Nebraska Booted from the AAU

[scarletNcream]

The debate can go on. Here's a quote for the New York Times and a link to the story. This is not the CIC people, if they don't value our Agricultural research, good luck to every other A&M institute or anyone with USDA funding.

"Although membership in the association — which now will have 61 members, including most Ivy League institutions and many of the top state schools, like Texas A&M and the University of North Carolina — brings no specific benefits, many campuses see it as a proud indicator of their status."

"Brings no specific benefits" I am not saying this doesn't hurt, after all, it is a proud indicator of our status.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/education/03aau.html

 

[typ3kal]

Two quickies: Knapplc i believe that AAU is invitation only so i don't know if you can apply or even appeal, but it sounds like you may have the inside track on this,

second, it is possible that the member of the Big Ten that didn't vote for Nebraska was Chicago, I say this b/c the Big Ten has long regarded its academic arm a separate conference, of which Chicago is a part of, and I could see nebraska including them in speaking in regards to the AAU as a member of the Big Ten. I would seriously doubt michigain being the guilty party as has been spoken of earlier and this is coming from a tOSU guy.

Trust me if you guys know any graduates from U of Chicago you can probably see this as a possibility... just saying

My roommate at UNL got his PhD at U of Chicago. Lived across the street from Washington Park. So yeah, I have an idea what you're talking about. U of C was my first thought when I found out one of the Big Ten voted us out. I get voting your conscience, but this is a little ridiculous.

I am not overly familiar with AAU membership processes, but I believe it's a multi-pronged courtship. There is probably some "official" method, just like "officially" we applied to join the Big Ten, but the B1G recruited us as much as we approached them. It's one of those fun gray areas.

Ran into Harvey after Dinner tonight just off of campus, he was coming out of the parking lot and I was finishing my meal at Applebees. Since we were headed the same direction at the light on the corner I asked him if we would appeal the AAU decision. He said there is not an appeals process for UNL, the decision is final. He said it would be a great number of years, a decade or more atleast before we would even be considered for membership.

 

[Vuren]

Two quickies: Knapplc i believe that AAU is invitation only so i don't know if you can apply or even appeal, but it sounds like you may have the inside track on this,

second, it is possible that the member of the Big Ten that didn't vote for Nebraska was Chicago, I say this b/c the Big Ten has long regarded its academic arm a separate conference, of which Chicago is a part of, and I could see nebraska including them in speaking in regards to the AAU as a member of the Big Ten. I would seriously doubt michigain being the guilty party as has been spoken of earlier and this is coming from a tOSU guy.

Trust me if you guys know any graduates from U of Chicago you can probably see this as a possibility... just saying

My roommate at UNL got his PhD at U of Chicago. Lived across the street from Washington Park. So yeah, I have an idea what you're talking about. U of C was my first thought when I found out one of the Big Ten voted us out. I get voting your conscience, but this is a little ridiculous.

I am not overly familiar with AAU membership processes, but I believe it's a multi-pronged courtship. There is probably some "official" method, just like "officially" we applied to join the Big Ten, but the B1G recruited us as much as we approached them. It's one of those fun gray areas.

Ran into Harvey after Dinner tonight just off of campus, he was coming out of the parking lot and I was finishing my meal at Applebees. Since we were headed the same direction at the light on the corner I asked him if we would appeal the AAU decision. He said there is not an appeals process for UNL, the decision is final. He said it would be a great number of years, a decade or more atleast before we would even be considered for membership.

i'd rather we just flip them off and plot the demise for the back stabbers.

 

[ladyhawke]

I am not overly familiar with AAU membership processes, but I believe it's a multi-pronged courtship. There is probably some "official" method, just like "officially" we applied to join the Big Ten, but the B1G recruited us as much as we approached them. It's one of those fun gray areas.

Here is AAU membership information for anyone who is interested. http://www.aau.edu/about/membership_information.aspx?id=1110

 

[knapplc]

Ran into Harvey after Dinner tonight just off of campus, he was coming out of the parking lot and I was finishing my meal at Applebees. Since we were headed the same direction at the light on the corner I asked him if we would appeal the AAU decision. He said there is not an appeals process for UNL, the decision is final. He said it would be a great number of years, a decade or more atleast before we would even be considered for membership.

Yep, that makes sense. The "appeal" I mentioned was something a friend thought they heard, but wasn't sure. They did some checking and couldn't find anything conclusive. There have been a lot of emails flying around, so they had to look for a while, but nothing. So we're out, and likely will be out for a long time, if we ever get back in again.

 

[VectorVictor]

Finally got around to the "ouster" article Knapplc linked above. What stands out in the article was how the AAU's committee was hell bent on getting Nebraska kicked out. From the article:

The April 18 deadline for votes apparently caused some confusion among several presidents. Those who talked with The Chronicle said it was clear that April 18 was the day ballots would be counted. But AAU officials told Mr. Perlman that April 18 was the deadline for ballots to be postmarked, according to an e-mail exchange between the chancellor and Mr. Berdahl, which was released with other documents on Friday by Nebraska at the request of The Chronicle...
...the deadline was significant because any abstention would be counted as a vote in favor of retaining Nebraska, Mr. Perlman said. When the AAU appeared to be seeking additional ballots beyond the deadline, Mr. Perlman concluded that "they probably didn't have the votes" and were determined to get them.

