Louisiana Baptist University

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Louisiana Baptist University

LBU Emblem
Established 1973
Type Private / unaccredited
President Neal Weaver
Faculty 44
Students 1,100 undergraduate
and graduate
Location Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
Website http://www.lbu.edu/

Louisiana Baptist University (LBU, originally called Baptist Christian University) is a conservative Christian university, founded in 1973, with the physical campus located in Shreveport, Louisiana. LBU is not accredited by any recognised accreditation body. As such, its degrees may not be acceptable to employers or other institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions.

LBU has an on-campus program and correspondence/distance education program, which enrolls students from all over the world. The classes mostly in subjects pertaining to the Bible and Baptist theology.

Contents

[edit] History

Originally started in 1973 as Baptist Christian University, the school's website stated in February of 1993 the Board of Trustees decided to rename the school to Louisiana Baptist University.[1] In Steve Levicoff's 1993 book Name It and Frame It? (3rd edition), he listed the Baptist Christian University and its "division" Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary as degree mills.[2] In fact, as Levicoff noted Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary's "parent institution claims accreditation from the unrecognized Accrediting Commission International."[3]

In the 1993 work, Levicoff wrote about the "National Association of Marriage and Family Counselors" which "sponsored by Baptist Christian University, a degree mill listed in Chapter 12, this credential mill advertises, 'Each member receives a beautiful Councilors Certificate imprinted with your name and suitable for framing. This certificate enables you to display your credential as a Certified Christian Counselor."[4] Levicoff concluded, "their certification, which is worthless, should not be confused with that of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy in Washington DC, a legitimate agency recognized by the US Department of Education and COPA."[5]

On December 10 1998, the Louisiana Board of Regents unanimously voted to deny the University an operating license for its business programs, required it to cease admitting students, and cease advertising.[6] Students matriculated at the time were allowed until December 31, 1999 to finish their degrees. Meanwhile, on April 22, 1999, the Board exempted the University from licensing requirements under a "religious institution exemption."[7]

Currently, the university web site lists 44 faculty, but it is unknown to what extent they are full or part-time instructors or what type of professorships given. Only six people on the staff are listed as having earned a terminal degree from an accredited institution.[8] The majority of the faculty listed did graduate work from LBU itself,[9] while even more have degrees under its previous name Baptist Christian University and Baptist Christian College.

[edit] Diploma mill allegations

Louisiana Baptist University is alleged to match several of the criteria for diploma mills, as defined by the United States Department of Education (USDE).[10] However, LBU currently is one of six approved colleges and universities of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International.[citation needed] It is has the approval of the Association of Christian Colleges and Theological Schools (ACCTS), a Christian, non-governmental agency involved in approving Christian schools. ACCTS is not a recognized accreditor[11] and Louisiana Baptist University does not represent these memberships as accreditation and they should not be taken as implying any independent academic credibility. According to Credential Watch, ACCTS is among a list of unrecognized accreditors, which are "meaningless."[12]

Although the school is unaccredited, the web site address contains the .edu domain. This may mislead some to think the school has some standing with US government approval. However, the US Department of Education has said, "Before the U.S. Department of Commerce created its current, strict requirements, some questionable institutions were approved to use an .edu. The current requirements allow only colleges and institutions accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to use the .edu."[13]

The USDE has warned to, "Beware of institutions that offer college credit and degrees based on life experience, with little or no documentation of prior learning" as a sign of a suspect school.[14] Like some accredited schools, LBU will accept a limited amount of three types of non-traditional credit: experiential learning credits, military experience credits, and credit by examination. Also by purchasing and reading a book by Chuck Missler one can "receive college credit from Louisiana Baptist University upon completion of the book."[15] Assist News quoted Missler as explaining LBU "has offered course credits for those that do a 'reflective paper' on what they got out of it" besides the three semester hours credit, people "also get a certificate for it."[16] Also according to Missler's website the university allows people to "transfer credits from" Missler's unaccredited Koinonia "Institute" for "up to half of the credit hour requirements for a graduate degree" at Louisiana Baptist University.[17]

