UNC’s reputation has taken its share of hits lately, but Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Jim Dean remains optimistic about the future of student athletes’ academics.
In a meeting with the Faculty Executive Committee Monday, Dean filled in the faculty on the steps UNC is taking as it continues to address claims by former athletic learning specialist Mary Willingham that the University accepted dozens of student-athletes between 2004 and 2012 who read below a college level — a statistic UNC has disputed.
One of those steps, Dean said, would be releasing information on how UNC handles admitting student-athletes.
“It’s going to be as open as we can be,” Dean said. “Other schools are going to say, ‘Why didn’t we do this?’”
In addition to increasing transparency, Dean said the administration will look at a number of issues influencing athletes’ academic achievement, beginning with recruiting. The Student-Athlete Academic Initiative Working Group is currently examining each process related to athletics.
“We’ve identified 22 processes,” he said. “Recruiting is process 1.0.”
Dean lauded the progress UNC made last year changing its admissions process — including a three-tiered system based on expected student GPAs — and said he expects the new structure to result in fewer unprepared students being accepted. He expects the admissions department to err on the side of caution, which could result in some qualified students being rejected.
“We’ve really profoundly changed the admissions system for student athletes,” he said, adding it should lead to higher standards. “My guess is, in the future, we’ll probably be more likely to not admit students we should admit.”
Physics professor Louise Dolan raised questions about the minimum academic requirements UNC uses when evaluating high school athletes. Committee Chairwoman Jan Boxill said the University uses a scale in which higher test scores can offset lower grades and vice versa.
