[The Nebraska state chapter of the AAUP is pleased to report that the the national AAUP Council has voted to remove UNL from the List of Censured Administrations. The following is the official release from the UNL chapter of AAUP.]

On November 20, the national AAUP Council voted to accept the recommendation of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, to remove the UNL administration from the List of Censured Administrations.

UNL’s administration was placed on this list in June 2018, and since that time has worked diligently with the faculty to strengthen and clarify the University of Nebraska’s bylaws to ensure robust due process rights to all faculty, including those not working on tenure-line contracts.

Due process protects academic freedom by providing a double-check on the firing of any faculty member, requiring a faculty panel to review all dismissals to make sure they are done for legitimate reasons. Thanks to the changes made to our bylaws, administrators can no longer use suspending someone through the end of their contract and then not rehiring them as a way to avoid this double-check. By closing this loophole, the changes help to ensure the research integrity and quality education provided by the faculty at UNL.

The pressure applied by the AAUP’s censure, combined with the collaboration of faculty in UNL’s AAUP chapter and Faculty Senate, standing together with others across the university to push for positive change, produced real results. It shows what can be done when we join together to advocate for a better university.

These changes have already benefited faculty and students at UNL and will continue to do so into the future, but there is more work to be done. We invite all those teaching or researching at our university to join us as we continue to fight for the ideals that brought us to higher education and must sustain us going forward.