Log College and Seminary

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Garp, Oct 22, 2020.

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  1. Garp

    Garp Well-Known Member

    I noticed that The North American Reformed Seminary changed its name to The Log College and Seminary. They are unaccredited but at one point had some good endorsements and were tuition free. The name may have some history but surely The North American Reformed Seminary sounds better than Log College and Seminary. I do marvel at some of the name choices even among accredited schools.

    https://logcollege.net
     
  2. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    It's probably just about "getting back to historical roots," and maybe a log building - and name - best serves that image. Among my college-looking papers I have a cert. in residential design and construction, that included an optional course in log building. Scribing, stacking, purlins, sills -- it was interesting. They are NOT CHEAP. Yesteryear's houses - at today's prices!

    But I still like 'em. They at least have a warm LOOK, even when February winds are whistling through shriveled chinking... and one corner has settled too far... :eek:
     
  3. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Like they say - everything old is new again. Nil sub sole novum. I'm not into religious schools at all, personally, but there's something really encouraging in the idea of education of any type that is simultaneously:

    (1) Online
    (2) From a log building.
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2020
  4. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    It's like riding an old, completely rebuilt bike to work - or buying really good retro clothes... (said the man who has a 1988 laptop.) :)
     
  5. sideman

    sideman Well Known Member

    Johann, I believe you're making a case for bringing latin back as a spoken language too :) And you're right about "nothing new under the sun".
     
  6. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Fast facts about this school:

    - Rolls down stairs, alone or in pairs.
    - Rolls over your neighbors dog.
    - Great for a snack.
    - Fits on your back.
    - It's big. It's heavy. It's wood.
    - Its better than bad. It's good.
     
  7. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Verum est. (True that.) :D
     
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  8. Asymptote

    Asymptote Active Member

    Could someone who belongs to the Orthodox Church enroll in these programs?
     
  9. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I'm not Orthodox, but if you, a person knowledgeable in that Faith, were to read the requirements page on the site (including the belief requirements and what you might do if you don't match 100%, or don't adhere to specific edicts of year 1643 etc.) I think you might have a good idea if you'd fit in or there'd be conflicts. They're pretty specific as to what they want / don't want. I failed in the first ten words - no surprise there. :)

    I think the Orthodox faith has a pretty extensive education network of their own. We have a resident guru on this site. Let's call him.

    @Stanislav Can you help this member out? Could an Orthodox believer satisfy the Log College's requirements as stated? If he can't, where would you recommend he might go for Orthodox religious education?
     
  10. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    Ecclesiastes 1:9.

    Amen.
     
  11. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    Huh???

    This school is obviously:

    a) A sham
    b) A degree mill
    c) A con
    d) A joke

    and the answer is:

    e) All of the above.
     
  12. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Could you elaborate?

    The website describes the school as having no costs and requiring a ton of work. Looking around the net, I see no bad press about it and it doesn't come up on a search on DegreeInfo.
     
  13. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    Could I? Of course. Will I? No - can't be bothered. I merely point it out for those who are too naive to consider it, but have no desire to get involved in a lengthy dialogue about it. However, I will simply say that it fails the NIFI Criteria, and since I have a 30-plus year history on pontificating on these matters, will let it stand there.
    All of the sights and sounds of it being a mill are right on their website. Lack of bad press is irrelevant, and the few requirements they list on their website mean nothing. This school is a joke.
     
  14. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    This is the response I was expecting.

    I'd like to make an observation- not meant to be inflammatory in any way, although I'm pretty sure I can also map out how you will be responding to it...

    The observation: you have quite regularly taken on the tone of "oh, I can't be bothered with this..." but the fact that you keep reading these threads and posting on them contradicts the very sentiment you continuously express.

    Surely, if you had so many better things to concern yourself with, you would, in fact, be concerning yourself with them instead?
     
  15. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I'll send them this and ask them to pray for you, Steve. :D
     
  16. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

  17. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    The Orthodox have quite a few good online learning options (most of them unaccredited).

    That aside, the school doesn't appearing to be doing anything to con people unless they aren't actually free as stated. Their accreditation (or lack thereof) page is incredibly clear with none of the typical obfuscating around Jesus accrediting them etc. This is one of those schools that, if they weren't awarding degrees, would be rather non-controversial on these boards. Heck, even if they dropped the D.D. from their offerings they would probably sit in a different light with me.
     
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  18. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    The school is operating under religious exemption. Does that not allow them to award religious degrees as they see fit? Where is the controversy? I don't see any.

    From the site: South Carolina Code of Laws, Nonpublic Postsecondary Institution License Act, Section 59-58-30(4) does not require licensure of The Log College & Seminary as it is an “institution whose sole purpose is religious or theological training.”

    The fact that the school is not for everybody doesn't make it controversial, as I see it. We don't have such a law here. A religious-only school in Canada may issue all the diplomas and certs it wants - but no degrees unless it is properly credentialed to do so.

    But we're not South Carolina. (On snowy days I wish we were.) Seems to me the school is just "goin' with the flow" where it is.
     
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2020
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  19. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    I'm not saying they are operating illegally. I am saying that operating under exemption means exactly that; they are exempt from any state review. Accordingly, we don't know if their programs are actually rigorous enough to be considered academic programs at all, let alone degrees.

    My point is that if this school was awarding a Diploma in Theology I doubt they even would have warranted a mention on these boards let alone being called cons or a scam. But once you start awarding degrees, especially if it looks like you maybe aren't qualified to be doing such, those concerns bubble to the surface.

    Back to Orthodox schools for a second, St Sophia is often mentioned and I really wish they hadn't gone hte way of awarding degrees. When they awarded an STL (Licentiate in Sacred Theology) it was sort of a non-issue. The Licentiate is not a degree in the US system. So it was a side step. It was a qualification that didn't really draw attention and was clearly religious in nature and could not, in any sensible way, be used to deceive in employer the same way a religious exempt school might award a B.A. in Church Accounting and that individual finds themselves now employed as an accountant. I still think they are legitimate (just small and slow moving toward accreditation). But I feel like I can respect a school a bit more in this situation when what they award is clearly less about the vanity of a graduate degree. Just my humble opinion on the matter.
     
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  20. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    And I often add that for an Orthodox seminary, the only opinion as to legitimacy that matters is that of an ordaining hierarch. For St. Sophia's, in most cases, these will most likely be either Met. Anthony or Abp. Daniel - who are STOTS' Rector and Provost, respectively. So no problem here; even outside UOCUSA, for most of the (mainstream) Orthodox world, what matters is that it's a Church institution in "canonical" obedience - in this case, a semi-autonomous archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Doesn't really get any more legitimate. And they are positively tiny, limiting any benefit of accreditation.

    St. Sophia suddenly became an associate member of ATS, so who knows - maybe they look to become accredited. They could continue with the STL, but my guess is someone disagreed with the perception that graduates are less educated that those of St. Vlad's, St. Tikhon's, Hellenic College/Holy Trinity, or Holy Trinity - Jordanville, schools under other ethnic sister jurisdictions that all award degrees. It's very much in line with how the organized diaspora crowd tends to think.
     

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