Conference
focuses on
UNL’s fiiture
KELLOGG from page 1
conference.
The commission began in 1995
when the National Association of State
Universities and Land Grant Colleges
asked the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to
support the mission to “rethink public
education.”
Wednesday’s conference focused
on tiie “student experience.”
Seth Demer, a senior agricultural
education major; warned the university
not to get into a rut
“Saying ‘I can’t go any farther,’”
Demer said, “where are you reaching as
an institution, and who told you to go
there?”
Demer, former president of the
national FFA, highlighted the Kellogg
Commission’s seven “action commit
ments” to academic reform, which
included:
. ■ Realizing partnerships with ele
mentary and secondary schools.
Demer said he favored a “seamless”
'education from high school to college.
!<He said when he began his education at
TJNL, some classes were “remedial,”
while he felt unprepared for others.
Also, Demer said UNL needed to
make its new entrance requirements
more specific. Instead of simply listing
required classes, Demer said he wanted
ftie university to tell high school stu
dents “you need to know this about
math or science to succeed.”
■ Reinforcing commitments to
undergraduate education.
Demer said he expected university
instructors to “push your limits.”
He said students would increasing
ly base their decisions on whether to
attend college on the quality of instruc
tion an institution offers.
■ Addressing both academic and
personal student development
“Students grow as individuals in
classes,” Demer said.
■ Strengthening the link between
education and career.
■ Striving for high quality while
keeping prices low. Demer said keeping
college affordable was important for
students to succeed.
He said when students work 30
hours per week, it was hard to study and
be involved in campus organizations.
■ Better defining educational
objectives for both parents and students.
- ■ He said he learned more in some
classes where he’s received a B- than in
classes where he’s received an A.
Demer encouraged faculty to con
; aider a new way, instead of grades, to
evaluate students’ progress.
■ Strengthening the link between
discovery and learning.
Faculty needed “innovative ways to
encourage critical thinking,” he said.
“My best experiences,” Derner
said, “have been when professors have
asked me to make a personal commit
tment to diat class.
“I need to see that a professor cares
about me as an individual”
___
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Technology commission
By Brian Carlson
Senior Reporter
As Nebraska’s technology blos
soms and expands, the state needs a
commission of experts to ensure
technology is used productively and
efficiently, Lt. Gov. Kim Robak said
Wednesday.
Robak testified in support of
LB924, which calls for $3 million to
place the Nebraska Information
Technology Commission into state
statute. The NITC has been in opera
tion since December, after an execu
tive order by Gov. Ben Nelson created
the commission.
The state’s technology resources
currently lack coordination and effi
ciency, Robak said. Services often are
duplicated, and ideas for efficient use
of technology aren’t disseminated
well.
“This has to do with the way you
think,” Robak said during the
Appropriations Committee hearing.
“Right now we’re sticking technology
out there, but never asking why it is
we want it there.
“Our left hand doesn’t know what
our right hand is doing, and we keep
recreating organizations to do the
same thing.”
Continuing to lead
Although Nebraska’s technologi
cal infrastructure is “the envy of
many states,” Robak said, “we need to
be able to coordinate our efforts so we
can continue to lead the way in infor
mation technology.”
Robak cited a Harvard University
study which found that while corpo
rate chief information officers have a
90 to 95 percent understanding of
technology and its applications in
society, the understanding of legisla
tors nationwide was just 7 percent.
The NITC will be essential in
helping policy-makers make
informed decisions on technology,
Robak said.
Sen. Joyce Hillman of Gering, the
bill’s sponsor, said the proposal had
been too long in coming.
“The intent of the bill is to provide
for much stronger management and
handling of information technology
in the state of Nebraska,” she said.
Service for the state
The NITC comprises nine gover
nor-appointed members, including
five from the general public and one
each from K-12 education, higher
education, state government and
community interests.
The commission’s responsibili
ties would include planning statewide
technology strategies, making recom
mendations on technology legislation
to the governor and the Legislature,
and creating an information clearing
house to advise organizations on the
best means of implementing new
technology.
“It is, and should be, a service
organization,” Robak said.
LB924 also would create three
councils to identify technological
needs in their respective fields: the
Education Council, representing ele
mentary, secondary and postsecondary
education; the Community Council,
representing local government, health
care, business and agriculture; and the
Information Resources Cabinet, repre
senting state government
The Information Resources Cabinet
would be led by a chief information
officer - a “lightning rod,” Robak said,
for promoting greater efficiency.
Calls for cooperation
NU President Dennis Smith, who
testified as a proponent said he looked
forward to increased cooperation in
information technology, “one of the
most important issues of our era.”
“I view this as a partnership
where we will be interacting with the
commission in positive ways, not reg
ulatory ways,” he said.
The biU prevents the commission
from limiting die authority of die NU
Board ofRegents to make its own deci
sions on the uses of information tech
nology related to academic research.
The proposal will assist NU’s
growing distance-learning programs,
Smith said.
Janet Wirth Poley of ADEC, a dis
tance-education consortium, testified
in opposition to the bill.
She said the bill was progressing
too rapidly through the Legislature.
Some components, such as specific
desired outcomes and the impact of
the commission on interstate technol
ogy, are still vague, she said.
“I don’t think Nebraska needs
walls, layers of bureaucracies and
encumbrances,” she said, suggesting
the issue be furthered studied during
the legislative interim.
But Sen. Roger Wehrbein of
Plattsmouth, Appropriations
Committee chairman, said the state
must act soon.
“I’m of the opinion that time is of
the essence, and we probably have
delayed this too long,” he said.
Under the bill, the Appropriations
Committee would be required to
review the NTTC before Jan. 1,2001.
The committee took no action on
the bill.
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Test Anxiety?
Do you draw blank at the test?
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
Join us and learn how to relax as
you prepare for exams.
Session I: February 17, 24 & March 3
Session II: April 7, 14 & 21
3:30 to 5:00 p.m. Room TBA
Registration is required
For more information call: Luis
“X”
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on Mens
and Womens n
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