I take back what I said about Harvey in this instance--it appears he's taking this personally, and not just because it would be a pock mark on his accomplishments at Nebraska. Harvey's barbed summation on the whole ouster:

"When the details of this process become public," Mr. Perlman added, "it will hardly serve the reputation or credibility of the AAU."

I do think that the AAU has overplayed their hand, and their myopic vision will be the undoing of their influence. Having to rig a member vote to kick someone out can't make any of the other members, good standing or otherwise, feel comfortable about their association with the AAU right now.

 

[knapplc]

That article was quite damning of the AAU, this process, and the organization going forward.

While obviously embarrassing, this could end up being a blessing in disguise. Perhaps this is an organization which has outlived its usefulness.

 

[GM_Tood]

Perhaps this is an organization which has outlived its usefulness.

OWH Article

Jeff Raikes, a Nebraska native and chief executive officer of the Gates Foundation, described the loss of AAU membership as getting kicked out of an aging club and said it didn't make any difference to him and other philanthropists.

“When you're reviewing a grant proposal I don't think anybody looks at membership in the AAU club,” he said. “We want to know about the intellectual and academic capital that will be created.”

 

[knapplc]

Allegedly the purpose of the AAU is to act as a lobby to congress to obtain federal research money. I would like to hear from UNL how much of this money we have gained from the AAU.

 

[BOJ]

Two quickies: Knapplc i believe that AAU is invitation only so i don't know if you can apply or even appeal, but it sounds like you may have the inside track on this,

second, it is possible that the member of the Big Ten that didn't vote for Nebraska was Chicago, I say this b/c the Big Ten has long regarded its academic arm a separate conference, of which Chicago is a part of, and I could see nebraska including them in speaking in regards to the AAU as a member of the Big Ten. I would seriously doubt michigain being the guilty party as has been spoken of earlier and this is coming from a tOSU guy.

Trust me if you guys know any graduates from U of Chicago you can probably see this as a possibility... just saying

Do you mean Northwestern? (U of Chicago isn't in the B!G) but Northwestern is. Maybe they are the ones that voted against us-They're still mad because we beat the crap outta them in 2000 (66-17)lol

yes, as stated u of c is part of the BiG academic arm and they have a lot of pull within the CIC (which they are a member--seeing that this is the academic arm of the BiG)

 

[BOJ]

Allegedly the purpose of the AAU is to act as a lobby to congress to obtain federal research money. I would like to hear from UNL how much of this money we have gained from the AAU.

I don't think you have anything to worry about, CIC membership will makeup for any lost revenue (if that even happens, which i doubt--the revenue issue i mean)

The CIC lobbys for more money than the AAU could even dream of

 

[knapplc]

Allegedly the purpose of the AAU is to act as a lobby to congress to obtain federal research money. I would like to hear from UNL how much of this money we have gained from the AAU.

I don't think you have anything to worry about, CIC membership will makeup for any lost revenue (if that even happens, which i doubt--the revenue issue i mean)

The CIC lobbys for more money than the AAU could even dream of

Exactly. I've been preaching about the CIC for a year now. Most folks are focused on football, which is no surprise considering the focus of HuskerBoard, but BTN and Big Ten football revenue aside, the CIC was a tremendous home run for UNL. Probably the single most significant thing that has happened to this university since we invented the McRib.

 

[Enhance]

I don't know if this was mentioned above in an article or by a poster, but...

I heard from one of my roommate's that, sometime after Nebraska got kicked out of the AAU, Syracuse voluntarily left the AAU.

I did a little google searching and didn't find anything conclusive other than an article from a year ago talking about Georgia Tech making it into the AAU and it mentioned something about Syracuse.

The AAU is starting to look like the lunch table with all the cool kids - you want to be at it but it doesn't mean anything.

 

[knapplc]

I don't know if this was mentioned above in an article or by a poster, but...

I heard from one of my roommate's that, sometime after Nebraska got kicked out of the AAU, Syracuse voluntarily left the AAU.

I did a little google searching and didn't find anything conclusive other than an article from a year ago talking about Georgia Tech making it into the AAU and it mentioned something about Syracuse.

The AAU is starting to look like the lunch table with all the cool kids - you want to be at it but it doesn't mean anything.

Facing an Ouster From an Elite Group of Universities, Syracuse U. Says It Will Withdraw

 

[BOJ]

I don't know if this was mentioned above in an article or by a poster, but...

I heard from one of my roommate's that, sometime after Nebraska got kicked out of the AAU, Syracuse voluntarily left the AAU.

I did a little google searching and didn't find anything conclusive other than an article from a year ago talking about Georgia Tech making it into the AAU and it mentioned something about Syracuse.

The AAU is starting to look like the lunch table with all the cool kids - you want to be at it but it doesn't mean anything.

Facing an Ouster From an Elite Group of Universities, Syracuse U. Says It Will Withdraw

Good for Syracuse; we get caught up in all this BS and don't get me wrong it is embarrassing to get kicked out, but the CIC will do more for Nebraska than the AAU ever would, have no fear Cornhuskers, you still have a good school; the BiG wouldn't have come asking if you didn't.