https://alumni.unc.edu/news/unc-receives...rs-letter/

Quote:Posted on July 7, 2015
The University has received its expected letter from its accreditation agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, detailing SACS’ decision in mid-June to place the University on probation for one year.

The probation decision came after SACS’ second review of UNC’s academics-athletics case and UNC’s action in response to it.

The University issued the following statement:

“Carolina has just received formal notification from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOCs) confirming their board action of last month,” said Rick White ’71, associate vice chancellor of communications and public affairs. “We are reviewing the letter now. Early next week, Chancellor [Carol L.] Folt and Provost [James W.] Dean [Jr.] will have an in-person discussion with the leadership of SACSCOCs. At that time we will make the letter from SACSCOCs available on the Carolina Commitment website.”

In November, SACS notified the University it was out of compliance with standards in 18 categories. In June, the commission’s board of trustees said UNC still failed to meet its standards in seven categories: integrity, program content, control of intercollegiate athletics, academic support services, academic freedom, faculty role in governance and handling of federal funding for financial aid.

The board was satisfied with progress in the 11 other areas of concern, and SACS President Belle Wheelan said she was pleased with progress toward reform under UNC’s current administration.

In acting on a school’s response to compliance issues, SACS can:
•Take no action;
•Warn a school that it must satisfy SACS’ concerns and give it time to come into compliance;
•Place a school on probation and specify a time period for compliance; or
•Revoke a school’s accreditation.

Wheelan said the board considered this more serious than a warning case “since it’s gone on for so long and so many students were impacted by it.” She referred to the case of academic fraud centered in the former department of African and Afro-American studies that went on for 18 years and involved athletes disproportionately. She also said that the UNC case marked the first time in her 10 years with the commission that SACS had put a school on probation for matters of academic integrity.

The SACS’ letter is expected to contain details about what the University must do to reach compliance in the seven categories.

Folt said in June that “the Commission took care to acknowledge the University’s adoption and implementation of the many and significant reform measures in recent years.”

“We have a very good relationship with SACS,” Folt said. “They have been forthright. We have done, I believe, everything possible to respond and even go above and beyond. I was actually quite pleased that the president made a couple of public statements talking about the extent to which we have really been doing yeoman’s work to bring the University forward to get these extensive reforms in place, yet I also appreciate the need for an accrediting agency to verify the reforms that are in place.”

I think it would be pretty ridiculous to force a university like that to shut down over the incident(s) that occurred. But, I'd put them on probation for about 20 years and say if there's a repeat, either shut down athletics or face losing accreditation.

One year probation is meaningless.