UNO Division of Student Affairs 2013 Annual Report

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA

DIVISION OF STUDENT AFFAIRS

2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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Student Affairs | 2013 Annual Report

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

GREETINGS FROM THE ASSOCIATE VICE CHANCELLOR

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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LEADERSHIP TEAM MEMBERS & STAFF

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WHO WE ARE | VALUES, VISION, & MISSION

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REORGANIZATION | ENHANCING COLLABORATION

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WELLNESS SUBDIVISION 12

A Renewed Focus

13 8 Dimensions of Wellness 14 Mental Health Needs on the Rise 15

A New Center for Wellness

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Behavioral Review Team

16 UNO Green Dot Education

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Supporting Student Health

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Campus Recreation Facilities & Services

INCLUSION SUBDIVISION 20 Program Highlights 22 Summer Scholar Success 22 Successfully Serving Military & Veteran Students

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INVOLVEMENT SUBDIVISION 26 Student Community Service 27 Living and Learning On Campus 28 Student Life Activities and Programs

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ACHIEVEMENT SUBDIVISION 32 Academic and Career Development Center

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Student Affairs | 2013 Annual Report

CLOSING REMARKS | LEANING IN

GREETINGS From Associate Vice Chancellor Shipp The theme of this year’s Student Affairs Annual Report must surely revolve around the topic of change. However, as we all know, change can be a subject that blurs eyes and stirs up bad memories of exhausting institutional initiatives. So, rather than discuss “that kind of change,” I’d like to reframe the discussion of this year’s annual report around a “cultural shift” that is occurring in Student Affairs that is both inspired by, and focused squarely on, student success at UNO. During the fall 2012 semester, I began an intentional listening campaign that engaged our students, staff, and faculty in an open conversation about the past, present, and future of Student Affairs at UNO. In particular, I met with a representative sample of undergraduate and graduate students (17 focus groups), each Student Affairs department, academic leaders, a variety of senior and junior faculty members, and representatives from the Omaha community. As intended, these conversations were helpful in creating a unique, divisional roadmap that will guide our efforts in supporting a diverse, growing, and thriving university community.

I think Sheryl Sandberg’s notion of “leaning in,” can best describe the type of shifting that is currently taking place in our division. Staff members have been encouraged to work together and share in new and different ways, both inside and outside of Student Affairs, to reconsider and realign our Division’s programs and services around institutional priorities. This work is ongoing and far from complete.

Moreover, until every student graduates and leaves our campus with the skills and competencies necessary to thrive and live a successful life, our work will remain unfinished. However, I am happy to report that our division did make significant progress over the course of the last academic year and there are a number of past-year highlights and future-leaning initiatives that I am proud to share with you on their behalf in this annual report.

Dan Shipp

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS So much gratitude This August marks my first year back in Omaha as the new Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at UNO. At times it has felt like I’m learning a whole new language in a completely new country. Please no more acronyms UNO! However, it has been both rewarding and fun to work in a city and state, and on a campus, that genuinely means something to me on a personal level. Any success that is represented in the following pages is due primarily to the leaders and doers in Student Affairs that work tirelessly to support our students, faculty, and staff. I would like to take a moment to extend my personal thanks to the core members of the Student Affairs Leadership Team, whom I’ve come to count on and trust over the past 12 months:

James Freeman Senior Director of Inclusion and Director of Multicultural Affairs Jessica Wolff Director of Academic and Career Advising Dan Blanke Director of the School of HPER Joe Kaminski Senior Director of Wellness and Director of Campus Recreation Cathy Pettid Behavioral Response Team Co-Chair and Director of Counseling Bill Pickett Senior Director of Involvement and Director of Housing Kathe Lyons Assistant to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Civic and Social Responsibility Rita Henry Assistant to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Special Projects Lisa Paskewitz Thank you for her kind and caring support over the past year

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Student Affairs | 2013 Annual Report

LEADERSHIP DSA Team Senior Directors ASSOCIATE VICE CHANCELLOR (AVC) FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS Dr. Daniel J. Shipp

INCLUSION James Freeman, Senior Director Multicultural Affairs MaV USO Disability Services Women, Native, Latino Programs LGBTQ Programs WELLNESS Joe Kaminski, Senior Director Health Services Counseling Center Campus Recreation

INVOLVEMENT Bill Pickett, Senior Director University Housing Student Life and Leadership Development

ACHIEVEMENT Jessica Wolff, Senior Director Academic and Career Development Center First Year Experience seminar Retention programs Student Code of Conduct

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LEADERSHIP DSA Team Staff Members Cathy Pettid Director of Counseling and Co-chair of the Behavioral Review Team

Rita Henry Assistant Vice Chancellor for Special Projects

Kristina Juarez Director of Student Life and Leadership Development

Dr. Kathe Oelson-Lyons Office of Civic and Social Responsibility

Kathy Krause Business Manager for Office of Academic and Student Affairs

Raechel Meyer Administrative Support | Graphic Design & AVC Assistant

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STUDENT AFFAIRS | 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

WHO WE ARE Values, vision, and mission statements Our shared values We commit to supporting student success by developing a vibrant campus culture that values inclusion, wellness, achievement, and involvement.

