The University of Nebraska Board of Regents will meet Thursday, Aug. 8, at Varner Hall, 3835 Holdrege St. in Lincoln. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. The meeting is open to the public and will also be live-streamed at www.nebraska.edu.
A detailed agenda for the Board meeting is available here.
The meeting will lead off with a celebration of the 2024 President’s Excellence Awards recipients. The awards are the highest honor presented by the Office of the President, annually recognizing exceptional achievements by University of Nebraska faculty and departments in teaching, research, innovation and engagement.
President Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., will give remarks reflecting on his first six weeks in office.
Key items for the Board’s consideration include:
- Creation of a new undergraduate certificate in esports media and communication in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications (Addendum XI-A-2). The certificate will prepare students for work in electronic sports (competitive video gaming), a fast-growing industry whose audience is expected to top 1.4 billion by 2025.
- Creation of a bachelor’s degree in artificial intelligence to be administered by the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s College of Information Science & Technology (Addendum XI-A-4). The collaborative new degree program – the first undergraduate program of its kind in Nebraska, to the best of the university’s knowledge – will draw on coursework in UNO’s computer science program as well as UNL’s data science degree. It is expected to launch in fall 2025.
“AI is poised to reshape every part of our lives. The University of Nebraska must be on the cutting edge in preparing students to lead in this field that grows and evolves literally by the hour,” Dr. Gold said. “With this AI program, we’ll be able to offer exciting new opportunities for students while addressing an urgent workforce need for our state. I could not be more pleased with the collaboration between UNO and UNL that is resulting in this new degree, and with the positive feedback we’re already hearing from business leaders across the state.” - The program statement for Project Health at UNMC, including authorization to spend $50 million from existing philanthropic funds on non-construction design work. (Addendum XI-B-9)
UNMC has a goal to grow professional learner enrollment by 20 to 25 percent to meet Nebraska’s urban and rural healthcare needs. This will only be possible with significant expansion and improvement of teaching and learning capacity at UNMC’s locations across the state. A public-private partnership, Project Health (the first phase of Project NExT) aims to address the challenge. Added capacity for teaching and research activities will also strengthen Nebraska’s competitiveness as it seeks readmission into the AAU.
“UNMC’s mission is to lead the world in transforming lives and communities. Project NExT is an ambitious effort which will significantly help rural and urban Nebraska communities maintain a growth trajectory for generations to come,” Dr. Gold said. “This first phase is an exciting step forward and we look forward to working with our many public and private partners to continue to bring our vision to reality.” - The 2025-27 biennial and capital budget requests for the University of Nebraska and Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (Addenda XI-B-1 and XI-B-2). The university must submit its request to the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education by Aug. 15 and to the state by Sept. 15. Per budget instructions issued to all state agencies from the state’s budget office, the university is planning 3% increases for salaries and 5% increases for health insurance, which are placeholders until collective bargaining and health insurance plans are finalized later this year.
The university will seek $1.5 million each year of the biennium to match the Board of Regents’ investment in expanding the highly successful Presidential Scholars Program, launched earlier in 2024 to provide full cost of attendance scholarships plus a $5,000 annual stipend to Nebraska students who score a perfect 36 on the ACT. NU will also request $1.5 million each year to support research excellence through the Nebraska Research Initiative, key to its goal of readmission into the prestigious Association of American Universities.
Finally, the university will request the transfer of existing capital construction funds for Project Health, reappropriation of capital construction funds for the Ag Tech Incubator & Accelerator at Innovation Campus, and planning dollars for upgrades to the Peter Kiewit Institute at UNO and a new College of Allied Health building at UNMC, both of which would be funded through public-private partnerships. - Naming of the new feedlot center at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center the Klosterman Feedlot Innovation Center in recognition of longtime UNL and IANR supporters John and Beth Klosterman of David City. (Addendum XI-B-5)
- Naming of the exterior plaza of the Osborne Legacy Complex the Sandhills Global Plaza in recognition of a generous donation by Sandhills Global in support of Husker Athletics. (Addendum XI-B-7)