REACHING 30,000 by Daily Nebraskan

DAILY NEBRASKAN SPECIAL ISSUE

REACHING

30,000 An in-depth look at Harvey Perlmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s enrollment goal: its origins, progress and potential fate

monday, april 21, 2014

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LETTER FROM THE EDITORS Since 2011, University of Nebraska-Lincoln administrators have been thinking big. Within months of UNL officially joining the Big Ten Conference, Chancellor Harvey Perlman announced a goal to increase enrollment to 30,000 students by 2017. It was a move to put UNL, the second smallest of all Big Ten schools, on par with its new peers. These include mammoths like the 49,300-student Michigan State University and 54,989-student Ohio State University. But achieving a 20 percent increase in enrollment, which has been relatively flat for decades, is easier said than done. At the time of Perlman’s announcement, enrollment sat at 24,593. Since then, it’s actually decreased, to 24,445 in fall 2013. Perlman then extended the deadline to 2020, saying UNL needs more time to build up infrastructure. The chancellor is confident, if brief, regarding the university’s growth rate. “Yes, I do think we are on track,” he said. “It won’t be at a steady rate.” It’s easy to fail to recognize just how much weight these big numbers carry. But the number 30,000 is a big deal. Many of us will no longer be students at UNL by 2020. That doesn’t matter. The number 30,000 can and does affect us all.

It could improve the value of our degrees. It could change the educations of our children and our children’s children. It could alter the face of Nebraska. Whether or not we reach it, however, is another story altogether. Reaching 30,000 depends on how many high school students are graduating in Nebraska. It depends on how many of them want to stick around. It depends on attracting students from not only all over the country, but all over the world. Reaching the goal would mean major changes to our university as we know it, both regarding its status in the Big Ten and the campus community itself. What’s more, 5,000-some additional students will need places to eat, study, work out, sleep and attend class. So university services must undergo a litany of changes to prepare for the influx, if or when it comes. The Daily Nebraskan wants you to know the facts. This is your university, your home and your future. Know what your administrators are saying, what your fellow students are saying, what your professors and mentors and city planners and business leaders are saying. It’s important. The number 30,000 is more than a number. It could be a part of our future.

FRONT COVER ILLUSTRATION BY MIKE RENDOWSKI

daily nebraskan editor-in-chief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402.472.1766 Hailey Konnath managing editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402.472.1763 Jacy Marmaduke ENGAGEMENT EDITOR. . . . . . . . . . . . 402.472.1763 Nick Teets news. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402.472.1763 associate editor Frannie Sprouls Conor Dunn assignment editor Daniel Wheaton projects editor opinion editor Ruth Boettner Amy Kenyon assistant editor arts & life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .402.472.1756 co-editor Katie Nelson Nathan Sindelar co-editor Tyler Keown co-editor sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402.472.1765 editor Zach Tegler Natasha Rausch assistant editor Eric Bertrand assistant editor

Design chief Alyssa Brunswick photo chief Matt Masin copy chief Danae Lenz web chief Hayden Gascoigne art director Natalia Kraviec Sean Flattery assistant director general manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . .402.472.1769 Dan Shattil Advertising. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .402.472.2589 manager Penny Billheimer Chris Hansen student manager publications board. . . . . . . . . . . . . 308.520.9447 Kelsey Baldridge chairwoman

professional AdvisEr . . . . . . . . . 402.473.7248 Don Walton

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TABLE OF CONTENTS The big picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Administrators tout the benefits of a larger student body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Can we do it, unl through the ages A visual evaluation of the 30,000 enrollment goal

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The graduates Nebraska’s high school graduation rate is high, but not all those students stay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Finding the right fit Leaders look for ways to raise UNL’s retention rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Capital growth Lincoln’s population is growing quickly and shows no signs of slowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . help wanted With tenure-track faculty goal in mind, leaders aim for educators from new places

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Growth: hurdles and helpers on the path to 30,000

Recruitment: attracting additional students

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ready. Set. Recruit. College recruiter puts in extra hours to attract prospective students to Actuarial Science program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Finding fresh faces Colleges try out different methods for getting prospective students interested . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Big Ten, big changes Recruiters refocus their efforts to find students from Big Ten states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . shifting with the times Online enrollment presents a compelling avenue for university growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Choosing Nebraska South Dakotan picks UNL for its ‘Midwestern hospitality,’ Big Ten prestige . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ‘Commitment to our veterans’ Nebraska National Guard member takes advantage of tuition deal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Going global UNL’s international student percentage is the second smallest in the Big Ten, but recruiting efforts could change things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Competing across borders unl teams recruit students from around the world, build communities for students in lincoln . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The next step A refugee shares the story of how he got from war-torn South Sudan to Lincoln . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Entertainment expansion businesses flock to haymarket, railyard; some find success, some don’t

Building for the future: Bolstering infrastructure to prepare for enrollment growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crowded halls University plans for a packed house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Moving out Wide variety of off-campus housing needed to handle student influx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Here to serve Some university services would require expansions to provide for 30,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Innovation nation new campus aims to facilitate business growth in lincoln . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Approaching the deadline How $84 million could change the face of CBA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . footing the bill with tuition freeze end date nearing, students, regents, legislators wonder what tuition will be . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Park it Students lament pains of parking, but director says there’s more than enough space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Looking back 3 UNL alumni reflect on their time, express their hopes for the future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Our view DN columnists give their thoughts on university growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Outro

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page 10 page 12 page 13 page 13

page 17 page 18 page 20 page 21 page 22 page 23 page 24 page 26 page 27 page 28

page 32 page 33 page 34 page 35 page 36 page 37 page 38 page 40 page 42 page 45

Brendon Henning leads prospective students on a tour of campus during a Red Letter Day on April 18. Students in Henning’s group were high school juniors and seniors interested in a major in the College of Business Administration. Campus visits are often the deciding factor for students in picking the school they will attend.

the big picture Elusive 30,000 enrollment goal requires planning, change

s t o r y

b y

Z a c h

F u l c i n i t i

P h o t o

b y

M a t t

M a s i n

f the University of Nebraska-Lincoln reaches its enrollment goal of 30,000 students, Chancellor Harvey Perlman said the campus will have to undergo some changes. Perlman first announced his administration’s enrollment goal in his 2011 State of the University address, back when he was hoping to reach 30,000 by 2017. In November 2013, he said the goal would be pushed back to 2020. “It will take a little longer to get the infrastructure to accommodate 30,000 students,” Perlman said. “We still have some things to do. This gives us a little more time to do that.” In fall 2013, total enrollment was 24,445, but the number has fluctuated over the years. The highest enrollment was 25,075 students in 1982. Reaching 30,000 would mean a 22.7 percent increase in the student body. There are many reasons UNL would benefit from a larger student body, said Juan Franco, vice chancellor for Student Affairs. Principle among them is remaining competitive in the Big Ten Conference. UNL joined the Big Ten in 2011 and is the second-smallest campus in terms of enrollment, ahead of Northwestern University, the conference’s only private institution. Northwestern has a student body of 21,753. Ohio State University is the largest Big Ten institution and one of the largest in the country, with 57,466 students in fall 2013. Even with 30,000 students, UNL would remain the second-smallest Big Ten institution. The closest school in enrollment is the University of Iowa, with 31,065 students. Staying competitive within the Big Ten is beneficial to

BIG TEN ENROLLMENT

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

49,300

INDIANA UNIVERSITY BLOOMINGTON

42,081 UNIVERSITY of WISCONSIN - MADISON

43,275

UNIVERSITY of ILLINOIS at URBANA - CHAMPAIGN

43,398

PURDUE UNIVERSITY

38,788 UNIVERSITY of IOWA

31,065

UNL in part because of reputation, Franco said, and in part because more students means the conference can find more costeffective ways to share resources. “The Big Ten is known as the best academic conference in the country, outside of the Ivy League,” Juan Franco said. “We want to contribute to that reputation. We want to be able to do our part. In terms of sharing resources, if we can get together and buy things in volume for all the Big Ten schools, we can get better deals. If we can make software purchases and have a contract that serves all Big Ten schools, the cost per institution will be lower.” Having a larger student body also means more tuition money for the university, Franco said, and more money means the school can do more for its students. He gave the recent appearance by rapper Big Sean at the University Program Council spring concert as an example. “Smaller schools might not be able to have events for students of that magnitude,” he said. Focusing on increased enrollment gives administrators the opportunity to target certain areas they believe the university is lagging behind. Perlman said he expects continued growth in the engineering and business colleges and that out-of-state and international students are an ongoing priority. “We want our students exposed to the global society, to students who are outside of Nebraska, who may look different, who may bring different cultures with them, because that’s the world that our students are going to be working in,” Franco said. The university’s recruitment plan for domestic students, Perlman said, focuses on big cities in the Big Ten “footprint,” in particular cities such as Chicago and Milwaukee. To prepare for the possibility of 30,000 students, UNL’s campus is changing. On-campus housing is changing. University Suites opened last fall, and Eastside Suites, which is expected to house 500 students, will open in August. But Cather and Pound halls will both close in 2014. Both can hold 456 residents each when filled.

UNIVERSITY of NEBRASKA LINCOLN

24,445

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

21,753

Administration is also considering an expansion of housing on East Campus. A new residence hall will likely open in 2017 and replace Burr and Fedde halls. Franco said planning ahead allows UNL to make the most of a drastic increase in size. “There are not any downsides unless you don’t prepare for it,” Franco said. “If we don’t care to have the facilities that’ll accommodate that many students, it could be detrimental. We’re taking every step we can.” One potential problem with accommodation is UNL City Campus’ status as a “food desert,” which is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as any area in which at least 500 residents are more than a mile from a grocery store or supermarket. An additional 5,000 students may exacerbate that problem if it isn’t addressed. But David Cary, Lincoln’s long-range planning manager, said a larger student body would simply increase the demand for a grocery store on or near campus. “It’s kind of like a chicken and an egg: A grocery store isn’t going to want a site downtown before they know there’s a certain amount of residential activity happening,” he said. Sometime this year, Cary said, Lancaster County is expected to reach a population of 300,000, and by 2040 the county will have grown by an additional 100,000 people. The majority of that growth, around 90 percent, will come from Lincoln. Perlman said that while there is no plan on his part to try to bring a grocery store to campus or its surrounding areas, there is one planned for a location nearby. And in addition to more on-campus housing, it will be necessary to see more off-campus housing, a process that is well underway, Cary said. “There’s not an aggressive plan to try to meet the demands of all those additional housing units on campus,” he said. “Those units are going to have to be out in the community somewhere. A lot of these different student housing apartment complexes are starting to happen.” Other infrastructure changes include renovations to the City Campus Recreation Center, the construction of an Outdoor

Adventures Center and a new East Campus Recreation Center and the recently completed renovations to the Nebraska Union. In the future, Franco said, the university hopes to expand the union to accommodate a larger student body. The administration has also looked at moving the University Health Center to a larger building or refurbishing it to make more efficient use of its space. The Office of Research and Economic Development has its own goals for growth, said Vicki Miller, research communications director. In 2011, UNL was dropped from the Association of American Universities, a group of the country’s top research universities. It was the first time in 111 years that the association ended the membership of an institution. UNL had been a member for 102 years. Despite this, Miller said by 2018, UNL hopes to spend $300 million annually on research, with at least half coming from federal agencies. The university is inching closer to that goal: In 2012, the most recent year for which data is available, total research expenditures equaled $253 million, with $104.5 million coming from the federal government. “Expanding our research is less about competitiveness with other universities and more about providing opportunities for students and serving our state and nation,” Miller said. “University research also helps create new technologies and solutions that address societal needs and create new businesses and economic opportunity.” The Committee on Institutional Cooperation, which includes the 12 current Big Ten institutions, future members University of Maryland and Rutgers University and former member school the University of Chicago, has created opportunities for UNL faculty to partner with other Big Ten universities on research initiatives, Miller said. In 2011, total research expenditures from CIC member schools surpassed $9 billion. news@ dailynebraskan.com

GROWTH

file photo by amber baesler | dn

The Railyard District and Pinnacle Bank Arena have drawn new businesses to Lincoln in the last year. While UNLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s enrollment has remained largely unchanged, the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population continues to grow.

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April 21, 2014

april 21, 2014

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CAN WE DO IT?

Reaching 30,000 enrollment would mean a 20 percent increase in 6 years ENROLLMENT AT UNL BY FALL SEMESTER

23,854

1994 1995

24,320

1996

23,887

1997

22,827

1998

22,408

1999

22,142

2000

22,268

2001

22,764

2002

22,988

2003

22,559

2004

21,972

2005

21,675 22,106

2006

22,973

2007

23,573

2008 2009

24,100 24,610

2010 2011

24,593

2012

24,207

2013

24,445 YEARS WITH HIGHEST ENROLLMENT

YEARS WITH LOWEST ENROLLMENT

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April 21, 2014

U N L t h r o u g h t he ages illustrations by Mike Rendowski

1869

The University of Nebraska, a land-grant institution, is founded. Campus is 11 acres, or about four blocks. By the end of the first year, 130 students are enrolled.

1873

Agricultural Campus â&#x20AC;&#x201C; known today as East Campus â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is founded.

1909

Nebraska is the fifth-largest public university in the country.

1920

Enrollment reaches 5,000 students.

1923

Memorial Stadium is built.

1945

Enrollment declines to 4,200.

1970

With broader options for fields of study and an increased focus on research, enrollment grows to 20,800. Oldfather Hall is constructed.

1982

Enrollment reaches its peak: 25,075

2011

As UNL begins its first year as a member of the Big Ten, UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman announces his enrollment goal of 30,000 students by 2017.

2013

The 4,420-member freshman class ranks as the thirdlargest in university history. Meanwhile, Perlman extends the enrollment deadline to 2020, citing a lack of necessary infrastructure to support 30,000.

10 monday, april 21, 2014

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the graduates Despite being the center of sports culture in the state, UNL still has to overcome its image problem to in-state high school graduates

story by Jason Shaneyfelt photos by David Gass

Tenth graders at Lincoln High School work on an assignment during world history class on April 17.

igh school graduation rates in Nebraska are among the highest in the country, but that’s not good enough for Roger Breed, recently retired Nebraska Education Commissioner. “Our goal is to have (graduation rates) be 90 percent in all Nebraska high schools,” said Breed, who retired last July. In 2013, 88.5 percent of Nebraska’s high school seniors graduated, making Nebraska fourth in the nation. Of those graduates, it’s estimated about 58 percent will go on to attend a university in Nebraska. This is up from 2002, when 50.6 percent of Nebraska high school graduates attended a university in Nebraska, according to the Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education’s 2013 progress report. In 2002, Nebraska’s graduation rate was 84 percent. Perhaps because of the aforementioned increase, UNL’s 2013 freshman class was one of the largest in university history with 4,420 incoming freshmen. That was a sharp increase from 3,937 students in 2012-2013. The size of UNL’s freshman class has fluctuated at about 4,000 since 2007 and topped 3,500 since at least 1996, according to Institutional Research and Planning. Ryan Rischling, a guidance counselor at Bennington High School, has a theory as to why more of his students are choosing to attend UNL. “With UNL joining the Big Ten, that’s helped with our top kids kind of saying, ‘I don’t necessarily need to look at a large private university,’” Rischling said. “Now that UNL is in the Big Ten, they say, ‘I can go anywhere from there.’” Rischling said the Big 12, UNL’s former conference, gave UNL the perception of being a small, rural Midwestern school. “(The Big 12) was kind of that regional, Midwest plains and – I guess I’ll just come out and say it – farmtype of schools,” he said. “You go into the Big Ten, and you have Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State. They’re in larger population areas. You have a little more industry and diversity with those kinds of places. If you kind of look at the country as a whole, we’re still fighting that perception that all we are is a bunch of farm people that live in flyover land.” Before Nebraska joined the Big Ten, Bennington High School had about 4 or 5 percent of its students go on to attend UNL, Rischling said. Now, about 12 to 15 percent of Bennington students go on to UNL. Bennington High School graduates about 97 percent of its students, which is about 8.5 percent more than the state average in 2013. Rischling said about 90 percent of Bennington students pursue a post-secondary education, and about 10 percent of them attend college outside of Nebraska, the state average is about 11 percent. The small percentage of high school graduates who do attend college outside of Nebraska are usually among the top students in their respective classes, Breed said. Many of these students will receive scholarships that waive out-of-state tuition. The issue of Nebraska losing its top in-state students is typically referred to as the “brain drain.” “Kids will tend to form relationships, professional relationships and meet people, they’ll marry people elsewhere and maybe they won’t come back to Nebraska,” Breed said. “Our beaches and our mountains are few and far between here at Nebraska. I strongly en-

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monday, April 21, 2014

Donna Anderson, a world history teacher at Lincoln High School, answers questions regarding a class assignment on April 17.

courage Nebraska kids, whenever I get the opportunity to talk to them, to look at Nebraska schools first. I think there are great schools for any interest level, any degree program that you’re looking for, here in Nebraska.” State schools such as UNL have advantages, such as proximity and sometimes larger campuses. These factors can be a big draw for Nebraska high school graduates, said Anita O’Neill, a guidance counselor at Gretna High School. “(UNL is) a very economical school,” she said. “It’s big enough to have a number of different majors and a variety of majors, so it fits the kid’s needs as far as education. It’s also just 45 minutes from home (Gretna), and they need to come home.” Factors such as those attracted Amy Welniak, a native of Omaha and a senior advertising and public relations major who will graduate in May.

