Appointee leads UNL through information age
By Mindy Letter
Staff Reporter_1
Robert Simerly plans to take a pro-active
approach to his two-year appointment as asso
ciate chancellor for informational technology
atUNL.
me iiccu iu uu uiis; we
are headed toward a new
information age and a new
form of literacy for the
United States.
“The basic forms of liter
acy have been reading,
writing and speaking, but
there is an emerging fourth
form of literacy, being able
to utilize the informational
Simerty technology that is out
there," he said.
Simerly, who will retain his job as dean of
the division of continuing studies, was recom
mended to the temporary position by UNL
Chancellor Graham Spanier and must be con
Simerly to direct campus technology
firmed by the NU Board of Regents.
If confirmed, Simerly will begin work this
fall in the new position to coordinate UNL’s
television, telephone and computer technology
for classroom and administrative purposes.
Joan Leitzel, senior vice chancellor for aca
demic affairs, said Simerly and the informa
tional technology management council he would
lead were critically important additions to the
university.
Simerly’s yet-to-be-formed management
council will work to form long-range strategies
to implement computer, informational tech
nology at UNL.
Simerly said he wanted UNL to coordinate
its technology and move dynamically toward
the 21st century.
He said the management council would look
at planning strategies to help the university
improve its use of technology in four areas:
administration, curriculum development, fac
ulty and student research, and outreach activi
ties to the state.
Leitzel said UNL already did well in techno
logical areas such as television, telephone and
voice systems and computer networking.
Some areas still need improvement, Leitzel
said.
“We need to get the technology into the
classrooms and build tools for the whole curric
ulum,” she said. “I’m sure there are other areas
we are behind, but the whole purpose for this
appointment was to make technology a priori
ty.”
„ The university already plans to put more
technology in the classrooms, Leitzel said, and
students and faculty should expect to see more
technology-based education.
Simerly said council members face many
challenges ahead.
The council must work with the problems of
quickly changing and overlapping technology,
he said.
Simeriy said the council would make its plan
flexible to deal with this problem.
“It’s not going to be something that winds up
in a beautiful blue and gold foil folder. It is only
useful so long as it can be changed as new
approaches and new technologies develop,” he
said.
Simeriy said the council also was chal
longed by the l&ck of precedents regarding new
technology.
“We have to figure out how to do much of
what we need with no historical precedents to
help. Much problem solving is done with a rear
view, and in this instance there is no rear view
to go along,” he said.
In addition, Simeriy said the council must
make its plans with student and faculty needs in
mind.
Leitzel said technology systems must be
considered as merely a means to an end
“It’s just a tool for what we need to do, either
learning or research or serving the state. Wher
ever we need help we want to make sure we
have the tools,” she said.
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