Regents hear about growing university economic impact, reject policy change for board leadership

The University of Nebraska’s economic impact on the state has grown from $5.8 billion to $6.4 billion in the past three years, Paul Umbach from consulting firm Tripp Umbach said at the Board of Regents meeting Friday.

Umbach presented a preliminary report of the university’s financial impact on the state of Nebraska. The full report will be published in early 2025. Umbach said his firm looked at university spending in the state as well as the money spent by employees, students and visitors for university events like football games and conferences.

“The first…droplet hitting the pond is the spending, but the ripples go beyond that,” Umbach said. “You’ll see that as we’ve now remeasured the economic impact, it’s $600 million higher than it was before, and that’s only within three years.”

Umbach said NU is in a better spot than other universities he’s worked with that have seen no growth in economic impact.

“We do about 50 of these projects a year, and some have been re-studies like yours, and you're in the best position of the university systems that we've worked with,” he said.

The university invests $10 back into the state for every dollar it receives from the state. Umbach said this information will help as university officials start budget discussions with state legislators in January.

The Board of Regents also discussed and ultimately rejected a policy change to how board leadership works. Currently, board members elect leadership every year. The vice chair typically takes over as chair after their year as vice chair.

The policy would have changed that to a two-year tenure for chair and vice chair, and the vice chair would not automatically take over as chair.

The board was split 4-4 on the change. Regent Tim Clare, who represents the Lincoln area, said he previously supported the change, but now feels that the decision should be explored more and voted against it.

“It can't be a ready, fire, aim,” he said. “It needs to be a situation where we're ready, aim and then fire.”

Those for the change said the current policy doesn’t allow enough time for the chairperson to build relationships as a board leader. Regent Paul Kenney, who represents 18 districts in the central part of the state, said changing to a two-year tenure for chairperson would create stronger leadership.

“By the time you get done your first year, stuff like the legislature, the foundation, you just start to know those people and then you switch again,” Kenney said.

Regent Barbara Weitz, representing part of Douglas county, felt it was not the right time for the board to make the change as members prepare to do a complete review of their policies in the coming months. She said they should look at the impact of changing the policy as they conduct that review.

“While this may be a good idea and it may resurface again as we review our bylaws, I feel like this is not the right time to be doing this,” Weitz said, “It's just a matter of, can we be patient enough?”

The four regents voting for the policy were Kenney, Jim Scheer, Robert Schafer and Kathy Wilmot. The four voting against the policy were Weitz, Clare, Elizabeth O’Connor and Jack Stark.

Angela Cooper, an alumnus of the university, spoke during public comment about the decision to close the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln this fall.

“DEI isn't about politics. It's about people,” Cooper said. “And supporting DEI is not just the right thing to do, it's a strategic necessity for the future of our university and the future of our state.”

In addition to closing the diversity office at UNL, the University of Nebraska at Omaha recently stopped funding for six student government organizations focused on various student identities, including international students, students with disabilities and LGBTQA+ students. A university audit found the groups did not qualify for student fees under a regents policy only allowing that money to go to organizations benefiting a “broad-based student population.”

The Board of Regents is set to meet next on Feb. 7, 2025, at 9 a.m. in Varner Hall.