UNMC Interim Chancellor H. Dele Davies, MD, said campus leaders are planning for anticipated federal funding cuts, even as they lobby and advocate for maintaining federal support.
In his June all-campus forum, Dr. Davies acknowledged the last six months have been unsettling with the many federal changes announced. While UNMC’s advocacy is ongoing, he said that the campus cannot simply hope the situations will return to what they were, such as the cut to indirect research funding.
“We have to really make sure that we’re planning for this, which is what we’re doing,” Dr. Davies told forum attendees.
He added that the community continues to look to UNMC to be a leader, and he said the UNMC community will get through the challenges together.
“We’re as well positioned as any organization to get through this,” he said, “and I really believe that we will.”
Dr. Davies encouraged the campus to attend today’s research town hall, organized by the UNMC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. The town hall will be held from 3-4 p.m. at the Durham Research Center auditorium (DRC 1, Room 1002). It also will be available via Zoom; UNMC faculty, students and staff are welcome and can access the discussion via this campus event listing.
It will feature UNMC’s Howard Fox, MD, PhD. Dr. Fox will discuss his role as one of four representatives of academic medical centers on a national joint association effort to develop a new indirect costs funding model with the federal government.
Dr. Davies said campus leaders continue to monitor the situation with the federal government that reportedly paused scheduling new visa appointments for students and scholars as they prepare to implement expanded social media screening. This is expected to be a temporary measure.
Addressing the issue of immigration enforcement, campus leaders reiterated that UNMC is dedicated to ensuring the safety of everyone on its campuses and will adhere to all laws.
For more information, see UNMC’s 2025 federal transition webpage.
Dr. Davies also welcomed two UNMC Faculty Senate leaders to the all-campus forum:
- Joseph Siu, PhD, outgoing faculty senate president and professor and chair of Global Health Opportunities in the physical therapy program in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions.
- Jordan Warchol, MD, the new faculty senate president and associate professor in UNMC’s Department of Emergency Medicine, who participated remotely.
Dr. Siu said the faculty senate represents UNMC’s faculty as its official voice, protecting academic freedom and upholding regulations.
In the past year, Dr. Siu said, he and the faculty senate revisited its branding, including showcasing faculty senate members on their campus ID badges, and revised the group’s bylaws.
Dr. Warchol, who took over as president last week, said the faculty senate will be looking at updating the faculty handbook, which has not been done for 20 years.
She added that the faculty senate is lucky to have such a supportive leader in Dr. Davies.
Dr. Davies told the faculty senate leaders, “Your ideas and your energy make UNMC a much better place.”
In updating a range of topics around UNMC, Dr. Davies also:
- Held a moment of silence to remember the late Debra Romberger, MD, who died May 20. Dr. Romberger came to UNMC in 1988 and retired in 2024 as chair of the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine. The campus held a memorial service in her honor last week.
- Said summer was an exciting time of the year on campus, with programs including the Summer Undergraduate Research Program and the Summer Health Professions Education Program happening. “We really value all our pathway programs because these are our future students who are going to be joining UNMC at some point.”
- Praised last weekend’s Cattlemen’s Ball, held on Terry and Bev Acton’s ranch outside Blue Springs, Nebraska. Through its quarter of a century, the event has raised more than $21 million for cancer research.
- Acknowledged Pride Month and thanked LGBTQ+ community members for contributing to UNMC every day. He added, “Know that we appreciate you and your role on campus.”
- Congratulated Karen Gould, PhD, as the new interim dean of UNMC Graduate Studies. Dr. Gould took on the role June 1 as Kendra Schmid, PhD, increased her time in the role as interim vice provost for the University of Nebraska System.
- Welcomed Michael Ash, MD, as the new CEO of Nebraska Medicine, effective July 1, and thanked Jim Linder, MD, who Dr. Davies said has been an incredible asset to the university throughout his career.
- Recognized the continuing joint accreditation discussions between UNMC and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which involved a visit June 2-3 by the Higher Learning Commission.
- Explained that the June 19 University of Nebraska Board of Regents meeting will provide a clearer picture of the university budget, which could end up involving cuts at UNMC, depending on the amount of a possible increase in tuition.
- Discussed the recently completed UNMC Employee Engagement Survey, whose results are being analyzed and will be shared with UNMC leadership and the campus in the coming weeks.
- Pointed to the upcoming transition July 1 to DynaMedex as Nebraska Medicine and UNMC’s clinical decision support tool.
- Alerted the campus to email inbox changes that UNMC and Nebraska Medicine Information Security announced to improve email security.
- Discussed a meeting between UNMC and University of Nebraska at Omaha leaders to discuss how the two campuses can work together on AI technology.
- Gave updates on Project Health and on the Kearney health science education expansion, which will begin enrolling pharmacy students this fall.
- Recognized the annual conference held by the Society of NeuroImmune Pharmacology on June 8-11 in Omaha. The conference was sponsored by researchers from UNMC and the UNMC Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience and Society and featured Dr. Robert Gallo, director of the USF Health Virology Institute, co-founder of the Global Virus Network and a renowned HIV and AIDS researcher.
See the video of June’s all-campus forum on the campus intranet.