Our shared vision Ensure that each student completes his or her education with the skills and competencies necessary to live a healthy life and affect positive change in their community.

Our shared mission The purpose of the Division of Student Affairs is to foster student success by partnering with faculty and others to provide exceptional service, support, and learning opportunities for our students. This shared mission helps us to transcend our individual roles and department functions and unifies us as a division.

We realize our mission by‌

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Collaborating with students, faculty, staff, and community partners to educate the whole student;

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Creating living, learning, and working environments that encourage our students and staff to reach their potential and discover their unique purpose;

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Being concerned with the current and future well-being of our students, faculty, and staff;

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Encouraging the expression, understanding of, and respect for differences within and beyond our university community;

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Providing students and staff with real world experiences that foster civic and social responsibility;

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Growing a culture of evidence that supports ongoing inquiry and innovation;

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Viewing leadership as a collaborative process, not a position;

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Modeling ethical decision-making;

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Celebrating our community accomplishments and;

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Being kind, competent, and generally fun to be around.

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REORGANIZATION Enhancing Collaboration After completing a limited review of Student Affairs in the fall semester, a new organizational structure was created with the intent of enhancing collaboration among units both inside and outside the division.

Departments and offices with similar responsibilities were reorganized into four distinct subdivisions in an effort to better support student success and contribute to the institution’s stated priority of providing a studentcentered education. The four subdivisions include achievement, inclusion, involvement, and wellness (see Figure 1).

In addition to this divisional realignment, a leadership team of senior directors was selected from existing staff to supervise the various subdivisions. The leadership team members selected to represent the various subdivisions include: Joe Kaminski (Senior Director for Wellness), James Freeman (Senior Director for Inclusion), Bill Pickett (Senior Director for Involvement), and Jessica Wolff (Senior Director for Achievement).

UPDATED | 08.09.2013

WOMEN | LATINO | NATIVE PROGRAMS

OFFICE OF MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

MAVUSO

CIVIC & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Kathleen Lyons klyons@unomaha.edu

DISABILITY SERVICES

LGBTQIA PROGRAMS

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Kathy Krause kkrause@unomaha.edu

SENIOR DIRECTOR INCLUSION James Freeman jfreeman@unomaha.edu

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE Craig Adler cadler@unomaha.edu

STUDENT CONDUCT

COUNSELING SERVICES

ASSOCIATE VICE CHANCELLOR STUDENT AFFAIRS Dr. Daniel Shipp dshipp@unomaha.edu

SENIOR DIRECTOR ACHIEVEMENT Jessica Wolff jwolff@unomaha.edu

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

RETENTION PROGRAMS

HEALTH SERVICES

CAMPUS RECREATION

ONCAMPUS HOUSING & RESIDENTIAL LIFE

UNIVERSITY VILLAGE

SCOTT HALL

MAVERICK VILLAGE

SCOTT COURT

SCOTT VILLAGE

Student Affairs | 2013 Annual Report

SENIOR DIRECTOR WELLNESS Joe Kaminski jkaminski@unomaha.edu

ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT Graphic Design | AVC Assistant Raechel Meyer rameyer@unomaha.edu

SENIOR DIRECTOR INVOLVEMENT Bill Pickett wpickett@unomaha.edu

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SPECIAL PROJECTS | POLICY Rita Henry rhenry@unomaha.edu

STUDENT LIFE & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Director Kristina Juarez kmjuarez@unomaha.edu

MAVERICK PRODUCTIONS

GREEK PROGRAMS

CLUBS & ORGANIZATIONS

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

NEW STUDENT & FAMILY PROGRAMS

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WELLNESS SUBDIVISON

You can’t make positive choices for the rest of your life without an environment that makes those choices easy, natural, and enjoyable.”

-Deepak Chopra, MD 11

STUDENT AFFAIRS | 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

WELLNESS A Renewed Focus The staff members within the newly created Wellness Subdivision (i.e.

