TO THE EDITOR:
Much of the outrage following the Wainstein report has been directed at athletics, but such limited outrage misses a key issue. The paper class scandal should be prompting students, alumni and other taxpayers to ask what our public research universities are doing to monitor teaching quality and student learning.
The paper classes were able to persist because, as is the case at most research universities, the university lacks a robust mechanism by which to monitor teaching quality and student learning. Education experts at the K-12 levels have long known that effective teacher evaluations must include regular class observations. Had such observations been in place at UNC, the paper class “scheme” would have been significantly constrained, if not altogether prevented.
If the reforms that happen at UNC and universities across the country are primarily limited to athletics reforms, we will have missed a critical opportunity to improve American higher education. The paper class scandal demonstrates that protecting academic integrity requires not only balancing academics and athletics, but also monitoring teaching quality and student learning. With the extraordinary leaders we now have at UNC, I am confident we will become leaders in both regards.
Bradley Bethel
Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes
