American Christian College & Seminary

ACCS

BMAN

I am currently a student with ACCS. I am awaiting my second class. I would say that for the most part the school is helpful. They do not keep in contact with while you are working on a class but have been very helpful to me when i have called. They seem to bend over backward to accomidate my needs.
I have heard that they can be a bear about returning calls. But I have not had this kind of experience. My guess is they are experienceing growing pains and are taking steps to reduce the problems


Robert

THB
MA MIN
MDIV/D MIN ( in Process) ACCS

 

I have decided to enroll in the D.Min in Christian Counseling at ACCS. Recently it was called to my attention that the code of ethics of all of my professional certifications does not permit the use of the title Doctor unless the degree is accredited and furthermore that the accreditor is recognized by CHEA, hence my withdraw from CalCoast.

Since you are undertaking the same program and will likely progress at a quicker pace, I was wondering if I might look to you for guidance from time-to-time?

I haven't changed my position on accredited versus unaccredited schools. But since I have located a program that meets all my needs, coupled with very reasonable tuition I feel I need to make this change.

 

No Problem

DWCOX

if i can be a help to you i will certainly try. I am moving rather slowly myself but have a goal of completing my program in 3 years.

I am just currious how will a DMIn be of help to you. IN your field will it give you more credibility?

Robert

 

Re: No Problem

------------------------------------------

All of my clients are injured workers and thus a great deal of counseling is involved in my daily professional functions. Some of my client's have minor injuries which completely vocational disable the person while others have very severe medical injuries or disease which may or may not vocationally disable the person. Most injured workers are not self-employed, which means that someone else is paying their bills and most likely the injured worker will be eligible for a monitary settlement, which can bring about very dysfunctional behavior. Are you starting to see the connection? I will not necessarily/always utilize the Christian component but certainly will be better prepared in terms of general counseling and understanding human behavior in general. Thus I am undertaking this program in an effort to better understand the human mind and subsequent behavior. I might at a later date obtain a license as an LPC or teach but again the D.MIn in Christian Counseling will marry well with my M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling.

Maybe we can form a virtual support group during this matriculation experience?

 

Congratulations on finding a program that meets all of your needs. I am certain that it took a significant amount of effort to find one that would:

1. allow you to satisfy your professed “professional reasons,” by being able to refer to yourself as “Dr.” (after all, there isn’t that much difference between a Psy.D., DBA or D.Min, and probably no one, Dr. Cox, will bother questioning the nature of your doctorate in a quasi-medical profession anyway)
   
2. allow you to circumvent the rules and regulations of the codes of conduct of your professional associations by adhering to the letter, if not the spirit of their intent (accredited by TRACS, imagine that!)
   
3. not force you to compromise your steadfast position against, or your avowed hatred of, regional accreditation.[/list=1]
   
   Well done!!!

 

Re: ACCS

Hello Robert,

Where did you earn the Th.B. and MA Min. degrees?

 

Ethics vs. the wording of a Code of Ethics

Wow!!!

This morning you claim to have decided to enroll in the D.Min in Christian Counseling at ACCS, and by this afternoon your sig file has been already been changed to lead others to believe that your doctorate is a fait accompli???

Only printing your own could be quicker.

Dr. Cox, might I suggest you double check with your professional associations?

Simon, in another thread, originally informed you of the Codes of Ethics of the American Counseling Association, the Commission on Rehabilitation Counseling Certification, under section D.3, entitled Advertising & Soliciting Clients. The full text of subsection a. reads:

• "Accurate Advertising. Advertising by rehabilitation counselors shall not be restricted. Rehabilitation counselors will advertise or will represent their services to the public by identifying their credentials in an accurate manner that is not false, misleading, deceptive or fraudulent. Rehabilitation counselors will only advertise the highest degree which is in counseling or a closely related field from a college or university that was accredited when the degree was awarded by one of the regional accrediting bodies recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation.” [emphasis added]

However, according to CHEA, TRACS is not a considered a regional accrediting body as specified by the CRC Code of Professional Ethics; instead they are listed as a National Accrediting Organization, along with the DETC. For a list of the Regional Accrediting Bodies recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation see here. Therefore, it appears that the CRC would consider it a breach of their Code of Professional Ethics if a member where to professionally use a degree from ACCS.