Health Services, Counseling Center, and Campus Recreation) are leading a renewed effort to help UNO students consider what it means to live a healthy life across eight dimensions of wellness. A core group of faculty and staff, including Joe Kaminski, Marcia Adler, Dan Blanke, and Jeanne Surface, is in the early stages of drafting an institutional wellness strategy that will identify current successful, campus-based, programs and practices, and develop a framework for launching and coordinating future wellness education initiatives at UNO. Over two decades ago, Hettler (1984) and others (e.g. DeStaphano & Harger, 1990) recommended the establishment of campus wellness programs as a preferred method of supporting the academic and personal success of the whole student. Since these initial recommendations were made, multiple studies have provided evidence that support the long-term value of these programs, both as curricular and co-curricular experiences, in diverse areas such as stress management, social and emotional competencies (Goleman, 1995), nutrition (Koehler & Burke, 1996), and career development (Vecchione, 2000).

Most recently, researchers like Myers and Mobley (2004) have examined specific dimensions of student wellness (e.g. intellectual, social, emotional, physical, spiritual, environmental, and occupational). Their findings have indicated that in general, college students experience lower wellness than non-student adults and that traditional- and nontraditional-age college students only differ slightly on a few aspects of wellness. Such findings are valuable in considering both the need and purpose for developing campus wellness programs as a means to promote greater student wellness and success throughout the college experience. In addition, wellness choices have been found to have holistic and lifelong effects (Myers et al., 2000).

Thus, it is reasonable to expect that a focus on the development of wellness behaviors during college can lead to healthier functioning both during school and throughout one’s life.

Findings, like those identified above, provide strong support for focusing institutional attention on the development of broad-based preventive and wellness interventions on college campuses. These include both traditional and nontraditional students, especially those who identify as ethnic minorities. Given UNO’s identified enrollment goal to reach 20,000 students by 2020, and its metropolitan demographic profile, it makes solid strategic sense to develop an integrated, holistic wellness program that intentionally links curricular and co-curricular learning experiences for all students. In the long run, if the strategy is successful, institutional graduation rates may improve as UNO students develop healthier behaviors and habits.

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WELLNESS 8 Dimensions Identified Emotional coping effectively with life and creating satisfying relationships

Environmental good health by occupying pleasant, stimulating environments

Financial satisfaction with current and future financial situations

Intellectual recognizing creative abilities and expanding on skills

Occupational personal satisfaction and enrichment from one’s work

Physical recognizing the need for sleep, activity, and healthy foods

Social developing a sense of connection, belonging and support

Spiritual expanding our sense of purpose and meaning in life

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Student Affairs | 2013 Annual Report

WELLNESS Mental Health Needs on the Rise In the 2012-2013 academic year, UNO’s Counseling Center experienced a significant increase in all mental health counseling appointments including, most notably, a nearly 30% increase in first-time appointments to the Counseling Center (intakes) and a 51% increase in emergency consults (see Figure 2). The majority of emergency consults were provided to faculty and staff expressing concern about the well-being and/or behavior of a student. The Counseling Center also experienced a 21% increase in walkin emergencies (students, faculty, or staff requiring immediate counseling assistance) and through the Counseling Center’s 24-hour on-call mental health service, approximately 25 calls were handled after regular business hours or on weekends.

FIGURE 2 APPOINTMENT

2011-2012

2012-2013

INCREASE

Intakes

297

385

+ 29.6%

Personal Counseling

1069

1294

+ 21%

Walk-in Emergencies

66

80

+ 21.2%

ER Consults

99

150

+ 51.5%

UNO’s increased counseling demands are consistent with national trends which include significant increases in crisis issues requiring immediate response and increases in students arriving on campus with pre-existing psychiatric conditions and already on psychotropic medication. A failure to address this growing demand for mental health services could potentially have a negative impact on UNO’s goals of improving student retention and completion outcomes for students.

In response to the growing demand for mental health services at UNO, the Counseling Center is in the process of adding an additional full-time professional counselor in the 2013-2014 academic year. Approximately 30% of this full-time position will be dedicated to the mental health and wellness needs of the nearly 2,100 members of UNO’s residential community.

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WELLNESS A New Center for Wellness In the fall of 2013, the UNO Counseling Center will move from its current location in the Eppley Administration Building to its new location in the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER) building, immediately adjacent to Health Services on the first floor. The addition of Counseling Services in HPER is in direct response to student voices and their desire for a “one-stop” shop for wellness services and support programs. As a result, the School of HPER, Campus Recreation and Injury Prevention, and Counseling and Health Services, will, for the first time, be located under the same roof! UNO’s beautiful new HPER facility will serve as a complete wellness solution for students, faculty, and staff. The establishment of a onestop Wellness Center will be yet another example of UNO’s commitment to creating a high quality, student-centered educational environment.

