Auburn University has suspended a sociology professor at the center of a controversy over snap courses and improper grade changes that were allegedly designed to help athletes remain eligible to play and to help athletes and other students graduate at rates far higher than their poor academic records would merit. According to today’s New York Times, which broke the news of the seemingly lax academic standards, the tenured sociology professor, Thomas Petee, has been suspended with pay over the grade-changing allegation.
Mr. Petee resigned as a department head after he drew criticism for the number of directed-reading courses he offered to athletes and other students. The courses, often consisting of little more than reading a book and writing a paper, resulted in high grades for many athletes who needed a bump up on their transcripts. Auburn, which has consistently characterized the controversy as an academic problem, not an athletics problem, could now take steps to dismiss Mr. Petee.
