, and has to spend
money to keep its place.
In the past, the laboratory budget
consisted of whatever was left over
from other budgets, Liberty said.
Recent budgetcuts have taken out the
“flexible money” and left the labora
tory budget very little to work with,
he said.
Liberty said other engineering
colleges in the region have perma
nent surcharges. Iowa State Univer
sity charges a Hal fee of SKK) a
semester per student, on top of labo
ratory fees.
The University of Nebraska-Lin
coln College of Engineering does not
want to charge a permanent fee,
Liberty said.
The fiscal analysis at the Legisla
ture said the temporary surcharge
would be a special exception, and
there have been precedents of sur
charges, Liberty said.
The maximum impact for any one
student would be S270, Liberty said.
He said this is small compared to the
total amount of money a student will
spend at the university, and com
pared to future returns on a college
education. _