As of August 31, 2006, 48 student-athletes, in 9 different sports, and 7 non-athlete students were interviewed.  For all students, athletes and non-athletes, transcripts and course registration processes were reviewed.  Additional interviews were added as needed.  

During the course of student interviews, some new questions arose about Independent Study courses in the Adult Education program, within the Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology, in the College of Education .  Dr. James Witte, the program chair of Adult Education was interviewed.

In all, 64 individuals were interviewed.  Several of the individuals were interviewed more than one time, due to follow-up questions.

This report is structured to first, provide data and policy that is specific to Sociology/ Criminology (SOCY/ CRIM).  Second, it provides data and policy specific to Adult Education (ADED).  Third, it offers direct answers to the following questions:

• Were grades given for little or no work?

• Were all students treated similarly?
• Are the identified issues widespread?

• Are there policies to deal with any problems that are identified?

Finally, the report offers findings and recommendations.

  It is important to note that to the extent any information received by the committee raised athletic compliance issues, those issues are the subject of an on-going  Athletics Department inquiry.   This Independent Study/ Directed Readings Investigation Report does not provide any details which would negatively impact that inquiry.  Additionally, this public report cannot provide details wherein personally identifiable information about any specific students can be inferred, thereby violating Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act guidelines.  

Sociology/ Criminology Data and Policy  

Sociology and Criminology are academic programs within a combined Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Criminology and Social Work, located in the College of Liberal Arts .   Data related to these units, for this inquiry, were generated by Auburn University ’s Office of Institutional Research and Assessment. In Fall 2005, Auburn University had 19,254 undergraduate students.  Of this total, 385 were scholarship athletes. Thus, 2% of all undergraduate students were scholarship athletes. At this same time, there were 432 Sociology (SOCY) and Criminology (CRIM) undergraduate majors.  Of the 432 SOCY and CRIM majors, 37 were athletes; meaning 8.6% of all SOCY and CRIM majors were student-athletes. The largest number of scholarship athletes was in the Undeclared Liberal Arts major (UNLA) (62).   Table 1 identifies the number of course sections offered by Dr. Petee, by semester, since Spring 2003.  This timeframe was selected because many of the faculty, advisors and administrators indicated that early 2003 marked the burgeoning proliferation of Independent Study and small section independently offered courses in this academic unit.  

Table 1- Petee course sections

These course sections include Sociology, Criminology and Statistics courses, along with occasional Political Science and Anthropology courses, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels taught by Dr. Petee. The course sections include:

·         “traditional” courses with regular meeting times

·         “traditional” courses which are regularly offered but which were offered in an independent study (TBA) format (i.e. few, if any, meeting times)

·         courses identified as Independent Study and/or Directed Readings which met in an independent study format (i.e. few, if any, meeting times)

Prior to August 2006, there were no university or college prohibitions against opening Directed Readings or Independent Study courses, or additional sections of a course.  Additional course sections may only be opened with Department Chair/ Head permission.

The guidelines which regulate the taking of these courses are specific to the classes. They detail how many such classes a student can take for credit. For example, for SOCY 4960 Directed Reading in Sociology the course description in the AU Bulletin indicates:

Junior standing and departmental approval. An independent reading program under supervision, to allow pursuit of specific interests in sociology not covered in other course offerings.  Course may be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

For CRIM 4960 Directed Readings in Criminology the AU Bulletin states:

Junior standing. Independent reading course under the supervision of a faculty member from the Criminology and Criminal Justice Program.  Course may be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

Opening additional course sections of a regularly scheduled class may, at times, be needed to permit a student to complete the course in order to graduate or because the student could not meet at the regularly scheduled time for the class. However, it is not a common practice and should not usually be permitted. As Interim Department Chair, Dr. Petee had the authority to open additional sections.

In most semesters, 1or 2 courses were Dr. Petee’s expected teaching load. Auburn University ’s policy is that Directed Readings, Independent Study and/or small sections of courses offered in an independent format do not count toward a faculty member’s teaching load.  All additional sections were taken on by Dr. Petee to be accommodating or helpful to the students and he received no additional compensation for teaching these additional courses.

Table 2 builds upon the data of table 1 and identifies the number of course sections taught by Dr. Petee, total enrollment and number of scholarship athletes within that enrollment.  

Table 2- Petee course sections, enrollment, athletes

Table 3 provides Dr. Petee’s grading breakdown, for all students and athletes, and the departmental grading breakdown (including Sociology, Criminology, Anthropology and Social Work), for all students and athletes (as a comparator). Based upon these data, Dr. Petee gives higher grades to his non-athlete students than to his athlete students. However, Dr. Petee’s grades for all students (non-athletes and athletes) are higher than most, but not all, other faculty members’ grades in the department. It is worth noting that there is no University policy on how a faculty member’s grades should be distributed. Many factors contribute to an individual faculty member’s grade distribution.

