For Nanette Hogg, chair of the Department of Communication, creating the first UNK website with a student is just one of the many achievements she can look back on. After joining the UNK community in the early ‘90s, Hogg is set to retire at the end of this semester.
Hogg, who considers web design her expertise, said there are lots of memorable moments she’s proud of from her time at UNK.
“I think the students are the ones that make me the most proud, because I see them going out and doing great things,” Hogg said.
For the first 10 years of her time at UNK, Hogg worked in ITS while also earning both a master’s degree at UNK and a doctoral degree at UNL.
“During that interview (to work in ITS at UNK), the boss asked me what I knew about the internet, and I said, ‘I’m not familiar with that term, but I learn quickly,’” Hogg said. “He also told me that I could take classes and that UNK would pay for them, and I asked him, ‘Why wouldn’t everybody do that?’”
Because there were no online options at the time, Hogg drove to Lincoln for her doctoral classes. Once Hogg was hired into the Department of Communication in the early 2000s, Hogg taught students how to use both the web and various Adobe apps while also writing her dissertation.
As one of the only faculty members educated on navigating the web, Hogg oversaw the first Antelope webmasters, the first form of The Antelope’s website that still runs today.
“It was very different,” Hogg said. “It was a lot of work, but I had a lot of fun. We experimented with all the new technology. Like we did a virtual tour of the library to put on their website, just all the technology fun stuff is what I taught.”
Before becoming the chair of the Department of Communication in 2022, Hogg served on numerous committees in the department, on campus and at UNL, while also mentoring other faculty and students.
Hogg said there are a lot of things that go into serving as department chair.
“Sometimes it’s very urgent things that the chair has to deal with, and sometimes it’s just kind of ongoing,” Hogg said.
Hogg had to step in and work through larger issues, such as relocating the department to University Residence South in December 2022 and back into the Calvin T. Ryan Library in May 2024.
“Between the relocations, the budget cuts and rewriting the major, I had no personal life for two years,” Hogg said. “My husband knows that, and he’s very supportive, but it was hard. It was hard, and I had very little sleep even, because I had to get things done.”
Jacob Rosdail, an associate professor in the department who will become the department chair in August 2025, said Hogg was the very first person he met from UNK when he began working in 2014.
“Dr. Hogg has been my No. 1 mentor since I started here over a decade ago,” Rosdail said. “Whenever I’d have a question, or if I was having trouble with a student or with Canvas, Dr. Hogg was always the first person I’d go to, even when she wasn’t chair.”
Hogg, who said she wants to leave the department in a good place, asked Rosdail to become the assistant chair this semester. Faculty members in the department voted to appoint him to the role, allowing Hogg to teach him the things she had to learn on her own.
“I do know a lot of people just kind of get thrown in this sort of position, but Nanette has been very careful to try and teach me everything I’ll need to know,” Rosdail said.
Hogg said she has many favorite things about teaching, especially when a struggling, frustrated student has a light bulb moment in class.
“You know, the eyes open wide and there’s a little hand movement or something,” Hogg said. “I just love that part.”
Naomi Chavez, a junior majoring in multimedia, said she will miss chatting with Hogg, but hopes she has fun in retirement.
“I love how she makes classes really fun,” Chavez said. “Specifically, when we need to learn something about codes, she’ll try to make it memorable for us.”
Hogg has also created connections with her colleagues in the department, who she says are wonderful and constantly helping each other.
“I feel like Dr. Hansen could be my brother, because he kind of reminds me of my brother in a way, right?’ Hogg said. “So Dr. Luethke could be my daughter, you know? So I have made very close connections.”
After retirement, Hogg plans to visit her grandchildren who live all over the country. She also plans to help her husband with their garden and travel to see her brothers and sisters.
“I don’t know what I’ll do without the students,” Hogg said.
