By ZACH WENDLING
Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty told the University of Nebraska Board of Regents on Wednesday they were “blindsided” by a proposal to shift the authority of Husker Athletics to central administration.
Kelli Kopocis, a UNL professor and president of the campus’s Faculty Senate, said faculty are “very concerned” about proposed budget cuts and the proposed bylaw change related to athletics.
That change would vest hiring decisions and oversight of Husker Athletics to the NU system president rather than the UNL chancellor.
“The system is only as strong as the flagship,” Kopocis said. “Moving the oversight of Husker Athletics away from the flagship will have grave consequences to the academic side of the institution.”
‘In search of a leader’
Regents Tim Clare of Lincoln and Rob Schafer of Fremont unveiled the proposal last week to instead authorize the NU president to make hiring decisions within UNL’s athletic department.
The change would not extend to NU’s other campuses in Omaha or Kearney.
Clare and Schafer said Husker Athletics is the “single most iconic brand” of Nebraska, and college athletics is “in the midst of the most intense period of change in our lifetimes.”
“I think intercollegiate athletics is in search of a leader who can help them navigate these issues,” Clare told the Nebraska Examiner last week, pointing to NU President Ted Carter.
‘Take Ted Carter out of it’
Carter said the regents approached him about the bylaw change and noted he served on the NCAA Board of Governors for five years while he was superintendent of the Naval Academy.
But despite the change, Carter said the change would not dilute oversight requirements and “certainly not take anything away” from Rodney Bennett, the priority candidate to succeed UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green.
Green plans to retire at the end of June.
Carter said he has advised the regents the change needs to be bigger than him because the Big Ten and intercollegiate athletics generally deals with topics such as name, image and likeness.
“If it’s the right thing to do, it’s the right thing to do,” Carter said. “Take Ted Carter out of it.”
Carter said Bennett, if approved by the regents, would still be involved with athletics and said he would ensure Bennett knows what is going on.
“We want to make sure Nebraska is staying out front and that we’ve got a good seat at the table,” Carter said.
Academic impacts
Kopocis said the proposal could impact student-athletes in addition to UNL’s budget, diverting a direct on-campus connection with UNL faculty, residence life, Title IX and other campus-level offices.
The NU president’s office is located near UNL’s East Campus, not City Campus where Memorial Stadium and most resources are located.
UNL’s chancellor currently represents UNL on the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors. This would change to the NU system president under the bylaw change.
Except for Rutgers University, the leaders of each Big Ten institution’s flagship campus form the council that oversees the Big Ten’s policies, budget and operations.
The Big Ten Academic Alliance, Kopocis explained, has helped UNL to negotiate better library collections and access, technology collaboration, large-scale purchasing power and leadership development for faculty and staff.
Husker Athletics also provides direct support to the UNL campus, Kopocis said, such as donating $10 million in excess revenue to UNL in three of the past four academic years. In each of the five years before that, Athletics gave UNL $5 million that funded non-academic scholarships for students who “might not have been able to go to college otherwise.”
“Providing a high-quality education for the next generation of Nebraska’s leaders is the reason that we are all here and is the responsibility you have entrusted with us, the faculty,” she said.
The board is set to consider the bylaw change at its June 22 meeting, which will also feature NU’s biennial budget and the likely final approval of Bennett for UNL chancellor.