Table 3 - Grades:  T. Petee, Jan. 2003-May 2006

In examining the grade distribution in Dr. Petee’s courses, the committee also looked into grades of “Incomplete” and grade changes. Of 24 grades of “Incomplete” given by Dr. Petee between Spring 2003 and Spring 2006, 67% were given to student athletes. It is worth noting that the AU Bulletin states that

An IN may be assigned at the discretion of the instructor if the student is passing but has not completed all assigned work or taken all scheduled examinations.

If not cleared within six months of the date the IN was awarded, regardless of the residence status of the student, the IN becomes an F. 

In reviewing a WebCT grade sheet from one of Dr. Petee’s classes some students who had not been making progress in his courses were given a grade of IN. Dr. Petee indicated that he was not aware of the university’s policy regarding the assignment of IN grades.  It should be noted that university policy states that a grade of IN is calculated as a grade of F for the purpose of computing a grade point average and is converted to a grade of F after six (6) months.

Dr. Petee processed approximately 55 grade changes for students between January 2003 and Spring 2006.  This number of grade changes is higher than the average rate for the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Criminology and Social Work of 22 grade changes per faculty member during this time period. As noted later in this report, his failure to keep complete records made it difficult to determine the necessity for this  number of grade changes.

Qualitative Data (Interview) Findings- Sociology/Criminology

Dr. Petee provided copies of course syllabi which identified class expectations, readings, and assignments. He also provided grading books, but he did not maintain grades for all classes in the grade books provided.  Additionally, he did not record grade changes in the grade books. Dr. Petee’ s lack of course records for some classes violates Auburn University policy on proper maintenance of class documents and records. (See Appendix 1 for policy.)

Dr. Gundlach was initially unwilling to share his data or methodology with the Investigation Committee.  On August 1, 2006, Dr. Gundlach did share his research process, but did not provide any documentation. He also  presented his view of the situation including an oral chronology of events. After discussing the situation, Dr. Gundlach stated that he is not aware of preferential treatment for student athletes from Dr. Petee but rather his primary concern was the proliferation of Independent Study/ Directed Readings / TBA sections.   Because Dr. Petee’s area of specialty is Criminology, Dr. Gundlach expressed greatest concern about Dr. Petee teaching courses in the Sociology major. He also pointed out  that he had previously expressed general concerns about these classes to the Assistant to the President, Dr. Heilman,  who directed him to the Provost’s Office (Dr. Thomas Hanley, at the time) and/or Dean’s Office (Dean Joseph Ansell, at the time). Dr. Gundlach chose not to  share those concerns with the College of Liberal Arts Dean or Associate Deans, or the Provost or Associate Provosts.  Dr. Greg Kowalski, the former Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts , indicated in an interview that at no time did he or the former Dean, Joseph Ansell, ask Dr. Petee to teach additional course sections. 

In Spring 2005, Dr. Gundlach brought his concerns about a proliferation of Independent Study/ Directed Readings / TBA sections, by Dr. Petee, to the faculty of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Criminology and Social Work at a faculty meeting. After expressing these concerns within the department the number of Directed Readings / Independent Study/ TBA classes scheduled by Dr. Petee decreased.

In interviews with student- athletes and non student- athletes in Dr. Petee’s Independent Study/ Directed Readings/ TBA classes, all identified the same work expectations (reading one or two books and completing a term paper, approximately 15 pages long) and all indicated that they were expected to work on their own, with no class meeting times.  If they had questions or needed help they emailed him or went to his office. The academic transcript of each student interviewed was reviewed to determine when they took a course with Dr. Petee.

Adult Education Data and Policy

A review of Independent Study practices in the Adult Education program was spurred by the number of interviewed students who had taken Independent Study courses in ADED as well as CRIM/SOCY, and who confused details about the courses in the two programs.  The instructor of record for these Adult Education classes was Dr. J. Witte.

Auburn University ’s Office of Institutional Research and Assessment indicated that in Fall 2005, there were a total of 38 undergraduate majors in Adult Education. Of this total, 18 were scholarship athletes. Thus, 47% of all undergraduate Adult Education majors in Fall 2005 were scholarship athletes.  Of the 18 scholarship athlete Adult Education majors, five (28%) had already received a Bachelor’s degree and were majoring in Adult Education as a second Bachelor’s degree.

Table 5 provides the count of course sections offered by Dr. J. Witte between Spring 2003 and Fall 2006.

Table 5- J. Witte course sections

These Adult Education course sections include:

·         “traditional” courses with regular meeting times

·         courses identified as Independent Study and/or Directed Readings which met in an independent study format (i.e. few, if any, meeting times)

·         Internship, Practicum, and Work Experience courses, which met in an independent work arrangement

Table 6 builds upon the data of table 5 and identifies the number of course sections taught by Dr. J. Witte, total enrollment and number of scholarship athletes within that enrollment. 

Table 6- J. Witte course sections, enrollment, athletes