Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
There is much news this summer about the University of Nebraska,
with the university needing to identify millions and millions and
millions of dollars in budget cuts and buyouts have been
offered in the Board of Regents the other day, as
you've heard in the news, voted merit bonus to President
Jeffrey Gold, which he promptly declined to take in view
(00:22):
of the financial distress. The university's under football coach, or
not not football coach Matt Rule, but Troy Dan and
the athletics director said the other day, look, we're going
to put this stadium project on hold because of financial
issues with the university. Would be a bad look. And
you have one of the regions under a cloud, Elizabeth O'Connor,
(00:47):
having been arrested for DUI and other potentially serious charges
a few weeks back. So with all that on the table,
we welcome Board of Regent's President Paul Kenny to the program. Paul,
good morning, Good.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Morning, gentlemen. And first of all, I could share some
of that rain. It's it's dry and sunny and hot
in some Nebraska dry and Amhurst, huh it is it
is at the storm.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
We've had a deluge in eastern Nebraska this summer, which
we needed. So you guys haven't gotten that.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Oh we've gotten rain, but it's just been a while since.
With heading, we're just arrogating pretty hard right now, getting
towards the end of the crop.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Well, it's good to have you on. What do you
think will happen here with the university in terms of
these budget cuts that are basically mandated and the buyouts
are being offered. Will the university be harmed? In your view?
I think I think if you talk to faculty and administrators,
they'll say, yes, this is going to hurt the university.
(01:48):
What's your view?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Obviously it's not good. You know, when you have a
budget deficit at large, you got to do something and
how you to attack this? Hold the classes together that
mean the most are university into our students, into our
state and you know, you look there and that's probably
the first thing that after retirements, you know, what what
(02:13):
are what are students taking as classes today? And uh,
you know you get a small attendance in the class,
they're probably not so well.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Right, Well, I don't know that. I don't know the
uh the numbers for one thing, when the buyouts are offered,
uh if they're if they are desired by by some
staff members and they have to be approved, right.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
So well, I was, yeah, exactly the mechanics of that.
It's above my pay grade being a reason to go
through each chancellor and they have a formula that they
have to do to make things meet and match in
their respective facilities and in their institutions, so you know
it's in their hands. You know, you start at Barnard
(03:01):
Hall and you have to say this is this is
how much allegilator giving us this? You know, we raised
tuition a little bit and which we hadn't done in
a while, so you know, trying to make everything match.
And you know the other thing you haven't mentioned is
the giant cut and research dollars into the institution across
the nation where you know, we have to make that
deal also mix and match with what we offer.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Visiting with Paul Kenny, the Chairman of the Board of Regents,
switch gears for a second and talk about one of
your regent fellow regents, Sarah O'Connor, who by all accounts
was caught drunk driving. Her blood alcohol level was pardon me, Elizabeth,
Elizabeth I'm sorry, Elizabeth O'Connor, I beg your part was
caught drunk driving. Her blood alcohol level, according to the report,
(03:49):
was significantly higher than the legal limit, and as a collection,
you guys supported her. Now there is no function for
you to remove her. That has to be done at
the legs just laydive level. But Paul, let me ask
you about the condition of alcohol on the university campus
because as a regent and as a member of the
board of regents and the president, you guys do sort
(04:12):
of set the pace down there. But Sunday through Friday,
that is a dry campus, which is code for no beer,
no alcohol, no weed, no place, not dorms, not fraternity houses.
But on Saturdays, let the good times roll. So you're
saying to the kids, no alcohol Sunday through Friday, but
on Saturday, knock yourselves out. And we see fifteen hundred
(04:34):
kids every year die of alcohol related incidents on college campuses.
What message does this send if you guys all are
in support of miss O'Connor in light of this really
embarrassing of what could have been a fatal automobile mishap,
you know.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
First of all, i'd say we're in support of the individual,
not of the act. You know, that's a big difference
in people that you too. I would hope you'd be
supportive of them when they're you know, get themselves in
trouble and and we'll just do what we can and
obviously going to follow the letter of the law. But
(05:11):
you know you can't. You can't really comment too much
about it yet because that is ongoing case.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
It's a fair point, Paul, But you're an elected member
of the board of region. The people elect you on
the board take a public position. Would think it would
seem to me that the board would take a position condemning,
you know, Region O'Connor for this, and that did not
really come out of the meeting, and maybe I missed it.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Well, you're you're probably probably not condemning. We believe that
laws should be followed, and uh, you know that that
is a statement, whether it's crossing the border, speeding, or
drinking and driving. I mean, we have laws in this
nation for a purpose, and at least for me, I
believe they need to be followed. So I'm not I
(06:00):
don't always follow the speed limit, but I know if
I if I get caught, I have to pay a
fine for for not following the speed limit and uh
and accept that. So was she.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Was she at the last building?
