Syracuse, N.Y. -- When members of a national accreditation group visited Upstate Medical University in March last year to evaluate its medical school, they discovered some striking inconsistencies.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education LCME for short learned the medical schools entire first-year class of students was participating in community service. But that positive impression was tarnished by the discovery the school was grappling with the fallout of a cheating scandal involving more than 100 members of the senior class.

The learning environment for SUNY Upstate in some ways is very strong and in other ways is an area of concern, the LCME says in a 192-page report that explains why it put the medical school on probation.

Upstate provided a copy of the report to The Post-Standard after the newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the document.

The report shows the committee found the school out of compliance with 15 accreditation standards. Upstate must fix the problems within two years to keep its accreditation so it can continue offering medical degrees.

The LCME recommended last fall that Upstate be put on probation. Upstate filed an appeal last month, rebutting nearly all of the committees findings. After reviewing the appeal, the committee rescinded its original findings of noncompliance on three standards, but affirmed its position on the other 15. It also affirmed its decision to put the school on probation.

The report says the medical schools curriculum is out of sync, student complaints often go ignored and the dean is a paper tiger. It also says complaints by graduating medical students of discrimination or mistreatment on the basis of gender, race/ethnicity or sexual orientation are being reported at above-average rates at Upstate.

Students interviewed during the survey repeated over and over that the most serious issue facing them and their school was the lack of central authority to address issues that were of concern to them, the report says. Faculty echoes those concerns as well.

One of the committees major criticisms is the schools lack of administrative oversight over curriculum and its inability to modify and coordinate courses.

The dean, who serves as the chief academic officer, does not have the explicit authority to ensure the implementation and management of the medical education program when modifications to the curriculum are determined to be necessary, the report says.

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Accreditation group finds erratic learning environment at Upstate medical school