In my first message to you as UNO’s chancellor 90 days ago, I spoke about how there is an undeniable energy that radiates from this university, and how it draws in people of all backgrounds and inspires them to do incredible things.
That energy has led this campus to develop a remarkable research portfolio in cutting-edge fields that include biomechanics, counterterrorism, cybersecurity, criminal justice, the arts, and so much more. It has produced a large and growing number of community partnerships through efforts like Career Currency, the Service Learning Academy, and the Community Engagement Center’s Community Engagement Partnership Initiative (CEPI). It has also equipped the two thirds of Omaha Public Schools teachers who have at least one UNO degree with the tools they need to support our city’s K-12 students.
I write you today—after countless meetings with students, faculty, staff, alumni, community partners, and stakeholders as well as ongoing campus listening sessions underway—to say that now is the time to harness that energy and take our university and community to new heights. We have the capacity to be an even greater force for good not only on the local stage, but across the state and around the world.
Inspiration is everywhere at UNO. With this new series, I want to seek out and experience all of the inspiring people, places, and things our university has to offer and share it with the world. For the first episode, I met up with junior forward Nolan Sullivan at Baxter Arena ahead of the first game of the UNO hockey season.
One of the most compelling aspects of the UNO story is the university’s commitment to service. When students identify need, they use the skills they attain at UNO to meet that need. UNO Professional Selling students in the College of Business Administration did just that by raising money for the Maverick Food Pantry through collaborations with local businesses and Together A Greater Good (TAGG).
The Center for Afghanistan Studies researchers put UNO at the center of the global conversation around Afghanistan following the recent troop withdrawal. Sher Jan Ahmadzai and Hanif Sufizada did what we all strive to do as educators: Provide research-backed analysis to help the public understand a complex topic.
Forbes Magazine recently named UNO one of the top 10 employers in the state of Nebraska for the second time in the last three years. I am incredibly proud of every staff and faculty member who contributes to making our campus an inspiring place to work, teach, and learn.
Immigrants have a powerful story to tell. Each story is unique in the ways they inform us about the rest of the world, what the American dream means, and the challenges and opportunities immigrants face in their journeys.
According to new research by UNO’s Office of Latino/Latin American Studies (OLLAS), the story of immigrants in our region is one of incredible economic impact.
The study found that first-generation immigrants in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area generated $2.4 billion in economic impact and more than 17,000 jobs in 2019. A key finding of the report shows that, in 2019, immigrant spending resulted in $2.4 billion worth of total production of goods and services (output) in the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Statistical Area (Omaha MSA). This is $1.0 billion more than the entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the restaurant industry ($1.4 billion) in the Omaha MSA.
In addition, immigrant labor in the construction, food services, and animal slaughtering and processing continue to generate substantial impacts. In the Omaha MSA, this employment generated $7.9 billion in production. This represents about 16 percent of the MSA’s private industry GDP and is nearly twice as large as the MSA’s manufacturing sector’s GDP (roughly $4.3 billion).
Economics professor Chris Decker, Ph.D., used data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) for the study. He explained that “Time and again our studies confirm just how valuable the first-generation foreign-born population is to Nebraska’s productive labor force. They contribute significantly to a talented pool of workers that continue to attract new, and retain existing, businesses that create quality jobs and generate substantial income for the both the Omaha metro and the state as a whole.”
This is just one of many examples that show how UNO uses research and creativity to help us better understand our community, our state, and the world at large.
The Omaha World-Herald published an op-ed underscoring the importance of attracting first-generation students to NU campuses. The article mentions several UNO initiatives including the Career Currency program, the Metropolitan Advantage Program, and resources for first-generation students.
KMTV published a profile on Project Achieve at UNO and how it supports students from their first step on campus through graduation
The Omaha World-Herald reported on an event held at UNO on counterterrorism 20 years after 9/11. It featured a panel of counterterrorism experts from NCITE and the Omaha FBI field office. Gina Ligon, director of NCITE, is quoted in the article saying that counterterrorism requires collaboration among people with a variety of backgrounds to be able to effectively study it.
The Lincoln Journal Star published an op-ed calling the university system the state’s greatest investment in its future and a vital tool to fight brain drain in the state.
KMTV interviewed Bárbara Gómez-Aguiñaga, Ph.D., assistant professor in UNO’s School of Public Administration, on disparities in access to healthcare and insurance among underserved ethnic groups across Nebraska.
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