Before publishing that paper, nobody bothers to check whether a provisional was filed first?
Depending on how the provisional was written, it may not be impossible to file a utility within 3 days, although it is extremely tough.
Here is your situation: you lost the patent protection and the technology is now owned by the school. I do not know on what ground you can sue the school. If you have a contract that the school is obligated to file the utility after one year, you may have a case. Even if you may find grounds to sue under contract or negligence, you would have to prove your damage, that is, without patent protection how much money you lost as a result. From what you said, it is only speculative that the technology may generate some revenue in the future.
Whether you can get the technology back for free is another matter that you would have to renegotiate with the school.