Behavioral Review Team Established

A website has been created and will be activated and promoted in the upcoming fall semester to allow concerned faculty, staff, and students to safely report incidents online.

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STUDENT AFFAIRS | 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

Also, over the course of the past year, the Director of Counseling Services, Cathy Pettid, along with Dr. Rita Henry and Paul Kosel, worked to establish and formalize a critical UNO resource team for faculty, staff, and students— the Behavioral Review Team (BRT). The mission of the BRT is to address concerns related to the health and safety of the campus community by coordinating information and resources, exploring resolution options and strategies, and developing support plans as needed. The BRT will regularly review situations and recommend actions in accordance with existing university policies and procedures.

WELLNESS Green Dot Education Power-Based Personal Violence Prevention The Counseling Center staff, led by Cathy Pettid, provided critical leadership to the campus Green Dot initiative, a power-based violence prevention program that is the result of a three-year grant partnership with Alegent Health and the Women’s Center for Advancement. Power based personal violence occurs when a person uses power, control, threats, intimidation, or harassment as a way to harm someone, and includes sexual violence, partner violence, and stalking. Institutions not only have a renewed requirement to improve reporting procedures, (i.e. reauthorized Campus SaVE Act requirements), but also an expanded obligation to provide violence prevention and awareness programs for all incoming students and new employees.

The Voices Against Violence Coalition that is co-chaired by Nicole Naatz provided support and leadership to this important work by studying the issue of power-based violence on the UNO campus and provided key recommendations for future action. The Coalition collected data from a survey conducted with UNO students in the fall of 2011 to assess the incidence of power based personal violence.

A total of 829 students participated in the survey. Of those, 34.3% experienced sexual assault before becoming a student at UNO, while 13.8% experienced sexual assault after becoming a student at UNO. Further, 60.5% experienced intimate partner violence before becoming a student at UNO, while 34.9% experienced intimate partner violence after becoming a student at UNO. Over half of participants (53.2%) experienced stalking before becoming a student at UNO, and 28.1% experienced stalking after becoming a student at UNO. The data collected from this assessment study supports the fact that a significant number of students at UNO have been affected by power based personal violence.

These results and expanded federal requirements make the current Green Dot initiative even more valuable in creating a culture of respect and support among UNO students.

In a ddition to Green Dot, the Counseling Center provided over 150 educational outreach programs to the university community in 2012-13.

One of the most important programs offered through the Counseling Center is the Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention Workshop. Over the course of the past year, their staff has facilitated 15, 3-hour workshops for a variety of academic and Student Affairs departments.

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WELLNESS Supporting Student Health In 2012-13, Health Services continued to expand its service and support of students, faculty, and staff. The growth in student visits to Health Services continued to increase in its new location on the first floor of the HPER building.

STUDENT VISITS

2011-2012

2012-2013

INCREASE

MD Visits

2,136

2,581

21%

Nurse Visits

3,537

3,839

8.5%

Total Visits

5,673

6,420

13%

The Health Services staff continued to play a critical leadership role in promoting health and wellness throughout campus by facilitating a series of educational outreach programs and hosting several campus-wide wellness events. Program highlights include: ongoing alcohol education classes and counseling sessions, women’s health and diversity programs, and hosting the annual Health & Wellness Fair in November, which involved a record number of participants (1,000 student, faculty, and staff participants) and vendors (over 70 vendors). In addition, Health Services staff also collaborated with faculty and staff at UNMC and area high schools (Omaha Northwest and South) to plan and host health and wellness programs on their campuses.

Campus Recreation Facilities & Services UNO’s recreation facilities served record numbers of students, faculty, staff, and community members in 2012-13 (refer to Figure 6). Participation in recreation programs and utilization of injury prevention services also continued to grow. For example, the Injury, Prevention, and Care program recorded over 6,000 visits by students, faculty, and staff during the past academic year. This is up by over 600 visits compared to the previous academic year (2011-12), representing nearly a 10% increase in service utilizations. In contrast, the intramural sports staff faced a frustrating year due to the construction on the soccer pitch and an unseasonably wet spring.

These two issues combined to force a number of unfortunate league and tournament cancellations. It is anticipated that the completion of the soccer pitch in the fall of 2013 will allow the intramural sports program to get back on track and return to its tradition of increasing student participation.

