RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina has responded to the third set of charges it received from the NCAA in the long-running academic fraud case.
The 102-page document released Thursday marked the latest step in the seven-year investigation. UNC faces five top-level charges, including lack of institutional control, in the multiyear probe centered on irregular courses in an academic department.
In an argument that mirrors its response last August to its second Notice of Allegations, North Carolina is challenging the NCAA’s jurisdiction to pursue charges for issues the school says “are academic in nature” and “lie beyond the reach of the bylaws belatedly invoked” by the NCAA.
The NCAA enforcement staff has until July 17 to file a response.
Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey, who heads the NCAA infractions panel handling the case, has said his panel will hear the case in August with “anticipated” dates of Aug. 16 and 17. The case could reach a resolution by the end of 2017.
The major development in the case before UNC’s response Thursday took place two weeks ago, when a woman at the center of the investigation – Deborah Crowder – was interviewed by investigators after previously declining to cooperate. Crowder, a retired office administrator who graded many of the papers in the problem classes, also filed an affidavit in March defending the quality of the courses.
North Carolina stated it will file a supplemental response to Thursday’s documents to include specific references to Crowder’s testimony once it receives the official transcript of her interview from the NCAA.