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yes, she was. Okay, Uh, we don't no one, no one,
no one is happy about driving all the talks. Kidded
that that wasn't you know? My question. My question was
with sports the individual and what we can do. She's
been through some tough times and want to do what
we can do.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
To help her.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
President Gold gave you a terrific gift the other day
by contract, and this is something a lot of people
don't understand. By contract, you were obligated to provide him
a cash bonus in the neighborhood of one hundred and
fifty six thousand dollars. He's a stand up guy, very
very terrific person. If you've never met doctor Gold, you're
missing out. He turned that back over to the university,
(06:53):
but you might clarify that there was no discretion on
behalf of the board of regents to provide this bonus
to him.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Well, well, let's let's back up. And that's the third
time you use the word bonus, and it's it's not
a bonus. The word I heard a Lincoln reporter called
a bonus It is not a bonus, it's part of
the salary. Is based upon the metrics that the Board
of Regents went down the list and evaluated him and
(07:22):
and nearly got one hundred percent of was just just
less than that. So that's how it was paid on
part of the contracted amount salary. So it's not a bonus,
it's part of the salary. And it was just a
gracious move on behalf of the president to turn that back.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Well, it was optics, I mean, yeah, same as the
deal with the stadium. Just before we run, Paul, is
this do these cuts hamper or or hurt further and
used chances of being readmitted to the American Association of Universities.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
You know, as you know in my chair, you hear
about this is going going on around the country, and
every institution is battled in the same battle. Some are
just worse than ours. You know, the University of Nebraska
is a great position where a lot of the universities,
especially some of the ones in the Big ten that
I know of, are carrying a tremendous amount of debt,
(08:21):
which we are not. So you know, that really puts
us in a great position on moving forward. We just
want to be responsive to the people in Nebraska. Educate
our students, get them to stay here, and help stay
in Nebraska grow.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Great to have you on, mister Chairman. Thank you for
the time this morning. Thanks sir, that's Paul Kenny.
There is much news this summer about the University of Nebraska,
with the university needing to identify millions and millions and
millions of dollars in budget cuts and buyouts have been
offered in the Board of Regents the other day, as
you've heard in the news, voted merit bonus to President
Jeffrey Gold, which he promptly declined to take in view
(00:22):
of the financial distress. The university's under football coach, or
not not football coach Matt Rule, but Troy Dan and
the athletics director said the other day, look, we're going
to put this stadium project on hold because of financial
issues with the university. Would be a bad look. And
you have one of the regions under a cloud, Elizabeth O'Connor,
(00:47):
having been arrested for DUI and other potentially serious charges
a few weeks back. So with all that on the table,
we welcome Board of Regent's President Paul Kenny to the program. Paul,
good morning, Good.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Morning, gentlemen. And first of all, I could share some
of that rain. It's it's dry and sunny and hot
in some Nebraska dry and Amhurst, huh it is it
is at the storm.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
We've had a deluge in eastern Nebraska this summer, which
we needed. So you guys haven't gotten that.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Oh we've gotten rain, but it's just been a while since.
With heading, we're just arrogating pretty hard right now, getting
towards the end of the crop.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Well, it's good to have you on. What do you
think will happen here with the university in terms of
these budget cuts that are basically mandated and the buyouts
are being offered. Will the university be harmed? In your view?
I think I think if you talk to faculty and administrators,
they'll say, yes, this is going to hurt the university.
(01:48):
What's your view?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Obviously it's not good. You know, when you have a
budget deficit at large, you got to do something and
how you to attack this? Hold the classes together that
mean the most are university into our students, into our
state and you know, you look there and that's probably
the first thing that after retirements, you know, what what
(02:13):
are what are students taking as classes today? And uh,
you know you get a small attendance in the class,
they're probably not so well.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Right, Well, I don't know that. I don't know the
uh the numbers for one thing, when the buyouts are offered,
uh if they're if they are desired by by some
staff members and they have to be approved, right.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
So well, I was, yeah, exactly the mechanics of that.
It's above my pay grade being a reason to go
through each chancellor and they have a formula that they
have to do to make things meet and match in
their respective facilities and in their institutions, so you know
it's in their hands. You know, you start at Barnard
(03:01):
Hall and you have to say this is this is
how much allegilator giving us this? You know, we raised
tuition a little bit and which we hadn't done in
a while, so you know, trying to make everything match.
