Hello, I need immediate references and/or your knowledge about Carolina University of Theology (http://www.cut.edu) and ACI. If you have sites exposing either or both I would appreciate it as I have a friend who is close to enrolling and I want her to avoid a serious mistake. Thanks!
Why, James, I'm delighted to see that you're not puffing a degree mill for a change - trying, instead, to prevent someone from enrolling in one. Well, for what it's worth, here is what I wrote about CUT in Name It & Frame It - the 4th edition, which was published in 1995. (Keep in mind that the statements below are, therefore, accurate as of 1995.) I have not checked into them since then (nor do I have any interest in doing so). For specific citations on the Chronicle of Higher Education articles referenced, here's your chance to do some research by finding the pieces in the Chron archives. With that said . . . Accredited by the unrecognized Accrediting Commission International and operating under a religious exemption from licensure in North Carolina, this school's degree requirements are far below those of legitimate schools. Their catalog includes no information on the source of faculty credentials (though the president claims to have three academic doctorates, the source of which he also doesn't identify). They are affiliated with the National Christian Counselors Association, a counseling certification mill. The school, which is located in the fellowship hall of a Baptist church, was the subject of an expose in the respected Chronicle of Higher Education, which noted that the school is under investigation by the North Carolina Attorney General's office. In 1992, the schools' founder and president, Gene Norman Thompson, was also charged with unemployment fraud in Kentucky. Advertises or has advertised in Pulpit Helps.
Thank you, Steve, I will paste and copy your response in an email to her. She states she was promised a license to practice Christian counseling in North Carolina. I informed her only the state can license and that NC has no pastoral or Christian counseling licensure as Maine does. Thanks again.
The ACI site is pretty vacuous and should be underwhelming to her. It says next to nothing and lists no schools that are accredited. Anything substantive must be requested via email: www.accreditnow.com By comparison, look at the SACS site: http://www.sacs.org/
Promised by whom, Jimmy, CUT? What other degrees does she hold and are they RA? I do hope you are successful in your attempt at discouraging her from pursuing the CUT degree. She will find that the degree will enjoy little to no utility, except in perhaps a local parish setting where issues of accreditation are either not understood or frowned upon. Russell
Point of information: North Carolina does have pastoral counseling licensure - it is one of three states with legislation on the books (the others are New Hampshire and, as you noted, Maine). Restrictions are not necessarily enforced since, of the three states, North Carolina is clearly the most evangelical (or at least the most Baptist). The law is unlikely to be found constitutional if challenged (based on the requirement of an M.Div. or its equivalency plus 400 hours of Clinical Pastoral Education, to which many born-again Christians have a doctrinal objection), but it has never been challenged. In the case of Carolina University of Theology, however, one must be more careful because of their implications of licensure gained through their so-called doctorates in "Christian psychology," as well as their affiliation with the National Christian Counselors Association, a questionable organization which has used the word licensure in an organiational sense rather than in the context of state licensure.
I stand corrected. I was not aware of NC's pastoral counseling licensure and before I made my statement I checked the web and found no department in NC dealing with pas. coun. I will certainly notify her immediately. I am not sure about any RA degree but will ask. The school and the American Society of Christian Counselors (an NCCA subsidiary)both promised her a license. Even though I am a graduate of Bethany (Dothan, AL) I know that there are many schools that are simply unethical, definitely mills and just plain bad news. CUT fall into this category. I remember reading about them years ago when someone sent me an article exposing their shameful existence and all their sham and fraud. There are only a FEW so-called degree mills I think are not. I do not support anyone going to most of what's out there today. I am going to recommend Luther Rice to her unless someone has a better choice. Thanks for all your help, I appreciate it.
Jimmy, CUT, NCCA and ASCC could provide her with a "license," which I presume would be a License in Christian/Pastoral Counseling. As far as the state of NC (of which I am a resident) is concerned, this would be meaningless. There may indeed be some local church/parish based ministries which would accept such a credential, but my hunch is that it would only be those entities which were not familiar with, or did not care about, professional licensure. And you are correct in trying to point her in a more substantive direction. Other options include: Luther Rice, Liberty, Colorado Christian, Berean, etc., all of which offer DL programs in counseling. When you begin to speak of state licensure, this is a different animal altogether, and I would be surprised if they accepted anything less than RA credentials, or APA programs. Russell
She will receive a Bachelor's in psychology in a few months from the University of Central Oklahoma, where she currently resides. She doesn't want to continue there due to the secular nature of the graduate counseling program. I am not making much headway with her but I am going to continue. I have informed her of the dangers of engaging in counseling, even Christian counseling, with phony, fake, or questionable credentials. Will keep you posted and if anyone can direct me to some adverse articles about ACI I can pass them on to her.