“My parents went here, and so I kind of liked the idea of continuing that,” she said. “I just really liked the atmosphere of Lincoln, and I liked how it could be so big, yet so small.” Welniak graduated from Skutt Catholic High School in 2009. She was planning on going to the University of Nebraska at Omaha to play volleyball until a minor heart condition forced her to give up the sport. She then considered Wyoming, Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa before finally settling on UNL. “Compared to other college visits and things like that, I felt the most at home here,” Welniak said. “I don’t think it could have gone any better. Coming into college, I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect. Looking back now, I don’t think I could have had a better time in college.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

With UNL joining the Big Ten, that’s helped with our top kids kind of saying, ‘I don’t necessarily need to look at a large private university. Now that UNL is in the Big Ten, they say, ‘I can go anywhere from there.’ ryan Rischling bennington high school guidance counselor

12 monday, april 21, 2014

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finding the

right fit

Leaders search for ways to get UNL’s retention on par with other Big Ten schools story by Colleen Fell

oward the middle of his freshman year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Bryan Howard thought the university might not be the right place for him. As a driven English and theater major, Howard, now a junior, felt UNL wasn’t challenging him enough. Then he decided to carve his own path. Many freshmen such as Howard don’t feel the university is the perfect fit for them, and some end up leaving the school. In fall 2012, UNL had a first-year retention rate of 83.6 percent. This rate tracks the portion of freshmen who return to the university after completing their first year. UNL’s retention rate is the lowest in the Big Ten, according to U.S. News & World Report’s college rankings. According to data from UNL Institutional Research and Planning, first-year retention rates have remained around 83 to 84 percent for the last 10 years. Second- and third-year retention rates are even lower: For those entering the university in 2010, secondyear retention was 75.5 percent and third-year retention was 72.7 percent. But retention rates can be deceiving, said Amy Goodburn, associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at UNL, because they don’t account for students who take a semester or two off and return later. She said UNL’s retention rates are likely lowest among the Big Ten because the university’s admission standards are broader than those of the other schools. There are a variety of reasons why students leave the university, Goodburn said. Slightly more out-ofstate students than in-state students leave the university, perhaps because of the difference in tuition costs. Tuition for Nebraska residents, not including room and board, was about $8,060 for the 2013-2014 school year, while tuition for non-residents was about $21,388. Avery Malakowsky, a sophomore business management major at Minnesota State University, Mankato, attended UNL for his freshman year but then decided to switch to a school closer to his home in central Minnesota. “There was quite a bit of a price difference between the in-state tuition here and at UNL,” Malakowsky said. Malakowsky now lives at home and commutes a half-hour to classes at Minnesota State on weekdays. “It’s the same degree at a different place for quite a bit less,” Malakowsky said. Had he the opportunity to stay and pursue a business management degree at UNL, he would have done so, but the funding just wasn’t there. “(UNL) would have had to do a lot to match the

price I pay now,” Malakowsky said. Goodburn said some out-of-state students return home simply because they are homesick. One of UNL’s goals is to increase retention rates, but sometimes there’s nothing the university can do. “We know UNL is not going to be the perfect fit for everyone,” Goodburn said. According to IRP, students are more likely to leave some majors at UNL than others. Exploratory and Pre-Professional Advising, which includes undecided, pre-law and pre-health majors, has the highest rate of attrition after the first year at 22.5 percent. Goodburn said this is partly because UNL doesn’t have a nursing program. The UNL college with the lowest rate of attrition after freshman year is the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, with only an 11.2 percent loss. Howard, who wasn’t sure he wanted to attend UNL, remains in the Hixson-Lied college. The New Jersey native only came to visit the school because his father is an alumnus, but he ended up having a positive experience. “It really boiled down to the faculty,” Howard said. He said he traveled to other East Coast schools to audition for their drama programs, but he couldn’t replicate the personal connection he made at UNL. “I like having professors that care about me and my future as much as I do,” he said. However, Howard hit a roadblock partway through his freshman year when he realized he wasn’t happy with his major and was considering transferring schools. “I was taking a lot of performance classes and performing a lot,” he said, ”but it wasn’t the right kind of challenge.” Howard then spent his entire sophomore year creating an individualized major that would perfectly suit his interests of theater, human behavior and dramaturgical analysis. “I had notebooks full of the classes,” he said. After his carefully planned proposal for an individualized program of study was accepted, his new major, theater arts and human behavior, was born. Howard is currently the only student in the major (as it began this school year), but he encourages others to create their own paths at the university. “It wasn’t the university’s job to challenge me,” Howard said. “And if you want something, you can definitely make it happen.” Howard didn’t have problems with UNL’s academ-

retention: see page 47

4,093 first-time freshmen enrolled at UNL in fall 2011

672 of them didn’t return the next year That’s an average retention rate of

83.6%

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monday, April 21, 2014

help capital wanted growth Lincoln’s population increases quickly, shows no signs of slowing Andrew Ward DN

Lincoln is growing. And it really doesn’t matter what area you look at. Population. Enrollment in schools. Economy. Almost every aspect of Nebraska’s capital city has grown exponentially during the last 20 years, and it doesn’t appear to be stopping any time soon. “This city is now a desirable location for everyone it seems,” said David Cary, Lincoln’s long-range planning manager. The main cause of this rise boils down to population growth, Cary said. It’s the core of any kind of growth, and it affects all other areas, as the 2013 Lancaster County Community Indicators Report found. Because of this growth, Lincoln’s economy has become one of the more stable ones in the country.

Population growth

In 2000, the population of Lancaster County was 250,291, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Since then, the county has grown, building up to 2010’s count of 285,407. Another consistent aspect to this growth is Lincoln’s population. It is right around 90 percent of Lancaster County’s total population every year. In 2012, Lincoln’s estimated population was 90.5 percent of the county’s overall population. “Anywhere around Lincoln has always been a popular spot to live in Lancaster County,” said Brandon Garrett, a long-range planner in the Lincoln Planning Department. And that kind of growth is starting to affect everything throughout the city, starting with the schools. Lincoln Public Schools saw enrollment reach an all-time high at 36,902 in 2012. That’s mainly because of the population increase of last 12 years. According to the Lancaster County Community Indicators Report, LPS grew slightly more than 12 percent from 1990 to 2000. But from 2000 to 2012, that statistic grew more than 5 percentage points to 17.6 percent with an annual average of 1.4 percent, according to the report.

origins of growth

For the most part, growth comes from what the county indicator report calls “natural change.” This means an increase in population from an ever-changing physical landscape to the county and Lincoln, according to Garrett. Lincoln itself has increased its number of lots for single- and two-family units from 6,711 in 2004 to 10,478 in 2013, a 56 percent increase during the course of nine years, according to Planning Department data. This gives people a place to live as population continues to grow. However, natural change is far from the only reason Lincoln and its school system is growing. Immigrants accounted for 50 percent of Lincoln’s total population increase between 1990 and 2000, according to the county indicators report, with most of that being international immigration. The 12 years between 2000 and 2012 saw smaller immigrant representation – just 34 percent – but it still affects the school system. Of the 36,000-plus students enrolled in LPS, 30.3 percent are minority students, most of them being Hispanic. That’s a 17 percent increase since 2000. “LPS is probably the greatest indicator of our cultural growth in Lincoln,” Garrett said. There isn’t a direct correlation between Lincoln’s population growth and its economy, but the facts do make for an interesting comparison, Lincoln’s manager of economic development, Mike Lang said. As Lincoln has been having this population increase, it has enjoyed economic success as well, especially during the last 12 years. Along with an increase in wages, unemployment is down, to 3.4 percent, compared with the U.S. average of 7.9 percent. Total employment has also remained relatively stagnant since its decline in 2008. “There’s always a correlation between population and the economy,” Lang said. Cary said if the city continues to increase its population at a 1.2 percent rate per year, there will be more than 400,000 living in it 30 years down the road. “Lincoln is going places, that’s for sure,” Cary said. news@ dailynebraskan.com

With tenure-track faculty goal in mind, leaders look to attract educators from new places

story by Mike Shoro

o accommodate for growth, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman wants to increase the size of the university’s tenure-track faculty by about 21 percent. UNL is home to 1,075 tenure-track faculty members. Perlman hopes to have 1,300 by 2020. Although faculty recruiting has changed since UNL joined the Big Ten in 2011, its struggles haven’t disappeared. “People want to go teach at a Big Ten university,” said James O’Hanlon, interim dean at the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. “It’s the same place, but somehow it’s made us more attractive.” O’Hanlon said there are some academic advantages to teaching at a Big Ten university, including collaborative research efforts and grant research projects with other Big Ten schools. He said those were opportunities the school wouldn’t have had otherwise. “So it’s not just brand, there’s actually something behind it,” he said. The Big Ten’s effect on recruiting can be found at other colleges throughout the university such as the College of Education and Human Sciences, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the College of Business Administration. The move has provided better access to faculty than these colleges had before. Marjorie Kostelnik, dean of the College of Education and Human Sciences, said being in the Big Ten has given schools such as Maryland and Rutgers – which officially join the academic branch of the Big Ten in July – and Michigan a reason to pay attention to Nebraska. Kostelnik said now these schools’ doctoral students and faculty view UNL as a potential landing spot for a job. Kathleen Farrell, senior associate dean of the College of Business Administration, said the college recruited faculty from other Big Ten schools before UNL joined the conference, but the college does it even more so now. “We’ve had job candidates that we’ve talked to tell us that one of the reasons they’re talking to us is because we’re a Big Ten institution,” Farrell said. She said the business college has recruited professors from other Big Ten schools such as Purdue, Wisconsin and Indiana and is currently looking to bring in two senior professors from Iowa. Farrell said the business college interviewed a woman applying for an accounting position at the college who said her dissertation chair suggested she apply at UNL because it was a Big Ten institution. Some recruits are seeking out the business college themselves because of the conference move, but the business college has been somewhat proactive in its attempt to recruit from other Big Ten schools. UNL has held seminars where professors swap research findings with professors from other Big Ten schools. UNL has hosted these seminars to help familiarize faculty at other Big Ten schools with UNL, with the hopes other faculty will consider coming to UNL or suggesting it to some possible

faculty recruits, Farrell said. But moving to a new conference didn’t include moving to a new location. For the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, this is both a blessing and a curse. “It’s a strength for us, because agriculture is king here,” said Ronnie Green, vice chancellor of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “It’s also a downside for us because a lot of the people we’re recruiting are coming from the coasts.” There’s a negative perception of the state of Nebraska that initially scares some potential faculty members away from coming to it to work, Green said. Because of this, Green said the school’s big challenge is “getting people over the hurdle of, ‘Well, why would I want to live in Nebraska?’” “We understand that if you’ve never been here, it’s not a well-known place to a lot of people,” he said. “So that’s probably the biggest hurdle.” This problem isn’t unique to the agriculture college. Farrell said the school’s location continues to be a thorn in the side of national faculty recruiting for the different colleges at UNL. Farrell said moving to the Big Ten has helped bring in faculty from other Big Ten schools, but UNL’s location can still be a detriment to recruiting outside of the region. Kostelnik said it’s true that people operate under a lot of stereotypes when they think of working and living in the state of Nebraska. The best way to convince potential faculty members to work for UNL is just to get them here for a visit, she said. Getting them to come for the first visit is the hardest part, she said. Once a potential faculty recruit visits UNL, learns about the college’s programs and meets other faculty and students, it is not as hard of a sell, Kostelnik said. “When people think about Harvard, they at least give it that first look,” she said. “For us, we have to be distinctive enough that people have a reason to give us that first look.” Kostelnik said the problem isn’t just a Nebraska problem but a Midwest problem as well. “I know people don’t play board games anymore, but when I was a kid, we used to play this game called ‘Game of the States,’” she said. “Everybody can figure out Florida and Texas, right? Because they’re an interesting shape, you know. But look at the middle. How many people mixed up Nebraska with South Dakota or Montana? People just don’t know the middle as well.” To get people to notice UNL, the school has to stand out, she said. She says the university is starting to get noticed outside of the Midwest because of its water and digital humanities programs but in the end, it is simply going to take time for the school’s state to become a recognizable shape on the map. “Is it hard right now because we’re maybe not so well-known? Yeah,” Kostelnik said. “But as we become better known, it’ll get better. It’ll be easier.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

RECRUITMENT

dn FILE PHOTO

The Husker football team runs onto the field at Memorial Stadium before an 11 a.m. kickoff on Sept. 14, 2013. The Huskers lost the game against UCLA 41-21. The Nebraska Athletic Department recruits student athletes from all around the world to compete for its teams.

16 monday, april 21, 2014

dailynebraskan.com

Nick Shaneyfelt, president of the Actuarial Science Club, stands outside the College of Business Administration on April 18. Shaneyfelt has an active part in recruiting new students into the actuarial science major.

s t o r y

b y

N a t a s h a

R a u s c h

P h o t o

b y

j a k e

c r a n d a l l

(Meeting recruits) takes a certain commitment that’s probably over and above what’s in our contracts.” sue vagts

interim director for actuarial science

dailynebraskan.com

READY. SET. RECRUIT.

monday, April 21, 2014

College recruiter puts in extra hours to attract prospective students to actuarial science

ue Vagts wouldn’t describe herself as a hard-swinging seller. She wasn’t a natural-born salesperson by any means. Vagts doesn’t make anything sound flashy or like a bit of an overstretch. And she certainly doesn’t want to sound like a commercial. Instead, the interim director for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Actuarial Science program uses what she knows best: math. “I just try to be really sincere with them,” Vagts said. Vagts has been recruiting prospective students for the Actuarial Science program at UNL for the past 15 years. Her approach to recruiting is simple. She lets the program speak for itself, gives the student a stack of pamphlets and leaves an “open door” for further questions. “I say to a prospective student, ‘I know this is a big decision, and I know you are looking at other schools as well, but we would certainly love to have you come to the University of Nebraska. But more importantly, we want to make sure that you are happy,’” Vagts said. When it comes to recruiting students to actuarial science, Vagts has one main selling point: the program’s designation as a Center of Actuarial Excellence. Nebraska, along with 12 other schools, earned this designation five years ago. Today, 25 schools have a CAE title, but UNL is one of few in the Midwest. Vagts said being a member of CAE and a part of a Big

Ten school has elevated the program’s visibility. “Getting that CAE designation and joining the Big Ten has really put us on the map,” Vagts said. Although these designations are nice, Vagts said what really gets the students to the school is the one-on-one interviews. After going on a regular campus tour, prospective students interested in actuarial science can visit the program’s headquarters at the College of Business Administration. The students like the attention, she said. “People say you should just pass it off and let the general recruiters do it and not so much department recruiting,” Vagts said. “But I think that’s why we’ve been so successful – because we do the recruiting in our own department.” Senior actuarial science major Nick Shaneyfelt started at UNL as a biochemistry major. But after speaking oneon-one with former director Warren Luckner, Shaneyfelt was ready for the change. “He was very straightforward with the challenges that being an actuary presents in terms of tests you have to go through but also with how rewarding it can be to go through that process,” Shaneyfelt said. Now, as a senior and president of the Actuarial Science Club, Shaneyfelt has been on both sides of the coin as the recruited and the recruiter. For every recruiting event, Vagts takes two to three

current students in the program to give prospective students an idea of what the major is really like. Shaneyfelt is usually on the list. These recruiting events include Big Red Road Show, Math Day and Women in Science. “These events help us to get the word out,” Vagts said. And the word has gotten out. Today, actuarial science has 302 students. Five years ago, there were 207. The school also has a formal exchange program with schools in China and Malaysia, which current students can travel to. “It adds a lot of diversity to the program,” she said. Vagts is one of two formal recruiters for actuarial science; Luckner, who will retire at the end of the year, is the second recruiter. With only two of them to court students to the university, they have to put in more hours. In contrast, the Office of Admissions has 15 recruiters. Director of Admissions Yohlunda Mosley could not be reached for comment. But Vagts said it’s worth it. “Students who visit appreciate being able to meet one on one, but obviously that takes a lot of time,” Vagts said. “It takes a certain commitment that’s probably over and above what’s in our contracts.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

18 monday, april 21, 2014

FINDing

FRESH FACES Mason Reed, a sophomore journalism major, works in Andersen Hall at the College of Journalism and Mass Communications on April 18.

Nick Meier, a law student, studies inside the Schmid Law Library in McCollum Hall on East Campus on Friday.

dailynebraskan.com

colleges try different methods for catching prospective students’ interest story by Jordan huesers and conor dunn photos by jake crandall

hen it comes to attracting students to the University of NebraskaLincoln, some colleges do better than others. Colleges such as the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources find it easier being in an agriculturally rich state such as Nebraska. But other colleges, such as the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, have had to rebrand their recruiting efforts to attract the students who usually take to the West and East coasts’ education in theater and music. CASNR takes advantage of being able to offer instruction in a largely agriculturally minded state. In the fall of 2013, CASNR saw a 5.8 percent increase in enrollment, which is an all-time high for the college, according to Sue Ellen Pegg, recruitment coordinator for CASNR. The college has also grown significantly, with 73 percent more students than in 2004. CASNR reaches out to prospective students at various events around Nebraska. “We take advantage of opportunities to host high school and middle school students on East Campus,” Pegg said. The college hosts the Nebraska Science Olympiad competition, the Farming Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute, the World Food Prize Foundation’s State World Food Prize Youth Institute, events for the Nebraska State Future Farmers of America Convention, the 4-H Premier Animal Science and Life Challenge events and 4-H camps. The college also has a program called “Ensuring Your Future” that guarantees the students participating in the program a job in their areas of interest within six months of graduating or the college will pay to retrain them. The program has been in effect for 14 years, and Pegg said CASNR has never had to pay to retrain anyone. Other colleges at UNL benefit from marketing to out-of-state students, such as the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. About 25 percent of undergraduates in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications are from out-of-state. Recruitment and admissions coordinator Michelle Hassler said representatives from the college attend events across the United States to talk with potential students. They attend events held by the Nebraska High School Press Association, the Minnesota High School Press Association and the Colorado High School Press Association. Hassler said a group recently traveled to the Student Television Network Convention in Orlando, Fla., to connect with potential broadcasting students. “That’s an important part of our college,” Hassler said. “It allows us to get the word out to students who might not have heard about us.” On top of that, Hassler said CoJMC works directly with the UNL Office of Admissions to identify “pocket areas” where the college attracts the most students, such as Minneapolis, Chicago, Denver and Kansas City, Kan. “We let admissions identify areas they think are good, and then we try to target those areas,” Hassler said. “We’d love to expand into more Big Ten areas, but there’s only so much money.” As the only public law school in Nebraska, the College of Law focuses on providing Nebraska residents an affordable legal education, said assistant dean of admissions Tracy Warren. The college spends a large portion of its recruitment efforts working with potential students who are from or who are currently going to school in Nebraska. “We are continuously working to increase our presence on the campuses of Nebraska colleges and universities to further foster and develop our relationships with prospective students and advisers here in Nebraska,” Warren said in an email. The college hosts several events on UNL’s campus, which include presentations by faculty, graduate and career fairs and counseling at the Explore Center. Warren said the college also sends representatives throughout the Midwest to speak with prospective students and advisers at fairs or in smaller groups. Other colleges at UNL, such as the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, have had to change their recruiting systems to attract more students to Nebraska. Assistant director of recruitment Jemalyn Griffin said the college now has one representative for each of the areas in the college: art, film and new media, music, theater, dance and art. Griffin said the college has a strong relationship with local high school students and teachers. As far as out-of-state recruitment goes, Griffin said the college is trying to reach out to students who haven’t heard of or considered coming to the Midwest for the arts. The representatives are encouraged to use their Twitter accounts to interact with prospective students. “Coming from California, I understand the cultural differences of coming to a place like Nebraska,” she said. “I meet with students and help them see that Nebraska is a great place for the arts. I work to help break down that barrier.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

dailynebraskan.com

monday, April 21, 2014

Andersen Hall on 16th and Q streets is home to the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Twenty-five percent of CoJMC students are from out of state, and recruiters from the college travel to high school events around the country to recruit students.

