North Carolina's NCAA gift that keeps on giving
May 9, 2012
A 10-page report issued on Friday by The University of North Carolina revealed unauthorized grades, forged signatures and other irregularities. The nine-month internal investigation centers on Julius Nyang’oro, who had held the position of department chair in the African and Afro-American Studies program. According to the report, Nyang'oro oversaw independent study classes with minimal professor-student interaction and grades for 59 students in nine courses between 2007-09 were submitted with forged signatures of professors. Those same professors said they never taught the courses and during the period faculty members revealed unauthorized grade changes.
It's a gift from the NCAA investigation that keeps on giving. The university started the internal probe following a News & Observer report concerning the academic transcript Marvin Austin. According to the News & Observer, football and basketball players accounted for 39 percent of the enrollments in 54 classes.
While a sports-related scandal exposed possible fraud within the African and Afro-American Studies department, the issue goes well beyond athletics. It eats at the core of what a university is all about. North Carolina prides itself in national academic recognition. That's why public comments from Chancellor Holden Thorp and UNC system president Tom Ross are rather curious. They appear more interested in damage control.
In July 2011, when Michael McAdoo's plagiarized paper had gone viral, Thorp wanted the focus to be on the honor court's handling of the situation, rather than asking out loud why nobody bothered to read the paper in the first place. In an interview with the N&O, Thorp said he was not going to dig into Nyang'oro's handling of the paper. "It's very unfortunate what happened here, but I don't get into grading for faculty members," he said.
In a statement on Monday, Ross wasn't interested in digging deeper either. “I believe that this was an isolated situation and that the campus has taken appropriate steps to correct problems and put additional safeguards in place,” he said.
Ross believes the case of Nyang'oro is isolated, but how does he know that? Wouldn't it behoove the president of the entire university system to make sure everything at a flagship institution is kosher? At the very least that seems like a reasonable request.
Again, the academic scandal at North Carolina goes beyond sports. While the 39 percent statistic generates a good headline, it also means the majority of those benefiting from Nyang'oro's alleged Indiana Jones-style adventures were from the general population. That's a bigger problem, and ironic, considering the real black eye for the university comes from the same domain that spent the last year wringing their hands and openly debating the merits of big-time college athletics.
But it's easier to fire a football coach, send out a few disassociation letters and hope the next coach wins without any scandal. Handling a tenured professor that has a history dating all the way back to the early 90s is a slightly more complicated matter and a rabbit hole nobody appears interested in exploring.
That's not to say North Carolina is unique. It's just something to think about next time big, bad college sports is shouldered with all the blame.
Most Recent Comments
RE: North Carolina's NCAA gift that keeps on giving
Another installment in the UNC mess....http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/11099856/
RE: North Carolina's NCAA gift that keeps on giving
- Posted by The GodfatherSee my post on Wolfpack Volleyball and Bowling classes and my link to NCSUs "easiest" classes as ranked by the NCSU students. Those electives can be awfully helpful to that GPA, expecially when the average grade is say a 3.8 in Volleyball 1.- Posted by TruthBKnown Left The Building- Posted by The GodfatherHere is the kicker girls...- Posted by ACCInsider
It's not just WRAL. The Charlotte Observer's Andrew Carter is now questioning Roy's players and requesting answers from the NCAA's infraction committee.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/05/08/3227596/roy-williams-defends-players-who.html
These reporters are going to keep the heat on.
"North Carolinaâs investigation found no evidence the problem courses were part of a scheme to keep athletes eligible. The investigation also concluded that athletes did not receive preferential treatment."
So all you "given grades" conspiracy theorists are kaput. So it's an easy class like the "bowling" class at NCSU that had a +3.5 GPA out of the class. I'm glad their cleaning it up but there were syllibi for many of the classes and there was work required in those classes. Are there irregularities, sure, but it does not appear to go to the scandalous heights some of you haters are hoping for.
So getting higher grades has no impact on GPA?
I took bowling at State. It was part of my "PE requirement." They were 1hr credit that were 1/2 semester long. The other part of the semester was taking another PE type class.
Posted May 10, 8:39 a.m.
Rank: Pro Posts: 103
Joined: Mar, 2011
Location: Beverly Hills, CA
RE: North Carolina's NCAA gift that keeps on giving
99.9 The AdOvies Talk Radio
Why bother to even spit out the phone number when nobody can call in?
RE: North Carolina's NCAA gift that keeps on giving
Don't confuse The Godfather with facts & numbers. She might get up on that building again & threaten to jump. Which that would be fine if she would actually do it. But she would probably be faking again. And they would have to close some more streets & people would have difficulty getting home from work. At least there wouldn't be much mess due to lack of gray matter.RE: North Carolina's NCAA gift that keeps on giving
- Posted by The GodfatherSee my post on Wolfpack Volleyball and Bowling classes and my link to NCSUs "easiest" classes as ranked by the NCSU students. Those electives can be awfully helpful to that GPA, expecially when the average grade is say a 3.8 in Volleyball 1.- Posted by TruthBKnown Left The Building- Posted by The GodfatherHere is the kicker girls...- Posted by ACCInsider
It's not just WRAL. The Charlotte Observer's Andrew Carter is now questioning Roy's players and requesting answers from the NCAA's infraction committee.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/05/08/3227596/roy-williams-defends-players-who.html
These reporters are going to keep the heat on.
"North Carolinaâs investigation found no evidence the problem courses were part of a scheme to keep athletes eligible. The investigation also concluded that athletes did not receive preferential treatment."
So all you "given grades" conspiracy theorists are kaput. So it's an easy class like the "bowling" class at NCSU that had a +3.5 GPA out of the class. I'm glad their cleaning it up but there were syllibi for many of the classes and there was work required in those classes. Are there irregularities, sure, but it does not appear to go to the scandalous heights some of you haters are hoping for.
So getting higher grades has no impact on GPA?
You're off on this one.
NCSU's volleyball and bowling are only 1 credit hour classes. Most students may take 1 class per semester. So, PE classes have minimal impact to your GPA even if you make an A or 4.0. The 3.5 and 3.8 as you note has even less of an impact.
Whereas, UNC's AA classes are 3 credit hours which is equal to most math, english and other courses. You make an A in this class thats 12 total hours added to the GPA. Obviously, a much greater impact to the GPA.
So, it's good to see NCSU student's list the 1 credit hour classes as the easiest as they should be. When the heavier weighted (3 credit hour) classes are known as being the easiest then there should be a concern.
