New Online DBA being launched

I was looking at Regent University's site when I came across this:

Regent University Online DBA Fall 2005

Follow that link to read about it.

It says it has something like three, 7 day residencies over 4 years. That seems like a very low amount of residencies to me, which should make many of the folks around here happy.

I may go there someday (if I find a mountain full of gold) and I am very pleased that they now have two nice looking doctorial programs in subjects I am interested in (Leadership and now Business).

Just passing this along .

 

What leadership program are you looking at?

William

 

Regent University - PhD Organizational Leader & DSL Doctor of Strategic Leadership

Those two.... man, I wish I was rich.

 

From the website:

"The Regent DBA is a Christian DBA."

Puhleeze. The curriculum's first two courses are about being a better Christian businessperson. This isn't higher education; it's religion. What do you think the odds are on tolerance for other viewpoints? Isn't that a fundamental (no pun intended) part of higher education, especially at the doctoral level?

 

Rich,

Why the bad attitude towards Regent?

And just how much tolerence is there at other so called "tolerant" schools.

Go to a high ranking political Science graduate program and tell them you are a conservative christian. I can almost guarantee you will not be admitted because you, not them, are narrow minded (they won't tell you that of course).

I'm sure there are many people here that could tell thousands of stories on this subject. So to even hint that somehow Regent is intolerant and other doctorial programs are tolerant is hilarious.

What proof do you have that they will not allow every viewpoint and idea on Business in their program. This is a DBA, it is not a religion degree, the religion aspect is simply added because they believe God is in everything. That is not intolerant, it is a legitimant philosophy that is the core belief of their institution.

DBA Class list

There is a list of the proposed classes. To me, it looks like a solid DBA founded on christian principles and business research theory. Does this make their curriculum illegitimate, just because the word *gasp* christian has been placed in it?

Because we all know that all christians are narrow minded right? Right? They can't possibly have a fair, all inclusive doctorial program can they?

 

Yeah, come on Rich, it's not like they can't seek to educate Christian businessmen, teach them ethics from a religio-centered perspective. What's wrong with that? It's a valid perspective, don't you think corporate America would be improved by a little by applying the concepts of "do to others as you would want them to do to you"?

Don't get your back up too quickly at the hint of religion in higher education and the acquisition of knowledge. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive, just ask: Thomas Acquinas, Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, John Harvard (the clergyman that harvard's named after), C.S. Lewis, Tolstoy, etc.

 

Is it a valid perspective? I guess. But what do you think would happen if, say, I enrolled, went to the first class, and when the subject came up let it be known that (a) I didn't believe in this stuff and (b) was ready to debate it whenever it came up? If that person was accepted and allowed to succeed to the extent of his/her abilities, I'd buy it. But I wonder if they'd allow that?

It is the clash of ideas and the welcoming of differing viewpoints that makes higher education dynamic and real. What Regent proposes isn't that.

 

Rich, if you did that you'd be borish and out of line.

The business program isn't there to discuss the merits of Christianity vis-a-vis other world views, that's a given at that school--it's very conservative and very Christian; of course they're going to approach everything from that point of view.

If you wanted to debate and discuss the application of Christian ethics to a given business situation, situational ethics, et. al., I suppose that would be fair grist for the mill. If they silenced you then, then you'd be quite right. But to say that's going to be their attitude in the DBA program at this point, you'd just be proposing hypotheticals yourself.

Some people have made intellectual, emotional, spiritual choices to believe what they believe, sometimes it's been the result of years of investigation and research--ask Jack Lewis, J.R. Tolkein. If, after fair inquiry--or even not--someone has settled upon a foundational point-of-view regarding the world and they then seek to study the world, business, sociology, what-have-you, from that point-of-view, that doesn't mean they're intellectually vacuous.

Just because you believe something to be the truth--even conservative Christian doctrine--that doesn't kill any chance of intellectual inquiry.

If the athiests decided to open Athiest U, who would I be to say that they must admit me and then hear me out--in their DBA business program for goodness sakes!--when I stand up in BUSINESS ETHICS class to propose some metaphysical debate about the existence of God from a Christian viewpoint?

 

Come on Rich

It isn't a very well kept secret that many faculties at US universities are overstocked with screaming liberals. Ask anyone willing to admit to being a conservative on campus how quiet they have to be on the topic. The small liberal arts college where I am an adjunct even managed to put together a move-on.org chapter of which a good chunk of the membership is faculty. Let some admissions committee be chaired by the likes of Ward Churchill and see how many members of the College Republicans get admitted. Bias occurs and you know it....

 

Praise God!!!!!!!!!

Rich,

I thought you would approve of this program. Personally I am glad to see a business program that incorporates God into it. The Regents is a fine institution.

Sincerely,

 

This program might produce Benny Hinn's of Business world.

Corporate america need to learn a lot from this guy.

 

Dear dl_mba,

What's the matter with a university teaching ethics as a business course? I think it is needed in today's business world.

 

Ethics in business school

I agree that it is a very important topic. The business world needs it badly and my MBA program at Pepperdine is renowned for thier ethics based curriculum.

Businessweek ranked them # 1 in the world in terms of ethics based curriculums and I would think that if Business week ranks Ethics as a measurable subject it must be important.

I say that EVERY business school should teach a course in ethics as long as it is not religion based.

( And don't start going on and on about Pepperdine. I don't want the thread highjacked. They may be a religion based school but thier business school is all business )

 

In this case ethics should be religion independent.

 

Re: Ethics in business school

Right. This is an apt example of the difference between a school that pursues the subject openly and one that has a decided slant.

People speak about Christianity as if it has some inherent merit. It's just a set of myths and beliefs one either subscribes to or does not. It doesn't have some special corner on the truth. But Regent's DBA program pre-supposes that it does, and pre-empts those who might want to approach their DBA from a business standpoint.

I think Regent has been a tremendous asset in the promotion on distance education. I'm just disappointed that they're so exclusionary right up front. It makes them a lot more like Bob Jones University than Notre Dame (or Pepperdine, even).

 

Re: Re: Ethics in business school

Rich, of course you're entitled to your views, but you don't really know if Atheism or Christianity has the corner on the truth--or Judaism or Islam or Buddhism or Paganism or Zoroastorianism, for that matter.

You can't know by using pure logic and human reason whether any set of beliefs is true, that's where faith comes in. But of course, you have faith just as well, and by faith and your stabs at reason--which may be faulty, unless of course, you're the one human who can lay claim to infallibility--you believe that Christianity is just a collection of dusty myths. You might be right, but you might also be damned wrong.

If a school wants to teach business ethics from a Christian point-of-view, let them. Of course they're being exclusionary, so what? They're a Christian school--do you want them to teach business ethics from an agnostic point of view? I say live and let live, let them have their business program, don't say it's invalid just because they have a position on faith and are up front about it.

They may well be right and you may well be wrong.

 

I guess I would wonder what ethics from a "Chrisitian" perspective looks like. If it is to act as ethically as Jesus did, then that's not such a bad thing. If it is act as Paul did, then I think I would want to pass.

 

Paul? You mean the guy from the Bible?

 

Re: Re: Re: Ethics in business school

I'm always open to that. Too bad Regent isn't.