somewhat differently than I would: But after a three-and-half-year investigation, and despite the institution even agreeing that it had engaged in academic fraud, the NCAA said it couldn’t definitively conclude that the “paper courses” in the department of African and Afro-American studies had been designed and offered as an effort to benefit athletes alone. Thus, according to theMaybe the people making the decision all played football in their youths, and are feeling the effects?
NCAA's Committee on Infractions, which adjudicates allegations of wrongdoing, they did not violate the group's rules.
There is, however, some slightly-better news:
Instead, the NCAA will forward its decision to the university's accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges, which can address academic inconsistencies. Previously, the body had placed the university on a yearlong probation in 2015, ending in 2016, for violating seven accreditation standards, one of them being academic integrity. It was the strongest punishment the accreditor could deliver besides revoking accreditation entirely.There are times when I think accreditors (who also frown on things like all-adjunct faculties and unqualified instructors of record) are the last hope of civilization, or at least the higher ed subset thereof.
Full story here.
I was a grad student at UNC while all of this was going on. I am, sadly, surprised by none of the revelations that have come out since then, including this one.
ReplyDeleteCassandra, I couldn't agree more that the accreditation agencies are the only bulwark against adjunct abuse in particular. Students and parents aren't going to complain because they know nothing about it; the universities benefit financially from it; the full-time faculty certainly aren't listened to; and the adjuncts themselves would only be able to force the universities' hands if every single one of them, current and potential, refused to work under the present conditions. If the accreditation agencies started enforcing rules and limits, the schools would straighten out in no time.
ReplyDeleteIt will also help if and when the US sets up universal health care, so employers aren't so damn scared of hiring full-time people whom they would also have to insure, but we surely don't want to hold our breath waiting for that.