VUL introducing new doctorate in May

[ashkir]

Honestly in a large swath of the United States a religious school has a tremendous advantage when your field is owned by conservatives.

I honestly am happy with my RA master's but, for a doctorate I don't really care for NA or RA. I took a look at the state university in my city, and all the colleges (7+). All of their professorship hires don't mention an RA degree. NA degrees are acceptable, because of the Department of Education's equal ground ruling. The stigma will go away. But, we also must do our parts as tomorrow's leaders and hiring managers to do apart with that distinguish.

[Alpha]

Honestly in a large swath of the United States a religious school has a tremendous advantage when your field is owned by conservatives.

I honestly am happy with my RA master's but, for a doctorate I don't really care for NA or RA. I took a look at the state university in my city, and all the colleges (7+). All of their professorship hires don't mention an RA degree. NA degrees are acceptable, because of the Department of Education's equal ground ruling. The stigma will go away. But, we also must do our parts as tomorrow's leaders and hiring managers to do apart with that distinguish.

Now that you've pointed it out, I agree that a degree from this school may provide certain advantages.  As for the whole "NA v. RA" debate, we are, in fact, being told by the Feds that we should think in terms of "institutional accreditation."  I don't feel strongly one way or the other about that conflict.  The Feds have rules, the States have rules, the accrediting agencies have rules.  At this moment I am happy to let them all do their jobs, make their decisions, etc.

[DeanLewis]

Personally, I am underwhelmed at the prospect of a religious school stepping outside of its niche to offer a DBA.  Aside from remarkably low admission standards, what has this school got that can't be found in many other (and more reputable) places?

VUL isn’t a religious school in the sense that it is a seminary offering theological education solely, that hasn’t been its MO in a very long time (despite housing a seminary from the beginning). Rather, it’s more like Liberty, Regent, and the like (except with a much more inclusive stance toward LGBT people overtly), offering education in a theologically informed milieu.

I don’t blame anyone for working with “NA” groups, as they’re often much cheaper than the classical “RA” folks, both in initial fees and maintenance of accreditation fees, which can directly equate to lower tuition. 

As far as admission standards, let’s face it, outside of medicine and law, most anyone with a pulse can get into most any school these days.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against this school.  But I also am not going to pretend that it's anything other than what it is.  You say it's not a "religious school" but I have been unable to find a list of the degrees it offers.  The GPA required for admission is 2.0.  This is substantially lower than most schools.  If it at all like Liberty et al that's because there's an agreement between the schools that allows VUL students to take courses elsewhere, courses not offered at VUL.  Because they don't offer certain degree programs.  The idea that most NA schools are cheaper than RA schools is a myth.  I'm pretty sure that I could find a cheaper RA equivalent for any NA degree that you could name.  But the cost is not the issue here, at least not for me.  Cheap is good, but cheap at the expense of quality is not a smart move.  I just don't know that I've seen anything that convinces me that they can run a DBA program.  And I don't know if it's any kind specialty area for TRACS either.  Obviously I could be wrong about that and maybe it will be a great program and a great deal.  But if I was going to get a DBA I'm not sure that I'd take the risk of signing into this program at this school at this time.

To be clear, I'm saying it is not solely a seminary, it is an HBCU that started as a seminary, but which has for many years had expanded offerings. Looking at the catalog they currently offer:

An Associates Degrees in Liberal Arts, an Undergraduate Certificate in Ministry, a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies, a BA in General Business Administration, a BA in Organizational Management, a BA in HR Management, a BA in E-Sports Management, a BA in Criminal Justice Management, a BA in Sports Management, an MA in Organizational Management, an MA in Criminal Justice Management, a Master of Divinity, a Doctor of Ministry, and Doctor of Healthcare Administration. As you can see, the school ostensibly has a business/management focus, with the seminary offering three degrees and a certificate. 

I'm not sure what you're suggesting with regards to articulation agreements, the school is in the same vein as Liberty and Regent, it is not affiliated with them. Both Liberty and Regent are religious in nature, but offer a wide array of degrees outside of the religious milieu, the same as VUL but on a smaller scale. 

[Alpha]

Personally, I am underwhelmed at the prospect of a religious school stepping outside of its niche to offer a DBA.  Aside from remarkably low admission standards, what has this school got that can't be found in many other (and more reputable) places?

VUL isn’t a religious school in the sense that it is a seminary offering theological education solely, that hasn’t been its MO in a very long time (despite housing a seminary from the beginning). Rather, it’s more like Liberty, Regent, and the like (except with a much more inclusive stance toward LGBT people overtly), offering education in a theologically informed milieu.

I don’t blame anyone for working with “NA” groups, as they’re often much cheaper than the classical “RA” folks, both in initial fees and maintenance of accreditation fees, which can directly equate to lower tuition. 

