UNC Scandal Widens

 

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CHAPEL HILL — A probe into academic “irregularities” at UNC-Chapel Hill’s African and Afro-American studies department is targeting independent study classes after data released to The News & Observer this week show football players are accounting for more than 20 percent of the class enrollments over the past five years.

Karen Gil, dean of UNC-CH’s College of Arts and Sciences, which includes the African studies department, said in a faculty newspaper published Wednesday that the college would review “policies and practices” collegewide for independent studies and “directed readings” courses. A university spokeswoman, Nancy Davis, confirmed the independent study courses within the department are among the possible irregularities officials have found.

Also:

It’s also unclear how many “directed readings” classes were offered by the department. UNC-CH also has had difficulty producing syllabuses of some upper-level classes Nyang’oro taught, including the intermediate Swahili class that got McAdoo in trouble. University officials so far have been unable to confirm when and where that class was held. That class is not typically an independent study course.

 

Alert readers might remember this SFN story from last August.  It contained a discussion of this tweet from UNC-CH running back Shaun Draughn:

 

Maybe this tweet should be looked at again in light of recent developments.

General UNC Scandal

26 Responses to UNC Scandal Widens

  1. Plz2BStateFan 09/17/2011 at 8:19 AM #

    Brakk is dropping bombs on PackPride again…..

    http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=178&f=2515&t=7924730&p=11

    Also, is the relative size of the nuclear explosion supposed to be proportional to the significance of the breaking news on the scandal?

    If so, this doesnt seem to be a big deal.

  2. Sw0rdf1sh 09/17/2011 at 8:24 AM #

    “UNC-CH has until Monday to respond to the allegations and is scheduled to appear Oct. 28 before the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions.”

    It’s hard to want a weekend to go by so quickly. I can’t wait to hear what response is given, I’ve got my popcorn ready!

  3. Daily Update 09/17/2011 at 8:26 AM #

    It was a big enough deal that the department head has already stepped down before the investigation is even complete.

    How can someone not have a syllabus of that class and how can someone not confirm when and where it met?

    It wasn’t an independent study course.

    This is an entirely new prong and IMO could end up being the biggest scandal at the university. There is already evidence of the football staff funneling Marvin Austin to this particular department head’s course as his 1st course on campus.

    37 football players out of 112 players on the roster have taken at least 1 independent study AFAM course. UNC only has about 80 scholarship players. Of the 37, how many do you think were non-scholarship players?

    My guess is it is close to zero. So you likely have almost half the scholarship players being pushed into the courses being investigated.

    And clearly the football program knew because MA’s 1st class was Swahili 403 taught by Mr. Swahili himself.

  4. newt 09/17/2011 at 8:29 AM #

    Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, and Jerry Stackhouse all earned well-publicized degrees from that dept.

  5. LRM 09/17/2011 at 8:39 AM #

    Who said the Carolina Way is dead?

  6. Prof_Turby 09/17/2011 at 8:42 AM #

    This issue could get SACS accreditation involved…
    At the community college level, when state auditors are on campus you must provide attendance rolls and course syllabi…
    That syllabi can either be hard copy or on-line…
    If the flagship can’t produce syllabi, learning objectives, and learning outcomes for those classes, they are in direct violation of state and SACS accrediting guidelines…
    They are in deep deep doo..

  7. choppack1 09/17/2011 at 8:49 AM #

    Yet, still no call for an independent investigation from the N&O.

    Still no public pressure for Butch “I’m going to release the phone records soon”(in August) Davis to release the 216 records.

    Glad to see the activity on the N&O’s part, but the patience that the paper has shown with the leadership at UNC-Ch is, well, I’d say shocking if I really thought they wanted to get to the bottom of this.

