February’s all-campus forum focused on community service and campus safety.
Heidi Keeler, PhD, assistant vice chancellor with the UNMC Office of Community Engagement, and Charlotte Evans, associate vice chancellor of public safety and chief of police, joined UNMC Interim Chancellor H. Dele Davies, MD, for the Tuesday, Feb. 10, event at the Maurer Center for Public Health on the Omaha campus.
UNMC recently received the 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, one of the highest national honors recognizing an institution’s commitment to community engagement, and Dr. Davies invited Dr. Keeler to discuss the award.
“This is a big win for UNMC,” Dr. Keeler said, likening the self-evaluation application process to that of accreditation. “Community engagement has always been part of the fabric of UNMC and all of its colleges.”
Achieving the Carnegie classification, she said, goes far beyond counting the number of UNMC partners and activities within our communities. “It’s about ensuring that community engagement principles are embedded in all that we do, integrating best practice into our mission, marketing, recognition, what we teach, scholarship and more.”
She thanked Dr. Davies for his vision in creating the UNMC Office of Community Engagement and overseeing institutional-level coordination and tracking, one year after UNMC first achieved Carnegie recognition in 2015. She also thanked members of the campus community and UNMC’s partners who helped UNMC become one of only seven comparable institutions in the U.S. to achieve the classification.
Members of the UNMC community can view the Feb. 10 forum.
Dr. Davies and Chief Evans then discussed campus safety. Chief Evans highlighted some of the steps taken by the University of Nebraska Police and Public Safety and the UNMC Office of Emergency Management, including:
- Expanding the network of security cameras on the med center campus.
- Upgrading public safety’s radios to better align with local law enforcement partners.
- Beginning the implementation of business continuity software (Noggin) to ensure a unified approach to resilience.
- Automatically enrolling all UNMC faculty, staff and students into the UNMC Alert app system, so they are notified during emergencies. Prior to this, individuals had to opt in to receive alerts.
- Exploring additional safety features for the UNMC Alert app, enabling campus visitors and patients to opt in to receiving emergency notifications while they are on campus.
“Campus safety is a shared responsibility,” Dr. Davies said. “We all own this.”
Chief Evans also discussed the Jan. 12 “swatting” incident that led to the evacuation of the McGoogan Health Sciences Library and the medical center’s policies if ICE or other law enforcement agencies are on campus. (See this UNMC Today article for more information.)
Her safety advice to faculty, staff, students and campus visitors: “Stay vigilant. Pay attention, and if you see something, say something.” Public safety can be reached at 402-559-5555 on the Omaha campus. For additional campus contacts, see this UNMC Today article.
In other updates, Dr. Davies:
- Expressed interest in serving as UNMC’s permanent chancellor, which follows news that University of Nebraska President Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, has initiated the search for a permanent UNMC chancellor.
- Noted that the governor has appointed Joel Makovicka of Omaha to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. Makovicka will fill the open seat vacated by Elizabeth O’Connor and serve through Jan. 7, 2027; voters will determine who completes the term, which runs through 2030.
- Said remediation is complete on 64% of the affected rooms in the Durham Research Center following the Nov. 14 fire on the sixth floor, which impacted levels three through six. Three PI/labs still are displaced, and others remain impacted by remediation efforts.
- Highlighted Congressional wins, including increased funding for National Institutes of Health Biomedical Research and $12 million in congressionally directed spending from Sen. Deb Fischer for the Infectious Disease Aeromedical Transport Training Facility at UNMC.
- Thanked UNMC faculty – Tammy Kielian, PhD, Ann Anderson-Berry, MD, PhD, and Don Coulter, MD – for testifying before the Nebraska Legislature’s Appropriations Committee this week in support of the Health Care Cash Fund and pediatric cancer research funding. The governor’s budget request proposed cuts to biomedical research funding, pediatric cancer research funding and other health care items. At this time, the appropriations committee has chosen to maintain funding for these areas in its preliminary budget.
- Applications are being accepted for the fall opening of UNMC Residences, the new student housing facility on the east edge of the Omaha campus.
- Noted the Health Science Education Center II in Kearney campus opened last month with a phased-in move plan. The building will be fully operational by May when a ribbon-cutting is planned.
- Mentioned that Redcap (Research Electronic Data Capture), which supports data capture for research studies, is offline, and the research community will be notified when the issues have been resolved.
Dr. Davies closed by highlighting recent messages he’s received from campus visitors that acknowledged the kindness and compassion shown by UNMC faculty, staff and students. “Every day you make a difference,” he told the audience.