Accreditation, lawsuits focus of UNC-CH faculty meeting

On Thursday, some former student-athletes filed a class-action lawsuit against the university and the NCAA, alleging that they were deprived a proper education and demanding reforms to ensure the same doesn't happen to other student-athletes.

Last week, UNC-Chapel Hill officials submitted a 224-page report to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to document changes implemented in recent years to ensure compliance with various accreditation standards, such as control of college athletics and academic support services.

"It is true that every university has a constant flow of legal actions," Folt told the faculty. "But we are at a new level, at another level, an unusual level, maybe the greatest level."

Some faculty members said that some of the legal pressure on the university could have been avoided.

"The increasing amount of money we are paying for legal defense, some of that could be avoided if we were just more forthcoming with information," said Altha Cravey, an associate professor of geography.

Cravey cited the university's decision to withhold the names of faculty and staff who were punished following the release of an independent report into the scandal.

The faculty also questioned the forced resignation of UNC President Tom Ross, who the Board of Governors said last Friday would leave next January as the leader of the 17-campus system. One professor compared his removal to someone being dragged off stage and called it inappropriate.