  8. TOBtime 09/17/2011 at 8:52 AM #

    Everything Prof Turby says is true. I was told the exact same thing by the head of CHemistry at GTCC this summer. EVERYTHING has to be documented as far as the syllabus and what is covered to make sure SLO’s (student learning objectives) are met. If an auditor shows up and you are off schedule you better have a good reason. I was told if the auditor shows up and the scheduled class doesn’t you may as well not come back. And by the way, if you fail to meet all the basic SLO’s of the class you DO NOT PASS and it doesn’t matter what your grade is.

    All of that is directly tied to accreditation. I was actually shocked at the accountability in the system. Funny how that seems to be missing on such a wide scale at the hole – aka “flagship”.

  9. logarithm 09/17/2011 at 9:37 AM #

    This pleases me. The only way the scandal bleeds out into the rest of the athletic department is through either an academic scandal or a big-time booster or multi-sport agent who got caught giving impermissible benefits and an investigation happened to find athletes in other sports on his gift list too.

    Academics are more important and I hope it’s much more damning. I hope there’s a telling follow-up investigation in February that sees how many student-athletes have abandoned the department just to see that they know they were getting away with something before.

  10. packhammer 09/17/2011 at 9:44 AM #

    This is rich. Guys that need remedial writing instruction are allowed to take independent study classes, along with 400 level classes as freshmen. No syllabus and no classroom. A mushroom cloud is a bit much but it should cause an explosion of some sort. The significant news here is that they are actuallly investigating the academic program now. Isn’t this the first time that has been announced? Although interesting too that Thorp is trying to keep his name out of it. Was this why NCAA was back on campus? Oh no that was just routine follow up.

  11. packhammer 09/17/2011 at 10:19 AM #

    Wow this still blows my mind. Do all universities now offer independent study and selected readings classes? I was aware of no such thing when I graduated from State in 1979. I did have a senior seminar in economics. The very small class had readings and met weekly to talk about a wide range of economics related issues. We wrote research papers as well. It was something of an honors course I think and only open to seniors on track to graduate. So that is the closest thing I can remember. But a bunch of football players doing independent study? Come on people. My Dad, a UNC graduate, must be rolling in his grave. May he rest in peace. Somebody needs to own up to this and deal with the truth. It really makes the whole University look terrible.

  12. Ashman87 09/17/2011 at 10:44 AM #

    I wouldn’t put up the picture of the nuclear bomb quite yet.

  13. golf76 09/17/2011 at 10:45 AM #

    As a long standing proponent of an independent investigation into this UNX scandal I’m about to change my tune. There’s no way an independent investigation could turn up anything as tantalizing as the story that is coming out in drips and dribbles. If it wasn’t before, this is really getting serious now.

    Still an independent investigation should be conducted because that’s what Valvano had to endure for, . . . dare I say it, . . . a few playing selling b-ball shoes and tickets. In fact, in light of this UNX scandal it seems only right that the ’89-’90 b-ball incident at NCSU be expunged from all NCAA and university records.

  14. Old MacDonald 09/17/2011 at 10:52 AM #

    Ashman: when did you start reading this site?

  15. the reality 09/17/2011 at 10:54 AM #

    THIS!!! This is THE(!!!) battle, the unjustice, the overall imbalance, that I have felt my entire life as a Wolfpack fan!!!

    Just too, too many to even begin to touch on, but there are so many life-lessons contained in all of this that it boogles the mind. Unfortunately, and sadly, these are the types of lessons in life that will only serve to make the most wide-eyed kid become cynical and jaded about his/her entire surroundings in general.

