Personally Speaking
A CONVERSATION WITH TED CARTER, JR., PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
It’s inspiring to know that someone who never imagined themselves even living in the Midwest, let alone Lincoln, Nebraska – the place we call home – has become one of our greatest ambassadors in such a short period of time. After nearly 20 months at the helm of the University of Nebraska, it has become clear that recruiting Ted Carter was the right choice at the right time.
Carter came to Nebraska from the U.S. Naval Academy, his alma mater, where he served as superintendent. Under his leadership, the Naval Academy achieved a No. 1 national ranking and new records in student success and diversity. Carter previously was president of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I. A retired Vice Admiral with 38 years of service, Carter has logged more than 6,300 flying hours and holds the American record for carrierarrested landings.
As president, Carter leads a four-campus university system that enrolls nearly 52,000 students and employs 16,000 faculty and staff on campuses in Lincoln, Omaha, and Kearney, plus academic divisions and research and extension centers across the state. He serves as chief spokesman and chief executive officer for the system, which operates on a $2.8 billion annual budget and includes a flagship Big Ten institution, a world-renowned academic health sciences center, Division I athletics programs, and preeminent institutes focused on water and agriculture, national security and defense, infectious disease, and early childhood education. We asked President Carter to share with our readers how his time thus far in Lincoln has impacted the University and him personally.
What attracted you to the role of President of the University of Nebraska?
What really drew me here was the mission of higher education. I have to admit I wasn’t looking for Nebraska – Nebraska kind of found me.
It was really the Leadership Pillars in the job description - there are nine of them - that inspired me. Whoever wrote them did a phenomenal job. My wife and I felt they described a little bit of my leadership philosophy at the Naval Academy and at the War College. Once I got into the job – which was pre-pandemic – I was very excited, I liked what I saw. The diversity, the uniqueness of each campus between the Med Center in Omaha, the metropolitan campus in Omaha, the flagship campus here in Lincoln, and the rural campus out in Kearney – all of that was super attractive to me. It was important to me in terms of the state and business development. As a sports fan all my life, I’m very familiar with the legends here in Nebraska. So all of that was a draw.
Did your career as a Vice Admiral in the Navy and Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy prepare you for leading the University during a pandemic?
The emerging pandemic, the challenges that went with that, my background in strategic and military planning – all helped to put us [University of Nebraska] in a place where we were able to shift the dynamic. We have tremendous staff and leadership at all campuses. We made five major decisions in May 2020 in preparation for the upcoming first session that fall – 55lnk.com | 13 from the Nebraska Promise, to the changing of the schedule, to the changing of online course costs, to stating we were going to be open, and a tuition freeze. When you add that all up, most universities would take four or five years to get through that and we did it in a period of weeks.
Were there risks involved in implementing these strategies?
There was risk involved. The Nebraska Promise, for example, where we offered free tuition for families who make $60,000 or less caused people to question how we could afford to do that. The answer was we can’t afford NOT to do it. If we hadn’t done this, along with some of the other things we did, we would have likely lost enrollment somewhere in the 5-10% range. Instead, we were the only major Midwestern university that actually grew during the pandemic, even in double digits in first-generation students and underserved minorities.
We also plan to attract out-of-state students to come to Nebraska through a new program called the New Nebraskan at UNK. Basically, it’s a scholarship program that gets students about the same tuition as in-state. There is a migration happening as you might expect. Populations are leaving cities like New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles, and we need them to go farther than Denver, Austin, or Jacksonville, Florida. Our strategy to attract them to Nebraska is three simple words: affordability, accessibility, and growth. People can resonate with that. This is going to be the trend for higher education and we [University] have already made the pivot. Most institutions are raising tuition; we froze it. That was one of the five strategies. We were the first in the country to say “No” and to freeze tuition for not one but two years.
The University of Nebraska is already the best value in every category, as well as the best value of any member of the Big Ten. We’re really here for the benefit of the state because 80% of our graduates, no matter where they come from, stay in Nebraska.
What impact does the University of Nebraska have on the state economically?