Furthermore, in a telephone conversation (today) requesting clarification of this statute of the Code of Ethics, the CRC confirmed that members should not advertise or in any way professionally utilize a degree that was not issued by an accrediting body listed in Section 7 of the Certification Guidebook. The accrediting bodies listed in the guide are: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, North Central Association of Schools and Colleges, and Western Association of Colleges and Schools.

Apparently rehabilitation counseling is a serious business, and the CRC takes the issue of the academic degrees of its members very seriously.

Sorry, Dr. Cox, a valiant effort to skirt the regulations (for a moment, even I thought you had found a loophole), but regional accreditation means exactly that: regional accreditation.

 

Re: Ethics vs. the wording of a Code of Ethics

where, were, ware, wear, we’re…

Apparently my homonym checker is on the fritz.

 

Re: Re: Ethics vs. the wording of a Code of Ethics

------------------------------------

I never made any attempt to skirt the regulations, as you put it. Once researched and determined that neither the CCU DBA or Psy.D. would not meet the CRCC code of ethics I immediately withdrew from CCU.

As for RA versus TRACS, I intend to represent myself as a D.Min in Christian Counseling. Am I skirting the issue? NO, I am facing it head on. I will look CRCC and the others in the eye and challenge them to make issue of it. Maybe [they] do and maybe they don't, and if so quite possibly legislative precedent will be made. However, I am quite certain this will be an issue long settled before I earn my degree as this affects too many other CRC's.

Watch in the background if you like.

Now, suck your chest back in and sit back down.

 

To all, I apologize, when editing my profile I failed to list myself as a D.Min student.

 

Best wishes in your D.Min. program, David. I think North is enrolled in the same program at ACCS.

 

1. 
   
   Que Paso Gus?
   
   I am somewhat surprised by the tone & sarcasm. It is unusual for you. Let me say that as far as Wes is concerned, I disagree in general with his assertions about unaccredited programs and based on what some have said about CCU quality I am not impressed with the school. I also feel Wes went a little overboard with his going after Rich.
   
   Nonetheless, Wes switched for whatever reason to an accredited program based on some criticism or pointing out of areas to be concerned with (if I recall some of the info regarding deficiencies came from you).
   
   North

 

Really? There are numerous posts on this forum where you profess to have examined the situation closely and the CCU Psy.D. degree had passed muster—it would meet your present and future professional needs. The truth of the matter is that you didn’t do any research at all. (You didn’t do any prior to enrolling in NCU; you didn’t do any prior to enrolling in CCU; and you certainly didn’t do any prior to enrolling in ACCS—at least not to any degree of competence.) It took another member of this forum to inform you of the fact you would be violating the Code of Professional Ethics of an organization of which you are a member. And even after being apprised of this fact, you (erroneously believing the issue was with the Psy.D.) stated that you would look into the DBA at CCU.

Your saga, Dr. Cox (much to your chagrin, I’m sure), illustrates the pitfalls associated with the pursuit of a degree at an unaccredited school, and underscores the importance of regional accreditation. After your having stated so repeatedly that CCU met all of your needs, and the vigorous and vociferous way you defended your choice, I can’t help but being amused at your present predicament. Especially since all of the money, time, and effort wasted at NCU and CCU could have been avoided if it wasn’t for your personal vendetta against regional accreditation. As Nietzsche put it, “Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.”

As for presenting yourself as a D. Min on Christian Counseling, if you complete your degree, you would have every right to do so. If, however, you did so in the context of rehabilitation counseling, you would, of course, relinquish your right to truthfully claim that you were a member of the CRC that adhered to their Code of Professional Ethics.

