Results of North Carolina academic fraud investigation to be revealed Wednesday
More than eight months after the University of North Carolina retained former federal prosecutor Kenneth Wainstein to conduct an independent investigation into academic fraud, the school announced Monday that the Wainstein’s report would be released Wednesday.
According to the News & Observer, Wainstein will meet with the university’s board of trustees and board of governors at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. A notice of the meeting appeared on the school’s website Monday.
“Some portions of the meeting will take place in closed session, pursuant to North Carolina Open Meetings Law,” the notice said. “Following the special meeting, Mr. Wainstein will publicly present his findings during a press conference.”
Wainstein and a group of attorneys conducted interviews and reviewed records since February looking into a handful of classes offered over a period of years that often never met. Instead, students were told to write a paper and turn it in at the end of a semester. Past investigations revealed that “athlete enrollments in the classes were disproportionally high” and students enrolled in the classes often received high grades.
Wainstein told the UNC Board of Governors in June that his probe, which will not be shared with the school until it is completed, included reviewing academic records as far back as the 1980s.
UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt will discuss the report with students, staff and faculty at a town hall meeting Wednesday evening.
“The last few years have been difficult for our community,” Folt said in the town hall meeting announcement. “I believe the report will allow us to have a complete picture of what happened at Carolina and build on the numerous reforms we have already put in place.”
Additionally, as of June, the NCAA reopened its own investigation into academic fraud at the school – an investigation that previously ended in 2011.
“The NCAA has determined that additional people with information and others who were previously uncooperative might now be willing to speak with the enforcement staff,” UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham said in a statement dated June 30, 2014. “Since 2011, the University had conducted and commissioned numerous reviews of this matter and provided the NCAA with updates.”
The NCAA’s previous investigation did not result in any violations.
For more North Carolina news, visit TarHeelIllustrated.com.
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