Faculty members discussed a possible new undergraduate course on intercollegiate athletics at the last Faculty Executive Committee meeting.
The new course would allow students to explore the complicated relationship between athletics and academics.
The committee hopes to use the “Nike Course” taught in 1998 as a model for this potential class. The Nike Course was a seminar course taught by three professors in different departments. The course used Nike as a means to observe the basis of international trade, economics and ethics.
“We have not made any definitive decisions, but the conversations seem to be supporting a one-year colloquium speaker series and a one-semester course where we study and ponder the issues and empower students to make recommendations for our own university in addition to leadership entities possibly including the ACC or NCAA," committee member Erianne Weight said.
The committee also discussed UNC's one-year probation handed down by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The formal letter from SACSCOC that details the terms of the probation has not been made public.
“It's my understanding that the letter from SACS will identify existing accreditation standards that have been compromised, ask for details as to how Carolina intends to repair the damage and ensure it doesn't happen again, and indicate that SACS will monitor the situation over the next 12 months to assess the effectiveness of the reforms," committee member Joseph Ferrell said.
Faculty chairman Bruce Cairns emphasized the reforms UNC has already made.
“We are confident that we can and will successfully work with SACS on the issues leading to their decision to place UNC on probation” Cairns said. “In fact, SACS has already recognized that the UNC faculty and Folt administration have implemented a comprehensive lists of reforms and actions that are necessary to address their concerns — but due to the serious and long-standing nature of the issues, SACS is requesting a yearlong collection of data to demonstrate the effectiveness of the reforms."
