The University needs to cooperate fully with its accrediting agency to prevent possible sanctions ranging from loss of accreditation to forcing graduates who took “aberrant” courses to return to campus to retake their classes.
A letter to Chancellor Holden Thorp from Belle Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, stated that the University must take immediate steps to fix compliance issues revolving around the academic investigation.
If the University is not in compliance by June, after a visit from an agency committee in April, it could face punishments ranging from sanctions to losing membership in the commission.
As of now, UNC has taken some earnest steps toward academic reform. Departments have been reorganized, and a greater emphasis has been placed on oversight.
The meeting at which the agency discussed UNC’s situation took place before the release of the Martin Report.
But UNC must continue to address Wheelan’s claim that “the institution did not provide sufficient evidence that it had addressed the breaches of academic integrity … for courses determined by the University to be ‘aberrant.’”
The agency has mandated that UNC file a monitoring report four weeks before the committee visit. In the report, the University needs to ensure that major reforms are apparent and effective.
Even a warning of possible accreditation loss would hurt UNC’s already struggling reputation.
There’s no doubt that University administrators have been working hard to fix academic issues. But the accrediting agency’s oversight is another reminder that restoring and maintaining full academic integrity isn’t a single action, but a continuous process.