If anyone from the Nebraska Legislature asks, “What’s the value of the University of Nebraska?” I want to be able to show them. The millions of dollars in funding given to the University is returned sevenfold, in the billions of dollars.
The Medical Center in Omaha is world-class, one of the Top 10 medical schools in the country. We’re top in a lot of different areas that people don’t really think about such as architecture and law. We have a space law program that’s one-of-a-kind in the country. Our research numbers are going way up. We’re about to get a significant grant from USDA for creating the “farm of the future” which will put us at the top of the list for agriculture, farming, and ag-tech innovation. There’s a lot of cool stuff going on.
We received a Federal Grant for the National Strategic Research Institute, one of only 14 University-Affiliated Research Centers in the country conducting exclusive research for the Department of Defense. The next project is to secure funding for the largest Biocontainment Center in the country. Called Project NExT, this will really take Nebraska to the next level. If we had the NExT project [biocontainment center] in full operation when COVID-19 hit, we likely would have been able to reduce COVID loss of life in this nation by at least one-third, if not more. That’s how impactful that can be.
This state is remarkable in how it does public-private partnerships. I’ve not heard or seen another state do it as well as Nebraska does. It’s unique and one of the high gold standards we have here.
What are some things you want readers to know about the University of Nebraska?
We have a real opportunity to elevate Nebraska. We’re coming out of the pandemic strong, with an incredible sense of hope and opportunity, and we are going to take a well-thought-out, five-year strategy and mechanize it. I want Nebraska to be successful, not just downtown Lincoln, not just Husker football, not just what we have in Omaha, but in how the university impacts the entire state.
Affordability, accessibility, growth – when I say growth, I’m not just talking about enrollment and graduation rates. I’m talking about the growth and success of our students. Closing the attainment gap which is the number usually measured for students that are white vs. students of color. We have a very wide attainment gap here in the state of Nebraska, one of the highest in the country. The demographics of our state are changing – 40% of high school graduates will be students of color by the year 2040. We’re laser-focused on how we close that gap between these two cohorts and make that a success story. That will be the future workforce of Nebraska.
Outside of work, what do you like to do in your free time?
Lynda and I like to travel. I also enjoy running and ran in the Lincoln Half Marathon. I try to keep TV to a minimum but I do enjoy watching football and other sports. I’m even considering strapping on my skates again and playing hockey like I did in college.
My wife, Lynda, and I have lived everywhere in the world, overseas twice. Our son was born in Japan and our daughter in San Diego. We’ve lived in all four corners of the country, from my home state of Rhode Island, to Florida, to a lot of time in the Norfolk, Virginia area, and even the Seattle and San Diego areas. We moved 21 or 22 times but never to the middle of the country. I’ve said this publicly many times that every single day we have been here has been a validation that we are where we are supposed to be.
How to be a Nebraska Ambassador
Contributions don’t always equate to cash or money. Volunteering your time and being involved go a long way. There are many programs people can be a part of at the University of Nebraska that support our students and overall mission. Becoming an ambassador for the University, as well as the state, involves supporting what we do, and learning more about what the University does and our many diverse programs.
• Sign up to become a University of Nebraska Advocate by visiting www.nebraska.edu/advocates. By joining the team, you will be among the first to know about legislative developments that impact the University and how and when to get engaged in voicing your support to elected leaders.
• It is important to understand what Nebraska Extension does in all 93 counties of the state. The research that stems from Extension is very unique to Nebraska and is there to support farmers and ranchers. The results of what comes out of Nebraska’s Extension impact our top industry, agriculture.
• One of the things that is going to be so important for the University, in addition to Nebraska Extension, is what it does with 4-H – creating pathways and opportunities for kids. This is probably the most participatory state in 4-H of any state in the nation (88-90% of all grade school children touch 4-H).
Anyone can become an ambassador for the University of Nebraska by talking about what we have here. “What I’m really proud of and excited about is that when I travel outside the state and wear my ‘N’ lapel pin, I get stopped,” President Carter said. “There are Nebraska fans everywhere.” GO BIG RED!