{"id":104381,"date":"2023-10-24T01:56:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T06:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=104381"},"modified":"2023-10-23T10:39:45","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T15:39:45","slug":"unmc-leadership-updates-campus-on-budget-building-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/10\/24\/unmc-leadership-updates-campus-on-budget-building-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"UNMC leadership updates campus on budget, building projects"},"content":{"rendered":"
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UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, opened his October all-campus forum by thanking everyone involved in the recent University of Nebraska Board of Regents visit to the Omaha campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe regents had a phenomenal time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also discussed the passage of a Board of Regents policy waiver that will allow UNMC to hire architects and engineers for the planning phase of Project Health: Building the Healthiest Nebraska, the first part of Project NExT, the planned $2.19 billion teaching and research facility, and he credited a \u201cvery impressive campus visit\u201d for the unanimous regents\u2019 vote granting the waiver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProject Health is focused on our local needs for clinical teaching, clinical research and clinical care here on the Omaha campus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chancellor and Anne Barnes, vice chancellor for business, finance and business development, also fielded questions on the zero-based budgeting process currently underway, with Dr. Gold assuring a questioner that \u201cwe are doing everything we can do to protect our academic programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre we looking at graduation rates and coordinating commission requirements? Absolutely. Are we going to do everything we can to optimize those academic programs? Absolutely. But that will be the last thing to have any type of significant budgetary impact. Even this modified zero-based budgeting process that we\u2019re going through does not involve faculty, just staff and programming right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barnes added, in response to a follow-up question, that UNMC \u201cdid not have a structural deficit coming into the fiscal year. \u2026 The plan at this point does not include staff reductions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chancellor also introduced new UNMC College of Dentistry Dean Gerard \u201cGerry\u201d Kugel, DMD, PhD, who talked about his background and the reasons that drew him \u2013 and his wife, a Nebraska native \u2013 to UNMC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love Nebraska, so I\u2019m a very happy person right now. And go Huskers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Kugel also spoke about his life as the son of a widowed mother, and how he received a lot of his dental care as a child from dental schools, leading to his lifetime in dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want a better presence for us with UNMC in Omaha, more activities between our campuses,\u201d Dr. Kugel said. He added that he would like to see new technology at the college, increase the college\u2019s research portfolio \u2013 \u201cnot just our bench research, but clinical research\u201d \u2013 and improve clinical efficiencies at the college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe dental need in this country is dramatic \u2013 the more I improve efficiencies, the more patients we treat, the more experience our students get,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also aims to improve community involvement by both the college and its alumni. He mentioned a Veterans Day event he attended where he said 600 people showed up for dental care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a dramatic need for dental services,\u201d including pediatric patients, as well as a national hygienist shortage, Dr. Kugel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, during the forum, Dr. Gold:<\/p>\n\n\n\n