Another academic scandal; UNC is f-cked

[Neutral Corner]

Where was SACS? and where is SACS now?

As the article above asks, why even bother with accreditation if it is meaningless?

 

[doctorquant]

Where was SACS? and where is SACS now?

As the article above asks, why even bother with accreditation if it is meaningless?

I suspect you'll be hearing from SACS re: this story sometime soon, but accreditation means a helluva lot less than is generally understood.

 

[Stoney]

This certainly casts a new light on those longtime smug boasts from UNC (and deck Vitale) about the "stellar graduation rates" in Chapel Hill. Appears we now know the secret to explain those rates--a fraudulent system that damn near guaranteed a diploma to any athlete that played four years, regardless of whether actual work was done or an actual education received.

Exhibits why all grad rate numbers perhaps should be met with a skeptical eye. It's easy for any school to have a high percentage if it's willing to rig the system.

 

[franticscribe]

"Did Wainstein Report Whitewash High-Level Culprits In UNC Cheating Scandal?"

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmarshallcrotty/2014/10/23/did-wainstein-report-whitewash-high-level-culprits-in-unc-grade-scandal/

"Rather than the Wainstein report being the final word on UNC academic fraud — a result that the school's beleaguered Chancellor, Carol Folt, would surely welcome — it, instead, should be the starting point for a merciless third-party review. Such an investigation would hopefully not sugar-coat its findings under the Pablum that infects the Wainstein report, which white-washes the "higher levels of the University" on the grounds that they had "insufficient appreciation of the scale of the problem."

Here's a possible alternate narrative: UNC did not want to know the scale of the problem because there was too much money at stake from its hugely profitable sports programs. Moreover, a deeper dive might reveal Paterno-esque culpability by the school's sacrosanct coaching legends. Such a revelation would not only eviscerate UNC's brand value in the eyes of donors and recruits, but it might also net Penn-State-level sanctions, including the voiding of UNC's men's national championships from 1993, 2005 and 2009.

I do not know if UNC had input into the wording of the Wainstein report. Moreover, I do not know what UNC paid Mr. Wainstein, Edelson PR — whom UNC archrival Duke also deployed during its lacrosse team rape scandal — or Professor Nyang'oro (whom, logic suggests, must have received something extra for the 300 independent study courses he "taught" every year).

What I do know is that a truly independent inquiry would reveal the unvarnished truth, right down to naming all the "students" who benefited from what Gerald Gurney, president of the Drake Group — which seeks to protect higher education "from the corrosive aspects of commercialized college sports" — dubbed "the largest and most nefarious scandal in the history of NCAA enforcement."

Meh. The author of that article clearly hasn't actually read the report. There is plenty of red meat for those wishing to trash the university - and a trashing is well deserved - but is it too much to ask that they bother to inform themselves before undertaking the task?

 

[franticscribe]

A familiar name weighs in and, as usual, gets right to the heart of the matter:

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-tar-heels-state-academic-scandal-big-money-no-surprises/

And another good piece from the president of Macalester College:

If you're looking at grad school applications and you see a bachelor's from UNC, how sure are you that you can trust the candidate's GPA?

Pierce also gets a few of the facts wrong.

One of the many things that kills me about Wainstein's report is that it's clear many of the enrolled students were not in on the fix. As part of the review, Wainstein had the actual papers reviewed by outside experts in the field. Some came back as excellent papers deserving of high marks. Most came back as having original content and of a decent enough quality to earn a passing grade. And many of the students - including several basketball players - insisted that they took the courses quite seriously and devoted a great deal of time to the papers. The advantage to them of the paper class was the schedule flexibility, not the ease of the course.

I feel for those students most because they put in the effort that a college asks, and their transcripts are forever tainted.

 

[Stoney]

http://tinyurl.com/kr9w45p

And now the lawsuits from former players have begun. First shot fired by Mike McAdoo.

.

 

[Double Down]

Golly gee willickers, it's almost like Roy Williams didn't give a shirt about Carolina (academics). Four of his best players appear to have taken no classes at all during the 2005 season.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/11/08/4305374/2005-unc-basketball-champs-2-semesters.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1

 

[Baron Scicluna]

http://tinyurl.com/kr9w45p

And now the lawsuits from former players have begun. First shot fired by Mike McAdoo.

.

t

Good. Destroy the culture.

 

[Stoney]

Golly gee willickers, it's almost like Roy Williams didn't give a shirt about Carolina (academics). Four of his best players appear to have taken no classes at all during the 2005 season.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/11/08/4305374/2005-unc-basketball-champs-2-semesters.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1

If the NCAA forced Memphis to vacate its final four season because one player was suspected but never proven to have cheated on a test taken before he ever enrolled in the school, then I don't know how they can possibly avoid vacating the 2005 national title. Players on that 05 UNC roster were enrolled in THIRTY FIVE of these phony classes during that season, and nearly every scholarship player on that team was an AFAM major. Not sure there was anybodywho got playing time on that team who should've been eligible.

And, of course, if you vacate 05, the question then becomes why not also 09 and 93, since those title teams apparently also included bogus class takers? I don't believe the NCAA has ever vacated national titles, and I'm sure they don't want to begin by wiping away three in one swipe. But, damn, when you start pulling that string here.....

 

[Armchair_QB]

If they vacate 93, the winner AND the runner-up will have been stricken from the record.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Has the NCAA ever vacated a basketball championship? Always felt like they wouldn't have done anything about Memphis if they had held on to beat Kansas. I think that's the one line they have drawn, that they want their marquee event to be "untainted."

I know USC vacated football titles, but those aren't governed by the gestapo.

 

[Stoney]

Has the NCAA ever vacated a basketball championship? Always felt like they wouldn't have done anything about Memphis if they had held on to beat Kansas. I think that's the one line they have drawn, that they want their marquee event to be "untainted."

I agree, which is why the NCAA is in such an interesting little pickle here. I'm sure the NCAA doesn't want to erase national titles in its showcase event, but the Memphis precedent leaves them little way of justifiably avoiding it.