And you know the other thing you haven't mentioned is
the giant cut and research dollars into the institution across
the nation where you know, we have to make that
deal also mix and match with what we offer.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Visiting with Paul Kenny, the Chairman of the Board of Regents,
switch gears for a second and talk about one of
your regent fellow regents, Sarah O'Connor, who by all accounts
was caught drunk driving. Her blood alcohol level was pardon me, Elizabeth,
Elizabeth I'm sorry, Elizabeth O'Connor, I beg your part was
caught drunk driving. Her blood alcohol level, according to the report,
(03:49):
was significantly higher than the legal limit, and as a collection,
you guys supported her. Now there is no function for
you to remove her. That has to be done at
the legs just laydive level. But Paul, let me ask
you about the condition of alcohol on the university campus
because as a regent and as a member of the
board of regents and the president, you guys do sort
(04:12):
of set the pace down there. But Sunday through Friday,
that is a dry campus, which is code for no beer,
no alcohol, no weed, no place, not dorms, not fraternity houses.
But on Saturdays, let the good times roll. So you're
saying to the kids, no alcohol Sunday through Friday, but
on Saturday, knock yourselves out. And we see fifteen hundred
(04:34):
kids every year die of alcohol related incidents on college campuses.
What message does this send if you guys all are
in support of miss O'Connor in light of this really
embarrassing of what could have been a fatal automobile mishap,
you know.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
First of all, i'd say we're in support of the individual,
not of the act. You know, that's a big difference
in people that you too. I would hope you'd be
supportive of them when they're you know, get themselves in
trouble and and we'll just do what we can and
obviously going to follow the letter of the law. But
(05:11):
you know you can't. You can't really comment too much
about it yet because that is ongoing case.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
It's a fair point, Paul, But you're an elected member
of the board of region. The people elect you on
the board take a public position. Would think it would
seem to me that the board would take a position condemning,
you know, Region O'Connor for this, and that did not
really come out of the meeting, and maybe I missed it.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Well, you're you're probably probably not condemning. We believe that
laws should be followed, and uh, you know that that
is a statement, whether it's crossing the border, speeding, or
drinking and driving. I mean, we have laws in this
nation for a purpose, and at least for me, I
believe they need to be followed. So I'm not I
(06:00):
don't always follow the speed limit, but I know if
I if I get caught, I have to pay a
fine for for not following the speed limit and uh
and accept that. So was she.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Was she at the last building?
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yes, she was. Okay, Uh, we don't no one, no one,
no one is happy about driving all the talks. Kidded
that that wasn't you know? My question. My question was
with sports the individual and what we can do. She's
been through some tough times and want to do what
we can do.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
To help her.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
President Gold gave you a terrific gift the other day
by contract, and this is something a lot of people
don't understand. By contract, you were obligated to provide him
a cash bonus in the neighborhood of one hundred and
fifty six thousand dollars. He's a stand up guy, very
very terrific person. If you've never met doctor Gold, you're
missing out. He turned that back over to the university,
(06:53):
but you might clarify that there was no discretion on
behalf of the board of regents to provide this bonus
to him.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Well, well, let's let's back up. And that's the third
time you use the word bonus, and it's it's not
a bonus. The word I heard a Lincoln reporter called
a bonus It is not a bonus, it's part of
the salary. Is based upon the metrics that the Board
of Regents went down the list and evaluated him and
(07:22):
and nearly got one hundred percent of was just just
less than that. So that's how it was paid on
part of the contracted amount salary. So it's not a bonus,
it's part of the salary. And it was just a
gracious move on behalf of the president to turn that back.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Well, it was optics, I mean, yeah, same as the
deal with the stadium. Just before we run, Paul, is
this do these cuts hamper or or hurt further and
used chances of being readmitted to the American Association of Universities.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
You know, as you know in my chair, you hear
about this is going going on around the country, and
every institution is battled in the same battle. Some are
just worse than ours. You know, the University of Nebraska
is a great position where a lot of the universities,
especially some of the ones in the Big ten that
I know of, are carrying a tremendous amount of debt,
(08:21):
which we are not. So you know, that really puts
us in a great position on moving forward. We just
want to be responsive to the people in Nebraska. Educate
our students, get them to stay here, and help stay
in Nebraska grow.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Great to have you on, mister Chairman. Thank you for
the time this morning. Thanks sir, that's Paul Kenny.
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