Your friend might want to look into: Liberty University (accredited by SACS) Master of Arts in Counseling http://www.liberty.edu/academics/artsci/counsel/index.html "Our primary distinctive, however, is not our size but our commitment to providing quality professional training for healing human hurts from a perspective permeated by Christian faith." Also check out Baker's Guide to Christian Distance Education at http://www.gospelcom.net/bakersguide/programs.html ------------------ Kristin Evenson Hirst DistanceLearn.About.com
Well, it's been tough getting my friend to stay away from Carolina. However, this article I found on the net may have done the trick: "ACCUSED PASTORAL COUNSELOR A PHONY. Port Charlotte church school principal Albert Joseph Clerico Jr., 47, charged with sexual misconduct by a psychotherapist by means of therapeutic deception, claims to be licensed by a nonexistent "scripturally based" group, National Christian Counselors Association & to have attended the nonexistent Carolina University of Theology. State investigator Robert Ford charged that Clerico "did cloak himself in the guise of Christianity & did represent to the female defendant that sexual contact" was part of the treatment. Clerico maintains his position as "pastoral counselor" exempts him under state law from charges. Police miked the victim & recorded Clerico making sexual advances, soliciting her comment on his graphic fantasies & telling her to perform oral sex. He was arrested after the 75-minute "counseling session". He has been suspended as principal of Community Christian School of First Baptist Church in Port Charlotte, & as minister of First Baptist Church, which operates the school. Source: _Sarasota Herald-Tribune_ 8/4/92." Internet source: http://www.matriarch.com/sexcrimes2.htm
Good recommendation! They are geared to the licensure requirements in most states. Students have to do a couple of short residencies in the summer (week or two week long). After that she would need to do supervision, etc by an approved person and pass a licensing exam in her state. Liberty is RA & TRACS. North
Good find, Jimmy, and thanks for sharing it. Clerico's name will doubtless be engraved on that Wall of (Something or Other) in Beebe, Arkansas, along with Billy James Hargis, Jimmy Swaggart, Tony Leyva, Jim Bakker, Bob Moorehead, Brother Julius, Bob Larson, L. G. Gilsrap, Paul Hall, and their brethren.
<snip>Good find, Jimmy, and thanks for sharing it. Clerico's name will doubtless be engraved on that Wall of (Something or Other) in Beebe, Arkansas, along with Billy James Hargis, Jimmy Swaggart, Tony Leyva, Jim Bakker, Bob Moorehead, Brother Julius, Bob Larson, L. G. Gilsrap, Paul Hall, and their brethren.<snip> I wish I could take credit for the find but someone else pointed it out to me. Now, I am familiar with the situations except Bob Larson. What was his story. Did he have some connection to Robert Schuller? I seem to remember Schuller touting his books, I think.
I just remembered Larson from Inside Edition -- but since you asked, I've read a bit more. One good starting place is: http://free.freespeech.org/boblarson/
What a find! I especially like this link: http://www.cris.com/~Ranger57/chick.htm Cheers, ------------------ Tom Head www.tomhead.net co-author, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press) co-author, Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead (Osborne/McGraw-Hill)
Perhaps you've already resolved the issue, but if you want more evidence, I'd suggest that you email ACI (non-confrontationally) for a list of the schools that it accredits since they're not listed on the web site. You'll either get no answer, an evasive one, or a list of the schools. In any case, the result should be underwhelming for your friend.
Bill Highsmith suggests: "If you want more evidence, I'd suggest that you email ACI (non-confrontationally) for a list of the schools that it accredits since they're not listed on the web site. You'll either get no answer, an evasive one, or a list of the schools. In any case, the result should be underwhelming for your friend." It has always been the published policy of ACI not to make available a list of the schools they accredit, and to forbid their accreditees from doing so. I saw the list (from a former accreditee who became disillusioned) 5 or 6 years ago. It had about 150 schools, all but about half a dozen being Baptist and evangelical Bible schools. The half dozen included Wisconsin International University (run from a private home in Milwaukee), Western States (whose founder has three totally fake degrees from British mills) and, of course, Century.
