Controversial USC Class Will Be Discontinued

A class at USC that came under scrutiny in the wake of allegations of special treatment for athletes will be discontinued after this semester, according to an official.

Although officials of the athletic department deny any wrongdoing, education department officials have taken steps to insure the integrity of the class this semester and launched their own far-ranging investigation of campus grading practices.

The class, designed to teach tutoring methods, will not be offered at USC again, said Richard Ide, USC vice provost of undergraduate studies. School officials are trying to remove it from next year’s schedule of classes.

The class became controversial last month when a Times story reported that 30 of the 40 students enrolled were athletes, including 14 members of the 1996 Rose Bowl team, and that all but one athlete had received an A. Two of the athletes who got A’s said they had not attended class nor turned in any course work. Three athletic department employees were also enrolled in the class.

The Pacific 10 Conference is investigating. Pac-10 officials are focusing on the two athletes, who alleged that Janice Henry, an academic advisor in the athletic department, enrolled them in the class and told them it would earn them an “easy A.”

Three steps taken by the education department indicate concern about the class and its instructor, Professor Vernon Broussard:

--An independent investigation of the class by the education department.

--The assignment of another faculty member to the class for the rest of the semester to give Broussard “independent support,” according to Guilbert Hentschke, dean of the education department.

The additional faculty member is there to see that an “objective grading procedure can be put in place,” Ide said.

--The investigation by the education department of all undergraduate courses in which the average grade was 3.5 or higher on a four-point scale.

Broussard has denied any wrongdoing and refused to comment on the termination of the class. He told The Times on Monday that he had planned on teaching the class next semester.

Ide, however, was specific about one thing.

“I know Mr. Broussard is never going to teach this course again,” Ide said.