This story was updated on September 13 to include context on the ARRC’s request to expedite the adoption of proposed changes to its procedures.
The fall 2025 cuts in programs left scars on the faculty, but Faculty Senate leaders and interim Chancellor Katherine Ankerson say they see signs of greater transparency and growing trust.
Ankerson told the members of the Senate at their Sept. 1 meeting she senses greater optimism among faculty, students and staff as the fall 2026 semester begins than what she experienced when she took over from Rodney Bennett in January. Senate President Rich Leiter said the Senate Executive Committee and administrators had made progress over the summer. “We’ve been working closely with the administration here at UNL to try to work on rebuilding trust and improve morale,” he said. “And I think we’re making good progress.”
Ankerson also said the meetings with the Executive Committee had led to a greater sense of trust. “I would say that something changed during these meetings” she said. “You know, we got more candid. I brought things earlier and less finished than I might have liked. But the Executive Committee pushed back in ways that made our work better. I was reminded of something really simple. When I bring you a decision, I have to bring the reasoning with it. I have to bring it while there’s still time for you to shape it, for us to shape it together.”
Ankerson admitted the healing process from the cuts of programs and faculty was not complete. The budget cuts were not just numbers, she said, but were real people and real programs representing years of work and collaboration with the faculty and staff who did not lose their jobs. Some of those whose programs and jobs were eliminated have left for other schools, but some remain on the UNL faculty for this year. She urged faculty who were not affected by the cuts to be respectful of those who were affected. “The kindest thing we can do is refuse to treat anyone as though they’re already gone,” she said.
The possibility of future cuts was on the minds of faculty members. Hamid Vakilzadian of the electrical and computer engineering department asked about the 5% cut ordered by Gov. Jim Pillen. Ankerson said the governor had called for a spending cut, not a budget reduction. Therefore, it will not require cuts in programs or staff, although the hiring freeze remains in place. She said she expected to handle the spending cut by deferring some maintenance spending. That means some classroom modernization, equipment upgrades, building maintenance and other things will be deferred to a later date, she said.
Ankerson also talked about UNL’s new three-year strategic plan, the Bold Path Forward, which aligns with the NU system strategic initiative, the Odyssey to the Extraordinary. She said the plan, which she outlined in late August, was built with contributions from 6,000 interactions with faculty, students, staff and alumni between early March and late May. The strongest theme in the plan, she said, did not come from current administrative leaders. Rather it came from the N2025 adopted in 2022. “And that was every person, every interaction matters,” she said. “Over and over again, we heard comments that we can’t let that stop.”
Later in the meeting, some faculty members expressed skepticism about the value of strategic plans. Tim Gay of the department of physics and astronomy asked Leiter, “What in your opinion, having spent the summer on this, do you find to be the most audacious, bold component of the Bold Plan Forward?”
Leiter replied, “I’ve found over the years that a lot of big administrative visionary things when all is said and done is common sense is just being civil and being communicative and letting people know what they’re doing.” He added that the current administration is doing more to involve faculty before decisions are made. The previous administration, he said, made its decisions and then invited comments.
John Shrader of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications said the Bold Path Forward needed to include fighting with the central administration in Varner Hall for a bigger share of the university’s resources. “I don’t think the last chancellor (Bennett) did that once,” Shrader said, “despite how many times he came to this body and told us how hard he was fighting for this group.”
During her presentation at the start of the meeting, Ankerson said enrollment for the 2026-27 academic year looks to be lower by about 1.6%, mostly because of a decline in graduate enrollment of about 10%. Much of that is the result of the difficulties of attracting foreign students. Undergraduate enrollment increased slightly, she said, largely because of an increase of 2.3% among first-time freshmen.
In other announcements, Ankerson said the NU President’s Council had decided to purchase an enterprise license for faculty and students to use ChatGPT artificial intelligence. Ankerson said many faculty and students were already using AI programs, and the variety of those programs created a security threat for university data. Having one program for all to use will enhance security and control costs, she said. The university’s chief information officer, she said, will work with the faculty committee on information technology to protect academic freedom and academic integrity.
The Higher Learning Commission approved joint accreditation for UNL and the University of Nebraska Medical Center in June. Ankerson said the next step will be a series of summits between faculty leaders and administrators of the two campuses. The two sets of campus leaders will identify paths for greater cooperation, barriers to cooperation and ways to eliminate barriers, she said. The faculty presidents and leaders of the Academic Planning Committees will be included in the summits.
In other business, the Faculty Senate:
- Heard a presentation by Abby Schletzbaum, the emergency management director for the UNL Police Department. Schletzbaum described the active-shooter-prevention program the department is offering. The program includes a video, available online, instructing people on the run-hide-fight techniques advocated by the FBI for dealing with active shooters. She said today’s students may be more familiar with the problem, but mostly they were trained to do what their teachers told them. At the university, they will need to make decisions for themselves. She also said the department was reviving a fire-drill program that had been abandoned in the midst of the COVID epidemic. The program, she said, encourages people in each building to have plans for dealing with fires, gas leaks, tornadoes and other threats.
- Heard the annual report from the Academic Rights and Responsibilities Committee. Tom Kubik of the School of Accountancy, the past chairman of the ARRC, said the committee had been busy last year with numerous inquiries connected to the budget cuts and dismissals. Four complaints in connection with the cuts were submitted, he said, and two went to hearing committees convened over the summer. A third hearing committee received an unrelated complaint. He also asked the Senate to urge the executive vice chancellor to send to the Board of Regents a proposed change to ARRC procedures. The change would reduce the number of faculty members on hearing committees to five from six. The Senate approved the change more than two years ago, in the spring 2024. Since then, it has been held in the EVC’s office. Kubik said reducing the number of members for hearing committees will make it easier for the ARRC to form them quickly.
- Heard the annual report of the Executive Committee presented by Rich Leiter. In addition to summarizing the committee’s work, Leiter called on faculty members to volunteer to serve on faculty committees. He said the Committee on Committees has been having difficulty finding people to serve on various committees. Nevertheless, the work of these committees benefits the entire university.
- Elected two new members to the Executive Committee. Terri James of the department of agronomy and horticulture was elected to a one-year term and Vishnu Reddi of the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction was elected to a three-year term.
