Academic fraud at UNC

[MadaboutWu]

New report shows how deep the rot runs at Chapel Hill:

"For 18 years, thousands of students at the prestigious University of North Carolina took fake "paper classes," and advisers funneled athletes into the program to keep them eligible, according to a scathing independent report released Wednesday."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/22/us/unc-report-academic-fraud/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

We'll see how the NCAA treats the blue bloods, but it sounds like the program deserves the death penalty.

There is probably an old thread on this. Feel free to merge this one if so.

[60Shock]

UNC Caught in HUGE 18 Year Student Athletic Academic Classes Fraud

CNN reports that the University of North Carolina has faked classes for thousands of their student athletes over an 18 year period.

Of course Roy Williams claims he was never aware of this.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/22/us/unc-report-academic-fraud/index.html

[WSUwatcher]

Yes, this is like having your athletic program populated by dozens of Kevin Ross clones for a couple of decades.

Good story, but wrong forum -- belongs in Around the NCAA instead of here. Mods?

[WSUwatcher]

Thanks for placing it correctly, Mad.

[DUShock]

The NCAA will do little to nothing "because it is a university issue...that goes beyond athletics". These seem to be key phrases but I will defer to our more learned NCAA officiandos and JDs.

[Aargh]

This has been reported many times and hs had several threads here. The NCAA has made a complete, thorough, and full investigation. No violations were found.

These were not "fake" classes. They were real classes. Attendance was not mandatory, there were no tests or quizzes, and only one paper was required in order to complete the class. That paper was typically one paragraph and it was an amazing coincidence that so many students used the exact same wording in the pragraph they wrote.

At UNC, that's not an NCAA violation.

[LandStander]

I won't name anyone but it is known that basketball players have picked other schools over wsu in the past over the fact they would have to attend class and take tests here. Unc isn't the only school out there doing this. It's nice to hear wsu won't placate to these kids and (tries) to give them a real education.

[Cdizzle]

I think there are a couple things that need to happen here.

1. The UNC athletics teams need SEVERE punitive measures from the NCAA, including scholarship losses, practice limitations, and post-season bans. I think it would be fair to enforce the APR punishments, since they basically have only been meeting them through fake coursework and grades, as well as additional punishment for academic fraud, cover-ups, and non-compliance with investigation.

2. The UNC university needs to have some of it's programs seriously investigated and should probably lose accreditation in some fields. Talk about devaluing a degree. If I'm interviewing an prospective employee who attended UNC, you can bet I'll be interested in the specific coursework they took.

[DUShock]

This has been reported many times and hs had several threads here. The NCAA has made a complete, thorough, and full investigation. No violations were found.

These were not "fake" classes. They were real classes. Attendance was not mandatory, there were no tests or quizzes, and only one paper was required in order to complete the class. That paper was typically one paragraph and it was an amazing coincidence that so many students used the exact same wording in the pragraph they wrote.

At UNC, that's not an NCAA violation.

Poor East Carolina.

[_kai_]

The way they are going to get around this is to say that the issue fell within the scope of academic compliance, rather than at the athletic department level, and thus creates a very thin line that the NCAA can straddle to fit their version of justice.

[WstateU]

I think there are a couple things that need to happen here.

1. The UNC athletics teams need SEVERE punitive measures from the NCAA, including scholarship losses, practice limitations, and post-season bans. I think it would be fair to enforce the APR punishments, since they basically have only been meeting them through fake coursework and grades, as well as additional punishment for academic fraud, cover-ups, and non-compliance with investigation.

2. The UNC university needs to have some of it's programs seriously investigated and should probably lose accreditation in some fields. Talk about devaluing a degree. If I'm interviewing an prospective employee who attended UNC, you can bet I'll be interested in the specific coursework they took.

[1972Shocker]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/22/us/unc-report-academic-fraud/index.html

In all, the report estimates, at least 3,100 students took the paper classes, but the figure "very likely falls far short of the true number."

Gerald Gurney, president of the Drake Group, whose mission is "to defend academic integrity in higher education from the corrosive aspects of commercialized college sports," said the findings should provide fodder for the NCAA to levy one of its most severe charges against UNC: lack of institutional control.

"I can safely say that the scope of the 20-year UNC fraud scandal easily takes the prize for the largest and most nefarious scandal in the history of NCAA enforcement. The depth and breadth of the scheme -- involving counselors, coaches, academic administrators, faculty, athletic administrators, etc. -- eclipses any previous case," Gurney said.

By comparison, in 2009, Florida State had an academic scandal that was considered huge. Sixty athletes were involved, a far cry from the numbers involved at UNC, he said.

This may be a lot worse than lack of institutional control. It may be malfeasance under institutional control.

[1972Shocker]

What would be a more severe punishment a total shutdown of their athletic program for 5 years or cutting their scholarships across the board by 50% for 5 years which would probably result in their teams finishing consistently in last place for 5 years? The latter may actually be more painful for UNC supporters. At what point does something like this become a criminal proceeding, if ever?

Either way UNC, which I have thought would be one job 3G would look very seriously at, is probably no longer very high on his list at least for the forseeable future and pending on what the NCAA does.

[WstateU]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/22/us/unc...aud/index.html

This may be a lot worse than lack of institutional control. It may be malfeasance under institutional control.

Hmmm...

"Willingham also said she believes it took so many years and six previous investigations because "this is the flagship of the university system and of the state, and to admit we did anything wrong was too difficult. There is a level of arrogance here, and that's part of the culture."

I’m sure they’re dancing in the streets in Durham, Raleigh, Winston-Salem and other BCS college towns across North Carolina; what a friggin’ mess this will be.

@DUShock: summed it up best when he said, “poor East Carolina”; I also pity Appalachian State, Campbell, Davidson and the plethora of other non BCS programs in NC… they all have hell to pay.

[WstateU]