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EMPLOYER GUIDE BOOK

FACILITY USAGE

2011-2012

2012-2013

DIFFERENCE

Turnstile Count

408,281

456,504

+ 11.8%

Swimming Pool

33,898

32,249

- 4.8%

Climbing Wall

7,338

6,253

- 14.7%

Fitness Centers

275,517

296,353

+ 7.6%

Dome

89,240

123,393

+ 38.3%

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INCLUSION SUBDIVISON

“We are at a time in our country’s history that inclusive language is better than exclusive language.”

-President Barack Obama 19

STUDENT AFFAIRS | 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

INCLUSION Program Highlights Under the leadership of Jim Freeman, the Offices of Multicultural Affairs, MaV USO, and Disability Services began working together as a functional subdivision in January 2013. It was clearly a successful year for promoting inclusion on campus and supporting groups of students that are traditionally under-served on most college campuses. It should be obvious in the following program highlights that the hard work of the Inclusion Subdivision staff really made a difference for students in 2012-13.

The Maverick Diversity Coalition initiated over 20 programs that served to expose, educate, and enrich the understanding students have (or do not have) about diversity and social justice issues.

Attracted over 250 students, faculty, staff, and community members to learn about the story of Billy Mills, an Oglala Lakota and 1964 Olympic Gold Medalist.

Sponsored African LGBTQIA writer and activist, Ruth Marimo, to campus to share her story as a once illegal immigrant who faced a multitude of issues due to her legal status, race, gender, and sexual orientation.

Supported the 41st Annual International Banquet, which brought over 400 people from UNO and surrounding communities for 2 hours to join in on the celebration of diverse cultures.

Supported the student Network for Disability Awareness agency to plan and produce the 1st Annual Disability Awareness Week which increased attendance by 400% from previous year’s disability focused events.

Invited Dr. Jane Gravel to come and speak about the topic of African Americans and disability in the prison system. She discussed what the implications for society are when over 50% of people in prison are disabled, and nearly 40% of people in prison are African American.

Facilitated the connection and coordination of over 25 multicultural student organizations in an intentional effort to maximize resources and share a focus on goals to create new and innovative programs.

Engaged students in Transgender Day of Remembrance on a range of issues affecting transgendered individuals. Dr. Meredith Bacon, professor of Political Science and Board President of National Center for Transgender Equality, was able to share her knowledge and expertise about issues affecting transgender equality from a national standpoint and how it impacts state and regional communities.

Planned and produced scheduled activities for Kwanzaa with the help of over 18 students, faculty, staff.

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INCLUSION Program Highlights Celebrated Asian Heritage Month by planning the 3rd Annual Tea Ceremony and a discussion about Asian stereotypes after watching the film Rush Hour 2. The program helped support the Asia By Night Masquerade Banquet, which featured over two hours of performances to celebrate the cultures and traditions of different Asian countries.

Coordinated the development of four distinct Diversity Week events that explored issues of diversity. Topics related diversity to relationships between Black women and men, building community, the consequences of labeling, and how to empower Black women through their support of each other.

Created a brand new Color Me Human Banquet to honor faculty, staff, American Multicultural Students Agency and Maverick Diversity Coalition leaders, student organizations, and collaborators for their efforts and commitment to social justice work in their role and areas of influence.

Hosted the UNO Pow Wow, formally identified as the Wambli Sapa Memorial Pow Wow to honor the legacy of Fred Leroy. The event attracted over 5,000 visitors to campus each spring to celebrate Native culture. The Pow Wow involved a full day of celebrating that included Native drumming and dancing, and supported Native vendors from Nebraska and surrounding states.

The Disability Services Office under the direction of Meribeth Jackson, continues to provide a wide array of support services and programming to a growing number of UNO students, faculty, and staff. In 2012-13, the Office provided services to a growing number of students with psychological and mental based disabilities. The Office has continued to support a growing population of students who attend UNO with a variety of spectrum disorders. The greatest growth in disability service support has involved the following disability categories: ADHD, Anxiety, and Learning Disabilities involving reading, written language, and math.

Tribute to the Fallen 21

STUDENT AFFAIRS | 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

INCLUSION Summer Scholars Success Summer Scholars is a five-week developmental program for academically high-achieving students in the Omaha Metro area. This past summer the program enrollment was at an all-time high record number—78 high school students attended this year’s program from 20 different high schools. As part of the program, students complete a three-credit hour college course and learn about what to expect in college by participating in a five-day, intensive residential experience. In addition, the students also learn about various career fields and gain valuable leadership skills through a variety of discussions, activities, and cultural experiences.