I meet with students and help them see that Nebraska is a great place for the arts.â&#x20AC;? jemalyn griffin assistant director of recruitment for hixson-lied college of fine and performing arts

McCollum Hall on East Campus is home to UNLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s College of Law.

20 monday, april 21, 2014

dailynebraskan.com

big ten,

recruiters refocus efforts to find students from states with big ten schools story by zach tegler

big changes W

hen news broke in June 2010 that the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was joining the Big Ten, Jodi Holt was involved in recruitment for UNL’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Almost four years later, Holt is the director of recruitment for the UNL College of Arts and Sciences, and she has noticed the effect Nebraska’s conference change has had on outof-state recruiting. Holt thought the Big Ten would lend an advantage to UNL in the form of research partnerships with other universities in the league. That collaboration, among other factors, has helped lead to a somewhat expected change in out-of-state enrollment figures. “But I don’t know that I really expected it to be this apparent,” Holt said. From fall 2008, three years before UNL’s official move to the Big Ten, to fall 2013, three years after it, the university has experienced a 20 percent increase in undergraduate enrollment among students from the other eight states that make up the Big Ten: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. “We’re seeing more out-of-state from Big Ten markets,” Holt said. “We’re clearly seeing students, in my opinion, from out of the Chicago area. We’re seeing Minneapolis/St. Paul.” Holt said she believes many students from the Kansas City area who want to attend Big Ten schools are choosing Nebraska over other universities. But overall UNL has experienced a 14 percent decrease since 2008 in the number of undergraduates from Missouri and Kansas, along with Iowa, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas – the states that comprised the former Big 12. However, that number increased between fall 2012 and fall 2013. While the source of UNL’s out-of-state enrollees has shifted farther east, the mindset of recruiting out of state versus recruiting in state isn’t different. Karen Kassebaum, director of recruitment for the College of Education and Human Sciences, said the main focus is to “recruit and retain the best and the brightest,” no matter where they come from. The challenges of luring in students from outside Nebraska’s borders begin with brand awareness, according to Amber Retke, assistant director of recruitment for the UNL College of Engineering. “The next hurdle is cost,” Retke said. “Obviously an out-of-state bill is a deterrent to students looking to study outside of their home state, but we do have the advantage of being a very reasonably priced education.” Retke and Kassebaum said another challenge in getting out-of-state students to UNL is overcoming the misconceptions about Nebraska. “Many times when dealing with in-state students, the fear is that UNL will be too large,” Retke said. “With out-of-state students, the fear is usually that UNL will be too small.” Still, out-of-state enrollment has increased

TOP 10 STATES OF ORIGIN, FALL 2013 *NOTE: 706 STUDENTS ARE FROM AN UNKNOWN U.S. STATE

401 MN

457 SD

16,770

382 IA

428

300 CA

303 CO

326 KS

253 MO

266 TX

SOURCE: INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH AND PLANNING

during the past six years along with total undergraduate enrollment despite falling off from a six-year peak in Fall 2011. In 2011, the year UNL became a Big Ten institution, out-ofstate undergraduates accounted for 20 percent of all undergrads at UNL, compared with 16 percent in 2012 and 17 percent in 2013. The percentage of undergraduate out-ofstate students hasn’t changed drastically in the past six years, save for the spike in 2011. This means out-of-state recruiting hasn’t been any more or less effective than before, even though the epicenter of Nebraska’s recruiting efforts has crawled eastward and northward. In fall 2013, UNL experienced six-year lows in enrollment from Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas while going through six-year peaks in enrollment from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Holt said that shift has increased UNL’s impact in one key market: Chicago, a city that produces students with different backgrounds

and perspectives from those of students from Nebraska. “I believe in diversity and the power of diversity,” Holt said, “and I think the more different kinds of minds and different kinds of backgrounds – cultural, socioeconomic, first-generation, all those kinds of things – I think that creates a vibrancy. I think it creates a unique environment for students who are in state, who have always been in state.” Kassebaum, Retke and Holt agreed that UNL’s move to the Big Ten Conference three years ago has had a positive effect on their colleges. Kassebaum said Nebraska is an asset to the Big Ten and Retke said being in the Big Ten is a strong selling point for the university. “And it certainly has impacted us probably more than I expected,” Holt said. “So I did expect a bit of an impact, but I’m very pleased at truly how much impact it’s made.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

dailynebraskan.com

monday, April 21, 2014

shifting with the

times online enrollment presents compelling avenue for university growth story by Grace Solem-Pfeifer

MOOC (Mass·ive O·pen On·line Course) noun 1. An online class available for free to anyone with Internet access

nline and distance education is growing quickly at the University of NebraskaLincoln, and administrators expect it to be a key piece of the enrollment puzzle. In fall 2013, 6,633 students were enrolled in undergraduate online courses and fully online programs. The combined population of these groups is growing an average of 25 percent per semester, according to Online and Distance Education Executive Director Marie Barber. For distance only-programs, which are fully online, growth is about 10 percent per semester. At his 2013 State of the University address, Chancellor Harvey Perlman said 70 percent of online enrollment includes students who are also present on campus. “This allows flexibility in scheduling, increased teaching capacity and implementation of different teaching methodologies, all very positive outcomes,” he said. “But they do not contribute to our enrollment or revenue growth. We are committed to reexamining the way we finance online instruction to ensure it creates appropriate incentives to engage broader markets. This no doubt will include providing departments with a more substantial share of online revenue from courses taken by students not already enrolled at UNL.” Perlman’s goal is to increase the number of students who rarely – if ever – set foot on campus to receive their educations. These students are enrolled in one of the 50 graduate programs the university offers entirely online, ranging from a master ’s degree in textile history and quilt studies to a Ph.D. program in higher education studies. Program Specialist Billie Strand of the Office of Online and Distance Education said the diversity of programs boosts overall enrollment numbers and appeals to a specific demographic of students. “Our audience, in terms of recruitment (for online and distance education), is primarily working professionals,” Strand said. “Most of the people in the graduate programs have been out in the working world for a length of time and have decided that they need more education to move up in their organization and to be competitive.” Currently, the university only offers one undergraduate degree online: A bachelor ’s in applied science. Strand said while the focus tends to be on graduate programs, UNL’s online education for undergraduates is also expanding, just at a slower rate. “I would say in terms of graduatelevel programs, we are ahead of other universities in terms of number and variety of programs,” Barber said. “We are on par with other Big Ten schools with regard to our undergraduate online programs, although we offer more variety and better quality of instruction for individual courses offered at the undergraduate level.” With more than 50 online degrees, endorsements and certificates offered at the graduate level, UNL exceeds most other Big Ten schools, which offer an average of 38. Online degree programs for undergraduates don’t stack up as well, with UNL offering only one, compared to the Big Ten average of eight. In addition to traditional online classes, which are offered by the university and taught by faculty members, the Nebraska university system is also looking to expand its other online education tools through a partner-

ship with Coursera, a for-profit educational technology company. Coursera is one of the major producers of Massive Open Online Courses, known as MOOCs, which provide free universal online access to various courses offered by partnering universities from around the nation. The University of Nebraska will offer its first MOOC, a course in health literacy and communication skills, through the University of Nebraska Medical Center in the fall. These courses, which can draw more than 160,000 students from around the world, have been a point of conflict in the academic community. Last year, MOOC partnerships at San Jose University and American University produced vehement pushback from faculty members, who saw the programs as an attempt to replace professors with cheaper online options. Nevertheless, Associate Vice President for Distance Education Mary Niemiec has worked closely with Coursera for the past two years, and she said creating MOOCs isn’t a radical step for higher education. “Online education as a whole is a continuum,” Niemiec said. “A MOOC is a specific way to transport information in mass volume to students, but people have been doing self-education for years.” Ray Schroeder, the associate vice chancellor of online learning at the University of Illinois Springfield, has taught more than 30 online classes. The first MOOC he instructed in 2011 attracted 2,700 students from 70 countries. Schroeder said MOOCs have serious educational potential but pose a lofty challenge for faculty and instructors. “When I taught a MOOC on the Emancipation Proclamation, the people taking the class were everyone from middle school students studying the civil war to post-doctoral students to authors on the Civil War and race relations,” Schroeder said. “Now as an instructor, how do you teach a course to an audience that ranges from a 14-year-old to a 70-year-old famous author? How do you keep them engaged?” The interest of college students of implementing MOOCs into higher education is unclear. Sophomore Kevin Adler, acknowledge the convenience of online courses said he would be very wary of taking a MOOC course, as it only exacerbates existing problems in online education. “The whole concept of the online class simply distances students more from professors,” Alder said an economics, political science and global studies major. “This trend toward online classes devalues a four-year university education at a university like Nebraska. I realize that online classes are a necessary part of the modern world for non-traditional and overseas students, but right now the interface is clunky at best and is trash for making debate in any class that requires analysis or higher thinking.” Currently, the Nebraska university system offers no accreditation for MOOC courses, although other universities have designed competency examinations for popular MOOC courses to award college credit in a similar fashion to transfer credit or Advanced Placement tests. Because of accreditation challenges, MOOCs providers like Coursera present a less clear cost benefit to their partners in higher education than traditional online classes. University-led distance educa-

online: see page 47

22 monday, april 21, 2014

dailynebraskan.com

CHOOSING NEBRASKA

South Dakotan picks UNL for its ‘Midwestern hospitality,’ Big Ten prestige story by Mara Klecker

courtesy photo | dn

Mike Holmes, a freshman biochemistry major, decided to to go UNL because of how welcome he felt on campus.

I always knew Nebraska was a good school from an academic standpoint, but the conference move makes people notice.” mike holmes iowa state alum

ike Holmes never thought he’d have Husker gear hanging in his closet. Both he and his wife were proud Iowa State alumni, so they assumed they’d be sending their son Cam to their alma mater. But in these last few months, the red N has snuck into their home instead – in the mail, anyway. First, it was the recruitment postcards and then the congratulatory acceptance letters. And on Feb. 5, it was the letter of intent. It was decided. Cam was going to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to run on the track team and major in biochemistry. Cam is a track star from Brandon, S.D., a community of 9,200 about 250 miles from Lincoln. His high GPA and his fast times – 200 meters in 22.3 seconds – caught the attention of UNL track recruiters. Iowa State was ruled out once the UNL track coach gave him an offer. The Husker track team outshined the Cyclones in the national rankings. Then it came down to the University of Minnesota or UNL. Until the campus visit to Nebraska. “The tipping point was how welcome I felt on the UNL campus,” Cam said. When he ate at the Lewis Center Training Table and the track team invited him to sit with them, it seemed like everyone wanted him to be there. “They say that everyone in Nebraska is so nice and sincere, that Lincoln is a great college town, but I didn’t really buy it until I went and felt it myself,” Cam said. His dad felt it, too. It had the big-school environment with a small-school feel, Mike said. “There was this Midwestern hospitality that we didn’t feel anywhere else,” he said. “It was such a community.” There were other factors to consider, too: mainly cost. South Dakota has reciprocity with Minnesota but not Nebraska. The out-of-state price tag has to be worth it. Cam’s George Beadle Scholarship, covering $13,500 a year, made the decision a bit easier. The distance was also a selling point. Lincoln is far enough away to start a new, independent life but close enough to still see his parents and siblings. Cam is one of five future Huskers from his graduating class of about 230 students. He said he doesn’t feel UNL is promoted there, per se, but for the 20 percent or so who look at out-of-state options, it’s definitely a top choice. Visibility increased with UNL’s move to the Big Ten, his father said. “I always knew Nebraska was a good school from an academic standpoint,” he said. “But the conference move makes people notice.” Mike also said the recruitment branding was effective. Though Cam was recruited through athletics, the “My Story” campaign drew their attention. The postcards and reminders added an extra personal touch that other universities didn’t have. “It’s going to be neat to see him ‘start his story’ at Nebraska,” Mike said. “We feel totally at ease sending him down the road and letting him find that start.” Cam is excited to be sent down that road, too. “It’s going to force me to be independent – to be away and do my own thing,” he said. The Holmes family has already started collecting the Husker gear. Mike jokes that the Sea of Red extends 300 miles out from Memorial Stadium. And now his oldest son gets to be a part of it. That’s worth hanging up Nebraska shirts next to the Iowa State ones. news@ dailynebraskan.com

dailynebraskan.com

monday, April 21, 2014

‘commitment to our veterans’

Kory Dearie, a junior global studies major, is a Nebraska guard member from San Luis Obispo, Calif. He was granted in-state tuition as a freshman when he enlisted in the Nebraska National Guard.

Nebraska National Guard member takes advantage of tuition deal story by Mara Klecker | photo by Stacie Hecker

ory Dearie knew two things as a graduating high school senior: He wanted to leave California and he wanted to join the military. So he sent applications to five out-of-state schools, including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After a campus visit and a hard comparison of ROTC programs and global studies programs, he decided to come to Nebraska. He’d lived in Iowa when he was younger, so he knew what to expect from the Midwest. The cold winters and cornfields weren’t a deterrent. A few days after turning 19, Dearie enlisted in the Nebraska National Guard. He was already in ROTC, but simultaneously serving in the Guard was a way to pay for his tuition. “The out-of-state fees were pretty insane,” he said. “The primary reason I enlisted when I did was monetary.” Serving in the Nebraska Guard makes Dearie eligible for both state and federal tuition assistance, which, combined, cover most of what he owes. Not all states allow students to use both aid sources. “Nebraska is really a military-friendly state,” Dearie said. “But I didn’t know that until I got here.” University officials hope to attract more military students and veterans to campus. UNL has earned the “Military-Friendly School” stamp by G.I. Jobs for the four years the list has been released. The list represents the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and vocational schools that offer support and value for active duty military and student veterans. UNL was one of 23 Nebraska schools to make the cut – even though Nebraska hasn’t historically offered in-state tuition for out-of-state student vet-

erans. Twenty-two states provide residency tuition and 12 others have legislation pending. Nebraska’s recently passed LB740 will establish in-state tuition rates for veterans honorably discharged from the military within the past two years. Veterans’ spouses and dependents are also eligible. The bill will go into effect in mid-July. Brandon Lake, enrollment and scholarship officer for UNL’s Military Science Department, said he sees the bill as representative of Nebraska’s increased awareness of the importance of serving its veterans. “For Nebraska to step up to the same level as these others shows pretty good commitment to our veterans,” he said. Lake said he hopes student veterans take note of that expressed commitment. Though she’s cautious to make predictions, Michelle Waite, assistant to the chancellor and a member of the Student Veterans Task Force, is optimistic about what the bill means for the state. More men and women will be returning from Afghanistan this year, and many of them will be looking to get a college degree, she said. “Intuitively, I believe (the bill) will be a tremendous incentive and that we’ll see an increase in enrollment,” Waite said. The monetary incentive may be what first captures military students’ attentions, but Lake said he thinks it’s about more than the dollar signs. “Money is appealing, but these kids have made the decision to serve their country,” he said. “The reward for doing that is turned into monetary value to help them get an education.” For Dearie, it was the desire to serve that drove

him to join ROTC his freshman year. But it was the carrot of tuition aid that brought him into the Nebraska National Guard office. He estimates that about half of UNL’s ROTC cadets would tell a similar story about the why they enlisted when they did. The monetary benefit of the bill speaks to the state as well. The Nebraska economy also gains from attracting and keeping skilled veterans in its borders. To ensure that the beneficiary veterans do stay in the state, the bill specifies that the veteran must express desire for residency, by registering to vote or applying for a Nebraska driver ’s license. Sen. Sue Crawford said bringing veterans to the state and educating them here is a win-win. “It’s about recruiting and retaining our veterans, understanding that they are a key part of the workforce here,” Crawford told the Daily Nebraskan in January. “We hope that if a veteran comes here, they can afford the education that will allow them to land a job and stay.” With a global studies degree, Dearie doesn’t expect to stay in Nebraska for a career. He’s signed a Guaranteed Reserve Forces Duty scholarship, meaning he has committed to commissioning into the National Guard or the Army Reserve. Dearie said the Guard might take him back to California, but he’ll take job offers from any state. He sees the appeal of planting roots in Nebraska – low unemployment and a state that’s proud of its service members. Dearie said the bill hasn’t been promoted much on campus, but he expects to hear about it in the

veterans: see page 47

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Michelle Ng grills hotdogs and hamburgers for an international student grill out on April 11.

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going global International students come to UNL for friends, educational and professional opportunities story by Melissa Allen | photos by Cahner Olson

Students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln take part in an open discussion about diversity on April 15.

