Odds and Sods

The Ann Arbor News released part one of its stirring investigation into Michigan Athletics, accusing psychology professor John Hagen of well…it is not quite clear.

The AA News mentions that Hagen taught 291 independent study courses from Fall 2004 to 2007, 254 taken by athletes.

From a sample size of 29 out of the 254 athletes, the average GPA in the class was a 3.62, compared with an average of 2.57 for other classes.

The class, Psych 218, is an extension of Hagen’s Psych 200 independent study program.  The AA News mentions that “at one point” 16 of the 25 students enrolled were athletes.

Hagen describes the classes as “Learning Skills” classes.  The students described learning time management skills, learning how to use a day planner, and completing an independent paper.  One athlete mentioned writing a paper of 15 pages.  Another mentioned writing two papers of 6-8 pages in length.  Another player described spending 3-4 hours per week outside of the class on class related material.

Some of the athletes were allowed to enroll in an independent study program after the standard drop-add deadline.

The AA News mentions that a student enrolled in a 300-level or 400-level independent study for Psychology would typically spend 12 hours a week completing a project.  They leave it up to you to determine how this is relevant to a 200-level class.

A University panel investigated the class and the associated coursework and ruled that it met University standards.

The bulk of the information comes from a disgruntled professor in the Psych department – passed over for promotion in favor of Hagen – and two other former University officials who refuse to be identified.

The cliffs notes version is that there may be an easy Psych class – open to the general student population – that some Michigan Athletes took advantage of for an easy grade.  Unfortunate?  Perhaps.  But it is hardly earth-shattering news.

I managed my Math requirement at Michigan by taking a basic introductory statistics course, which allowed you to use a cheat sheet on all exams and quizzes.  There are easy anthropology courses frequented by both footballers and Engineering students.  Loopholes exist.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!  Not all athletes at large University are scholastically inclined!

Professor Hagen is accused of running an easy class, for which the Ann Arbor News can find no proof after months of investigation.  The research was extensive, but neither coherent nor conclusive.