Last week, for the first time in my 10 years at UNL, I attended the state of the University address. In my role as the UNL AAUP chapter president, I felt it was important to bear witness on behalf of faculty and to represent the chapter in my red AAUP t-shirt.
President Gold opened his speech by stating his intention to be transparent. And so, I will take him at his word that what he was sharing was indeed his vision for the NU system.
I heard a lot about AI, agriculture, medical research, and the Department of Defense and a bit about football and volleyball. This left me with the impression that President Gold’s vision for NU to be a medical school with Department of Defense (excuse me, now, Department of War) contracts, and with football and volleyball teams.
But what I didn’t hear a lot about is the humanities, the social sciences, and education.
I also heard a beautiful rendition of The Star Spangled Banner by a UNL vocal student and a performance by a UNL choir that made use of the balconies above the capital rotunda. The chorus of that song was something about singing together. It was all very inspiring.
These performances inspired me to think about the importance of faculty singing together in this moment, especially as UNL will soon be announcing the programs and departments on the chopping block. Instead of feeling relief if the cut programs are not in our own departments, I call on all of us, faculty, staff, students, tax payers, to consider how the full breadth and depth of our fields and disciplines contribute to a vibrant learning community and student success, as well as how they contribute to the larger goals of creating and maintaining “The Good Life” for all Nebraskans. Here are a few that come to mind from the Workforce, Economic, and Community Development course I usually teach every fall.
- Across all sectors, employers prioritize communication skills. These skills are particularly important for bachelor’s degree holders. The ability to read, write, listen, and speak is honed through the humanities, as are problem-solving and complex thinking. (CEW, 2020b).
- Fields in which cognitive competencies are used the most are largely held by those with bachelor’s degrees. The top five cognitive competencies among this group are communication, problem-solving and complex thinking, mathematics and computer science, humanities, and teaching and learning. Humanities skills rate as more highly valued by employers above digital technology, business and economics, health sciences, and engineering and physical sciences (CEW, 2020b).
- High-quality early childhood education has the highest return on investment of any investment in a child’s life through future earnings and reduced costs of social services (Heckman, 2011). Why does this matter to UNL? Well, in CEHS, we train Nebraska’s early childhood educators, providing professional development for early childhood educators across the state, and conducting research on what high-quality early childhood education is and how it can be achieved in the real world, reliably and at scale.
- Without social sciences, we cannot begin to understand how technological innovations in any field are taken up by individuals who must change their behavior and by organizations that must change the way they do their work. The social sciences also help us understand the systems and relationships that shape every aspect of our lives.
- Without K-12 education, frankly, there are no college students. Without science and math educators, students will not be prepared to enroll in the University’s STEM or medical programs. Without early literacy educators, well, everyone would be worse off since literacy is a key determinant of success in life. “Research shows that access to books results in higher neurocognitive function and better physical health in adulthood” (Shulman et al. 2024).
- Liberal arts education, especially at the collegiate level, is associated with free and open societies (CEW, 2020a).
- Last, but certainly not least, literature and the visual and performing arts enrich all of our lives. Whether we actively create or enjoy the creations of others, art is essential to human flourishing. At colleges and universities, the arts aren’t just for majors. Student organizations supported by faculty in these programs also provide opportunities for learning and development outside of the classroom. Such organizations also provide connections to campus that help students graduate and increase their satisfaction with their college experience.(Montelongon, 2002).
While Bennett has named the AAU phase 1 metrics as the measure of all departments, he and Gold have not been transparent about the data sources or the analysis used. The AAU metrics and Gold’s vision push us towards high-dollar fields.
Yet, this focus will leave us an impoverished university, likely stripped of fields in the humanities, social sciences, and education.
As faculty members, and others who support the university, we must continue to voice that these short-sighted decisions will diminish the crown jewel of the state. Such cuts will leave us less able to provide students with the communication skills, critical thinking, creativity, and broader innovative problem-solving skills they need in the job market, as well as the creative outlets they need to flourish as individuals. These cuts could leave us less able to understand the human condition and societies in an era of rapid change and less able to build a strong foundation of education from early childhood through graduate education that prepares Nebraskans for the good life.
Sarah Zuckerman is an associate professor of educational administration and president of the UNL AAUP chapter
