Here is a look at the most-read stories of 2018 posted by the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s communications and news team. This is not a subjective list of the top UNK news of the year, although many of these stories fit that label. Instead, this is a snapshot of the stories that you, the reader, clicked on the most when visiting the UNK News website.
UNK announces unprecedented budget cuts to meet $3.4 million budget gap
University of Nebraska at Kearney Chancellor Doug Kristensen today outlined proposed budget cuts that exceed $3.4 million, and affect 38 positions across nearly every campus unit.
Men’s baseball, golf and tennis will be eliminated. Position eliminations comprise 16 faculty, 2.5 administrative, and 16.5 staff positions. Three affected staff positions will shift to the University of Nebraska system as part of the budget response team process.
“The magnitude of these cuts is unprecedented, considering they represent a nearly 5 percent reduction in UNK’s operating budget and employee workforce,” Kristensen said.
Bryce Abbey wins $100K on CBS finale ‘TKO: Total Knock Out’
Twenty minutes into Friday night’s VIP party, there was a special kind of excitement in the room.
As the season finale of the CBS show “TKO: Total Knock Out” was just getting started, you got the feeling Bryce Abbey just might win this thing.
You could see it on his face. Hear it in his voice.
Marc Bauer named interim Lopers athletic director
University of Nebraska at Kearney Chancellor Doug Kristensen announced today that Marc Bauer will head the Loper Athletics Department as interim athletic director.
An NCAA Division II Hall of Fame coach, Bauer led UNK to three wrestling national championships (2008, 2012 and 2013) and five national runner-up finishes.
He will begin working immediately with Paul Plinske as Plinske transitions to a new position at Colorado State-Pueblo, which he begins May 20
Born with cerebral palsy, Dubowsky embraced by UNK athletes
You won’t find Andrew Dubowsky’s name on any team roster at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
He’s never scored a touchdown at Cope Stadium or recorded a pin inside the Health and Sports Center.
His role with Loper athletics can’t be measured in statistics.
The junior sports management major is a fan, a friend, an aspiring coach and an example for every UNK student-athlete to follow.
“He’s an inspiration for our guys,” said UNK head football coach Josh Lynn.
Studying abroad, UNK student Paige Kristensen gets surprise at Vatican church
Paige Kristensen thought she was about to get booted from one of the world’s most sacred places.
Instead, she ended up reading Scripture to worshippers at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
Kristensen found herself in the memorable situation Sunday while visiting Rome with fellow University of Nebraska at Kearney student Jennifer Belsan of Columbus.
Luke & Jake’s Bar-B-Q purchase part of east entrance project planned
The timing is right for Ty Strawhecker to leave the barbecue business.
The owner of Luke & Jake’s Bar-B-Q is closing his restaurant and catering business July 31, ending a 23-year run in Kearney.
“It will be a pretty big shocker for a lot of people,” Strawhecker said of the decision, which he shared Sunday with employees. “An opportunity arose and we decided to act on it.”
UNK students find future in growing agribusiness field; Job placement rate near 100 percent
Technology is making American farmers more efficient.
U.S. farms are growing in size and shrinking in total number, but that shouldn’t discourage people from pursuing a career in agriculture.
Deborah Bridges, an agribusiness professor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, believes the number of ag-related jobs will continue to rise in the years ahead as farmers turn to larger support staffs to help run their operations.
UNK construction management building strong reputation
Hausmann Construction has hired more than a dozen University of Nebraska at Kearney graduates over the past five years, with many of them serving as summer interns with the Lincoln-based company before they were retained for full-time positions.
This summer, the construction management, design-build and general contracting firm has four interns from UNK working on three different multimillion-dollar projects in Kearney.
There’s a reason one of the top contractors in the Midwest continues looking UNK’s way to grow its workforce.
University of Nebraska at Kearney sees increased interest, applications from Colorado, Kansas students
It is early in the 2018 recruitment cycle, but the Advantage Scholarship for Colorado and Kansas students appears to be working as intended.
Applications and visits have increased, and so has overall interest from students in our western and southern border states. Admitted undergraduate students from Colorado are up 66 percent from last year, and admitted undergraduate numbers from Kansas are steady.
As Chick-fil-A opens, UNK students excited about union improvements
Madie Denson was behind the counter at Starbucks getting to know the equipment, menu and co-workers at her new job.
It was just her second day working at the coffee shop inside the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s Nebraskan Student Union, and she was already preparing herself for the influx of customers that’s sure to come.
“Once it hits Aug. 20, I think it’s going to be insanely busy,” Denson, a senior health sciences major, said late Tuesday morning.
Chancellor Kristensen: UNK facility will be model for early childhood education
The mission of the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s new Early Childhood Education Center was best described by a group of young children who performed during Friday morning’s groundbreaking ceremony.
The children, dressed in blue “Little Lopers” shirts, sang “Together We Can Change the World.”
“That is what our future is all about,” UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen said.
UNK breaks ground on STEM building; Chancellor Kristensen: facility ‘will change Nebraska’
Chancellor Doug Kristensen called it a perfect day for a perfect building Wednesday as the University of Nebraska at Kearney broke ground on a $30 million, state-of-the-art facility that will bring science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs together.
UNK faculty, staff and supporters gathered at the public event to mark the ceremonial start of construction on the 80,000-square-foot building that will rise on UNK’s west campus between West Center and Ockinga/Welch Hall.
The building, which will promote collaboration and innovation among UNK students and faculty, has been a “long time coming,” Kristensen told the crowd gathered on campus on a gorgeous spring afternoon.
U.S. News and World Report: University of Nebraska at Kearney in Top 10 regional public universities
UNK is in the Top 10 again. U.S. News and World Report’s 2019 Rankings: Top Public Regional Universities places University of Nebraska at Kearney at 10th in Regional Universities Midwest in Top Public Schools. The annual rankings were released today.
Among all regional universities (public and private) UNK improved over last year’s ranking, to 53rd, up from 64th.
I Love NU Advocacy Day: University supporters share message at state Capitol
Four generations of Morgan Daubert’s family have ties to the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
She doesn’t want that tradition to end with her.
“Being able to follow in their footsteps is something I’m worried my kids may not be able to do,” Daubert, a UNK freshman from Omaha, said Tuesday during a meeting with state Sen. John Lowe of Kearney.
RIBBON-CUTTING: As Village Flats opens, UNK vision becoming reality
George Holman knew Village Flats would be a popular place to live, but even he was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s newest residence hall reached capacity.
“I knew there would be interest, I knew there was demand for it, but how quickly it filled was a bit of a surprise,” said Holman, associate dean of student affairs and director of residence life at UNK.
Nearly 200 members of the UNK and Kearney communities got a good look Tuesday at why this 130-bed, apartment-style housing complex is so sought-after.
