The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) chapter of the American Association of
University Professors (AAUP) supports a letter from national AAUP President Todd Wolfson
recommending that UNL not be readmitted to the Association of American Universities (AAU) at this time. The letter cites concerns over academic freedom, shared governance, and institutional integrity.
The recommendation follows an AAUP review of the university’s decision to close four academic departments and terminate 58 faculty members, including 36 tenured professors.
Citing AAU and AAUP’s “shared framework of norms that promote excellence in academic research,” President Wolfson wrote that “the process by which these decisions were reached appears to have violated core principles of shared governance and relied on evaluative tools inappropriate for personnel actions of this kind.”
UNL AAUP President and Associate Professor of Agronomy & Horticulture Andrea Basche agrees. “The letter sent to AAU on behalf of the national AAUP organization is not revelatory for those of us who have witnessed and been affected by UNL administrators’ decisions over the past year. It is very clear that their decisions are not reflective of the values of the AAU.”
UNL was one of the original members of AAU, a selective association of leading research universities. In 2011, UNL was voted out after failing to meet membership criteria related to federal research funding. University of Nebraska President Jeffrey Gold has indicated that rejoining AAU is a high priority for his administration.
Beth Niehaus, AAUP member and former UNL Professor of Educational Administration whose
department was eliminated, questions this priority. “AAU membership should reflect how a university treats its faculty. When rejoining AAU becomes more important than protecting academic freedom and tenure, that’s a serious concern.”