In reviewing the enrollment results of Summer Scholars participants over the course of the last ten years, it was found that nearly 60% of the students decided to attend UNO, and another 30% of the students went on to attend another college (mostly in the NU system).

INCLUSION Successfully serving Military & Veteran Students

UNO’s Military and Veteran University Services Office (MaV USO) has enjoyed a proud tradition of providing military and veteran students with excellent service and support. They provide comprehensive support services and programs designed to ensure student success.

During the past year, MaV USO saw the departure of a valued staff member, Haley Patton, and welcomed Jennifer Carroll into her new role as Director. During her first year as Director, Jen and her staff worked hard to keep the department’s momentum moving forward. The following highlights are evidence of their significant accomplishments in 2012-13: UNO was named number 6 on the top 10 school for military and veteran students by the Military Times—improving to its highest ranking to date!

Current Secretary of Defense and UNO graduate, Chuck Hagel, joined the MaV USO staff and students to open and dedicate a one-stop student support office in the fall of 2012. The new office, located in the Eppley Administration Building, helps students navigate the enrollment process, provides military tuition assistance, reviews educational benefits, explores career options, and much more.

Partnered with the Omaha Veterans Center to offer specific support group counseling on campus. Dan Northam facilitated a support group that met twice a month in the MaV USO Office.

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INCLUSION Successfully serving Military & Veteran Students

Developed a service indicator system through the admission application process, which allows staff to identify, track data on enrollment persistence, academic success, degree programs and graduation for military/veteran/dependent students. Specific indicators from this tracking system include: Retention rate: 100% first year, 71% second year Job placement rate: 51.2% Recruitment: Fall 2012 - 250 new military/Veteran/military dependents applied to and attended UNO Planned and hosted the first MaV USO graduation luncheon. Honor cords and challenge coins were presented at the event to all graduating students.

Researched and presented a proposal for eliminating the application fee for military and veteran students. The Chancellor adopted the proposal and the application fee will not be charged to incoming students beginning in the fall of 2013.

Collaborated with UNO Athletics staff to host a Local Heroes Appreciation Night at a home hockey game.

Created the Veteran Student Organization (VSO) in an effort to attract and support additional military and veteran students.

Hired seven veteran work-study students to work in the MaV USO Office.

AFROTC’s POW/MIA vigil 23

STUDENT AFFAIRS | 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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INVOLVEMENT SUBDIVISON

“I learned that it makes me feel great to volunteer to help out other people.

It was really a great experience!”

-UNO student service day volunteer 25

STUDENT AFFAIRS | 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

INVOLVEMENT Student and Community Service Kathe Oelson-Lyons and an amazing team of faculty, staff, and student leaders recorded another successful year leading our campus volunteering efforts in the community.

The Office of Student-Community Leadership and Services organized and planned a series of signature service days including: 9/11 Remembrance Day Three Days of Service Veteran’s Day of Service World AIDS Day MLK Day of Service Seven Days of Service Global Youth Service Day It is apparent that UNO’s signature service day programs continue to provide students, faculty, staff, and community partners with valuable learning experiences that help to support and improve the Omaha Metro area.

In general, evaluations of these events indicated that 97% of the participants were satisfied or very satisfied with the service day experience, and 96% of volunteers reported they would do it again. When asked what they found most satisfying about their service project, the top four participant responses were: 1. Contributing to the community 2. Learning about the organization 3. Meeting new people 4. The chance to collaborate with others from different backgrounds.

SIGNATURE SERVICE EVENTS

2012-2013

Number of Service Days

15

Number of Service Days Volunteers

6,853

» UNO Students/Faculty/Staff

45%

» K-12

47%

» Community members

8%

Hours of Service

97,241

Monetary Value to Community

$2,152,915

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INVOLVEMENT Living and Learning On-Campus Residential life continues to thrive on campus. Bill Pickett, Jonathan Orlich, and the UNO housing staffs had another successful year in 2012-13 as evidenced by the following accomplishments and highlights: Developed an executive board structure for the National Residence Hall Honorary.

Implemented a semester health and safety check to protect residents and facilities.

Hosted a regional housing drive-in conference and submitted bids to host both MACURH and NACURH. Redesigned Resident Assistant (RA) programming model with communication requirements to increase awareness and involvement in residential life programs.

Participated in the Resident Assessment Survey from EBI/ACUHO-I for the second consecutive year. Survey results indicated that overall student satisfaction with on-campus housing has improved from last year.

