UNC-Chapel Hill fans tried to take a page out of their rival Wolfpack fans' notebook this week by using a message board to draw attention to what they view as suspect academics at N.C. State University.
What they have focused on are two courses offered to athletes at NCSU, identified as USC 103 and USC 104. They found data from a course ranking website showing that no one received anything less than an A in the fall 2011 semester, and one of the instructors is also an academic coordinator for football players.
So are these classes 'gimmes' for athletes? Not according to Carrie Leger, the director of NCSU's Academic Support Program for Student Athletes.
What they amount to, she said, are the same university orientation classes that many incoming N.C. State students take -- USC 101 and USC 102 -- that are each worth one credit hour. The typical course at most universities is worth three credit hours.
USC 103 and USC 104 are designed for freshman student athletes, she said, because their academic experience is complicated by the hours they spend practicing and competing, and because of NCAA requirements they have to fulfill to remain eligible to play.
"Having a course specifically for student athletes is and has been a best practice," Leger said. "I'm 15 years into the profession, and it has been an effective good practice in all those years."
She said many colleges have similar classes, and some allow up to three credit hours for them. The orientation classes do count toward a student's grade point average.
Not everyone takes USC 102 or USC 104, she said. Just those who still haven't picked a major, or anticipate changing to another major.
She said academic counselors teach the classes, just as academic counselors in NCSU's First Year College teach the orientation classes for nonathletes.
She released average grades for both sets of classes that show similar academic performance:
From the period beginning with the fall 2008 semester and ending with the spring 2011 semester, nonathletes averaged a 3.53 and a 3.44 for USC 101 and USC 102, respectively, while athletes averaged a 3.64 and 3.38 for USC 103 and USC 104, respectively.