After nearly a year's time of the NCAA reopening its investigation of North Carolina -- due to the so-called "paper classes" -- the organization's notice of allegations, received by the university on May 20, has been released to the public.
The NCAA reconvened the investigation after the findings of the Wainstein Report, commissioned by the university, were announced last Oct. 22.
Wainstein and his staff were able to get two of the primary culprits in the apparent eligibility scheme -- Deborah Crowder and Julius Nyang'oro -- to cooperate. Prior to that, neither would assist the NCAA' investigation.
Wainstein found that classes in the African and Afro-American Studies department (chaired by Nyang'oro), which required varying degrees of attendance and actual work and designed, at least in part, to keep student-athletes eligible dated back to 1993.
The NCAA's notice of allegations detailed five separate violations, with a timeline that dates back to 2002.
The most damning language in the document is the dreaded "lack of institutional control."
All five allegations were characterized as Level 1 violations, or "severe breach of conduct" violations.
More than 250 of the 300 "factual information" notations (FI's) provided by the NCAA were submitted as evidence of the first violation, alleging that North Carolina student-athletes received impermissible benefits in the form of the paper classes (a little more than half of the enrollment in these classes were athletes, according to Wainstein).
The classes began in 1993 because Crowder, who used to be an administrator in the AFAM department, wanted to offer an alternative to some of the more difficult independent studies classes for athletes.
The courses frequently didn't involve a professor at all, required one paper turned in at the end of the semester and no class attendance. Crowder, who wasn't a professor at the school, often graded the papers.
Non-student-athletes also took the classes, but the NCAA found that many of the benefits "were not generally available to the student body" -- mostly because the academic advisors were found to have asked for special exceptions in terms of enrollment and grading in said classes.
"The high level of involvement by athletics academics counselors in the administration of those anomalous AFRI/AFAM courses relieved student-athletes of the academic responsibilities of a general student," the notice states.
The delineation of the first allegation did not mention any student-athletes having been ineligible for competition during that span, however.
The second allegation focuses around former women's basketball academic advisor and philosophy professor Jan Boxill, who may have committed numerous violations, including adding content to papers and seeking grade changes, among other impermissible benefits.
The third and fourth allegations deal with Crowder and Nyang'oro refusing to cooperate, saying both "violated the NCAA principles of ethical conduct."
But the fifth allegation -- a lack of institutional control -- stemmed from Boxill's violations and the alleged impermissible benefits detailed in the first allegation.
North Carolina will have 90 days to respond to the notice of allegations, and the committee on infractions will be required to set a date for a hearing within the next 60 days. In theory, the entire process should be wrapped up within a year, although there's no way to know for sure.
The notice said the university allowed some academic advisors "to use these courses through special arrangements to maintain the eligibility of academically at-risk student athletes, particularly in the sports of football, men's basketball and women's basketball."
Boxill's involvement was mentioned the most frequently in the report, seemingly indicating that UNC women's basketball will take a heavy hit.
Since the revelations of the scope of the academic fraud were uncovered back in 2011, numerous North Carolina officials have lost their jobs, including chancellor Holden Thorp and head football coach Butch Davis, in addition to a number of academic advisors.
The fraudulent classes started to get into the news around the time North Carolina's previous NCAA case was wrapping up, where the football program received numerous impermissible benefits and was penalized by a postseason ban in 2012, along with the loss of scholarships.
Once Bubba Cunningham took over as North Carolina athletic director back in October 2011, and he's since had to deal with a series of violations that occurred before his tenure began.
Chancellor Folt took over for Thorp in the fall of 2013, and she and Cunningham have teamed up to essentially rip the Bandaid off when it comes to the academic misconduct, which they accomplished by commissioning Wainstein.
Cunningham and Folt issued a joint statement after the public release of the notice, pointing out that the university has instituted "more than 70 reforms and initiatives to ensure and enhance academic integrity" (many of which can be found here).
Those reforms will almost certainly be cited as potential mitigating factors for the university when the punishment phase begins, although there's no telling what that will entail. Cunningham spoke to reporters after the release, and he said the penalties will be handed down via the NCAA's old penalty structure rather than the new one -- which is more punitive.
The total length of the investigation -- which Cunningham characterized as being at "halftime" -- has taken its toll on the athletic programs already.
Tar Heels football coach Larry Fedora was dealing with scholarship losses from the previous violations, and there was direct, damning evidence implicating football in the Wainstein Report.
Basketball coach Roy Williams -- who is mentioned once in the notice (to submit his interview with the NCAA into evidence) -- has had trouble recruiting, as well, given the uncertainty hanging over the program.
Part of the reason it has taken so long is the previous administration's unwillingness to deal with it more directly, which Cunningham hinted at in citing the "investigations and reviews" the university has already done, many of which went nowhere near where Wainstein did.
"I think the number of investigations and reviews that we've done as an institution have prolonged this process as well. But I will say that the NCAA enforcement staff and the NCAA investigation did not take any longer than any of the other investigations," Cunningham said.
"To do a thorough review, it does take time. There's a lot of data to review and the reviews go back quite some time. But I will also concur that it has been a difficult environment on the campus for us as staff members, athletic department staff members, as faculty, as students. And I do think the length of time has impacted our ability to attract some of the students that would have committed to the institution in previous years."
Cunningham said that North Carolina is crafting its response to the notice of allegations, due in 90 days.
"We'd like to get it to closure and I believe this is a positive step to bringing closure to this issue from an NCAA standpoint, but also from a campus culture issue. I think that will be very good for the university to bring closure to it," Cunningham said.
