30 Years of Engaging, Creating, Serving
They
are non-profit executives, police chiefs, airport executives, human and
social service professionals, and officials of city, county and state
government. They are community-minded. They are dedicated. They are
successful. They are graduates of UNO's College of Public Affairs and
Community Service (CPACS).
As the
college this year celebrates its 30th anniversary, its alumni perhaps are the
best reminder of the college's statewide teaching, research and outreach
mission and its rich history of "Engaging Citizens, Creating Solutions and
Serving the Community."
|
CPACS Programs at a glance
|
|
The
college's establishment stems in part from the social and racial turbulence
of the 1960s—a time that triggered riots and protests from the streets of
North Omaha to Memorial Park and UNO's front door. Nebraskans responded in
one way by assembling the blue-ribbon Regents' Commission on the Urban
University of the '70s.
The
commission in 1970 recommended that UNO "play a major role in identifying
community problems and contributing to their solutions." Its 140 members that
fall issued a 32-page report listing 20 recommendations that would assist UNO
in becoming "even more a quality urban university."
|
 Dean
B.J. Reed
|
Recommendation
No. 2 was for "a massive expansion in the role of the university in the
community through the establishment of an Institute for Public and Community
Affairs."
"The
college started as an agent of change," says CPACS Dean B.J. Reed.
Now it
has evolved into a vital component of the University of Nebraska system.
"Through the years," Reed adds, "it has added a tremendous amount of academic
quality. Our faculty and staff have received almost 30 percent of all
campus-wide teaching and research awards in the past 10 years."
Today,
CPACS (http://cpacs.unomaha.edu) boasts an enrollment of nearly 3,000 students
with nine academic and outreach programs (see sidebar below).
"Each of
these units brings regional and national reputations for excellence," Reed
says. "Criminal Justice, Social Work, and Public Administration are among the
top programs of their kind in the nation. Public Administration, for example,
ranks above such institutions as Yale, Princeton, the University of Texas, the
University of California-Berkeley and Rutgers."
This
despite funding that likely doesn't approach that of such big-name
universities. Funding today is among the college's most critical issues. The
rate of increase in state funding has slowed dramatically, now amounting to
only $7 million of an overall budget of nearly $10 million. This has required
CPACS to develop and broaden external funding sources, from grants to donor
support, and it is succeeding in many ways. Faculty and staff in the past year
have generated nearly $3 million in external grants with another almost $5
million in proposals currently in development.
"Our
challenge is to continue to grow without substantive increases in state
support," Reed says. "I think we have done a good job, but we need to do more."
That
means reaching beyond the college's own graduates, many of whom have chosen
public service rather than higher-paying careers. "We need to make our case to
the number of individuals who may not be graduates of our college but who share
the vision and ideals of what our college represents," Reed adds.
The
accomplishments of the past three decades are part of the pitch.
Assistant
Dean Sara Woods says the diversity of the college's faculty, its commitment to
excellence in teaching and research, and its outreach to the community and the
state are testament to the foresight of that 140-member commission and the
people who put the commission's recommendation in place.
"The
college has done some really remarkable things in its first 30 years," Woods
says. "We have a statewide mission that takes us from Omaha to Scottsbluff.
With the proper and necessary support, we hope to continue to be a benefit to
the entire state and improve the quality of life for all its citizens."
(Back to
top)
CPACS
programs at a glance
Hubert Locke, CPACS dean from 1972
to 1975.
Nine academic and
outreach programs constitute the College of Public Affairs and Community
Service. They include:
Aviation Institute
• The
Aviation Institute. Part of the School of Public Administration, it ranks among
the top aviation programs in the nation. Its faculty members administer the
NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium, which provides student fellowships,
research support and curriculum assistance to K-12 and higher education
throughout the state. Each year, more than 50 million people via network news
broadcasts view the institute's research on the national Airline Quality
Rating.
Continuing Studies
• The
Division of Continuing Studies. Source for the bachelor of general studies
degree, the division joined CPACS in 2003. The BGS is one of the nation's
oldest baccalaureate degree programs designed especially for adults, and the
only one of its kind in the NU system. More than 22,000 UNO alumni have BGS
degrees.
Criminal Justice
• The
Department of Criminal Justice. Peers continually rank it among the finest such
programs in the United States. It boasts a national reputation for the quality
of its faculty research endeavors into policing practices, sentencing decisions
and criminal justice trends.
Gerontology
• The
Department of Gerontology. Also among the most influential departments of its
kind in the country, it offers undergraduate and graduate certificate programs
and a master's degree in social gerontology. The department also houses the
Program for Women and Successful Aging.
Goodrich Program
• The
Goodrich Scholarship Program. Established in 1972, it offers full scholarships
to economically disadvantaged students of diverse backgrounds, providing them
the structure and curriculum necessary to develop successful writing and
studying skills. It is a recipient of the university-wide departmental teaching
award, the Hesburgh Certificate of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and
the Noel Levitz Student Retention Award.
Public Administration
• The
School of Public Administration. Ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of
the top 30 public management programs in the nation. It and the Department of
Criminal Justice offer the only two freestanding doctoral programs at UNO.
Social Work
• The
School of Social Work. Also ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of the
best graduate programs of its kind. It leads the university in service-learning
opportunities through which students put into practice theories learned in the
classroom.
Brennan Institute
• The
William Brennan Institute for Labor Studies. The institute works statewide to
foster creative and critical thinking among labor leaders and union members. In
one year, the institute's two staff members conducted 58 programs in seven
Nebraska cities with more than 1,200 participants.
Public Affairs
• The
Center for Public Affairs Research. Along with the State Data Center it
utilizes U.S. Census data to track trends, provide assistance to faculty
research endeavors, and assist community agencies in programs, research and
evaluation.
(Back to top)
