Kanpplc--a question. If we aren't able to appeal, we are still able to reapply at a later time, correct?
Yes, we can apply at any time, but the process is very long. Likely we would not become a member again within a decade.
I haven't heard yet from my buddy about any appeal. I don't know that there's an appeal, or that one is even possible. It was more of an off-the-cuff statement this person made, and I probably shouldn't have posted it. That was a rash decision.
I would operate under the presumption that there will not be an appeal, and that we will not be members of the AAU in the foreseeable future, if ever again.
1) Harvey dropped the ball, as an accounting shift to put the UNMC under UNL would had rendered all this moot
Not really. It's not clear that adding UNMC would have helped UNL's cause. The geographic separation of the two campuses likely would have meant that the AAU would not have viewed them as part of the same system. Frankly, if the UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA Medical Center, which is part of the University of Nebraska system already, didn't satisfy their criteria, nothing would.
The very fact that we didn't absorb UNMC into UNL should be the single greatest indicator that this wouldn't have fixed the problem.
2) Texas' influence or possible duplicity in this process, despite any vote in the affirmative, should not be dismissed as they did have one of their own (ilk) head this committee
This is something I would not rule out, but proving it would be just about impossible. What I find even more shocking than a possible Texas connection (which I find implausible) is the fact that one of our Big Ten brethren voted against us, knowing full well this would be a huge black eye on the conference. That vote makes zero sense.
3) should we really give two cents about an organization that places no value on agricultural research at all?
Athletically, no of course not. Academically this is a major blow. "Prestige" is a huge deal in academia. I cannot understate that fact. Those schools who voted Nebraska out clearly felt we were a blight on the AAU, and clearly took little note of our advances both in the recent past and those on the imminent horizon.
Again, UNL will be a FAR stronger institution in five years than it is today, and would be without joining the Big Ten/CIC. The AAU says that it looks at a school's trajectory in making determinations like this, yet clearly they did not AT ALL in this instance. We are a far stronger institution today than we were ten years ago when we were up for review and passed. It speaks poorly of the AAU, in my opinion, that they booted us in the situation we're currently in.
Frankly, if no AAU membership is forgivable enough for Notre Dame to be extended a potential B1G invite, it should be forgivable for DoNU as well.
True, and this is a crucial point. However, it's also important to note that we would not have been invited to join the Big 10 last year if this had happened in April, 2010. That one year was instrumental in our membership.
It further bears noting that the CIC >>>>> the AAU. Full membership in the CIC, which Nebraska will enjoy as of July 1, 2011, will outweigh any loss we'll feel from losing AAU membership, and will likely be the key factor in our readmission to the AAU at some later date.
Having said all that, I don't know what our future with the AAU will be. We may never again become a member, and that may be by our choice as much as theirs. In 2010 the AAU adopted criteria that was almost entirely numbers-based, criteria that made it difficult to justify keeping lower-tier members while opening the door for many non-members. Those criteria, obviously, did not favor Nebraska. The AAU made a decision - by committee, which was largely not understood by many member institutions - to base membership on these criteria, something they had never done before. They clearly wish to move from a more accepting group to a more exclusive group, thus increasing their academic prestige.
This decision led to the eventual ouster of Nebraska, and
the imminent departure of Syracuse University, who will leave voluntarily in the coming months rather than face expulsion.
The Chronicle has several great articles on this whole saga, which I highly recommend.
Nebraska's Ouster Opens a Painful Debate Within the AAU
Facing an Ouster From an Elite Group of Universities, Syracuse U. Says It Will Withdraw
This list shows that, as of 2008/2009, UNL received more federal monies than eleven current member institutions, and less than thirteen non-members. That disparity is what led to the new criteria being drawn up, and this situation.