Students who attended the April 15 diversity roundtable enjoy free Chinese food and cookies.

ao Xue grew up in China loving the National Basketball Association. As an avid basketball fan, the sophomore business administration major wanted to visit the country in which it was most popular: the United States. From Hefei, China – a city of more than 7 million – Hao wanted a school in a small city with a strong educational focus. After talking to his professors, he made the decision to join the University of NebraskaLincoln community in August. He plans to stay until he graduates. “Small cities are quiet, and I just wanted to study,” Hao said. “I wanted a quiet school to get a good education, and I needed to practice my English and practice writing.” Hao is one of about 640 international students at UNL who are from China, the top country of origin according to Institutional Research and Planning. International students make up about 10 percent of the undergraduate student population, up from 7.4 percent in 2003. The slight increase is because of an increased effort a decade ago to attract students from other countries, said Dave Wilson, UNL’s senior international officer. “Admissions began traveling to places like China, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, India and Brazil to inform potential students in those countries of the opportunities that exist for them at UNL,” Wilson said. Since coming to UNL, Hao said he has had to work harder for his education. With 17 credit hours this semester, he’s working on trying to get all A’s, but he said that might not happen. “I’ve learned a lot so far academically,” he said. “I took an accounting class in China and didn’t really learn anything. But here, accounting homework can take three to four hours, and you have to do it in order to learn.”

The educational experience at UNL is more grueling, Hao said. “To be honest, UNL is much better than a lot of universities in China,” Hao said. “In China, high school is really hard. You have a pretty hard exam to take to graduate and get into college, but once you get to college, you don’t learn as much.” But it’s not all academic for Hao. Since coming to UNL, he’s made a lot of American friends. Although he’s not a Christian, he joined the Christian Student Fellowship in order to practice his English by reading the Bible and speaking with native English-speakers. “I try to learn as much as I can for English,” he said. Hao is working hard to get good grades and improve his English so he can one day help out his parents. “My parents are getting older, and I don’t want to use their money all the time,” he said. And he’s already seeing a change in his work ethic since he began his studies in the U.S. “Compared with how I was in China, I’ve become more hardworking like in high school,” Hao said. “Sometimes I feel tired. I’m not like a teenager, I’m more like an old man. To be honest, I don’t like studying, but I have to. It’s about the future.” Hao isn’t the only international student who’s seeing himself change during a stay in the U.S. Before Kanmani Kanesan came to the U.S., she expected herself to have her nose in the books, focus on her studies and “be a wallflower.” “First of all, I’ve become more confident,” said the sophomore marketing major from Klang, Malaysia. “I’m a very quiet child back at home. But here, I’m always talking and I never feel lonely, which I thought I would.” She attributes her new-found confidence to the friends she’s made, her involvement in activities

monday, April 21, 2014

dailynebraskan.com

Undergraduate international student enrollment, fall 2013 By the numbers

CANADA:

Ranking by percentage of total enrollment that is international students

GERMANY:

SOUTH KOREA:

CHINA:

639

VIETNAM:

MEXICO:

OMAN:

SAUDI ARABIA:

INDIA:

1. Purdue University: 22.4 percent 2. University of Illinois: 22 percent 3. Northwestern University: 15.4 percent 4. Indiana University: 14.6 percent 5. Michigan State University: 14.5 percent 6. Pennsylvania State University: 13.2 percent 7. University of Michigan Ann-Arbor: 12.8 percent 8. University of Minnesota: 12.6 percent 9. University of Iowa: 12.1 percent 10. University of Wisconsin-Madison: 11.9 percent 11. Ohio State University: 10.5 percent 12. University of Nebraska-Lincoln: 10 percent

MALAYSIA:

148

2009 2010

source: institutional research and planning

2011

INTERNATIONAL ENROLLMENT

2012

GRADUATE / PROFESSIONAL

2013 1000

2000

3000

4000

such as volunteering at the Malaysian Night event in March and Asian night in April and her experience in Husker Hall. “I love my dorm,” she said. “That’s why I signed up to live there next school year too, because I love it.” Living in a single room gives her the right amount of privacy, she said. “But I can always go out into the hall or kitchen, and there will be other people cooking or hanging out and having fun,” she said. “I have more of a balanced life now, not just studies all the time. I have a social and academic life now.” When she’s not studying, she likes to go dancing with her friends on Friday nights or hanging out downtown. She plans on studying at UNL until she earns her degree. Kanesan became interested in studying in the U.S. after her aunt became the first in her family to study abroad. Kanesan’s views on the U.S. were mostly based on magazines and movies. “I assumed (living in the U.S.) would be tough,” she said. “It seemed mean, maybe. I thought other people would be harsh on you. I thought they would not be friendly. But later, when I reached Nebraska, it was like everyone acknowledges you. They always talk to me and are always willing to call me to join them for things. Right now, I really like it.” Mohammed Hussain left Saudi Arabia in August thinking people in the U.S. would be hard on him too, said the freshman mechanical engineering major. “I was scared, really because I thought if you do any mistake, you will be in prison,” Hussain said. “I thought, ‘Don’t talk to the people.’ I was scared people will call the police if I say something wrong because of bad media against Arab people. The media scares people sometimes.” Those perceptions changed once he came to UNL

UNDERGRADUATE

and saw Nebraska first hand, he said. “The people are very friendly,” Hussain said. “They are smiling all the time, they give a lot of food out at parties. When they have events, they bring pizza. I love pizza. I love food and trying new food. I love this country.” Hussain decided to study in the U.S. to improve his English in a short time and learn new skills, he said. He chose Lincoln for its small city status, low crime rate, and UNL’s engineering program. He plans on studying at UNL until he earns his bachelor ’s degree, but he may go on to attain a master ’s or even a Ph.D. Hussain is a part of several organizations on campus, such as UNL SMILE, Engineers Without BordersUSA at UNL and UNL Global Unification, and he is a volunteer at the Women’s Center. “I think study abroad is really important for people to have experiences with other people with other mentalities,” he said. “The U.S., it’s very modern, it’s a very technological country, and it has the best universities in the world. I came here so I can transfer my knowledge that I learn here back to my country.” Hao had some advice for international students uncomfortable in their new surroundings and speaking English. “Don’t be ashamed to make mistakes when speaking or asking questions to professors and friends,” he said. “People here in Nebraska are so nice, and they’ll help you out a lot. Hang out with American friends a lot, and don’t stay in one area with people from your own country all the time. If you want to learn here, get a good job, have a good future and make new abilities, then you need to make friends from different cultures, and try as hard as you can to learn academic things here, too.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

Kanmani Kanesan, a marketing major, is an international student from Malaysia.

Mohammed Hussain, a mechanical engineering major, is an international student from Saudi Arabia.

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Competing across borders UNL teams recruit students from around the world, build communities for students in Lincoln

story by Josh Kelly

file photo by stacie hecker | dn

Maike Zeppernick, a member of the women’s tennis team, is one of 40 international students who are also athletes.

t the University of Nebraska–Lincoln there are more than 40 athletes who come from foreign countries to compete as a Husker. One of the few teams that has a majority of its players from foreign countries is the women’s tennis team, which is led by coach Scott Jacobson. He said diversity on a roster means strength. “I think the one thing I hear, especially from kids from the United States, is that they want to learn about other cultures,” Jacobson said. “It’s interesting to see kids from other perspectives. I think it’s enlightening.” Six of the nine players on the women’s tennis team are from foreign countries, and this creates frequent barriers for the team to deal with when incoming freshmen start with the program. For Jacobson, there are many ways to scout prospects for his team. Most of the time, he uses different websites that have individual rankings and goes from there. He also takes into account references from players when selecting prospects. In the new age of recruiting, Jacobson said it’s easy to reach a prospective player from another country. “There’s a bunch of different ways to get a hold of people,” Jacobson said. “That’s how it is in our society today. Tennis is pretty much an international sport now, so it’s a lot easier.” With times changing, the coach has

taken different routes in pursuing younger players. “Sometimes kids just don’t react when they’re a junior in high school,” Jacobson said. “You try to write them or try Facebook. A lot of it’s trying to get that first interaction with them when they’re an international player.” Senior Maike Zeppernick from Hamburg, Germany, was one of the foreign players pursued early for the Huskers. She was first contacted by Jacobson and then visited by former assistant coach Hayden Perez. Following the visit from Perez, she committed to the program and made the long flight to Lincoln to play for Jacobson. “It was kind of hard at the beginning,” Zeppernick said. “I was pretty homesick my first semester. It was just totally new. I’ve never been so far away from home. I was so overwhelmed with the food, with the language, different people, too, because I didn’t know anybody.” Her separation anxiety wore off, and easing the process were her teammates, who she said is the main reason she’s still competing in the U.S. “It was definitely my teammates that made it easier,” Zeppernick said. “There was an option for me to be here for only one year. But with the teammates I really found a second family. And it was really the reason why I wanted to stay here.” In most cases for the tennis team, Jacobson hasn’t seen any sort of major culture

shock for the players. He said the support system is strong at Nebraska, making it easy for international players to adjust. “I think for the kids on the team, it’s an easy transition,” Jacobson said. “Obviously, the first four to six weeks are a bit challenging because they’re in a different country, and they’re trying to check out school, the whole nine yards. “I think there’s a lot of support here. From the Hewitt Center and the academic area, the other key members that have already been through the system here for a year or two. They’re always supporting the incoming freshmen. It makes things a lot easier.” Zeppernick didn’t come to Nebraska to just play tennis though; she also came because she craved the balance between sports and academics. “I wanted the opportunity to combine tennis with studies,” Zeppernick said. “You don’t have that in Germany. The schools offer sports, too, at a high level. But you either have to go pro or go to school. Here in the U.S., you have the option to do both.” Something that stuck out to Zeppernick when she was getting acclimated to the U.S. was the manners that people had. “I think, especially in Nebraska, I feel like people are really friendly on the streets,” she said. “I come from a big city in Hamburg, and there’s a big rush. The trains are full, and everyone’s annoyed. And here, people open the door for you and say hello

and thank you with a smile. That’s what I like about here. Everybody’s nice to you.” While there are many players on the team from foreign countries, Jacobson hasn’t witnessed any friction between players from different countries. He makes sure to get players that enjoy helping those in need. “It has more to do with the person than it does where they’re from,” Jacobson said. “We take great pride in recruiting because we get players that are selfless in nature. They’re glad to reach out to someone who’s experiencing things for the first time.” Zeppernick is finishing her final season with the team, and once she’s done, she’ll continue playing with a program in the Netherlands, which is about three hours away from Hamburg. She said the experiences she has with people from other countries help shape her into a well-rounded person. Her teammates are always invited to go anywhere she goes. “I think it’s exciting for everybody to also get to know someone’s nationality,” Zeppernick said. “You also learn how to get along with people from other countries because there are some differences, and I think later in the workforce it will benefit you. “Later if I want to travel in the world, I can always say I can visit some friends in America, and my teammates are always welcome to visit me in Germany, which is really cool.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

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monday, April 21, 2014

the next step Sudanese refugee student finds home, study opportunities in Nebraska story by Diego Los Reyes photo by Shelby Wolfe Jacob Manyang, a South Sudanese refugee and senior agronomy major at UNL, came to the United States in 2006. To give back to those he left behind in South Sudan, Manyang started Save South Sudanese Orphans and Widows, a registered student organization at UNL. Donations to the organization provide necessities such as mosquito nets, medicine and access to clean water.

t might take Jacob Manyang a few days to tell you his story. Manyang, a 27-year-old senior agronomy major from South Sudan, is one of an unknown number of refugees attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. No department is keeping track of refugee enrollment, but the refugee population in the state is growing quickly. More than 5,000 refugees have come to Nebraska in the last decade. Many of them have stories such as Manyang’s, who was forced to leave Sudan as a child with his family because of civil war. The Sudanese civil war resulted in the deaths of millions of people and the displacement of millions more. In 2011, a region in Sudan gained its independence and called itself South Sudan. However, the country is still in armed strife. When Manyang was 5 years old, his mother became ill and couldn’t get treatment. A few years later, his father was caught and killed by soldiers when he traveled to a different part of South Sudan to search for missing people. “At that point (my younger brother and I) knew that there was nothing left for us, but we knew there was one uncle to take care of us,” Manyang said. They relocated to a town near the Ethiopian border and then crossed over to a refugee camp in that country. At the camp the United Nations supplied food and schooling. “It was better than living in South Sudan because when we were living there, there was no home,” he said. “It’s just like you’re in the war zone, and there’s always people bombing. And so when we came to refugee camp it was at least better because the United Nations was providing food.”

But food at the camp was scarce, and they had to ration it to last the month. Manyang relocated to Omaha in 2006, his first home in the U.S. He said when he first came to the U.S., the availability of food surprised him. “I thought, ‘There are a lot of my friends back home and there’s nothing I can do to share this food with them,’” he said. Manyang finished his associate’s degree in liberal arts from Metropolitan Community College then transferred to UNL. “They don’t have a natural resources department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, so my only option was to go to UNL,” he said, “All I was asked was to pay $45 for admission and to have at least a 2.0 GPA.” Manyang said Metro was more affordable than UNL, but he’s secured grants and loans here to pay for his tuition and books. He also has a job to pay for his rent and send money back home. “It’s really expensive compared to Metro, but it’s a great opportunity to be studying here, so I am doing anything possible to get a better education,” he said. Now, Manyang is doing his share to help. He started a student organization at UNL called Save South Sudanese Orphans and Widows. Its goal is to raise donations and send them to South Sudan to buy mosquito nets, medicine, access to clean water and other help with other needs. The group’s activity has caught the eye of the student organizations office, which names it as a stand out among the newly registered groups. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), through its Refugee Resettlement Program, administers funds to agencies dedicated to helping refu-

gees. Manyang arrived to the state from one of those: Lutheran Family Services. Lincoln resettles many people from Iraq, Butan and Burma, and there’s a lot of secondary migration from other U.S. cities as well, said Karen Parde, refugee program coordinator at the DHHS. “You have a lot of them that are coming in grade school or younger, so they have a lot of years in the public school system, and a lot of those – not all, but a lot from what I hear – do go on to college, UNL, UNO. I think a lot more go to Southeast Community College, but we do have a lot that move on.” While the resettlement program successfully helps refugees get their bearings in the U.S., Parde said no refugee ever says it’s an easy process even if he or she is well educated when relocated. She said refugees can enroll at an American college or university like any other student if they can provide verification of holding a high school degree. “The problem with so many refugees is they either didn’t attend school at all, or if they did, it wasn’t a school where they could get a hold of some of that documentation,” she said. Refugees face the same struggles as any international student, from language difficulties to cultural differences. There are also possible financial issues, but Parde noted that they have the same eligibility for financial aid as any regular student. “When a refugee arrives, they’re eligible from the day they step foot in our soil for everything we’re eligible for,” she said. “But yes, it’s expensive.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

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entertaiment

expansi

Businesses flock to Haymarket, Railyard, some find success, some don’t Madeline Christensen, Gabriella Martinez-Garro and Amanda Stoffel | Photos by Matt Masin With restaurants, coffee shops, apartments and retail, downtown Lincoln seems like it’s almost become an extension of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for student entertainment. Like the university, the future of the downtown area is also focused on growth. In the past year alone, The Railyard, Pinnacle Bank Arena and Canopy Street have brought in new businesses hoping to capitalize on the college town atmosphere and the added attractions in the area. With UNL administrators hoping to expand enrollment to 30,000 students by 2020, the growing downtown area will be capable of accommodating the projected numbers, said Brandon Garrett, a long-range planner for the Lincoln/Lancaster County Planning Department. “The city itself has been growing at about

dn file photo

Dear Herman plays at Duffy’s Tavern during Lincoln Exposed on Feb. 5. Lincoln Exposed is a music festival held in multiple venues over the course of several nights that celebrates local musicians.

3,000 people each year for the past 15 years, roughly,” Garrett said. “So, it’s not hard to imagine the city being able to absorb that many people. Especially considering it would likely happen over a number of years. So I don’t think there would be any sort of panic in terms of finding places to live or available land to redevelop.” The emphasis has been put on this redevelopment, Garrett said. “(It’s about) recognizing the trends of more young people looking for a diversity of housing to live in,” he said. “Mixed-use neighborhoods, downtown living, rather than just two choices that we have today. Trying to kind of increase the options out there for people, hopefully.” At this time, the long-term plan has designated that 3,000 new dwelling units would be in the greater downtown area by 2040.

“Currently, with the way things have been going, we’re kind of outpacing that number,” Garrett said. “Maybe when we re-evaluate the plan, we’ll increase that number. There’s kind of a snowball effect with all the student housing that’s becoming available in the downtown area, that once we get people living downtown, we’ll get more services that people want, to live downtown, like grocery stores and doctors’ offices and pharmacies and that sort of thing.” The atmosphere of the rapidly expanding college-town vibe and high-activity areas has created a flood of new businesses. Whether they’ll all be able to survive remains to be seen. Flatwater Bistro, a restaurant that will be in the Haymarket and share a wall with the Hilton Garden Inn, is one such business set to open on April 29, making it one of the newest businesses in the area.

