Trinity Has On-Site Visit by NAPNSC

www.trinitysem.edu/visitors/visitorspotlight.html

 

For those who don't know, the NAPNSC has been, for more than 20 years, a legitimate effort at establishing an accrediting agency for nontraditional schools. As Bear has reported, the NAPNSC has failed in its 7 or so attempts at gaining recognition from the US Dept. of Education.

NAPNSC is an outgrowth of Western Colorado University, created when it became evident the school was going to get nowhere with its regional accreditor. The NAPNSC and WCU shared staff and office space. The state of Colorado put WCU out of business after a few years, but the NAPNSC lives. Unrecognized, but still breathing.

 

The Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality is accredited by NAPNSC. (That should make Trinity sleep better at night.)

 

Its also illegal under California law for the Institute to promote this fact.

Do you think NAPNSC would stand a better change of DOE recognition if they used team members who have served on teams of other accrediting bodies?

 

The NAPNSC probably wouldn't exist if DETC and ACICS accredited doctorates.

 

Learn something new every day. Is it illegal because they have California state approval and NAPNSC is an unrecognized accreditor?



Tom Nixon

 

The sex school is listed as an NAPNSC accredited institution, but the school does not list it on their website.

Must cost some dollars and they can't mention it. Maybe if someone asks, they can answer?

 

After their last rejection by the Dept. of Education, NAPNTSC founder/director Dr. Earl Heuser wrote a long and very hostile accusatory letter to the head of the office that recognizes accreditors . . . and sent copies to his entire Rolodex.

People in Washington have long memories.

One concern of the Dept. of Ed. was the small (perhaps = 0) staff of NAPNTSC. The fact that the only two representatives at the Trinity visit were Dr. Heuser and his wife, suggests the possibility that this is still the case.

 

When the NAPNSC was formed, DETC and ACICS weren't accrediting graduate education. (I think at the time, DETC accredited only two bachelor's-granting schools.)

The emergence of DETC's degree-granting schools accreditation, along with the greater efforts of the RA's to accredit DL schools, has made the NAPNSC largely moot. Yet it continues on....

 

Yes, California Education Code Section 94831(j) prohibits any advertising or promotion of unrecognized accreditation.

 

From Page 1 of their website:

"The Institute is approved by the State of California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education, and Accredited by the National Association of Private, Nontraditional Schools and Colleges (NAPNSC)."

Under the law, they can legally answer "yes" to a direct question. But the website does not comply with California law.

 

Silly me, I just read the Approval and Accreditation page and it wasn't there.

Never read the front page.

 

accreditation US Dept of Education

I'm not sure I would want to take courses from an uncredited school. That was my first requirement when searching for my PhD program.

 

You've Got to Be Kidding, Rich . . .

Let me see if I understand this . . . The history of NAPNSC's failures is well known, as is the story of Earl Heuser's famous diatribe criticizing DoEd and the fact that the Heusers are the sole owners of NAPNSC.

And the recently crowned Dr. Douglas calls NAPNSC a "legitimate effort?"

Give me a break, Rich . . . Calling NAPNSC "a legitimate effort" is about as sane as calling MIGS a legitimate effort.

Oooooooops, I forgot . . . you did that, too.

Damn, I was hoping for better now that we share the same doctoral alma mater.

 

Re: You've Got to Be Kidding, Rich . . .

I kind of agree with Rich on that. (A lot depends on how the word 'legitimate' is interpreted.)

Actually, there are only four NAPNSC accredited schools.

COOK'S INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING. I know little about this place, and can't say how it stacks up against an accredited EE program. But from all accounts it does offer real instruction of some sort.

INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY OF HUMAN SEXUALITY. I like this school and have posted about it before.

TRINITY COLLEGE OF THE BIBLE AND TRINITY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. My criticism of this place has always been more because of their misleading marketing (Liverpool accreditation) and their questionable affiliates (Masters) then with the main school's academics. Those may be light, but they are more than non-existent.

WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR GRADUATE STUDIES,
WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF LAW. I know nothing about this Utah school.

http://www.napnsc.org/Institutions.htm

That's it. I don't find that too hideous. To me (for whatever that's worth), it's even valuable. I see NAPNSC accreditation as a data-point, one more indicator of what I would personally term 'a better non-accredited school'. I find it a little more credible than CA-approval alone, but a little less credible than the low end of the USDoEd recognized accreditors (some of which don't impress me very much either).

Personally, in my own mind, I don't place NAPNSC very far below TRACS or the ACAOM. (Though the utility is obviously less.)

If a person (like myself) isn't particularly interested in formal recognized accreditation or in earning additional degrees, but wants to find an intellectually interesting and stimulating program, NAPNSC might be worth some attention. (Or it would be if it accredited a broader lineup of schools.)

 

I will add a couple of additional things about NAPNSC.

I'm less impressed by their 'correspondent member': DAOJING UNIVERSITY of Harvard MA. (Is there really such a town?) They say that their "beginning development and services are planned to take place in the Rushan coastal area under official Chinese government authorization..." This seems to be another one of those 'market questionable state-approved degrees to Chinese who admire American education' operations. My gut reaction to these things is to intensely dislike them.

And I notice that one of NAPNSC's applicants is BETHANY BIBLE COLLEGE AND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY of Dothan AL, a school that all Degreeinfo participants probably remember fondly.

 

Re: You've Got to Be Kidding, Rich . . .

Was there a point to this?

 

Re: Re: You've Got to Be Kidding, Rich . . .

I trust that you intended this to be a rhetorical question, Rich.

Nonetheless, like the pastor or overseer, who is held to a higher standard of accountability when it comes to theology, you now hold a doctorate from a credible institution. You announce to all that your Ph.D. is in "Nontraditional Higher Education," which means that you purport to be an expert in the field.

And, as someone who purports to be such an expert, you must be held to a higher standard of accountability than the average putz who merely thinks he is a know-it-all.

Therefore, get used to the hot seat, sport - just as I have spent many years on the hot seat. Because when you make a cockamamie statement implying that NAPNSC is a legitimate accreditor in any fashion, it cannot go unchallenged. Because people will rely on your expertise to make decisions that will impact their academic and professional lives. They will rely heavily on your opinion, just have people have relied on my opinion over the years. As time goes on and you get used to the notion that you actually have a legit doctorate (instead of the mickey-mouse one you pursued originally), I trust you will learn to shoot less from the hip, increasingly considering the ramifications of your recommendations and the influence your opinion will have on others. At that point, I will be honored to call you a colleague. But don't get too pompous (hell, I still don't bother listing all of my degrees in my sig line - when you've got it, you don't have to flaunt it); you're still a fresh graduate, you're still making mistakes, and this one was a doozy.

So, was there a point to this? Duhhhhhhhh . . . Yes.

P.S. At least you can get your rocks off by knowing that I actually referred to you earlier as Dr. Douglas.

 

Re: Re: Re: You've Got to Be Kidding, Rich . . .

Damn, Steve, I missed you.* I thought you had run off to become one of the Fab Five, or something. Welcome back!!!

*I don’t think anyone else except me has use the term putz in a post recently.

 

I didn't call NAPNSC legitimate. I called it a "legitimate effort." Here's what Bear and Bear say on page 57 of BG15:

A serious effort to establish an accrediting agency specifically concerned with alternative schools and programs.

If you want to quibble over the differences between "legitimate effort" and "serious effort," fine.

Oh, and the "mickey mouse" doctorate I first enrolled in, that would be the formerly named Union Institute.

As for pomposity, I'm sure you've cornered the market.

You add nothing when you do this, Steve. Still, I hope you enjoy it, because I think it's a hoot.

Finally, listing my degrees is for informational purposes only, not to be used unwisely. I notice that you don't criticize John (or anyone else) when he does it. I guess pomposity only carries one so far?