The University has posted a July 1, 2015 letter from its regional accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which provided additional information about action its Board of Trustees took on June 11, 2015. Sent as part of the commission’s standard protocol, the letter also detailed information SACSCOC would like the University to provide by April 1, 2016, about the effectiveness of specific reform measures and other initiatives instituted in recent years in response to the academic irregularities that ended in 2011.
In a statement, Chancellor Carol L. Folt said:
“We appreciate the additional information and guidance from the commission and welcome this opportunity not only to submit a report to demonstrate the effectiveness of the reform measures identified in the letter, but also to meet next spring with the commission’s special committee to further show the University’s compliance with its accreditation standards.
“Provost Dean and I met today in Decatur, Ga. with the commission’s president, Dr. Belle S. Wheelan, to reiterate the University’s full cooperation in providing the commission with the information it has requested or otherwise might need during its review. We also used the meeting with Dr. Wheelan to underscore that the University firmly believes it has done everything possible to address and move beyond the past academic irregularities that ended four years ago – to prevent them from recurring and to ensuring integrity in everything that we do. We explained that the University continues to devote extraordinary resources to monitoring and refining the more than 70 reforms and initiatives put in place since 2011. We further made clear that Carolina remains committed to doing whatever it takes to getting this right.”
For details about the University’s reform initiatives, click here.
In February 2014, the University informed SACSCOC that Chancellor Folt and UNC President Tom Ross commissioned the independent investigation by Kenneth Wainstein of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, and pledged to keep SACSCOC fully informed as the process unfolded. The University provided the Wainstein report to SACSCOC on October 22, 2014, the same day it was released. Last January, the University sent a report to SACSCOC responding to a request for information about compliance with various accreditation standards in light of Wainstein’s findings.
Carolina completed a previous review with SACSCOC in June 2014 related to the academic irregularities that included sharing the actions and initiatives taken by the University to tighten oversight and ensure the integrity of University programs. That review had begun in 2012.
UNC-Chapel Hill is a founding member of SACSCOC.
Click here for the July 1 letter from SACSCOC.
Chancellor Folt previously sent an email message to the Carolina community after she was informed by phone about the commission’s decision. Click here for her message.
Published July 13, 2015