Interim Chancellor Katherine S. Ankerson is featured in the latest episode of the University of Nebraska system’s “Shaping the Future” video series. Hosted by Dr. Jeffrey P. Gold, president of the NU system, the series features conversations with researchers, students, educators and partners who are changing lives and making an impact.
In the episode, Gold and Ankerson discuss her journey from architecture to higher education, her return to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln following retirement, and the university’s strategic planning process.
Much of the conversation focused on UNL’s “Bold Path Forward,” a strategic plan developed to guide University of Nebraska–Lincoln priorities and work in the years ahead. Ankerson said the process has been driven by extensive input from the university community and Nebraskans across the state.
Between March and May, the university held 85 listening sessions and received more than 6,800 pieces of feedback. Ankerson said the university also periodically shared what it was hearing during the process, allowing participants to confirm that their ideas and concerns were being accurately represented.
The feedback highlighted the ways Nebraskans see the NU system’s flagship university making a difference in communities, from research and education to law clinics, affordable housing efforts and Nebraska Extension.
“The most impactful is hearing the stories of how the university has affected people's livelihoods or their lives or their communities or the economic well-being of their communities,” Ankerson said.
Ankerson said those conversations helped reinforce the role of a land-grant research institution and the importance of working with communities rather than simply delivering information to them.
The next phase of the “Bold Path Forward” will focus on turning the plan's priorities into measurable action and how individual colleges and units will advance toward goals.
Ultimately, the work will help guide how the university strategically invests its resources, Ankerson said.
Gold and Ankerson also discussed how higher education is changing as more Nebraskans return to school to reskill or upskill, particularly as artificial intelligence changes the workplace. Ankerson said universities must prepare students not only for specific careers, but also for an uncertain future by developing critical-thinking, problem-solving and adaptability skills.
“We don't know what those jobs of the future will actually be,” Ankerson said. “But we do know that if you can rely on what you learn in terms of how to approach a particular problem or how to interpret something, then you're preparing people for life.”
New episodes of “Shaping the Future” are released monthly and feature faculty, staff, students and partners from across the NU system and the state of Nebraska.
