AFAM department will be renamed next year

In the wake of a scandal that continues to shake the University, the Department of African and Afro-American Studies is looking to achieve a fresh start.

It will even get a new name. Next year, the department will be renamed the Department of African, African American and Diaspora Studies, said chairwoman Eunice Sahle to a panel of five members of the UNC-system Board of Governors Thursday.

Sahle became the new chairwoman of the department after Julius Nyang’oro was asked to retire. University officials discovered that Nyang’oro oversaw courses, filled with a disproportionately large percentage of student athletes, that were taught irregularly or not at all.

And earlier this month, it was discovered that former UNC football and basketball star Julius Peppers’ transcript had been posted on a UNC website. Peppers received better grades in the department than in his other classes.

Chancellor Holden Thorp said at the meeting that a staffer used Peppers’ transcript as a test record in 2001 but removed the identifying information. A copy of the original transcript was placed on a secure server.

But in 2007, another staffer accidentally moved the files to an unsecured directory, Thorp said. The transcript was discovered after a series of targeted searches, he said.

The first staffer was disciplined, and the second staffer is “no longer with the University,” Thorp said.

Looking forward

Louis Bissette, chairman of the special panel, urged everyone at the meeting to keep the focus on moving forward.

Former Gov. Jim Martin is leading an independent review into the Department of African and Afro-American Studies to look at the proper reporting of class activity.

In the meantime, Sahle said she has implemented stricter regulations.

The department’s independent study courses were found to be improperly supervised.

Now, Sahle said only junior or senior majors with at least a 3.0 GPA will be allowed to take independent study courses in the department.

Since the scandal came to light, no student has taken an independent study course in the department, but Sahle said she hopes that changes.

Sahle will also review all department syllabi and create a system of “shared governance” to spread the responsibility.

“If we have more leaders coming out of the department, when my term ends on Jan. 1, 2017, there will be others to take over,” she said. “We will have a foundation whoever is chair can build on.”

Karen Gil, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, outlined a series of changes to ensure that course irregularities will no longer happen in any department.

“There’s a difference between easy classes and an irregular class,” she said.

There will be a new annual review to detect irregularities, and a stronger review of department chairmen, she said.

She is also working with Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham to better integrate athletics and academics.

“The success of the student athlete is directly related to the importance the coach places on it,” Cunningham said at the meeting. “We’ve got 21 head coaches, and I think the vast majority do an exceptional job, but I think some don’t.”

Last July, Butch Davis was fired as head football coach after an NCAA investigation that eventually led to the probe of the Department of African and Afro-American Studies. Larry Fedora replaced him in one of several personnel changes the University has made since the scandal.

Thorp said the University has received dozens of recommendations.

“We’re moving forward on all of them,” he said.

Bissette said he hopes to report back to the full board in November with the panel’s recommendations.

Contact the desk editor at state@dailytarheel.com.