As far as admission standards, let’s face it, outside of medicine and law, most anyone with a pulse can get into most any school these days.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against this school.  But I also am not going to pretend that it's anything other than what it is.  You say it's not a "religious school" but I have been unable to find a list of the degrees it offers.  The GPA required for admission is 2.0.  This is substantially lower than most schools.  If it at all like Liberty et al that's because there's an agreement between the schools that allows VUL students to take courses elsewhere, courses not offered at VUL.  Because they don't offer certain degree programs.  The idea that most NA schools are cheaper than RA schools is a myth.  I'm pretty sure that I could find a cheaper RA equivalent for any NA degree that you could name.  But the cost is not the issue here, at least not for me.  Cheap is good, but cheap at the expense of quality is not a smart move.  I just don't know that I've seen anything that convinces me that they can run a DBA program.  And I don't know if it's any kind specialty area for TRACS either.  Obviously I could be wrong about that and maybe it will be a great program and a great deal.  But if I was going to get a DBA I'm not sure that I'd take the risk of signing into this program at this school at this time.

I'm not sure what you're suggesting with regards to articulation agreements... 

"In July 2010, the school reached an agreement with Liberty University to help VUL students looking for degrees not offered at the school to complete their degrees at Liberty.[6]"
Virginia University of Lynchburg - Wikipedia

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Personally, I am underwhelmed at the prospect of a religious school stepping outside of its niche to offer a DBA.  Aside from remarkably low admission standards, what has this school got that can't be found in many other (and more reputable) places?

VUL isn’t a religious school in the sense that it is a seminary offering theological education solely, that hasn’t been its MO in a very long time (despite housing a seminary from the beginning). Rather, it’s more like Liberty, Regent, and the like (except with a much more inclusive stance toward LGBT people overtly), offering education in a theologically informed milieu.

I don’t blame anyone for working with “NA” groups, as they’re often much cheaper than the classical “RA” folks, both in initial fees and maintenance of accreditation fees, which can directly equate to lower tuition. 

As far as admission standards, let’s face it, outside of medicine and law, most anyone with a pulse can get into most any school these days.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against this school.  But I also am not going to pretend that it's anything other than what it is.  You say it's not a "religious school" but I have been unable to find a list of the degrees it offers.  The GPA required for admission is 2.0.  This is substantially lower than most schools.  If it at all like Liberty et al that's because there's an agreement between the schools that allows VUL students to take courses elsewhere, courses not offered at VUL.  Because they don't offer certain degree programs.  The idea that most NA schools are cheaper than RA schools is a myth.  I'm pretty sure that I could find a cheaper RA equivalent for any NA degree that you could name.  But the cost is not the issue here, at least not for me.  Cheap is good, but cheap at the expense of quality is not a smart move.  I just don't know that I've seen anything that convinces me that they can run a DBA program.  And I don't know if it's any kind specialty area for TRACS either.  Obviously I could be wrong about that and maybe it will be a great program and a great deal.  But if I was going to get a DBA I'm not sure that I'd take the risk of signing into this program at this school at this time.

An Associates Degrees in Liberal Arts, an Undergraduate Certificate in Ministry, a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies, a BA in General Business Administration, a BA in Organizational Management, a BA in HR Management, a BA in E-Sports Management, a BA in Criminal Justice Management, a BA in Sports Management, an MA in Organizational Management, an MA in Criminal Justice Management, a Master of Divinity, a Doctor of Ministry, and Doctor of Healthcare Administration. As you can see, the school ostensibly has a business/management focus, with the seminary offering three degrees and a certificate. 

Just to be clear, that's from the catalog, not the website?  A little old fashioned, no?  I don't really care, it's just an observation.

[datby98]

Any updates about the new VUL doctorate?

[ashkir]

Any updates about the new VUL doctorate?

It will be a Doctor of Creative Leadership. It is currently undergoing accreditation processing. It will be a 4 semester program versus 3. Dr. Gupta and Dr. Hammond say it won't be ready for probably another year or two due to the accreditation process. They're trying to do it without a dissertation so they have to argue for it. It took them over a year to get the DHA approved without a dissertation in favor of practicums.

[rachel83az]

Ooh, Creative Leadership sounds like a fun sort of doctorate.

[datby98]

Any updates about the new VUL doctorate?

It will be a Doctor of Creative Leadership. It is currently undergoing accreditation processing. It will be a 4 semester program versus 3. Dr. Gupta and Dr. Hammond say it won't be ready for probably another year or two due to the accreditation process. They're trying to do it without a dissertation so they have to argue for it. It took them over a year to get the DHA approved without a dissertation in favor of practicums.

Thank you very much, Ashkir. Let me take out the brochure of South College and think.

[ss20ts]

Any updates about the new VUL doctorate?

It will be a Doctor of Creative Leadership. It is currently undergoing accreditation processing. It will be a 4 semester program versus 3. Dr. Gupta and Dr. Hammond say it won't be ready for probably another year or two due to the accreditation process. They're trying to do it without a dissertation so they have to argue for it. It took them over a year to get the DHA approved without a dissertation in favor of practicums.

This could be the one for me! I really don't want to do a dissertation. I really want a DBA though. Really hard to find a DBA without a dissertation. I've found a few and only 1 is from an RA school. The others are NA. Might have to bite the bullet and go with NA. I don't want to get into academia so that's not an issue. My master's - both of them - will be RA anyway.

[newdegree]

Might be a while till this program launches. Might be worth the wait but in the meantime look into other programs or alternatives such as a second master's or certifications to help you reach your career goal.