As Kansas University officials again peer into their crystal balls in an attempt to divine the future, here’s a look back to late 2008, when then-Chancellor Robert Hemenway and then-Provost Richard Lariviere looked to 2009.

No one could have predicted that alcohol abuse would become an issue after two students would lose their lives in the spring semester, or how KU’s football program would be thrust into the national spotlight after an investigation into its head coach that led to an eventual resignation.

However, the three main issues for KU that school officials focused on proved to be major issues in 2009:

A new chancellor search

Fresh off his announcement in December that Hemenway would step down as chancellor, the Kansas Board of Regents had already outlined a goal to find KU’s next chancellor by the next fall.

The search actually went more quickly than that, as Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little had been named by late May.

Budget concerns

Lariviere correctly predicted that the financial storm could get worse with projected budget cuts coming down the line.

“We will have even more people losing their jobs,” he predicted, if the cuts became a reality.

They did, and he was right.

NCI designation

As with this year, KU officials predicted a focus on generating donations and recruitment for designation as a National Cancer Institute, touted as “the next big thing” for statewide economic development.

In 2009, the NCI effort was bolstered by the founding of a new fundraising council, along with a push to raise money for new top-notch faculty members that will generate needed grant dollars for the effort.