Such bravado! I’m sorry, Dr. Cox, but you simply can’t have it both ways. If you are not skirting the very clear guidelines in the Code of Professional Ethics, what, precisely, would be the nature of your challenge? And whether the CRC makes an issue of it (they first would have to become aware of your actions, of course) or not, the fact remains that you will be violating the Code of Professional Ethics.

And as far as legal precedents, I, for one do not doubt that you have the hubris to sue a professional association, in which membership is voluntary, to force them to change their Code of Professional Ethics to better suit your needs. However, keep in mind that it’s not as if they changed the rules on you after the fact; you are the one making a premeditated decision to pursue a degree, the use of which, you are fully aware violates their Code of Professional Ethics.

You know, Dr. Cox, I get the funny feeling that if you are to become successful in your newly chosen career as a Christian Counselor you are going to have to curb your propensity for belligerently barking demeaning orders at others.

• ”It is not enough to teach a man a specialty. Through it he may become a kind of useful machine but not a harmoniously developed personality. It is essential that the student acquire an understanding of and a lively feeling for values. He must acquire a vivid sense of the beautiful and of the morally good. Otherwise he, with his specialized knowledge, more closely resembles a well-trained dog than a harmoniously developed person.”
  —Albert Einstein

 

The staff are helpful, although occasionally due to the program's growth you may find it necessary to be persistent in the administrative process. The program is interesting and certainly in my case builds a Christian perspective on a secular Counseling background.

Since you asked......at the Masters level

PROS:
-the program would likely be helpful to you in your ministry
-accredited
-affordable
-conservative
-could lead to doctoral studies

CONS:
-will not allow LPC certifcation in the future as the Liberty program would.
-While it has recongnized accreditation it is National and not Regional.
-does not cost that much less than Liberty.
-may have more limited ability to pursue doctoral studies.

North

 

I spoke with a representative at ACCS today and I may enroll Monday. I have been shuffling between a few schools, one of the others being Luther Rice. However, LRS's program requires a practicum and I do not know how that would work with my full-time church duties. I have also looked at an on campus program at Mid-America Baptist Seminary (an RA as well as ATS school), but it is a four day a week program, no intensives. I cannot be away four days a week.

As for Luther Rice, I can never reach anyone by phone to ask questions. So I probably go with ACCS.

BMAN

 

Please do not confuse my criticism of an individual who professes to be pursuing (accredited or not, and without regard to any discipline whatsoever) a particular title (for reasons that are demonstrably unethical) with criticism of the degree he is professing to pursue, or the school he is professing to pursue it from. They are not one and the same.

I am on record as stating that if he truly earns a D. Min. from ACCS he has every right to represent himself as an individual with an earned D. Min. in Christian Counseling. However, I have also stated for the record, that I believe that using such a degree in a quasi-medical profession such as rehabilitation counseling is a serious breach of ethics, and the CRC, in their Code of Professional Ethics, agree with me (or better said, I agree with them).

Moreover, with your familiarity of the administration of ACCS, do you believe that Wes decided to withdraw from CCU on 05/08/02 and by 05/10/02 he had already been accepted and enrolled in ACCS? I find that hard to believe. I’m sure ACCS has a more discriminating process and want to see transcripts and other qualifications of applicants to their doctoral programs. What do you think? Wes has now changed his sig file from possessing a doctorate from ACCS to being an enrolled student there; I’m willing to bet, however, that at the present time, he is neither.

Just like there are schools and degrees that tarnish the accomplishments of individuals, there are individuals who tarnish the accomplishments of the institutions.

 

I cannot comment on Wes' ACCS situation. However, what you say is true in that acceptance is not automatic. Yes, they do require original transcripts mailed from the schools attended. The other issue with ACCS is that in my experience they do not move quickly and require persistence.

North

 

Hey Russell

I received my THB from Grace Bible College GRand Rapids MI

I received my MA MIn from Moody Bible Institute.

Robert

 

Best wishes in your current studies!