To the Students, Faculty & Staff of the University of Nebraska at Omaha:
I’m writing with an important leadership update for the UNO community.
As many of you know, Chancellor Jeff Gold has led UNO since 2017, when we asked him to assume the role in addition to his duties as chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Chancellor Gold has been exactly the right person to lead our Omaha campuses through this period of momentum and change. Together with all of you, Chancellor Gold has taken UNO to new heights in student access and success, academic quality, research, collaboration and so many other areas.
UNO’s future is as bright as it has ever been. That is one reason why today, I am announcing that we are launching a national search for your next chancellor. Chancellor Gold will remain UNO chancellor through June 30, 2021, at which time he will step aside to assume system-wide duties as NU executive vice president and provost. He will continue as chancellor of UNMC.
Chancellor Gold’s dual role at our Omaha campuses has been the right path through some challenging years. The collaborations you have built and the progress you’ve made will benefit our university and state for many years to come.
Still, we have said all along that our ultimate plan is to have separate chancellors for UNO and UNMC. Dr. Gold and I agree the time is now. The new and exciting initiatives underway at both UNO and UNMC demand that we have a leader devoted full-time to the unique needs and opportunities of each campus. In addition, the pending retirement of our current executive vice president and provost, Dr. Susan Fritz, creates an opportunity for Dr. Gold to assume a new system-wide role that will leverage his invaluable counsel and deep expertise.
This path forward is a win for all involved – starting with the faculty, staff, 15,000-plus students and all members of the UNO community who believe, as Dr. Gold and I do, that more great things are ahead for our metropolitan university.
I have engaged AGB Search, a leading national firm, to assist us in the search. My next task is to assemble a broadly representative search committee. We will share more details when they are finalized.
You may ask what will happen to the newly shared leadership positions between UNO and UNMC. The colleagues in these roles have done exceptional work, and the need for collaboration and operational efficiency – not just in Omaha, but across our entire university system – is only growing. However, no decisions have been made on this front, and we expect the new UNO chancellor will want to be part of these conversations.
The timing could not be better to find the next outstanding person to lead UNO into the future. She or he will be someone who emerges from a deep, talented, diverse pool of candidates – someone who understands UNO’s mission as an access-oriented, metropolitan university, and who can identify opportunities to take your momentum to the next level.
I’m excited to work with you to find that person. Thank you to Chancellor Gold for positioning UNO so strongly for the future, and thanks to each of you for all that you do for the University of Nebraska.
Ted Carter
President, University of Nebraska