John Coffey is a co-owner of Flatwater with Jay Donaldson. Coffey explained that the opening of their restaurant was as an obvious next step in his career. “(The restaurant) is something that’s been stewing in the system for years,” he said. Coffey and Donaldson have worked together off and on for 27 years. Flatwater is their sixth time working together. The decision to open an establishment where they did was well calculated. Coffey explained that he and Donaldson did their research, looking at both when and where traffic was heaviest for not only vehicles, but pedestrians as well. Therefore, the location of Flatwater was determined by strategy more than anything else. “There’s no secret,” Coffey said. “You’ve got Pinnacle Bank Arena that’s driving busi-

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monday, April 21, 2014

on ness in this area.” And Flatwater is in a prime location for the rapidly expanding Railyard and Haymarket districts; it’s located only a block and a half from the arena and four blocks away from Memorial Stadium. Coffey said an underserviced market within both the Haymarket and The Railyard is that of breakfast. So Flatwater is hoping to serve meals of a wide variety from morning to night. This also prompted Coffey and Donaldson to develop a coffee shop that will run out of Flatwater as well. “It was our desire to not leave any money on the doorstep,” Coffey said. “So we created a coffee shop.” Coffey said he thinks it’s these extra steps that will help Flatwater succeed. But for Kevin Shinn, owner and executive chef of the Haymarket’s Bread & Cup, the developing Railyard isn’t necessarily the place to be for every business. With a successful six years under his belt with Bread & Cup, Shinn decided to take advantage of the growing market surrounding the Pinnacle Bank Arena and opened Jack & June, a bar and restaurant located only a few blocks away from Bread & Cup. Shinn said he went in with the intention of the two businesses cooperating and working with each other. “The inspiration with what we did here is looking forward,” he said. “We always think: ‘What can we do new?’ ‘What can we do differently?’ ‘What are the trends in culinary culture?’ There we would look backward for inspiration, old recipes, old tradition, old heritage, Midwestern heritage.” Shinn saw Jack & June opening and the flux of traffic during the Pinnacle Bank Arena’s first events, but he said he soon realized the Railyard’s clientele wasn’t the direction he wanted his business to go, and left Jack & June earlier this year. “I learned a lot about The Railyard, that’s how I know how it behaves,” Shinn said. “It’s event-driven and the difficulty, the good and bad is it’s feast or famine. So if you have a big show, you have all this influx of people, but then the show starts and you’re empty. Show gets out and you’re full again. That was one of the really, really difficult things. Our business model (at Bread & Cup) is so much different than what we were able to do there.” Ultimately, Shinn said he learned lessons on what he wants to do and what not do to. “It was not a bad thing,” he said. “It just was a realization that the business had to go a different way.” As for the future of The Railyard, Shinn said it’s too early to tell. “Everything is so young, it’s not even a year old,” he said. “So it’s going to take time for traffic patterns to normalize and

The Pinnacle Bank Arena in The Railyard is the cornerstone of new development in downtown Lincoln. With the expansion of several blocks of the city, the question arises if Lincoln can maintain so many new restaurants and businesses.

Husker hoops proved to be a big draw for the Pinnacle Bank Arena this year, as well as several big-name concerts including: P!nk, Jay-Z, Cher and The Eagles. More concert dates are being added for the summer and fall. Despite the large crowds and big name acts, the arena reported a revenue loss in the beginning of January.

guests to figure out where they want to go and what places they like. Establishing a clientele, establishing a rhythm, it’s just going to take time.” To the east, downtown consignment staples such as The Black Market and Ruby Begonia’s are managing to maintain their customer bases despite the flux of new businesses. Kim Moser of Ruby Begonia’s said the shop’s unique, decade-oriented clothing won’t be found anywhere else in the growing Railyard district. Unlike the many restaurants competing for space in the downtown expansion, retail outlets are few and far between. “As far as traffic goes, the expansion of The Railyard area moves a lot of people the opposite direction of where we’re located,” Moser said. “Basically, we keep our customer base because of our niche market. There are also many staple busi-

nesses located on P Street that people will always go to, I think.” The same goes for The Black Market. “Downtown clothing stores all just support each other, really,” said Michael Degenhardt, a sales associate at The Black Market. “We all have basically the same customer base, just a different variety in clothing. People buy clothing from the downtown boutiques, and then a few years down the road we’re re-selling it here. It’s a cycle.” With rumors of new clothing stores in the growing Railyard district, Degenhardt said he isn’t concerned. “It really just means more of their brands will start showing up here,” he said. “It can’t really hurt us.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE file photo by allison hess | dn

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is building Nebraska Innovation Campus, which it hopes will connect the university and the private sector. Four buildings will be completed by 2015.

32 monday, April 21, 2014

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We’re planning to make sure we can accommodate the larger enrollment.” juan franco

vice chancellor for student affairs

Members of Delta Tau Delta play video games and do homework in their room. The sleeping rooms in Delta Tau Delta each have four to five lofted beds. Greek housing expansion is challenging because the houses are mostly landlocked.

Crowded halls University plans for packed house story by Gabrielle Lazarro photo by Courtney Cain

he University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s on-campus housing system would not support Chancellor Harvey Perlman’s enrollment goal of 30,000 students by 2020. However, with planned changes in the next few years, UNL should be on track to accommodate an increased number of students when or if the time comes. “We’re planning to make sure we can accommodate the larger enrollment,” Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Juan Franco said. “We’re building a new residence hall to open in August and were also planning on building a new residence hall out on East Campus. We’re working with the Greek community who are both looking at remodeling and looking at adding new chapters with additional housing. It also depends on off-campus private housing being built.”

RESIDENCE HALLS

In fall 2013, about 26 percent of students lived in an on-campus residence hall. If that rate was maintained with 30,000 enrollment, the university would be about 600 beds short — current capacity is 7,210. But capacity will soon grow as suite-style residence hall Eastside Suites is set to open this August. There are also plans to add a residence hall on UNL’s East Campus in 2017. This new hall would replace two current residence halls on East Campus, Burr and Fedde. “We’re still in the design stages, so we don’t have specifics,” Franco said. “But that’s our plan – to build a new residence hall on East Campus. We’re looking at different options. Building where Burr and Fedde is is one option, but we’re also looking at other sites.” While Burr and Fedde could be torn down at some point, it won’t happen in the near future. The university would make use of them for purposes other than housing in the mean time, Franco said. “I think it would be good – it seems like on City Campus all

their dorms are up to date,” said Molly Goin, a Fedde resident and freshman animal science major. “Especially the bathrooms need updating.” The university is cautious about adding more residential housing after Eastside Suites and the future residence hall on East Campus “We want to see more about how exactly those classes are breaking down, University Housing director Sue Gildersleeve said. “The construction can certainly add more pressure to our rates, and we certainly don’t want to do that.” However, Gildersleeve said if enrollment were to increase to the point where UNL was feeling the pressure, administrators would consider adding more housing. Another option would be reducing housing options for upperclassmen. “We’d say we have a certain amount of rooms for sophomores, juniors, seniors, and it’d be sort of a lottery,” she said. “But our preference is to have everyone who wants to live with us able to live with us.” UNL’s focus is on supporting the freshman class because those students are required to live either on campus or at home. Local and national studies, including one published in 2011 by the John Hopkins University Press, have indicated that living on campus as a freshman and often as a sophomore tends to improve retention, persistency toward graduation, engagement in campus life and reduce distraction toward whatever is going on off campus, Gildersleeve said. “We really like to see them get that great foundation the first few years, she said. “But then by the time you’re a junior or senior and so on you ought to have those connections made so it’s fine to be more independent at that point.”

GOING GREEK

Greek housing has run into some more problems when it comes to expansion. In fall 2013, 1,306 students lived in Greek houses, according to UNL Institutional Research and Planning.

crowded halls: see page 46

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story by Gabrielle Lazarro | photos by Courtney Cain

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Moving out Sophomore pre-veterinarian major Alyssa Holt studies in her two-bedroom apartment-style room on campus at The Village. This is Holt’s second year living on-campus, and she lives with one roommate.

Off-campus housing options must grow, feature variety to handle student influx

ven the University Housing director will admit it: everyone has to move off campus eventually. “We don’t have room for everybody,” director Sue Gildersleeve said. “I certainly agree there is a point where it makes sense for students to live on their own.” If UNL reaches Chancellor Harvey Perlman’s enrollment goal of 30,000 students, the necessary infrastructure needs to be in place – and housing is a large part of the equation. As of fall 2013, about 33.5 percent of UNL’s 24,445 students lived on campus. The rest, except for those who commute or take all distance learning classes, must find a place to live in Lincoln. “Right now I’d say there’s almost a saturation of offcampus units — talking to my competitors none of them are where they were last year,” said Dave Brown general manager of The View, a popular off-campus housing site for students. “Off-campus apartments that are out there would definitely be able to absorb those extra students.” There are several options for off-campus housing, including recently built residential complexes 50/50, Parkhaus and Canopy Lofts, all of which are located within walking distance of City Campus or in downtown Lincoln. Combined, the complexes have about 1,500 units. However, these new residential complexes, although less expensive than living in the majority of the university’s residential hall, aren’t affordable for everyone. “They’re very different environments,” Gildersleeve said. “Residence halls all have plans that include food as well as rooms. You have RAs on the floor available to help if you have questions, roommate conflicts, as well as offering academic support.” Gildersleeve said residential complexes such as 50/50 or Parkhaus wouldn’t intend to provide these kind

of academic or social supports. A lot of places are also going to require a summer contract, unlike residence halls.

Downtown apartments

A four-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment at Parkhaus, located on top of the Larson Building on Q and 13th streets, ranges from $615 to $699 per person. Although there are several amenities offered with this including each tenant being on his or her own individual lease and 24-hour amenities such as a fitness center, study rooms, a rooftop garden with grills and seating and free Wi-Fi, the price is steep for some students. Freshman veterinary medicine major and Neihardt resident Mallory Richert said she’s considering living in a residential complex of this type her junior year, but it will depend on which ever one’s cheapest. Hallie Salem, a Lincoln urban planner, said these apartments such as Parkhaus, 50/50 and Canopy Lofts aren’t necessarily “expensive” and seem to be what the market is supporting at this point. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Lincoln is $655; for a twobedroom, it’s $839. Both averages have been on the rise during the last five years, according to Metropolitan Statistical Area numbers. Despite the higher rent, Parkhaus was pre-leased before it even opened, Salem said. The recent string of new buildings pre-lease or lease up quickly and banks are financing based on these lease rates, she said. “They calculate what they think people will pay,” Salem said. “Then they use that to develop a budget for individual units and the furnishing. A lot of them have higher-end refrigerators and light fixtures.” Salem said the city doesn’t dictate rates. She said in

moving out: see page 46

Sophomore health science major Sydney Zuroski puts away laundry in her apartment. Zuroski lives with two roommates at the Claremont Park Apartments.

The Claremont Park Apartments are located four blocks north of Memorial Stadium. They have rooms available to students as singles, two-bedrooms, three-bedrooms and four-bedrooms.

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Here serve

Some university services would require expansions to provide for 30,000 story by Conor Dunn Photo by Jake Crandall

The Daily Nebraskan took a look at various services at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to see which ones are ready for 30,000 students or plan to be by 2020.

UNIVERSITY HEALTH CENTER

About 36 percent of University of Nebraska-Lincoln students use the main University Health Center clinic 1.6 times per year, according to the center ’s records. With an enrollment of 30,000, Director Dr. James Guest said he would anticipate 17,280 visits, a 21 percent increase from 2012-2013. If most of the increase comes from out-of-state students, use may be higher as those students do not have a local primary care provider. The health center currently has six medical providers during the academic year and four during the summer. A provider without other duties can see between 2,500 and 3,000 patients a year, so to accommodate an additional 5,000 students, the health center would need to hire at least one more provider. “If we’re up to 30,000, we could probably handle it in the same building with some rearranging of the way we provide services,” said UHC Director Dr. James Guest. In the short term, Guest said it would be more beneficial to remodel the current health center, which was built in 1957, than to build a new one because student fees would be less effected. So right now, health center officials are looking at possibly rewiring internal computer networking and Internet cables. Guest said a facilities needs assessment would also be necessary to figure out what other aspects of the building need to be renovated to better serve the staff and patients. The CAPS program is something that will need to change, especially if the university were to increase by 5,000 students. “We’re totally out of (space for Counseling and Psychological Services) and don’t have room for anyone else, yet the need will appear.” And Guest is right – according to center records, the need will appear. In 2012-2013, CAPS received 10,891 visits from students. If enrollment increased to 30,000, the number of visits to CAPS would increase to 12,600 when using the 5 percent increase it’s had during the past five years. “We’re very pushed right now on psychiatric needs to we would bump that up first,” Guest said. The department has 14 staff members, including

Students get on a bus at 17th and Vine streets headed to East Campus. Transit Services would have to add “tripper” buses to accommodate more students. nine Ph.D. psychologists, three counselors, a full-time advanced nurse practitioner in psychiatry and a halftime psychiatrist, and only the nurse practitioner and psychiatrist can prescribe medicine to patients. Guest said the health center would need to hire two or three more clinicians to CAPS to meet patient needs.

CAMPUS RECREATION

On paper, UNL has enough recreation facility space to accommodate for 30,000 students, said Christopher Dulak, assistant director for marketing and development at Campus Recreation. But Dulak said the department needs to address a few issues to prepare for an enrollment increase. A 2009 study by Brailsford and Dunlavey found that college rec centers should offer at least 10 square feet of indoor facilities for each enrolled student, meaning UNL should have at least 300,000 square feet in recreation facilities. The City Campus Rec Center alone has 229,722 square feet, the Outdoor Adventures Center will have 12,453 square feet when it’s completed in May and the East Rec Center will have 58,125 square feet when it’s completed in spring 2015. Additional indoor spaces like the Mabel Lee Hall gyms and pool and the Military and Naval Sciences Building add an additional 35,691

square feet. But these numbers can be misleading because capacity of recreation facilities can’t be measured like classroom capacity, Dulak said. For example, the Coliseum seats 5,000 people for events but holds only 16 players for an intramural basketball game. And 84 percent of UNL students use campus recreation spaces, which is higher than the national average of 60 to 70 percent, Dulak said. Rec center use has increased over the years, reaching 644,382 visits in 2012-2013. Facilities continue to be overcrowded from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily but are under-used during the morning hours, Dulak said.

PARKING AND TRANSIT SERVICES

With a total of 15,814 parking spaces, UNL doesn’t have enough parking to account for 30,000 students. But the opening of the 18th & R Street Garage in August 2014 will accommodate for future growth, said Dan Carpenter, Parking and Transit Services director. An enrollment of 30,000 would also affect Transit Services, which has eight buses running on two routes between City and East campuses. With the anticipated growth, the university at some point will need to add “tripper” services, Carpen-

HOW TO SERVE: see page 46

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hey’re looking for change. Impact. Revolution. The Nebraska Innovation Campus staff has big plans for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The vision of NIC is to work “in a dynamic environment where university and private sector talent connect to transform ideas into innovation that impacts the world,” according to its website. Located off Salt Creek Roadway and North Antelope Valley Parkway, the facilities for NIC are currently being constructed and are set to be completed this summer. In those facilities, administrators, faculty and staff hope innovational ideas will come to life. Though they’ve received funding for the projects and facilities that come with NIC, the staff will continually be looking for more involvement. “We’re looking for sponsorships and community effort, because the community will benefit from it in the end,” said Terence Bowden, business accelerator director for NIC. Kate Engel, NIC community engagement and operations manager, helps network and create connections to get these projects to take off. “We’re going to host different programs, activities and workshops that will encourage the community to come out and be involved,” Engel said. One of these programs is called the Business Accelerator, a nine-month program that will train local business owners in creating and using innovational ideas, technology and tools in their entrepreneurship. The application process starts in June, and businesses will be accepted in September. Office space at NIC will be provided to participants, and they’ll get workshops and meetings with more than 100 mentors, an in-

vestment up to $20,000 and the tools to create prototypes. “Hopefully it will encourage more people to look at innovation and encourage the tools and methodologies and put something to market,” Bowden said. “It should increase entrepreneurship in the community and the state of Nebraska as a whole.” Going hand-in-hand with the Business Accelerator is the Maker Space, another NIC idea that will be put into motion next year. The idea for the Maker Space came from the 400-member UNL Maker Club. NIC is collaborating with the Maker Club to create the Maker Space, a place where people can come and find sponsorship to create prototypes of their own work. “The Business Accelerator will complement the Maker Space, which will be a very good fit and help people in Nebraska to have an innovative outlet,” Bowden said. According to NIC’s website, the Maker Space will be 17,000 square feet and located on the first floor of the 4-H Building. They hope to have people working with architecture, woodworking, welding, art and design. Though it will be open to the community, visitors will have to pay and be trained before working with the equipment. The tools will include woodworking and metalworking tools, 3D printers, digital machines, a culinary space and a music studio. “These things will provide not only options to be creative, but more options to think about things and noodle around and start making ideas,” NIC executive director Dan Duncan said. The partnership of the university and the private sector offers a unique opportunity to students that they wouldn’t have elsewhere, Engel said. “But we have to expand that culture be-

yond those two entities,” Engel said. “We talk about workshops and what’s going to be beneficial to not just staff and companies, but also students. And I think it will impact enrollment in a positive way.” Another project NIC is taking on for next year is with the UNL Food Science Department. It will be moving from East Campus to the NIC. This move will add 117,000 additional square feet to the department. The Food Innovation Center will give faculty and students the chance to do more research about food processing, safety, allergens and nutrition. Classes will also be held there starting in the fall of 2015. The new facilities also feature a conference room that can seat up to 400. According to Engel, there’s not another space close to Lincoln big enough to host that many people, and it’s already completely booked for several dates throughout the summer. But, until then, it’s all plans and discussing things to come in the future — and some of it can be tedious and grueling, Engel said. “We were emailing back and forth the other day about toilet paper,” Engel said. “I was like, ‘I can’t believe we’re even spending time talking about this!’ But it’s just stuff we’ve got to take care of.” When they move into their offices this summer and start getting into the swing of things, the NIC staff anticipates a culture shift in Lincoln. “I think NIC will help provide more opportunities for job growth,” Duncan said. “I think it’s kind of symbiotic of growth with the West Haymarket. It can create a lot of great entertainment options and help grow enrollment in related areas.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

STORY BY VANESSA DAVES | PHOTO BY ADAM WARNER

New campus aims to facilitate business growth in Lincoln

INNOVATION NATION

The newly constructed Companion Building on the Nebraska Innovation Campus will house the Nebraska Innovation Campus staff, NUtech Ventures and other programs. Four NIC buildings will be complete by 2015.