The OC Weekly noted, Robert Morey has a PhD from the unaccredited Louisiana Baptist University in Islamic Studies, but the school does not have an islamic studies program.[18] The Weekly described that Morey told the Christian news service ASSIST that there are three nuclear terror devices in U.S., but "no mainstream journalist reprinted Morey’s claim—despite the fact that Morey pitches himself as one of the country’s leading experts on Islam."[18]

LBU has been criticized for not making graduate student research easily available for the academic community. At accredited schools, master's theses and doctoral dissertations are microfilmed and made available for loan; and since 1940 these universities have deposited their dissertations in the United States Library of Congress (LOC)[19] becoming available to the public. Some universities require students to submit their original dissertation and abstracts to the University Microfilms International (UMI)[20] who then submits them to the LOC.[21] LBU does require dissertations to be professionally bound and a hardback copy submitted to the LBU library for public viewing.[22] However, due to the fact that LBU policy does not require submission to the LOC or UMI, it is relatively difficult to determine the quality of instruction and graduate work at the university. Only one piece of graduate student work is known of online.[23]

[edit] Alumni

Note: LBU's degrees are unaccredited.

[edit] Seminary

[edit] University

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Welcome to LBU!", Louisiana Baptist University (Archived), April 1999. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
  2. ^ Steve Levicoff. Name It and Frame It?. (3rd edition) Institute on Religion and Law. 1993 (pages 113 and 133
  3. ^ Steve Levicoff. Name It and Frame It?. (3rd edition) Institute on Religion and Law. 1993 (page 133)
  4. ^ Steve Levicoff. Name It and Frame It?. (3rd edition) Institute on Religion and Law. 1993 (page 107)
  5. ^ Steve Levicoff. Name It and Frame It?. (3rd edition) Institute on Religion and Law. 1993 (page 107)
  6. ^ "Minutes of Board of Regents December 10, 1998", Louisiana Board of Regents, December 10, 1998. Retrieved on 2007-03-13. Orders LBU to stop admitting students.
  7. ^ "Minutes of Board of Regents April 22, 1999", Louisiana Board of Regents, April 22, 1999. Retrieved on 2007-03-13. Allows it to operate only as a religious institution.
  8. ^ Louisiana Baptist University See faculty listings.
  9. ^ Louisiana Baptist University faculty and staff page
  10. ^ Greg Neyman. Creation Science Exposed: Creation Evidence Museum Lacks Evidence!. Answers in Creation.
  11. ^ Council for Higher Education Accreditation
  12. ^ List of unrecognized accreditors by Credential Watch
  13. ^ United States Department of Education explanation of .edu
  14. ^ Life Credits and Diploma Mills United States Department of Education
  15. ^ Learn the Bible in 24 hours by Chuck Missler
  16. ^ Dan Wooding.Learn the Bible in 24 Hours: Chuck Missler releases an extraordinary teaching tool ASSIST News Service. Garden Grove, CA April 3, 2001
  17. ^ LBU Graduates Five KI Students by Chuck Missler
  18. ^ a b Dr. Jihad: The crusading life of Islam ‘expert’ Robert Morey Orange County Weekly March 2, 2006
  19. ^ Doctoral Dissertations from Library of Congress
  20. ^ The Doctor of Theology Degree from Harvard Divinity School
  21. ^ Library of Congress and Copyright Office Sign Landmark Agreement with UMI Library of Congress January 22, 1999
  22. ^ Louisiana Baptist University Writer's Guide
  23. ^ William P. Welty's dissertation on SWANsat for the Ph.D. in communications (2005) signed off by Chuck Missler. This is the only known available example of the standard of LBU graduate work. LBU has no communications school or history of communications research; no published peer-reviewed publications are related to this document.
  24. ^ Rick Scarborough Vision America

[edit] External links

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