On Tuesday, UNMC Chancellor Jeffery P. Gold, M.D., discussed issues ranging from the state budget and the partial federal government shutdown to construction and potential research collaborations with sister campuses.
Dr. Gold, who will soon celebrate his five-year anniversary at UNMC, co-hosted the forum with Ali S. Khan, M.D., M.P.H., dean, College of Public Health.
He began with a recap of Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts’ newly published budget proposal and how it compares to the University of Nebraska’s biennial budget request. The biennial request included a 3 percent increase in the first year and a 3.7 percent increase in the second year. The governor’s proposed package funds the compensation portion of the University of Nebraska’s request, but does not fully fund the operations portion, creating a recurring gap of roughly $4.9 million.
“It’s a good starting point, but the university will work very closely with the Legislature and Appropriations Committee members to see if the proposal can be enhanced,” Dr. Gold said, adding that this proposal follows multiple rounds of funding cuts in recent years.
The government shutdown, now in its 26th day, also is impacting the financial health of the university, Dr. Gold said. Because of research funding agencies that are closed during the shutdown, UNMC will not receive $291,000 per month and UNO will not receive $660,000 per month in research funding.
Dr. Khan agreed that the human impact is very real for federal workers, who missed a paycheck this past Friday. “How would you feel if you didn’t get paid?”
The misperception is that employees don’t miss it, Dr. Gold said. “The average government employee effected, according to a recent report, has $400 in the bank. They tend to live paycheck to paycheck.”
Nebraska Medicine and the university are reviewing how the shutdown is impacting students and patients and soon will release statements about how the institutions will help with financial hardships.
Other issues discussed were:
- Medicaid expansion and its impact on the state budget. Dr. Khan said that this is a great opportunity to improve the Medicaid system and develop a new model.
- Construction – the Dr. Edwin Davis & Dorothy Balbach Davis Global Center is on schedule for a ribbon cutting ceremony in September. Bids for the McGoogan Library and Wigton Heritage Center construction projects are finalized and groundbreaking will occur shortly; the Williams Science Hall renovation, where student services will be centralized, may need to be reconsidered; and fundraising successfully continues for the Munroe-Meyer Institute’s new home on the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Scott Campus.
- Equity issues regarding pre-matriculation immunization requirements for all students, whether or not they have patient contact. “We need to balance the equity issue, but my concern is to protect the safety of the learners and the learning environment,” Dr. Gold said.
- Barriers to research collaborations with UNO and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Gold said he would like to identify and break down those barriers. “We are better when we work together.”
Can these be recorded so we can watch them later? Some of us would like to hear the message but work prevents us from attending or watching–and starting the player and hitting pause doesn't work to watch it later that same day.