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Approaching deadline How $84 million could change the face of CBA | story by Hannah Ratliff | Photo by David Gass

Accounting students at UNL’s College of Business and Administration work on a review guide on April 15 in preparation for their next test.

n eight months, the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln is set to begin construction of a privately funded $84 million facility to house its growing number of students. According to CBA Dean Donde Plowman, the college has collected more than $28 million in donations and commitments of its desired revenue since fundraising began in September 2012. To meet its fundraising goal before construction is slated to begin in December, CBA will have to triple what it has raised since the project began in 2012. “We are on track with our fundraising for the building,” Plowman said. She declined to comment further. Though the new building – which will be 240,000-square-feet and nearly twice the square footage of the college’s current space – won’t be cheap, Plowman said it’ll allow the college to serve students in ways never before possible. And it’s all coming at a time when Chancellor Harvey Perlman hopes to reach an enrollment of 30,000 students by 2020. In fall 2013, CBA had 3,718 students, or 15.2 percent of UNL’s total enrollment – making it the third-largest college behind Arts & Sciences and Education & Human Sciences. CBA’s undergraduate enrollment has increased 18 percent in the last four years, while the university’s total enrollment has been mostly flat, according to Institutional Research and Planning data. “We’re an important means for the univer-

sity to reach its goal,” Plowman said. “This is previously being used for CBA classes, such as Richards Hall and the Mary Riepma Ross going to be a building that will be just as good or better than some of the best business pro- Media Arts Center. It will also include more office space, informal study areas and lounggrams in the Big Ten. I think it will be the best es. Project developers also alin the Big Ten.” lotted $87,000 toward the purThe new CBA building I want the chase of artwork for the new will be located at the corner building building. of 14th and Vine streets. Plow“The new building is goman said she hopes the new to tell the story ing to substantially increase building will showcase the our classroom capacity on the school’s greatest graduates of successful campus as a whole,” Farrell who helped make the building businesses said. “Because if you think possible. about it, opening up this new “The really special thing and successful building, that’s going to free is that it’s going to be built by business leaders, up classrooms everywhere our alumni,” Plowman said. “Some people making dona- many of whom are else on campus. So then all a sudden all of these classtions are doing it as a way to in Nebraska, many of rooms become available to honor family members … I other departments on campus want the building to tell the of whom are from to perhaps shift how they’re story of successful businesses elsewhere.” scheduling or offer more classand successful business leades or services to (students). It ers, many of whom are in donde plowman just creates more flexibility Nebraska, many of whom are cba dean and more capacity to service from elsewhere. We’re imaginand increase the number of ing, visually, a big display instudents. side the building that will lift “Part of (the 30,000 enrollment goal) is up business leaders from CBA.” being able to physically add 5,000 additional For the students, it’s about what will be inside the building, said Kathleen Farrell, senior students, and to do that, you have to have classroom capacity to service 5,000 additional associate dean of CBA. The new building, which is expected to students.” Stewart Montgomery, a sophomore busihave about 20 more classrooms, will provide more space within CBA while freeing up ness major, said the biggest cramp for space other classrooms around campus that were he’s noticed has been the bathrooms.

“There’s like three bathrooms here, and each of them only have like maybe two urinals and like one stall,” he said. “It’s just not enough space. Also, like tests, there’s one test I had to take on East Campus. They just don’t have big enough rooms here.” The 20 additional rooms is an advantage for Montgomery and also for Kylee Gwinn, a freshman actuarial science and finance major who said the extra rooms would free up the traffic jam of students trying to walk through the hallways between classes. “I actually think it’s going to be a really awesome addition because we are a growing college,” she said. Gordon Karels, CBA’s associate dean, said the improvements CBA coupled with the university’s status as a Big Ten Conference school should help increase enrollment overall. “Generally, a rising tide lifts all boats,” Karels said. “So as we build our reputation and can increase visits to the business college, hopefully there are spillover effects and students in general want to come to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and get a Big Ten degree.” CBA picked its tagline, “start something,” because the staff feels the new building and all it represents is the start of something big. “I think it really captures who we are and what we’re doing,” Plowman said. “People want to be a part of something big – by big, I mean important – and this is big.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

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FOOTING BILL With tuition freeze end date nearing, students, regents, legislators wonder what tuition will be STORY BY DANIEL WHEATON

ast June, it was finally official - all in-state students attending the University of Nebraska would pay the exact same amount for tuition for the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 academic years. Tuition was frozen at $216 a credit hour for in-state students, more than $400 less than what out-of-state students pay. The freeze is part of NU’s “affordability compact” with Nebraska, which is an effort to keep all campuses within the NU system affordable for Nebraskans and encourage more people to seek higher education. In a statement, NU President J.B. Milliken said the freeze will help ensure “quality, accessible higher education for Nebraskans.” “Their investment in the University of Nebraska puts us in a position not only to support important priorities, but also to freeze tuition for Nebraskans for two years - a step we know will be welcomed by thousands of students and families in the state.” Now, as NU nears the middle point of the tuition freeze, some are questioning what will happen when the freeze thaws. The short answer? Tuition will probably increase again. Chris Kabourek, the NU assistant vice president of budget and planning, said pinpointing what tuition will be is near impossible. “It’s too early to speculate how enrollment growth could impact tuition rates,” he said. This is mainly because different students pay different amounts for tuition. Having an influx of out-of-state students would bring in more revenue for NU compared to in-state students. Lincoln Regent Tim Clare said the NU Board of Regents, as well as the Nebraska Legislature, makes it a point to mitigate the rising cost of college from their end. “It’s a multimillion dollar question,” Clare said about the budgeting process. Ron Withem, director of governmental relations at the

University of Nebraska, talked about how the budgeting process leads to a tuition rate. Members of the Board of Regents and representatives from all of the NU institutions meet to discuss tuition changes roughly nine months before the start of each academic year. They then take their proposal for state appropriations to the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee. Every odd numbered year, the legislature meets for its longer 90-day session, and it decides the budget for the state. Once the budget is passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor, the tuition rate is decided for all NU institutions. But, as Clare warned, NU and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have a lot of moving parts, which make it difficult to pinpoint where the cost burden would shift if tuition must increase. “The real question is whether those costs will exceed the increased tuition derived from the additional students,” UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman said in an email. “This is the difference between average and marginal costs, in economic terms. The university has a certain level of costs associated with opening the university, and the more students who are around to pay those costs, the less each student would have to pay.” Perlman said the only ways to keep tuition increases steady would be by increasing state appropriations or continuing budget cuts. State funding for NU, which ultimately determines the cost passed on to students, has largely remained flat since 2008. Back in 1985, NU accounted for 21.3 percent of the state budget, according to data from the Board of Regents. Now it’s at 14.1 percent. The tuition freeze came with a 4 percent increase in state funding to offset costs, Gov. Dave Heineman said in a announcement following the freeze back in June. Kabourek said NU also compares costs with other institutions in the Big Ten Conference and other schools in

the area to make sure NU is giving students a good deal. Through these discussions, they’re balancing providing affordability with sustainable growth. “It’s our job to be working with the legislature so they know what we’re doing and that we’re being good stewards with the money,” Clare said. Exactly what NU gets is entirely up to the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee. Omaha Sen. Heath Mello, who chairs the committee, said that unlike state funding for primary education and Medicaid, funding for NU is completely discretionary. “Funding depends on the state’s fiscal climate,” Mello said. “It all depends on the committee’s priorities.” By the time Varner Hall figures out what tuition needs to be, there will be a new set of people at the other side of the table. In June 2015, Nebraska will have a new governor, NU might have a new president and four members of the Appropriations Committee will be replaced because of term limits. “We’re not worried about the change in leadership, but we know we have our work cut out for us,” Withem said. Mello said he will likely return as the chairman of the committee next legislative session. “Like any other state agency, the university will provide us with their requests come September,” Mello said. “No one knows what it will look like next year with 17 new legislators and a new governor.” Given that Nebraska was able to weather the recession well, Clare and Withem said they believe NU is in a good position to get what it asks for - hopefully lessening the burden on students. Perlman quoted one of UNL’s most famous alumni. “Costs will likely go up as costs go up,” Perlman said. “As Warren Buffett often says: Price is what you pay, value is what you get.” NEWS@ DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM

DETERMINING NU TUITION 1. Nine months before the beginning of each academic year, the Board of Regents and representatives from all NU institutions develop a proposal for state appropriation, which they give to the state legislature.

2. The legislature’s Appropriations Committee determines an appropriation for the NU system and puts it in the state budget.

3. The legislature votes on the budget.

4. The governor signs the budget into law.

5. Regents decide tuition rates for each school based on appropriation and other factors like total and out-of-state enrollment.

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PARK

Cars are parked inside the 19th and Vine streets parking garage located next to the Abel/Sandoz residence hall. The parking garage is open to students and faculty.

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Students lament pains of parking, but director says spaces are plentiful STORY BY HANNAH EADS PHOTOS BY COURTNEY CAIN

I can walk to my classes. But if I have to drive anywhere, there’s no place to park.” reagan myers

freshman psychology and spanish major

bout 15,800 parking spaces provide for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s 26,089 combined students and faculty. Dan Carpenter, director of Parking and Transit Services, said that’s more than enough, but if UNL enrollment grows Parking and Transit will be prepared. After Parking & Transit Services reviewed the campus parking infrastructure and operation, staff developed a plan to deal with future enrollment growth. The department installed a new Parking Access and Revenue Control System, a software that monitors parking areas to determine the changes that need to be made. Starting next year the 19th & Vine Parking Garage will incorporate the surface lot north of 19th and Vine streets. Additionally, 1,000 resident permits will be shifted from the 17th & R Parking Garage to the soon-to-be-built 18th & R Parking Garage next fall. This shift will create more commuter parking availability in the 17th & R garage. The Beadle Center south parking lot will also continue to accommodate faculty, staff and commuter students but not resident students. The price of a permit for students and faculty will also decrease from $53 to $50 for the 14th & Avery Parking Garage, and it will include an hourly parking option where visitors and students without a permit can pay with a credit or debit card. “Students have several parking options available including surface, garage, reserved and hourly parking to help with campus access for academic, work and social needs,” Carpenter said. “I believe students are trying to make the best economic decision possible, however, I think some underestimate the time they spend on campus and the longterm costs for hourly parking versus purchasing a parking permit.” But parking challenges remain a frequent complaint among students. Freshman psychology and Spanish major Reagan Myers usually parks in the lot on 17th and Vine streets, behind Knoll Residential Center – but she lives in Abel/Sandoz. The residential parking lot for Abel/Sandoz, which she has a permit for, fills up fast. Myers said she especially dislikes walking home alone from 17th and Vine to her residence hall late at night. “If I take my car it’s because I have obligations like going to work or the grocery store,” Myers said. “I can walk to my classes. But if I have to drive anywhere, there’s no place to park.” Myers originally wanted to buy a parking permit for the 19th & Vine Parking Garage behind Abel/Sandoz, but the garage was more expensive than the residential parking pass and already full. Tyler Schindler, a junior agriculture education major, suggests that a better option might be assigned spots for students. His problem isn’t finding a parking spot but finding his car after he’s parked it.

The Abel/Sandoz residential parking lot is almost never vacant. Located on the corner of 19th and Vine, the parking options are an uncovered lot or the four-level parking garage. He sometimes chooses to park in the faculty/staff lot near the stadium so he can avoid a long walk when he’s carrying 20-pound gear to his car for his job in the Athletic Department. But because his favored lot isn’t open for students Schindler has received multiple parking tickets. Both Myers and Schindler agree that the A lot doesn’t get a lot of traffic and might be put to better use if it was available for students instead of just faculty and staff. But former UNL student Jordan Krause would rather see more public transportation in use on college campuses. “It’s a lot more cost-effective than bulldozing historic buildings in Lincoln to pave the ground for more parking options,” he said.

Krause began his own biking company, called Ficksed Cogs and Chain, where he fixes and sells used bikes. He also supports UNL giving every student a bus pass. Though, he said the bus routes need to be more exposed to the students. Krause used to park his motorcycle in a designated area for motorcycles. After parking his vehicle in the same area for a semester, he walked out to find six motorcycles including his donning parking tickets. Krause said a sign had been put up prohibiting parking beyond that area, but he never saw it. “I don’t think (parking) is a problem unique to the university,” he said. “I think it’s a bigger problem,” news@ dailynebraskan.com

monday, April 21, 2014

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Looking back 3 UNL alumni reflect on their time in school, express hopes for future Compiled by Jacy Marmaduke

value, and I think housing is one way. erek Peterson graduated from the DN: What are your thoughts on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2006. He works for Bailey Lauer- 30,000 enrollment goal? DP: I was in the inaugural class of the man advertising agency in Omaha. Daily Nebraskan: What are some of Young Alumni Academy that the Alumni Association just put together, so we were your memories from your time at UNL? privy to seeing different parts of campus Derek Peterson: I worked for (Campus and we met with Chancellor Perlman. I Recreation) as a staff assistant for their intramurals program. I wasn’t Greek or any- think it’s the right goal because the unithing. I was in the Honors Program. I played versity does need more students. One of club baseball for a couple years and then just the things we talked about was that a lot of focused on academics. Working intramurals them probably need to be coming from international grounds as opposed to domestic. was a good way for me to get to meet everyBut when we moved into the Big Ten, there’s body. It seems like almost everyone plays at least one intramural sport. You really get to a focus on research. If we want to keep up meet so many people. I didn’t study at Love with the Joneses, growth as a university is Library barely at all. I did most of my study- paramount to that success. DN: Is the 2020 deadline ing in the (Nebraska Union). realistic? And I remember when I If we want DP: I don’t know if I’m a lived in Neihardt Hall freshpot-stirrer or not, but I asked man year, there was the Neito keep that exact question to Chanhardt Lounge. We’d go there cellor Perlman. He didn’t almost every day for lunch, up with the take offense to it, but he reand at night I’d go down Joneses, growth ally is passionate about that there and get ice cream. as a university is goal and wants to get there. DN: What changes do you notice when you return paramount to that And I do too. But I think the question is relevant because to campus? if the goal was realistic at DP: I get back to campus success.” the time, we would have once or twice a year, usually derek peterson made more progress toward for a sports event. The new ’06 alumnus that goal. There’s a whole section of the union, and I lot of factors, like increased believe the (Jackie Gaughan tuition. And that’s why the Multicultural Center) is new too. The lunch room at Selleck was just built research is so important - because there’s revenue streams that could come off of it for as I was graduating. That new style of dinuniversity partnerships. ing was a big deal when we were there. DN: How do you think increased enrollAnd the apartment-style housing had just ment would affect campus? opened when I was graduating. DP: I love how campus has always had We toured Abel/Sandoz after the renoa lot of greenspace. I worry that the univervations - if you had seen that building in 2002 and you saw it today, you’d be like, sity is pretty landlocked for growth. They “Oh my god, I can’t believe that’s the same got pretty lucky with the fairgrounds, but I building.” It’s so much better. And I think don’t know if there really is any more room they’re going to have to continue to update to expand. So from a master plan perspective, they may have to start building up and refresh those dorms and keep moving toward the apartment-style housing. Since instead of out. And a lot of those buildings would have to change pretty dramatically the tuition’s not getting any cheaper, they’re going to have to look for new ways to add if they started building up. And I fear that

cOURTESTY PHOTO

Derek Peterson graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2006. Now he’s a member of the Young Alumni Academy in the Nebraska Alumni Association. they may have to infringe on some of that greenspace. I would hate to see that greenspace go away. I loved that campus when I was there, and I still have fond memories of it, just the physical aspect of campus. There’s something about that place that is very charming and appealing, and as the university grows, I would hate to see that go away.

DN: Anything you’d like to add? DP: With the rest of the Big Ten schools, those campuses are charming as well. There’s a certain charm where they focus on mission and history and they look back as they look forward. I think we fit that from a cultural standpoint. news@ dailynebraskan.com

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ackie Powell graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1977. She now owns her own financial planning and advisory firm in Pennsylvania, and she’s a mentor in Cather Circle, a women’s networking program for UNL students and alumni. Daily Nebraskan: What memories stand out from your time at UNL? Jackie Powell: I majored in university studies — basically a liberal arts major. I was from Grand Island, so coming to the university was pretty big step. I lived in Smith Hall. HSS were the new dorms at that time, and there was always a sense of community. I remember when it came time to choose your classes, there was no computer programming. You had to punch cards. You’d pull cards in the union to choose your classes, and when the cards were gone the class was full. You’d go and stand in these long, long lines and pull cards. I go back a couple times a year. It’s wonderful how the campus has continued to grow and make UNL a world-class institution. It’s really wonderful. Weekends were your fun time. My boyfriend then – my husband now – there were racquetball courts under the stadium, and we’d play on Friday nights then walk downtown to Godfather’s and get pizza and beer. We’d go to Duffy’s and play shuffleboard and drink beer. The drinking age was 19 then, so it was a little different. The university experience is what you make of it. At the time, you feel you’re so

monday, April 21, 2014

stressed. But you have to take advantage of all the things on campus. Intramurals were always really fun. It’s sort of that common bond. A lot of things center around football on Saturdays, but there was just a lot of pride. I always felt my professors were engaged with us, even in abig class. If you reached out, they were willing to help you. Everybody finds their niche. My husband and I met as new student orientation hosts sophomore year. We got to tour the students around and take them to the football field, that was the highlight. DN: What did you think of the dorms and facilities at the time? JP: We thought they were wonderful. My recollection was the start of the cafeteria being food-friendly where you had more options, like a salad bar. Schramm Hall was co-ed, which was relatively new. They were new and clean and nice, just a little further from the rest of campus. DN: When you graduated in ’77, what did a degree from UNL mean in the workforce? JP: Student internships. They were a stepping stone. Employment is contingent upon the opportunities you take, not just the degree. I remember looking for jobs, and it was difficult. I started out in financial planning and stayed in it because I liked it so much. A degree from UNL is definitely worthy, but it comes down to what the student does with it. I worked in Lincoln for a while after I

