It turns out not so many freshmen had taken upper level classes at UNC-Chapel Hill as a spokesman originally told us in our Sunday story about former football player Marvin Austin's academic transcript.

UNC spokesman Mike McFarland originally said 1,033 freshman had taken a 400 level class in the most recently completed academic year. He has now corrected that to 683 freshmen.

The statistic is significant because McFarland cited it to suggest that Austin's first class at the university -- a 400 level African-American studies course during the second summer session of 2007 -- might not be all that unusual. There were 3,846 freshmen in last year's class, so the original number would suggest one in four freshmen took a 400 level class.

The corrected number indicates it was more like one in six.

That statistic does not reflect how many of those freshmen took a 400 level class in their second semester, when they would have a much better lay of the land and might have taken a prerequisite.  It also doesn't show how many freshman got into a 400 level class after demonstrating they had taken advanced placement classes in high school.

Austin got a B plus in the class, according to the partial transcript we obtained. It was the only class he took that semester before taking a full slate of introductory courses in the fall. Those courses included a remedial writing class.

Austin is one of seven players who had to sit out last season as a result of an NCAA investigation into impermissible perks and academic help.

A group of retired faculty from UNC Chapel Hill knows the university is having a tough time right now, what with massive budget cuts and all.

So it volunteered the services of its members, free of charge. But the response has been, well, underwhelming.

Turns out, it's not as simple as bringing back faculty and sending them off into classrooms. There isn't always a class in need of a teacher that fits every retired prof's area of expertise. Still, the university is looking for ways to make better use of this resource.

Here's the story.

It looks like Karen Gil will be the next dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at UNC Chapel Hill.

Gil has been recommended for the job and must be hired officially by the board of trustees, which next meets later this month.

Gil has twice served as the college's senior associate dean. She is a professor of psychology and psychiatry.

"The University is fortunate to have someone with Karen Gil’s impressive credentials and stature as a candidate to head our University’s largest and oldest academic unit,” said Provost Bernadette Gray-Little. “With her background as a faculty member, researcher and administrator within the College of Arts and Sciences, she is ideally suited to lead our faculty, staff and students in addressing future challenges, both on our campus and around the world.”

The dean position has been open since last year, when Holden Thorp was named chancellor. Bruce Carney, a physics and astronomy professor, has served as interim dean.

Gil has been on the UNC faculty since 1995.

Eventually, UNC Chapel Hill's law school will relocate to Carolina North, the long-discussed, 50-year plan to bring a new campus to town.

When it does, departments on UNC-CH's main campus will have a rare opportunity to move things around and create what planners expect to be a social sciences cluster in that building.

 Read more here.