Implemented the StarRez online application system in 2012-13 for all students applying for housing.

Partnered with International Studies faculty and staff to develop a “Global Village” living and learning community pilot program for fall 2013.

Renovated clubhouse space in Maverick Village to create a smart classroom that will be utilized by housing staff, learning communities, and student clubs and organizations beginning in the fall 2013 semester.

Held open forums for residential students on both the Dodge and Pacific Street Campuses in the fall 2012 semester. Topics discussed include: parking, student center design planning, student conduct, health services, campus security, and residential life. Staff members from the various campus units were in attendance to answer students’ questions.

On-Campus Housing 27

STUDENT AFFAIRS | 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

INVOLVEMENT Student Life Activities & Programs It was a year of transition and progress for students and staff associated with campus activities, organizations, and student government at UNO. Highlighted accomplishments include: The Office of Student Organizations and Leadership Programs officially changed its name to the Office of Student Life and Leadership Development, reflecting the broadening responsibilities associated with the unit. In addition, Kristina Juarez was hired as the Director of the new office in the spring of 2013.

The Division of Student Affairs newsletter, The Bullseye, is growing and becoming the go-to publication for all the areas of wellness and involvement. The newsletter’s primary objective is to provide engaging and upbeat Homecoming events and activities were redesigned to be more inclusive and less restrictive so more students outside of the Fraternity and Sorority community could get involved. As a result, we had more king and queen candidates than ever before. Also, elections were hosted online and resulted in over 1,600 students voting for candidates.

It is easier than ever to search for UNO clubs and organizations, which better facilitates the ability to get involved on campus.

Student Government purchased the online platform, OrgSync, in an effort to improve communication among student groups and various campus entities. OrgSync facilitates engagement by connecting students to organizations, departments, and programs. The web-based software creates an online community for the campus, and will help units across UNO improve communication, information sharing, collaboration and reporting. UNO has customized this platform, naming it MavSync.

MavSync is available to all students and any interested faculty, staff, and community partners as of this fall. Ben Jager in Student Life has been a key campus leader for this initiative.

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INVOLVEMENT Student Life Activities & Programs Student Government developed new accountability measures for the agencies to be more collaborative and responsible for their initiatives.

Student government agencies are now required to establish an executive board to more evenly distribute duties, as well as develop new responsibilities to focus on with additional positions.

The student organization creation and registration process was redesigned to provide students with a more efficient way to establish and renew their clubs.

Maverick Productions completed a complete review of bylaws and restructured their organization to ensure an improved, more diverse recruitment process, and a more open and competitive event submission process. In addition, a Fraternity and Sorority Housing Task Force was created in the spring semester to begin exploring the interest and feasibility of providing Fraternity and Sorority Life students with dedicated on campus housing in 2014-15.

The Student Life Office space in the Milo Bail Student Center was reorganized this summer to encourage collaboration among areas and improve service to student clubs and organizations.

Maverick Productions’ Bear-y Happy Valentine’s Day

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STUDENT AFFAIRS | 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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ACHIEVEMENT SUBDIVISON

“Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, everascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.”

-Winston Churchill 31

STUDENT AFFAIRS | 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

ACHIEVEMENT Academic and Career Development Center The new Academic and Career Development Center will open this fall. As a result of the fall 2012 limited review of Student Affairs, it was identified that because of the growing demand for student mental health services that the Counseling Center could no longer effectively serve as both a home for campus counseling and academic support services. For much of the recent past, the Counseling Center had supported the academic advising needs for mostly “undecided” or “admitted by review” students (approximately 800-1,000 students per year). Given the growing need for counseling services on campus, it was apparent that this administrative model was no longer sustainable for the counselors, nor was it appropriate for the large numbers of undecided students requiring intensive academic and career counseling.

It had also become apparent in reviewing Student Affairs that the Career Center was significantly under resourced, with only two employees (the Director and an administrative assistant), working to service over 15,000+ students. This administrative model was also unsustainable and in desperate need of improvement if UNO is to be more serious about providing excellent career development and support services to students.

As a result of both of these findings, a plan was developed by the Student Affairs leadership team to remove the academic advising responsibility from the Counseling Center and redirect existing funds to create an Academic and Career Development Center (ACDC). ACDC will provide students with a new one stop, “cradle to completion to career” support system. Because of the hard work of Jessica Wolff and the ACDC team (including seven full time staff members and 10-20 part-time student peer advisors), the new unit will begin its first year of operation this August in the vacated Counseling Center space on the first floor of the Eppley Administration Building.

