University of North Carolina put on probation over academic fraud scandal

By Letitia Stein

(Reuters) - The University of North Carolina was given a 12-month probation on Thursday by its accrediting commission after a review into an academic fraud scandal at the school.

The Chapel Hill school was found to have violated seven standards, including integrity, control of intercollegiate athletics and academic freedom, said Belle Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

"It’s the most serious sanction that we can put on an institution, short of dropping it from membership," Wheelan said.

The probation would have no impact on the school's federal funding, including student financial aid and research grants, university chancellor Carol Folt said in a statement.

The probation comes a week after the National Collegiate Athletic Association alleged that the university committed serious academic fraud violations between 2002 and 2011, which included a lack of institutional control over staff members who arranged improper benefits for student-athletes.

In October, an independent investigation by former federal prosecutor Kenneth Wainstein disclosed that more than 3,000 students at the university received credit for fake classes over an 18-year period.

The university has about nine months to respond to the issues raised, Wheelan said, and remains accredited while on probation.

Officials at the school, which has until Aug. 20 to respond to the NCAA notice, said the accrediting commission's action was expected.

The probation year would give the university more time to demonstrate that reforms implemented in recent years were working, Folt noted.

"All great institutions encounter challenges at one time or another," she wrote to the university community. "Recent years prove that Carolina is no exception."

(Reporting by Letitia Stein; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)