    I think maybe this next little excerpt might be worthwhile to review at this particular point in time…

    “The NCAA investigation lasted eight months. In the end the investigators found no million-dollar diversions, no automobiles, no grade-fixing, no hidden drug tests. They found two punishable violations—players had sold complimentary tickets and complimentary sneakers—and the NCAA placed N.C. State on two years’ probation, declaring it ineligible for the 1990 NCAA tournament. Dave Didion, the lead investigator, wrote Valvano a letter. “I wanted to let him know that he had cooperated with me more than any coach I had ever worked with,” said Didion, “and that not everyone thought he was evil. I wanted to let him know that if I had a son who was a prospect, I would be proud to have him play for Jim Valvano. He wasn’t the smart-ass egomaniac I’d anticipated. Yes, the graduation rate of his players was not good…but no one cared to look at the overall graduation rate at N.C. State. Yes, he probably shouldn’t have recruited some of the kids he did. But if he hadn’t, he’d have ended up playing against them and getting his brains beaten out by them, because everybody else wanted those same kids.”

    One man, left out there on an island, hung out to dry, both literally and figuratively, and in EVERY sense of the word.

    Seriously, does anyone really wonder why the leadership in W Raleigh refuses to celebrate, revisit, of even make mention, of any of that time period?

    It’s certainly not because of any fear of shining a bright light on Jim Valvano. It’s because if they would go back there, there exists such things as mirrors, and they are fully aware that they would be forced to peer directly into one.

    Didn’t mean to get into the Valvano thing so much there, but if you look at the (BLATANT LACK OF) media coverage of involved in this entire event, and then do the comparisons of a total conviction from day one practically, well beforehand, and well before any of the REAL TRUTH was ever given any chance to even reach the light of day, then it all becomes very relevant.

    At least I think so anyway.

  16. erichack 09/17/2011 at 11:08 AM #

    This is off topic, but pretty impportant…I just heard an ESPN report that both Syracuse and Pittsburg have asked for consideration in joining the ACC…i would assume like most lawyers, you dont ask a question unless you already know the answer…

  17. erichack 09/17/2011 at 11:13 AM #

    if true, it would appear to be a good addition to the ACC…i am an old school round robin bball guy, but with expansion these additions make alot of sense…it would balance the BC Mary northern aspect to the ACC…it is also interesting that this happens on a huge day for ACC football with four out of conference ranked teams coming to league school home fields…this may be just the banner day the ACC needs….

  18. Mike 09/17/2011 at 11:37 AM #

    I have seen Ashman the last few days and have thought he was troll from the first post I read of his.

    He seems to be a typical UNX Wal Mart fan, dodge and deflect. Getting pretty serious over there and we love it.

  19. old13 09/17/2011 at 11:41 AM #

    I’ve been saying for some time now that the accreditation folks would probably find some things of interest over at the Hole. Maybe this will do it!

  20. the reality 09/17/2011 at 11:53 AM #

    My question to anyone is, when/why/where/how and by whom, was it ever deemed, or reported, that there is not a LOIC over at UNC???

    And if not, then what on earth constitutes that label these days?

  21. JeremyH 09/17/2011 at 11:54 AM #

    Can we go ahead and vacate the basketball NCs already, gah, awkward!

  22. the reality 09/17/2011 at 12:25 PM #

    “Yes, he probably shouldn’t have recruited some of the kids he did. But if he hadn’t, he’d have ended up playing against them and getting his brains beaten out by them, because everybody else wanted those same kids.”

    The media paints unc athletes, that’s just fact. They are NO different, nor better, never have been, than those who have signed on to play elsewhere. There are people, too many of them from within our own fanbase, who cannot separate the media’s versions of fact, from the fiction that it really is. They never have been able to do so, and if this doesn’t open their eyes, and widely at that, then they never will be able to do so.

    Forget Butch Davis, Blake, Austin, etc… all the way to Thorpe and beyond, none of this is new.

    I repeat, NONE.

  23. StateFans 09/17/2011 at 12:33 PM #

    Erichack,

    This is why we have the message forums. Pitt/Syracuse is the hot topic.

    http://www.statefansnationforums.com/topic.php?id=5797

  24. erichack 09/17/2011 at 3:40 PM #

    thanks for the heads up!

  25. NCSUBill 09/18/2011 at 9:19 AM #

    Wonder how many other sports had players in those classes — cough cough — men’s basketball

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