Lincoln Citizenship Project, Project, Foundation, NHRI, NHRRF, NHRI Leadership Mentoring? Whatever name you called it was, is, and will always be much more than a name.

Taken from the Introduction of the 1988-89 NHRRF Annual Report

The Nebraska Human Resources Research Foundation celebrated its 40th anniversary during the 1988-89 academic year. It was a special, successful year with significant changes resulting in far-reaching implications for our future direction. 

In July, the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska approved a contractual agreement between itself and the Board of Directors of NHRRF. In accordance with the agreement, the administration of projects and NHRRF's professional staff became a "legal" component within the office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. The name of the projects collectively was designated henceforth as The Nebraska Human Resources Institute.

The NHRRF Board of Directors retained its original title, with its main responsibility being that of providing financial support and sponsorship of NHRI. In essence, the word "Foundation" was retained so that the volunteer board was truly functioning as a foundation for the support of the Institute. 

As the year progressed, it became increasingly apparent that the administration at UN-L was sincere in its support of NHRI's program. During the year, the entire payroll function was taken over by UN-L, along with other administrative and financial responsibilities previously conducted by NHRI office staff. 

While NHRRF will continue to be responsible for reimbursing UN-L for specifically budgeted items incurred by NHRI, the financial/bookkeeping function has been simplified, thereby freeing up precious staff time which can be shifted over to the welfare and for the betterment of the projects. 

It is somewhat ironic that the university would take increased ownership for NHRI during this, the 40th year. The university has basically "come full circle", as NHRRF was funded by the university when it began in 1949. The board, students and staff are deeply appreciative of and grateful for this renewed bond to UN-L. 

Among the several benefits to NHRI is the increased visibility on the campus, which can only result in improving efforts to recruit the most outstanding counselors we can find. In addition, the link with Student Affairs will provide more opportunities for NHRI students and staff to conduct training workshops for a wide variety of campus groups.

As those close to NHRI celebrate its long and illustrious history, we pause to reflect on the many hundreds of people whose lives have been touched in a lasting and positive way during the four decades. As in other years, the office staff is frequently contacted by alumni and friends who graduated from the university 10, 25, 30 and even 35 years ago. Sometimes they send contributions along with heart-warming notes expressing their gratitude for Foundation experiences which have continued to influence their lives.

Occasionally, they even call or stop by the office to get information about how to establish a similar program in their communities. That kind of interest in and commitment to this program is a concrete validation of NHRI's program and its purpose.

This year's Annual Report is dedicated to the alumni who continue to invest themselves in the lives of others through their professional, personal and volunteer efforts. They learned well that their Foundation experiences are right­ly transferred to positive interaction with others for a lifetime.

Finally, in 2019, the year of our 70th anniversary, NHRI became NHRI Leadership Mentoring. NHRI was founded in 1949 on the belief that the greatest resource is the human resource - hence the name of our Institute. Not surprisingly, the term “human resources” carries a different connotation. This new name pays tribute to our rich 70 year history and more accurately describes the work we do today. The program announced the name change along with a new logo and brand identity in an electronic newsletter.