For 20 years, some employees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill knowingly steered about 1,500 athletes toward no-show courses that never met and were not taught by any faculty members, and in which the only work required was a single research paper that received a high grade no matter the content. After years of investigations, the scope of the scandal was finally detailed in a report by Kenneth Wainstein, a former official with the U.S. Department of Justice, in October. But it was Mary Willingham, who worked in UNC's Center for Student Success and Academic Counseling, who first helped bring the scam to light. Willingham has now teamed up with Jay Smith, a professor of history at UNC-Chapel Hill, to write a book about the long history of the fake courses. Willingham and Smith responded to questions about the new book, Cheated (University of Nebraska Press). Except where specified, the answers are joint.

March 18, 2015 ・ From Inside Higher Ed