Trinity (Newburgh) NCA Update

In correspondence with the North Central Association, the following e-mail was received today:

"Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary has completed the Commission's eligibility process and is currently working on a self-study in anticipation of an on-site visit for initial candidacy. This visit is scheduled for Fall of 2003."

Lil Nakutis
Information Management Coordinator
The Higher Learning Commission of NCA
30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400
Chicago, IL 60602
(312)263-0456 x113
[email protected]

Observations:

1) The "Hush Hush Policy" which is so often alluded to on DegreeInfo doesn't seem to be universally applicable. In this e-mail NCA confirms Trinity's pursuit of initial candidacy and even a projected date for the site visit.

2) If Northcentral University gained candidacy status from a regional accreditor, perhaps Trinity will as well.

 

If Trinity gains regional accreditation, get out of the way. With all the backpeddling around here things could get scary.

 

If Trinity receives accreditation, I will begin to devalue accreditation, not value Trinity.

 

Well, last year, when I e-mailed and telephoned Lil Nakutis at NCA regarding Newburgh, she said there had been no contact of any kind between Newburgh and NCA. (A Newburgh rep had told me there was.) Either that contact was somehow triggered by an alert marketing person at Newburgh reading the discussion here (no, I have no illusions about our importance!) and deciding to get a jump on things by initiating an actual inquiry with NCA, or the NCA contact was being less than forthright in her answers to me. Don't know and don't care too much, actually. There was also no listing of Newburgh on any list of schools (accredited or hopefuls) on the NCA website at the time I made this inquiry in late summer or early fall last year.

Gee whiz, maybe I can get my doc at Master's Divinity School in Evansville next week and it'll be RA if I pay extra for a sticker and get it postdated!

The Carpathian peasant finds all of this a bit odd. He is not backpedaling, but merely notes that somebody was BSing him last year: Newburgh, or NCA, or possibly somehow both.

 

BLD: you may be right...

 

Janko,

You mean that 1/6 of the US regional accreditation system (NCA in particular) was involved in a conspiracy with one small school in Indiana--just to mislead you?

 

I don't care if Trinity becomes the next DTS, for years it has misrepresented its accreditation and cheated. That is the point. I NEVER said the program was bad! Further, friend Russell, this is ollllllllllllllllddddd news which you post just to turn my gastric juices sour!

 

Where is the message of grace in all of this, Bill? Is it not possible that TTS is making a legitimate attempt to move beyond what you call "misrepresentation" of accreditation?

 

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They should have kept their mouth shut about the "world wide recognition and global accreditation" of the Liverpool endorsement. I've heard no sorrowful apology for those lies, have you? , and I see grace the effect of repentance. Were they "moving on" in repentance then why does MDS offer an 8 course doc, hmmmmmm...??? Indianan speaks with forked tongue!

 

What does Jerusalem have to do with Athens? What does MDS have to do with TTS?

 

The same outfit runs MDS and TTS; faculty overlap; administration overlap; all denied by TTS reps.

My post above mentioned several possibilities. Either something changed (IMO not for the better on NCA's part) since talking to Nakutis and the TTS rep, or one or the other was not accurate in what they told me then. There is no tertium quid.

When TTS publishes on their website a full historical explanation of their various accreditation gambits, a full disclosure of their relationship to MDS, an announcement that MDS is being shut down, and a verifiable statement of achieved GAAP accreditation, then I'll pay attention to them again. I'm not holding my breath.

 

........


And what do lies have to do with His Truth , and the love of money with the care for His people?

 

Sorry about the personal banter, guys. The original post was merely to give an update on Trinity/NCA.

 

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It's OK Russell, we still love you .

 

2 cents

BLD: "If Trinity receives accreditation, I will begin to devalue accreditation, not value Trinity."

I wonder if North Central is on the same page as the other regional bodies. I seem to recall reading here that NCA was the most "open", while SACS was the most stringent of the six regional accrediting bodies.

I think it's important to remember that accreditation is a minimum standard of quality. I have seen regionally accredited programs (which I won't identify) that I thought looked weak in comparison to other regionally accredited programs in the same field. Even if schools X, Y, and Z make the quality cut for accreditation, it doesn't mean that there isn't still a qualitative difference between them.

 

How many (and what kinds) of hurdles will Trinity have to jump to become RA? How long does this process usually take??

 

WASC has an obscure page hidden somewhere on their website where they list recent and upcoming initial site visits. You can get a pretty good idea of who the applicants are from that. SACS actually lists applicants on their main listing alongside the accredited and candidate schools. I don't think that any of this is a state secret. What the accreditors don't like is when the applicants advertise their application as if it were accreditation.

It's certainly possible. Trinity does seem to offer real courses and it has some kind of intellectual life. It even publishes its own journal. How that stacks up against other schools, I can't say.

My objections to Trinity have always centered on its ethics: Masters Divinity School and its misleading accreditation claims. It will be interesting to see if the NCA will accredit a school that runs what looks to me like one of those substandard religious-exemption numbers on the side.

I have noticed changes on the Masters site. It is practically impossible to find an address for the thing any more. They have an online application form and an 800 number, but seem to be in hiding. I'd guess (pure speculation) that whois webpage registrations are being sanitized along with corporate registrations and the like, so that Trinity can tell NCA that it is no longer associated with Masters.

 

1) Trinity already states that it has no association with MDS, and likewise, MDS claims no connection with Trinity.

2) When MDS first began it offered "diplomas," not "degrees." That is, one earned the Doctor of Practical Ministry "diploma." In 1998-99 I had a long conversation with an MDS phone counselor, in which I questioned the use of such terminology. My question to him was, "how many people who earned the MDS Doctor of Practical Ministry diploma, would use the title "Dr.?" I now notice that the "diploma" nomenclature has been dropped, and MDS offers only degrees.

 

They admit it if you ask 'em reeeal nicely. No kidding. Besides, Vladika, look at the blerrie personnel lists on both sites, compare certain graphics details, admissions apps., phraseology of come-ons. Esp. the personnel lists. 'Taint shinola.

 

If TCB&TTS gets regional accreditation, I will be all too happy to eat crow. My primary concern has always been for its graduates and potential graduates.


Cheers,