UNC: Taxpayers won’t pay for academic consultants
Published 10:36 pm Tuesday, September 11, 2012
CHAPEL HILL (AP) — Consultants called in after discoveries of academic fraud at North Carolina’s flagship public university say they’re giving the school a 20 percent discount on hourly fees.
Documents released by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Tuesday show Washington-area consulting firm Baker Tilley will bill a discounted hourly rate of up to $440 an hour. That’s for helping former North Carolina Gov. Jim Martin look for academic irregularities after one department popular with athletes found instructors who didn’t teach, grades that were changed and faculty signatures faked on grade reports.
Baker Tilly also is doing a review of the school’s academic policies that the consultants estimate will cost the school between $70,000 to $90,000 plus expenses.
The university says state taxpayers won’t pay for the consultants’ work.