As the state's metropolitan university, UNO is dedicated to placing students first, striving for academic excellence and engaging with the community. UNO is one of four campuses of the University of Nebraska. Above, campus sidewalks grow busy between classes. photo by Tim Fitzgerald

Part of the Heart & Soul of Our Community
A message from Chancellor Nancy Belck

fall 2004

Sociologist Margaret Mead wrote, "The city is a center where, any day in any year, there may be a fresh encounter with a new talent, a keen mind or gifted specialist — (but) to play this role in our lives, the city must have a soul, a university." There's no doubt that the heart of UNO has the talent, keen minds and gifted specialists Mead describes. In fact, it's this combination of knowledge and skill that's allowed us to become a sought-after resource in the community. Our people and programs are recognized by individuals and organizations in Omaha, and around the region, as the ones to turn to for fresh perspectives and valued partnerships.

We're proud to be at the heart and soul of so many positive efforts in the community. That is part of our responsibility as stewards of place, and why UNO is acknowledged to be in the vanguard of urban-based institutions, maximizing their "metropolitan advantage." The metropolitan advantage is about universities seizing opportunities to develop knowledge linkages and unique partnerships. And, it's about universities with the people and capacity to lend their special expertise to the social, economic, government, business and educational issues that matter most. We see our metropolitan community as a living/learning, breathing teaching laboratory. Our research collaborators include government and business leaders, public educators, industrial magnates, and those on the front line of social service. To maximize this metropolitan advantage, we are dedicated to forming lasting relationships with our community — a philosophy that affects every person, department and college on campus. It's evident in the variety of students we teach, the diversity of our faculty, and the always-evolving curriculum that addresses the needs of businesses, organizations and citizens in the metro area and beyond.

Above all, the metropolitan advantage is apparent in the collaborations we make, especially outside our mid-town campus. On the next several pages, you'll find many examples of how UNO is extending its outreach.

It's evident in our Via Design Lab students who create innovative software applications to help businesses grow; in our host families who've opened their hearts and homes to teachers from the other side of the world; and in our alumni, who make it their priority to support their hometowns. We're glad to play a role in providing new talent, keen minds and gifted specialists to the Omaha area, region, and state of Nebraska. You can count on us to be good stewards of place.

We'll continue pursuing new partnerships with those around us and solicit the same from you — our constituents. Above all, we want UNO to be your metropolitan university — a place that can help you grow and contribute to your neighborhood, your city and your community.