The Evolution of the ‘Easy A’
By Devin Ballam, Marketing –
Some universities are under scrutiny for offering “fake” classes — courses with easy or non-existent curriculum to ensure school athletes make passing grades.
“What classes can I take to get an ‘easy A’?” Many students ask themselves this question when picking new courses. While this may seem to promote underachievement, many justify this question with their desire to boost their GPAs and lower stress levels by having less schoolwork to worry about.
The Easy Way Out
Recently these “easy A” classes have been detected at one of the top-ranked colleges in the U.S. At the University of North Carolina, students and student athletes — mainly those on the basketball team — have been accused of taking “easy A” classes, or fake classes with a fake teacher and fake work. The biggest surprise is that these classes have been offered at the school for the last 18 years but are just now being detected by outside sources.
This brings up the question — is the University of North Carolina the only school that offers such fraud classes?
The Fraud Continues
One of the academic advisors who was at the college has since changed universities and now works for another university with a top-ranked basketball program. She was questioned about the situation and said she was unaware of what was going on. She was very clear about her standards of integrity at the University of Kentucky, stating that no “fraud classes” were being offered. However, one professor at the University of Carolina remembers the adviser commenting on the college athletes. This professor said the advisor had mentioned some college athletes that were not prepared for college and one who may have even been illiterate.
Solutions
Situations like these need to be stopped, but what can be done to prevent academic fraud?
Recently a new technology has been released to help prevent and stop fraud. Some say the eyes are the key to the soul. The eyes reflect when a person is stressed and also if a person is lying. This detection is almost impossible to see with the human eye, but with a new technology called EyeDetect™, the truth can be seen. This new polygraph alternative can prevent fraud and deception and keep the academic system honest.
