University of Nebraska

Eugene Trani, Ph.D., served as assistant vice president for academic affairs at the University of Nebraska between July 1, 1976, and June 30, 1980, and provided general support to the executive vice president for academic affairs of the three-campus (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nebraska at Omaha and University of Nebraska Medical Cen­ter) university system.

Trani's specific responsibilities included development and coordination of university policy concerning academic personnel; review of recommendations for academic promotion and tenure; supervision of all matters relating to academic collective bargaining; evaluation of under­graduate education programs; development and coordi­nation of institution­al research for the university as a whole; prepara­tion of reports and analyses for the board of regents, the legislative and executive branches of state government, and the federal govern­ment; and liaison with the state of Nebraska's Policy Research Office. Trani also was a member of the University’s Council of Academic Officers, the Council of Student Affairs Officers, the Computer Network Information Systems Executive Council and the Committee on International Education, and served on university ad hoc committees and task forces, such as the Academic Computing Services Task Force, the Task Force on the Administration of the Graduate College, the Personnel Policy Task Force and the Student Enrollment Projections Task Force.

In October 1977, when the University of Nebraska’s executive vice president for academic affairs was named dean of the universitywide Graduate College, Trani assumed the additional responsibility of providing general support in the area of graduate education. Trani’s specific duties in this area included the review of recommendations for appointment to the graduate faculty, proposals for new graduate programs, evaluations of existing graduate programs, policies governing graduate education and research, major proposals for external funding, and the coordination of intercampus graduate programs. He met regularly with the universitywide Graduate Council and the Council of Graduate Deans and served as acting dean of the Graduate College in the absence of the executive vice president for academic affairs.

In May 1979, Trani was appointed patent administrator for the University of Nebraska, while maintaining his responsibilities as assistant vice president for academic affairs. In this capacity, he provided overall coordination of all university patent activities and served as the central source of information and assistance in matters relating to patents and licensing questions.

Between July 1, 1976, and June 30, 1979, Trani also served as director of the University of Nebraska’s Learning Analysis Project. This three-year, $550,000 project, which was supported in part by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, offered students at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Chadron State College, Kearney State College, College of Saint Mary, and Doane College — all in Nebraska — the opportunity to experience learning under a variety of methods of instruction. This project helped students become more analytical observers of their learning reactions to various teaching strategies so that they could assume more responsibility for their own learning and become more competent evaluators of teaching effectiveness.

In 1978, Trani was selected by the Sloan Commission on Government and Higher Education to conduct a study of the impact of the federal and state governments on higher education in Nebraska. The Nebraska study was combined with similar studies in nine other states to form the basis for the final report of the Sloan Commission, "A Program for Renewed Partnership: The Report of the Sloan Commission on Government and Higher Education," which was published in May 1980.

Trani was appointed professor of history at the University of Nebraska in 1976 and was a fellow of the graduate faculty. He taught American history courses at both the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska at Omaha on a regular basis.

Trani was a special assistant to the executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Nebraska during the 1975-1976 academic year while on leave from Southern Illinois University. Supported by grants from Southern Illinois University and the Lilly Endow­ment, Trani’s administrative internship assignments at the University of Nebraska included reviewing academic personnel policies, undergradu­ate education programs and information systems. Additionally, during this period, he served for several months as an assistant to the execu­tive vice president for administration at the University of Nebraska.