A degree from UNL is definitely worthy, but it comes down to what the student does with it.” jackie powell ’77 alumna

graduated; then we moved. My husband went to dental school on an army scholarship. We were stationed in Pennsylvania and stayed because I started my practice. Where I am now, it’s quite rural. One thing I’m really proud of is Midwest sensibilities, being from the Midwest where values are important and people are kind and look out for others. Those things are ingrained in us, and they really do make a difference. DN: What are your thoughts on the 30,000 enrollment goal? JP: The expansion, I think it’s very forward thinking. I like the idea of not replacing everything that’s old but making sure things are

tephanie Bolli graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1989 with a degree in home economics and a focus on dietetics and food science and technology. She now works for ConAgra Foods in Omaha. Daily Nebraskan: What are some of your strongest memories from your time at UNL? Stephanie Bolli: I loved being part of the student body, especially football games. I’d been to my first football game when I was in fourth grade, so I was a longtime fan. But it’s different being part of the student section. Just the energy of being on campus, I liked that a lot. I always enjoyed in spring semester if you walked north to the Coliseum by the Mueller Bell Tower, and the trees were in bloom. You knew you’d almost survived another spring semester. Some of the paths I used to walk, it brings back a lot of memories. In hindsight, I wish I’d had a pedometer and kept track of all the miles I walked while I was here. DN: What are some of the main changes you’ve noticed at the university? SB: There’ve been a lot of changes in buildings. The building I took physiology in isn’t even here anymore; it’s a green space. (Campus has) spread a lot farther east. Everything basically stopped at 17th Street. And the parking has changed - everything was surface lots when I was here. It was always a real challenge to find a parking spot. And I’m really surprised by the (Nebraska Union). It feels more like a loft now, really modern, furnished by Crate and Barrel is what it looks like to me. As of last year, it still pretty much looked like it did when I was here, in terms of furnishings. DN: What are your thoughts regarding the 30,000 enrollment goal?

upgraded and contemporary and we remain competitive. My son went to UNL, actually. He got a journalism degree in ‘09, then a degree in science teaching and graduated last year. We visited some places on the East Coast and just felt like UNL was way ahead on facilities. DN: Do you think UNL can meet the goal? JP: It’s like any business. You’re planting the seeds down and figuring out how to accomplish it. How that would stress the infrastructure, I’m not really sure. But I do know as far as alumni, everybody’s trying to band together to promote UNL to people who live outside of Nebraska. news@ dailynebraskan.com

Having closer relationships with industry is a great way to give students a reason to stay here.” stephanie bolli ’89 alumna

MATT MASIN | DN

Class of 1989 UNL alumna Stephanie Bolli works at ConAgra Foods in Omaha as a developer. Bolli played on the women’s basketball team while at UNL. Now, at ConAgra, Bolli creates new flavors for ConAgra food company lines. SB: It’s a good goal. It seems kind of big. I grew up in Burwell, and my high school class was 34. So coming to the university when I did, it was a big jump for me. You wonder if there’s enough space for that many more students in terms of parking, housing, classrooms and everything. But I think it’s a good goal. DN: How do you think campus would

change with 30,000 students? SB: Probably more vertical. At some point it’s gonna be land-locked and has to become vertical. But when it’s vertical, you lose some of the views and a lot of the landscaping. One of the things I like about Nebraska is wide open spaces and being able to see where you’re going. As it becomes vertical, that goes away a little bit.

DN: You have a background in food science – what are your thoughts on Innovation Campus? SB: I’m really excited for the potential there. It’s a definite plus for Nebraska. We really need people to stay here. I left Nebraska after I graduated, mainly just because I needed a job, and I was really glad I got to come back. Having closer relationships with industry is a great way to give students a reason to stay here. DN: Any other thoughts? SB: I know the leaders will do everything they can. I just hope it doesn’t lose that, you know, it kind of felt like a community, even though it was a huge step up in size and experience for me coming from a small town. But it still felt like a community, and I hope they do everything they can to maintain that. Because that’s part of what makes Nebraska a special place. news@ dailynebraskan.com

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monday, April 21, 2014

Renovation priorities should hinge on student interest, opinion

n a way, it’s universal. The American public university system was largely constructed through federal grants in the mid-19th century. Schools such as Ohio State University, the University of Illinois, Michigan State University and our own University of Nebraska-Lincoln were founded and built in the years between 1862 and 1890. It’s understandable that they’re all starting to seem a bit old and dusty by now. A combination of inevitable updates for functionality and the urge for architectural chest-pounding has precipitated a fresh round there. of renovations at UNL. Some academic proWith respect to specific renovation or buildgrams have outgrown their initial spaces. Some ing projects, this leads necessarily to a single buildings aren’t what they used to be. And some question relevant to every new idea: Will this projects are springing seemingly out of nowhere project help us graduate the most students who with the stated goal of driving recruitment. To had the best experiences with the least amount actively take part in shaping the future of UNL, of debt? we as students need to be able to tell the differIn 2014 alone, the university has taken on ence. We need to be well-informed participants more than $30 million in renovation and conin debates about the allocation of student fees struction. Over the next 15 years, another $100 and the advancement of proposals. Basically, we million has been approved by the Board of Reneed to decide, individually and as a student gents for new projects. That isn’t all-inclusive, body, what we want out of UNL as an institueither: The recent restructuring of the Hixsontion. Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts will I should note here that I’m an English major, definitely involve more development. a student first and foremost, an unathletic schlup That sounds like a lot, and, well, it is. Howand an off-campus resident for ever, the numbers alone don’t whom UNL consists mostly of make the case for frivolity. We need the grey classrooms of Andrews For example, April 2 marked Hall and the eclectically decothe completion of an $8 million to decide, rated Daily Nebraskan office in addition to the Ken Morrison the Nebraska Union basement. individually and Life Sciences Research Center. This isn’t to say I’m not involved as a student body, This new wing wasn’t built to at UNL – quite the opposite, reupdate an old building; the ally – but that my particular pri- what we want Morrison Center was only comorities will resonate through my pleted in 2008. The Morrison out of UNL as an writing. That aside, I’m going to Center grew by 50 percent this give the clearest picture I can of institution.” year because it was functioning, UNL as an institution. I’m not and functioning well. In 2009, disregarding investments in Methe National Institute of Health morial Stadium’s north stand because I’ve never committed to funding the 30,000 foot expansion had season tickets. I’m not calling for the Cam- due to the success of research at the Nebraska pus Recreation Center to close because I only go Center for Virology. there to play soccer once a month. Similarly, a significant chunk of university I will, though, advocate for the best possible money is as good as locked up for upcoming academic experience for anyone who sets foot construction in the College of Business Adminon UNL’s campuses, city or east. I don’t believe istration. Last September, NU Regents voted to in treating colleges as businesses or factories. approve the $84 million construction of a new UNL exists as a place of learning. If students en- home for the CBA, with the additional potenter at 18 or 19, graduate sometime in their 20s tial cost of $10 million for an adjacent parking in reasonable financial and emotional situations, garage. For anyone who has spent time in the find something they wanted to study, study it winding, impersonal and uncomfortably tan and master it, then the university is successful, hallways of CBA, this is likely welcome news. regardless of how much money it took to get us Sure, it’s a while off, but rebuilding CBA is the

benjamin cuRttright

kind of project that we as students should care about, and the university can only be better for improving its academic facilities. Can non-academic (or non-strictly-academic) renovations be just as imperative to the university’s continued success? To an extent, yes. But they can easily lose focus. Since the beginning, I’ve been conflicted about the renovation of the Nebraska Union and not because I have a deep devotion to vomitgreen tile. Maybe I just don’t see the drawbacks as strongly. Fundamental unfinishedness aside, the union looks better now than it did last year. But what does it do? What aspects of student life were improved by replacing tile with vinyl? The union renovations, plainly put, aren’t for us. The $2.1 million that used to be money (and is now a red floor stripe, a knocked-out wall in the Caffina Café and a bunch more Helvetica on the walls) was spent, not to help students at the university, but to draw students to the university. It’s a fundamentally different mission. Making changes at UNL to drive recruitment, which, according to director of Nebraska unions Charlie Francis, was the goal of the union project, instantly transforms the individual from student to consumer. It doesn’t mean that aesthetic investments are invalid – it means we need to take them with a grain of salt. I made a similar argument earlier this year in relation to the proposed renovations of Love Library. I firmly believe the library needs to be worked on. But I doubt that the proposed creation of a Library Commons in Love North will be in my interest or in the interest of your everyday library-goer. Currently, the basement stacks are cramped and full of books, but the main-floor study rooms are spacious and bookfree. Current plans call for more book-free study rooms and an in-library coffee shop. I can see the union from the library; why make the two identical in purpose? According to the university, it’s, again, to drive recruitment. Bringing more students to UNL and giving the current ones a better experience aren’t mutually exclusive goals. Many projects, such as the CBA reconstruction, can address both issues simultaneously. But it can be dangerously easy to forget about our primary goals. Public universities were built by government and private hands for the long-term benefit of students. We should be rebuilding them for the same reasons. Benjamin Curttright is a junior English major. Reach him for comments at opinion@ dailynebraskan.com

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monday, April 21, 2014

VIEWPOINTS

Arena will prove effective recruiting tool

n a tour of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s campus early in my high school career, one thing stood out to me as a prospective (though distant) student: Lincoln would be home to a brand-new arena that would serve as the home of the Husker basketball team and a host to major concerts. Though I was a few years away from attending college in Lincoln, that thought of a new arena stuck with me as I applied to colleges during my senior year. Lincoln’s Haymarket and Railyard districts have become a destination, anchored by the new Pinnacle Bank Arena. The arena, as well as the crop of businesses surrounding it, will prove to be one of the biggest recruitment tools the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will use to climb to 30,000 students by 2020. The state-of-the-art $179 million arena that holds more than 16,000 cheering Husker fans has already put the city and the university on the map. Acts such as Jason Aldean, P!NK and Jay Z draw the interest of many students, especially when the venue is just a short walk from campus. With performers such as Larry the Cable Guy and Zac Brown Band playing at PBA in the future, the shows the arena hosts will certainly catch the attention of prospective students. The acts and performances the arena hosts aren’t the only things that attract people to the Haymarket and the Railyard. New restaurants, bars and even an ice rink and 750-foot video screen make the Railyard an appealing place to go before a concert or Husker home game to get a bite to eat or to do some shopping. Anyone who’s been to the Railyard in the wintertime knows the view from the second floor balcony overlooking the ice rink is quite spectacular. After this season’s Minnesota game, I got to experience the Railyard for the first time. After eating and taking a quick walk around the block, I wish I had taken the time

travis eubanks

earlier in the year to see all that the Railyard and the Haymarket have to offer. With the weather headed in a warmer direction, I’ve had the chance to explore the area around the arena a little bit better. Coffee, food and shopping – three things vital to college students – were on hand along every block. Another thing I noticed aside from the food and shopping was the availability of housing geared toward students and young adults. In addition to the apartments and lofts in and around the Haymarket and the Railyard, the presence of the sports software company Hudl and architecture firm Sinclair Hille & Associates make Lincoln an attractive place to stay after graduation, something that prospective students consider when deciding on colleges. The Pinnacle Bank Arena also puts Nebraska on the same level as other Big Ten Conference schools with arenas that hold more than 19,000 fans. This level of competition could lead to increases in the number of out-of-state students attending the university. According to a press release from the university dated Sept. 9, 2013, the number of out-of-state students enrolled has increased for Illinois (28.4 percent), Minnesota (25 percent) and Wisconsin (39.1 percent). The Lincoln Journal Star reported in late March that the

Pinnacle Bank Arena posted nearly a $172,000 loss in January, which is five months into the city’s fiscal year. However, the same article also noted that city officials and arena managers believe the remainder of the events scheduled for the year will generate enough revenue to break even. The majority of the events that took place during the last five months were basketball games, which the arena makes little off of, according to the article. “It’s a new building, and we are learning what it takes to run it,” city finance director Steve Hubka said. It’s also important to note that the $172,000 loss represents about 1 percent of the city’s $15 million budget for the arena. In addition, it’s difficult for any business to turn a large profit during its first year. One way the university could really show off the new Pinnacle Bank Arena and the new development that surrounds it is to incorporate the area in tours for prospective students and parents alike. I know that the first time I saw the arena and the new additions to the Haymarket it felt like playing with a new toy – I couldn’t help but look around with a grin knowing that this would be here for me throughout my time at UNL. Through everything the Railyard, Haymarket and Pinnacle Bank Arena have to offer, Lincoln isn’t just a college town anymore. This new development not only attracts students to the university, but has something for anyone and everyone: antiques for my grandma, coffee for me and a Cher concert for my mother. Being comparable to other cities and venues that host Big Ten Conference schools is especially important if we want to reach the 2020 enrollment goal. If UNL and the city of Lincoln want to continue growing and attracting people from all walks of life, the arena and surrounding businesses will only help to do just that. Travis is a freshman advertising and public relations major. Reach him at opinion@ dailynebraskan.com.

Online classes lack community connection

magine a university without a campus. Imagine never having to wake up early or get dressed for class. Then imagine never crossing greenspace and running into your friends. Imagine never having fun stories about the weird jokes your professor makes or making light of the interesting habits he or she has. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln already offers a broad range of online classes. Students can enroll in them as easily as any other class and get as many credits for them as their in-person equivalents. Online classes are preferable if a student needs flexible scheduling or simply doesn’t want to get up to go to class. In UNL’s future we’ll likely see more online classes to meet the needs of its growing student population. More online coursework will shift the academic culture away from on-campus activity and a cohesive identity as a university student. In UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman’s 2013 State of the University Address, he said “online education should contribute to enrollment growth although the form it will take remains uncertain.” Chancellor Perlman said online classes allow for flexibility and increased teaching capacity but “do not contribute to our enrollment or revenue growth.” He suggested that his teams are exploring ways to better finance online courses and to eventually open the classes to non-UNL students. Online classes will inevitably be a part of UNL’s evolving academics. They’re popular enough, and each generation of students is only more technology savvy and willing to take courses online. I only took one online class in my undergraduate career. My adviser recommended it to me, and it was a topic I was interested in. I had never been fond of the idea of online classes, but I figured I should give it a try since they were so popular. While I typically

JANE SEU

thought of online classes as most suitable for introductory courses where acquiring of information was the goal, this class was actually at the 400 level. We had textbooks just like my other classes and assigned readings each week. We had to make use of the Blackboard online discussion board to discuss the readings. We wrote several short papers throughout the semester and submitted a larger research paper at the end of the term. I enjoyed the flexibility. In this particular class, I thought there was an appropriate balance of structure and freedom in completing the assignments. At the end of the term, I did feel like I had learned something. However, my friends have sometimes complained of their online classes having no structure or having instructions that were unclear. Their professor isn’t good at communicating online. They thought they would have less stress with the freedom of the online class, but their online classes became the biggest burden of their course load. For this reason, I generally don’t support online classes. I

think they’re vague and unnecessarily unforgiving when online communication or systems fail. Even though my experience in online classes was positive, I didn’t gain any intellectual benefits having taken it online. The flexibility wasn’t worth the lack of real engagement with what I was learning. I didn’t have to put a lot of critical thought into my work. I just had to complete the tasks whenever I could fit it in. Online classes build a different kind of student. In class, you have to participate and think on your feet, as do the professors. Maybe students loathe commuting to class, but that should be the whole point. Class is an important part of your day. Online classes make being a student an afterthought. Assignments naturally have a delay, where a student might send some work or questions to a professor and the professor won’t reply until much later. The engagement between student and professor is muted. However, the imperative for UNL to grow and offer more courses will push online courses to the forefront. In 10 years certain online courses may be required, or students will have to take online work from other universities through Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs. MOOCs allow for greater and faster sharing of information but it also softens the lines of campus identity. How much will students really consider themselves Huskers if half of their coursework is from other universities? This will have consequences that change the way a university student learns and grows. They may be more inclined to move off campus. Many students currently choose to move off campus because of the price of university housing or the desire to live with certain friends, but with more online work we lose the incentive to live on campus to be close to the university. Classes would be-

seu: see page 47

dailynebraskan.com

April 21, 2014

color

WHAT’S NEXT? It’s difficult to discern what the future holds for the University of NebraskaLincoln. A few different things could happen. UNL could reach 30,000 students and be ready. A degree from the university would mean more. We would establish a better reputation in the Big Ten. UNL could reach 30,000 students but not be prepared to handle the additional students, resulting in an ever-more-hectic race to build up services and infrastructure. Students would have to put up with overcrowded residence halls, lecture halls and parking lots. Administrators, faculty and staff could end up overwhelmed or even overworked. Or 2020 could come and go without the projected enrollment increase. Enrollment could decrease or just stay the same. UNL could fail to meet its goal. Whatever happens, keep your ears to the ground. When you decided to attend UNL, you signed on for a lifelong relationship with it and its reputation, as a student and, one day, an alumnus. The number 30,000 may or may not be the university’s future. And the university’s future matters to us all.

matt masin | dn

Brendon Henning gives parents and prospective students an hourlong tour of campus on April 18. Before the tour they got to enjoy a dining hall meal, interact with students over their lunches and test the food.

dailynebraskan.com

monday, April 21, 2014

crowded halls: from 32 Capacity was listed at 1,466. “It’s a challenge because there’s no place to go in terms of expanding existing sorority chapters and living units,” said Linda Schwartzkopf, director of Greek Affairs. “Everybody is very land locked. An opportunity for growth would come from being able to bring on additional sorority and fraternity chapters. But in order to do that, it would be necessary to designate some land for future Greek expansion.” Although chapters aren’t required to have houses, the residential living piece is a big part of the tradition at UNL as well as a key attraction for future members. Sororities in particular are lacking in housing right now, Schwartzkopf said. “Way back when – when the first fraternity living unit was actually established, before the university provided housing for any student – fraternity chapters were built and established with the idea that they’d house student for all four years,” Schwartzkopf said. “When residence halls came about, they were for women only. There were other options for women when sororities came about. Chapter houses just don’t hold as many because of that difference.” Because of that dilemma, some Greek communities such as Alpha Delta Pi, currently located on 17th and G streets at the Atwood house, have chosen to move off campus. “The chapters that have elected to go off campus are chapters that did not have any living units,” Schwartzkopf said. “They didn’t see anything opening up on campus anytime soon – they decided that they needed some kind of community gathering place and that moving off campus was a good alternative to not having any kind of residential facility.” But chapters that move off campus are not recognized as university-approved housing, which means first year students can’t live at the house. Most sororities that have university-approved housing don’t have first year students living in them because of a lack of space, Schwartzkopf said. “(UNL reaching 30,000 students) will definitely cause challenges and cause Greek chapters to reevaluate what it menas to be a member - how you can keep members engaged when they are no longer living together,” Schwartzkopf said. Currently, each sorority has a campus total of 140 members. Once that number is reached, the sororities have to wait until the next formal recruitment to recruit anyone else. Fraternities do not have a campus total. Schwartzkopf said the Greek community would be able to adapt to 30,000 students by either allowing more chapters to have larger memberships or by participating in expansion, which would involve inviting sororities and fraternities that aren’t currently on campus to come visit. Despite the challenges, Gildersleeve said she feels good about the future. “I don’t think there’s any question that it’s been a very good thing for us to have these goals because it’s caused us to think about why we do things and how we do things …” she said. “It’s definitely been a challenge, but I think, in my view, it was a wonderful thing to have set before us and has a lot of positives in terms of what we can do for students here at UNL.” NEWS@ DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM

moving out: from 33 conversations she has had with them they’ve had no desire to offer belowmarket rates with these most recent units.

north bottoms neighborhood

courtney cain | dn

Freshmen Grant Buchanan and Christian Straussner do homework in Buchanan’s room at the Delta Tau Delta house. Buchanan shares his room with four other members of the fraternity.

courtney cain | dn

Sophomores Alex Bruening, August Wagner and Easton Jacobsen study in Jacobsen’s room at the Phi Gamma Delta house. Jacobsen has one roommate in his sleeping room.