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ACHIEVEMENT Academic and Career Development Center The following information details the newly established departmental mission and vision and includes a listing of services available in the Academic and Career Development Center.

VISION To be the premier campus resource for academic and career development by creating and using nationally recognized practices to assist students with educational, career, and life goals.

MISSION To facilitate academic success and career development through: Academic advising for undeclared students Career advising for all UNO students and alumni Job and internship exploration and preparation Academic and career events, workshops, class presentations, and community/employer outreach First Year Experience curriculum and programs We serve as a resource for students, alumni, faculty, staff, and employers.

We empower students and alumni to make decisions regarding potential majors, internships, jobs, and graduate programs. Through collaboration with faculty, staff and employers, we help students and alumni explore possibilities, find their passions and realize their career potential.

SERVICES Academic Advising for approx. 1,000 undeclared and exploring students Coordination of First Year Experience class Career Advising: resume reviews, mock interviews, career exploration, job search strategies, internships Career assessments (in conjunction with the Counseling Center) Career-related workshops and events On-Campus interviews Information sessions and information tables Classroom and student organization outreach Management of online job board, UNO Career Connect

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Student Affairs | 2013 Annual Report

LEANING IN A look towards the 2013–2014 year It promises to be a game-changing year for the Division of Student Affairs in 2013-14. The newly constituted leadership team, and their staffs, have spent most of the summer “leaning in� on a variety of exciting, missioncritical initiatives intended to enhance the quality of campus life for students and also improve some key success indicators such as year-to-year retention and graduation rates. Staffs throughout the Division of Student Affairs are set to focus their time and energy on the following highlighted priorities in 2013-14: Building a culture of evidence that supports informed decision-making that connects to an agenda focused on student success (i.e. learning and completion).

Promoting and teaching the campus community how to report concerning issues and incidents involving faculty, staff, and students to the newly established Behavioral Review Team (BRT).

Completing a Campus Housing Master Planning study (to begin summer 2013). This will be an important project for the campus as we consider current and future housing operations and facility investments.

Partnering with staff in the MBSC to complete a Campus Dining Study (to begin summer 2013). In combination with the Housing Master Planning Study, the Dining Study will permit us to consider a series of pertinent findings and recommendations intended to improve housing and dining options/operations for 2014-15.

Supporting the design and development of a confirmed program statement for the MBSC renovation project.

Completing a Campus Housing and Recreation Facilities Capital Asset Evaluation Study (i.e. ISES). Completing this study will provide us with a benchmarked, capital repair and replacement plan. This plan will be helpful to us in determining facility maintenance priorities and securing budget approval for specific facility projects.

Partnering with campus departments wherever possible to develop a semester-by-semester, annual program and activities plan that provides students with significant involvement opportunities each weekend throughout the semester. A focus on school spirit, tradition, and campus community development will guide this program planning effort.

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LEANING IN A look towards the 2013–2014 year Partnering with students and local chapter advisors to study the feasibility of establishing an inclusive, on campus Fraternity and Sorority Life community in 2014-15.

Completing program reviews for Academic and Career Development Services, Student Conduct, and Fraternity and Sorority Life.

Collaborating with faculty, staff, and student partners, to orchestrate the planning and production of an annual UNO Inclusion-Based, Cultural Heritage Program Series.

Collaborating with faculty, staff, and student partners, to develop a sustainable community-based interfaith/spiritual coalition that provides reliable resources and continuous, faith-based programming for the campus community.

Collaborating with faculty, staff, and student partners, develop a retention support program designed to improve the completion rates for traditionally under-served student groups.

Partnering with faculty, staff, and students to assess interest and opportunities to create a campus Pride Center (supporting LGBTQIA faculty, staff, and students).

Partnering with faculty, staff, and students to assess interest and opportunities to create a Women’s Resource/Leadership Center.

Collaborating with faculty, staff, and students to review, and revise as appropriate, the FYE curriculum in advance of the 2014-15 academic year.

Facilitating the successful relocation of the Counseling Center to HPER and the relocation of ACDC to the Counseling Center’s location in Eppley prior to the start of the fall semester.

Operationalizing a successful new wellness center in HPER beginning in the fall semester.

Developing a coalition of committed faculty, staff, and students to advance a campus wellness plan that includes embedding linked curricular and co-curricular educational elements throughout campus in strategic and intentional ways.

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Student Affairs | 2013 Annual Report

University Policy The University of Nebraska at Omaha does not discriminate based on gender, age, disability, race, color, religion, marital status, veteran’s status, national or ethnic origin, or sexual orientation.

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