The writer is dean emeritus of the UNO Library.
On Saturday, I attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha's annual strategic planning conference, which focused on the first of its three primary goals: Students Come First.
An informal gathering of several hundred students, faculty, staff and community representatives, the conference was designed to explore and examine the student-centered metropolitan university.
The Coalition of Urban Metropolitan Universities, of which UNO Chancellor John Christensen is now president, stresses a student-centered focus within 60 American member universities that are also strongly committed to outreach and service missions within their urban regions.
A panel of five current students led off the program with articulate testimonials of their backgrounds, college experience and future goals. Each one gave evidence of personal doubts and frustrations in acclimating to the academic demands of college life in multiple settings.
This was followed by their subsequent reports of notable faculty and professional advisors who had provided help and guidance along a pathway that led to their subsequent achievements and resulting high aspirations for job placement.
It was an inspiring testament to the resilience of students, who are confidently preparing for the world of work, despite the unrelenting news of unemployment and job shortages.
The mission, facilities and operational enhancements occurring at UNO in the past decade become evident to participants in community forums such as this one, held each year in the Milo Bail Student Center.
A video titled "I Didn't Know UNO Did That" captured some of the spirit of this conference, which revealed many aspects of the university's growth that are little known to the thousands of commuters who drive down Dodge Street and past the growing campus each workday.
A very interesting and innovative aspect of this growing focus on student life at UNO is the increasing involvement of undergraduate, as well as graduate students, as active participants in faculty-supervised research projects.
In many disciplines, including the burgeoning Biomechanics Core Facility, students are learning problem-solving and teamwork skills that will assist them in later career choices and in finding gainful employment after college.
The students in the aforementioned panel each provided examples of such laboratory and community connections that were formative in their maturation on and off campus.
UNO's rolling strategic planning process is increasingly driven by campus-wide participation of faulty, staff, students and community members. Multiple teams of diverse participants ponder values, goals, objectives, measurement techniques and technology tools to achieve collaborative and sustainable results.
Through such means, this campus of the University of Nebraska may yet become a stronger contributor to the business, education, government and nonprofit sectors in our community and beyond.
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