Other off-campus housing options farther from campus include The View and Claremont Park Apartments, both located north of Memorial Stadium near the North Bottoms neighborhood. The View, like Parkhaus, offers individual liability leasing and a 24-hour fitness center, but rent per person ranges from $344 to $464. The View also offers a number of amenities that Parkhaus does not such as a swimming pool, basketball court, sand volleyball and free tanning. Another special amenity The View offers is a 24-hour business center “All they have to do is supply paper,” Brown said. “I know printing can be expensive — you can go to Wal-Mart and buy paper for less than $8. I’ve seen people print off textbooks, and we don’t care. That’s what it’s there for — take advantage of it. Print off all your papers and your coursework for the entire year.” However, The View is not within walking distance from campus. To get to campus, residents have to rely on a shuttle. The shuttle is free and runs year round. It runs from 7 a.m. until 5:15 p.m. and although it doesn’t travel to East Campus, it drops off residents where several city buses pick up students and take them to East Campus, Brown said. Claremont Park Apartments are another less expensive option for students — although they aren’t downtown, they’re located only four blocks from campus. Community assistant at Claremont Park Apartments Martha Henso estimated it only takes about 10 minutes to walk to the stadium and about 15 or 20 minutes to get to the Nebraska Union. Rent at Claremont ranges from $615 for a one-bedroom apartment to between $440 to $300 per person depending on the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Unlike Parkhaus and The View, however, Claremont does not offer liability leasing. “I think (rent is more expensive elsewhere) because we’re already built — a lot of these places are newer,” Henso said. “We understand that students have to pay their own rent.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

here to serve: from 32 ter said. These buses follow behind the buses on the StarTran schedule, providing additional capacity to serve both campuses.

University dining services

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln spends about $8 million a year to offer food to students who are registered with a meal plan, said Pam Edwards, assistant director of UNL Dining Services. Each academic year, about 5,500 students order a meal plan. Although Edwards said Dining Services could accommodate an enrollment of 30,000 students by 2020 with its five dining centers, she couldn’t speculate where another dining center could be added on campus if the need arose. She also said she’s unsure what the cost

of offering food to students would be to the university or its students in six years. “I really don’t know right now,” Edwards said. “We could do it, but it’d be a challenge.” The UNL Master Plan, prepared by planning and design firm Sasaki Associates last year, says that a proposed dining hall and recreational facility could replace CPN Dining Hall. It would be designed so that the 17th Street entrance connects to an outdoor dining plaza with a series of eating options, special paving and lighting. The plan also says that the dining area in the East Campus Union could be expanded with a series of outdoor terraces. If an increased enrollment were to bring more students to the dining halls, Edwards

said Dining Services might need to reevaluate how it serves students based on demand. For example, Edwards said one option could be extending dining service hours. Most dining services open at about 6:45 a.m. and close by about 8:30 p.m.

infrastructure

Several buildings at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are in need of renovation, according to the UNL Master Plan. And that need will become greater if enrollment grows to 30,000 by 2020. City Campus and East Campus have a total of about 300,000 square feet in classroom space, according to the master plan. Additionally, City Campus has about 180,000 square feet

of teaching labs, while East Campus has 50,000 square feet. A qualitative review of the university’s learning spaces concluded that its classrooms and labs need updating. Buildings such as Oldfather Hall, Nebraska Hall, Burnett Hall, Westbook Music Building and Henzlik Hall are examples of dated buildings that could use new design concepts to meet the needs of students and educators today, the plan said. Examples of what could match today’s teaching and learning styles, according to the include: flexible furniture and spaces that enhance group learning and collaboration, updated flooring finishes, better lighting and more technology. NEWS@ DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM

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monday, April 21, 2014

online: from 21

seu: from 43

tion provides an appealing higher good,” Schroeder said. “Certainly at state universities like Nebraska, the education opportunity to prospecrevenue of the state is tive students unable not going up rapidly to take courses in a How do and it’s really a chalclassroom setting. you teach lenge to make ends For MOOCs, on the meet. So part of the other hand, the uni- a course to an challenge is to learn versity actually has how we do these in to pay for the pro- audience that a cost-effective way duction of the online ranges from a that serves the unilectures and course versity.” material offered by 14-year-old to The most evident major MOOC proadvantage of creatviders – companies a 70-year-old ing MOOCs is good such as Coursera, famous author?” press for the univerUdacity and edX – sities and programs with no clear return ray schroeder that produce the on revenue. associate vice chancellor for courses. Both Schro“We have yet to online learning, university of illinois springfield eder and Niemiec see how (MOOCs) said often individuare financially susals who take a unitainable, and at this versity’s free MOOC point, it’s a labor of faith on the part of institutions for online will later pursue a formal education at the institution if imthe sake of serving the greater public

pressed by a professor or course. “It’s a less quantifiable advantage, but MOOCs provide exposure and demonstration of quality,” Schroeder said. “In many ways, that’s more effective advertising than paying for a TV spot surrounding a Big Ten football game.” Schroeder said qualms in academia with the implementation of MOOCs are similar to those concerns voiced when traditional online classes were first introduced in the mid ’90s. “These kinds of projects are always seen as threatening,” Schroeder said. “They said online courses wouldn’t be of the same quality, and students can’t learn that way. People say that now of MOOCs, and maybe that’s true. Only time will tell. But technology is changing the field, and we have to change with it.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

come a temporary existence, not an academic lifestyle for students. Living on campus gives students more of an opportunity to meet new people and go to university sponsored events. A commuter campus environment makes the university feel like a temporary place where meetings are as brief and minimal as possible. Of course it’s possible that the university will appropriately adapt. UNL could also innovate ways to keep their students engaged and make academics relevant in its movement toward online classes. We may integrate hybrid courses, those that are taught part time online and part-time in class lecture, to incor-

porate online conveniences without losing out on traditional academic methods. While online courses are going to be a part of our future, we need to consider what else is at stake. Administrators will spend a lot of energy and money on successfully integrating them into our academia. What they’re really doing is changing academia and the student experience entirely – and they must live with these consequences. Jane Seu is a senior political science major. Follow her on Twitter @ jane_seu. reach her at opinion@ dailynebraskan. com

veterans: from 23 coming years, as the university is looking to attract military students and boost enrollment numbers. And it’s more than the bill that would convince students to come – and stay – at UNL. The services available to military students on campus could, too. UNL’s participation in the Yellow Ribbon program, which helps students cover educational costs not covered by the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, as well as the Student Veterans Task Force may be a draw to military members looking at higher education options. UNL has also started offering military students ACE 8 or 9 credit for their military experience. This program demonstrates that the university understands and values the skills they bring to the state. The Student Veterans Task

Force hopes to bolster the university’s reputation as a military-friendly school as it continues to compete for military students with other schools in the state. The University of Nebraska at Omaha – due in part to its proximity to Offutt Air Force Base – has 642 military students. Attracting and retaining military students has been a priority for UNO, and it’s the second-ranked Best for Vets school, according to the Military Times’ 2014 list. The Office of Military and Veteran Services at UNO is a model UNL hopes to adopt. Though Crawford said she expects LB740 will bring more veterans to the state, it’s hard to say what campus those veterans will be drawn to, she said. UNL’s military student recruitment will depend on demonstrating

that the military-friendly label is well-deserved and the commitment to expanding services is ongoing. Dearie said he hopes that outof-state military students see what Nebraska has to offer. In coming to the state, he said he had no idea he would get the help and support he has received. If the financial aid programs and the reach of LB740 are promoted, he predicts more students would pay attention to universities in the state. “I think the bill could really make more students consider Nebraska,” he said. “For monetary value, it’s incredible how much financial help is here. It’s a great opportunity to be able to serve and go to school.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

retention: from 12 ics, but some students do. Those struggles are another reason for lack of retention. Goodburn said the university keeps students on track through a variety of methods, including the First Year & Transition Experience Programs. Heather Ockenfels, director of the First Year & Transition Experience Programs at UNL, said freshman students often struggle with study and time management habits. “They learn that what they did in high school doesn’t work in college,” Ockenfels said. The infant program pays special attention to those students who are on academic probation, as does the new Academic Probation Program that requires students to attend intake sessions and meet with recovery coaches. Goodburn said the university also wants to put more of a focus on being welcoming to all cultures on campus. Graduation rates are slightly higher for white students than they are for minority students, Goodburn said. But in Goodburn’s book, increased retention rates mean more than just a number. “We want all students to be able to find a home here,” she said. news@ dailynebraskan.com

WORKING TO MEET THE WORLD’S GROWING FOOD NEEDS

A CONVERSATION WITH

HEUERMANN LECTURES Streamed live at heuermannlectures.unl.edu

THE ROLE OF WATER AND FOOD SECURITY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD SURVIVAL AND DEVELOPMENT: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

3:00 P.M. TUESDAY, APRIL 22 2:30 P.M. RECEPTION

DR. CHRIS ELIAS President, Global Development Program, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

DR. JOAN LOMBARDI Former Deputy Assistant Secretary and Inter-departmental Liaison, Early Childhood Education, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services

DR. NURPER ULKUER Former Head, Early Childhood Development Unit, Senior Adviser, Early Childhood Development, UNICEF

Anyone who requires reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact Judy Nelson at 402-472-3031, or jnelson5@unl.edu, two weeks prior to the event. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is an equal opportunity educator and employer.

PANEL MODERATORS: DR. MARJORIE KOSTELNIK, DEAN, UNL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN SCIENCES; DR. HELEN RAIKES, WILLA CATHER PROFESSOR, UNL DEPT. OF CHILD, YOUTH AND FAMILY STUDIES

48 monday, April 21, 2014

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Duplexes For Rent $975/mo, 3923 North 8th. 3/br, 3/ba., 2 car attached garage, W/D, N/P, N/S Available June 1st. Call: 237-8369 (402) www.webwinters.com

Roommates 2 open rooms for 1 or 2 female roommates for the summer or next school year. The house is a few minutes from city and east campus, rent $285 plus utilities. Please contact Danielle or Courtney at 217.779.9127 Main level of house 10 mins. east of East Campus. Your 925sf includes 2/bds with full-sized closets and new carpet, 1/ba, lvg/dng rm, kit., plus full-sized closet in hall. Only the kit. and laundry are shared (I live separately downstairs with my own entrance). $700 +1/2 elec. and gas. Includes cable, internet, laundry and yard care. N/S, N/P 402-472-7556 Roommate ads are FREE in print and online. E-mail yours to dn@unl.edu and include your name, address and phone number. Roommate needed. Doesn’t matter whether you are female or male; I’ve lived with both (I am female). Prefer at least 30. Close to campus by car or bike; close to parks and highways. 402-770-6818

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The Daily Nebraskan is seeking an Account Executive to join their Advertising team. Gain hands-on experience that will give you real world experience in the Advertising field. This is a comission base with added bonuses. Fun team-based enviroment. 10-15 hour work weeks, orgnizational skills, and self-motivating requirement. Experience in Adobe Creative Suites a plus. Training available. All interested can apply online at dailynebraskan.com or in-person at 20 NE Union 1400 R St.

Dowtown 14th & P st. Newly renovated apts. Available August 1st. Call for rates and details, 402-477-4663

MacPractice, a growing software company located in the Haymarket, is hiring for part time software support positions. Perks include a casual work environment, on site fitness center, and flexible schedule between the hours of 8 am - 5 pm Mon-Fri. Must have excellent customer service skills; previous troubleshooting and Mac experience is helpful. Please send resume to: resume@macpractice.com. Join the CenterPointe Team! Part-time positions available in residential program working with substance abuse/mental health clients in a unique environment. Must be at least 21 years of age and be willing to work a varied schedule including overnights and weekends. Pay differential for overnight hours. For more information visit: www.centerpointe.org.

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liver Daily Nebraskans on Monday and Thursday mornings. You can deliver a route in about an hour. Must have own vehicle, ability to lift and carry 30 lbs, be a UNL student and not have classes before 9:00 a.m. For more information or to apply, contact Dan at 402-472-1769, 20 Nebraska Union. dshattil@unl.edu.

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The Daily Nebraskan Advertising Staff is looking for an experienced Graphic Designer to Summer Housing Opportunity for all UNL add to their staff. Must have prior experience, Women. Alpha Delta Pi has open rooms for and expertise in the Adobe Creative Suites at their new Chapter House (1645 St.). The Newrent York Times Syndication SalesR Corporation (Photoshop, InDesign, etc.) Weekly logged The rooms will just have been redone. The rent hours, orgnization, and creativity a must. Begin 620will Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 be $100 weekly with all utilities included on comission and will be promoted to and access to the kitchen. For more informaFor Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 part-time comission beginning Fall 2014. Apply tion contact Alyssa as soon as possible For Release Wednesday, February 20,at2013 online at dailynebraskan.com or in-person at alyssa.2009@hotmail.com. our office located at 20 NE Union, 1400 R St.

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THE WATERING HOLE IS LOOKING FOR AN AWESOME LINE COOK!.

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Misc. Services Edited by Will Shortz

Crossword ACROSS

1 [5]

5 [1] 10 13 14 15 16 17

19 21 22 23 27 28

31 32

Word on either side of “à” Sporty auto, for short Call to mind Asteroid area Stand up to In an intellectual manner Pointy-eared TV character [25] Polished off Couldn’t help but Feudal lord With 49- and 69-Across, a hint to the meanings of the bracketed clues [10] Spoken for

37 39 42 44 48 49 51 53 54 55 57 59

63 65 66

Climber’s goal Giga- follower Creator of Oz King of tragedy Dud’s sound Caramel-filled candy Prom, e.g. Cyberaddress See 28-Across [30] Combine name Free pass, of sorts Some locker room art Garden pest genus Ones whipping things up in the kitchen? Sci. branch He and she Like some checking accounts

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE B U N T S W H E L P C D R

A L O H A

I N R E D

T A M P A M D I A H I N U E V O R R A B A S L I N T C A U R I B U D E E E L

I N S P I R E A S H G R A Y

C O H E R E R O I H E R A

A U E R

N S E C

$9.00/15 words $5/15 words (students) $1.00/line headline $0.15 each additional word Deadline: 4p.m., weekday prior

T H O O E O R S T N I T H A S E E T H N I C T R O U T E O A S A V O D P A T E L F I N E R S T A N T O T T R A T U N A W A R I C E A B L E A S I B E R N S F I S

K O S C S I N Y T E E T H

67 68 69 70

Sportsmanship Award org. Bourbon and Beale: Abbr. See 28-Across [50]

DOWN 1 Crumple 2 Faux

(up)

fat 3 Like late-night commuter trains 4 Harry Belafonte catchword 5 Eat like a bird 6 Alternative to Ct. or La. 7 ___ favor 8 Squeeze (out) 9 Gen. Beauregard’s men 10 Soft and smooth 11 Dishonest, informally 12 Compound in disposable coffee cups 15 “South Pacific” setting 18 Small brook 20 [20] 22 Court fig. 24 [60] 25 Do better than 26 Bob Marley classic 29 Red ink 30 Let go 34 Support providers 36 Barista’s container

33 35

27 30

17 19

No. 0116

57 60

Puzzle by MICHAEL DAVID

Seller of TV spots

Fig Newtons maker

Turned state’s evidence

Some children’s show characters

[15]

Check out

Pal around (with)

Rig contents

Mont Blanc, par exemple

Parisian pronoun

Projecting wheel rims

Clears the board

Gee preceder

Links concern

[40]

Emeritus: Abbr.

“Awesome!”

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Help Wanted Morning Greeter Mon-Fri 8:30-12:30, Sat 8:30-12:00. Location at 4638 W St. Basic clerical skills required. Email resumes to msailors@linconefcu.org. Tractor Suupply Company is seeking experienced Material Handlers for our Waverly Distribution Center.2nd and 3rd shift starting wage: $12.10/hr.The qualified individuals will have experience with Order Selection, Receiving, and/or Shipping; as well as stand up forklift or electric pallet jack experience .If you are interested please apply online at:www.tractorsupply.jobs Selected Candidates will submit to a drug test and criminal background check to qualify.

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Part Time Teller positions available at West Gate Bank. Multiple shifts and locations. Visit westgatebank.com/careers.aspx Vincenzo’s Restaurante now hiring evening hosts, servers, bartender, and dishwasher. Apply in person 808 P st. Mon-Fri. 9-11AM and 2-4PM We are currently seeking part-time and full time employees for our remediation crews. Need to have a valid drivers license, be detail oriented, and on time. Construction background helpful. Contact Dave at 402-474-6653.

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