Virginia University of Lynchburg Accreditation on Warning

[sanantone]

Wasn't VUL working on a business or leadership doctorate? I thought the agreement was just to benefit VUL students who had limited major options at VUL. This is mostly important at the undergraduate level where students are more likely to complete gen eds and transfer out. Even if this caused VUL to not want to overlap degrees (I don't know why they would expect students to transfer out of a 1-year doctorate), Liberty University does not have a Doctor of Management, which VUL could have offered. They do have a DBA with a Healthcare Management concentration.

For transfer credit agreements to work beyond general education, there need to be major credits that overlap. If VUL's MDiv students needed to transfer, they need to go to another MDiv program.

"An agreement was reached with Liberty University in July 2010 to help the students of the university complete degrees that are not offered at VUL."

https://www.blackpast.org/african-americ...rg-1886-2/

[ss20ts]

I have job alerts for all online instructor job openings posted on Indeed and for several different fields on Higher Ed Jobs. Some institutions have stopped specifying that they require regional accreditation while others still list it as a requirement.

The problem I have with VUL is that they lie to students and say that it's illegal now for an employer to require regional accreditation. It is not. I still haven't come across a VUL DHA graduate who is a professor or instructor at an RA school in a job that requires a doctorate. I've come across some who became professors with a regionally accredited master's degree prior to starting VUL or at the beginning of their DHA program. VUL told me that some of their graduates have become professors. It would help if they posted those examples on their website.

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I searched for "regionally accredited" on Indeed, and there were 6,143 results mostly in higher education.

ashkir is now teaching at U of the P. Maybe that's what VUL is referring to? Or maybe they're just blowing smoke.

[sanantone]

I have job alerts for all online instructor job openings posted on Indeed and for several different fields on Higher Ed Jobs. Some institutions have stopped specifying that they require regional accreditation while others still list it as a requirement.

The problem I have with VUL is that they lie to students and say that it's illegal now for an employer to require regional accreditation. It is not. I still haven't come across a VUL DHA graduate who is a professor or instructor at an RA school in a job that requires a doctorate. I've come across some who became professors with a regionally accredited master's degree prior to starting VUL or at the beginning of their DHA program. VUL told me that some of their graduates have become professors. It would help if they posted those examples on their website.

---

I searched for "regionally accredited" on Indeed, and there were 6,143 results mostly in higher education.

ashkir is now teaching at U of the P. Maybe that's what VUL is referring to? Or maybe they're just blowing smoke.

University of the People only requires a master's degree. I was offered a job there years before completing a doctorate. Plus, University of the People is nationally accredited, and they don't have real instructor employees; they have volunteers. I think the president was lying just like she lied about it being illegal to require regional accreditation. After that phone call, I knew something was shady with the administration. I don't even think they had DHA graduates yet or not that many. She might have been referring to their DMin. 

The crazy part was I didn't call the president; she called me because I told people on social media that national accreditation limits teaching options. One of her spies gave her my information. When I answered the phone, she asked me, "Is there a problem?" That is the most insane, unprofessional thing I've experienced from an accredited university. What is she going to do? Fly to Texas and fight me? LOL

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This comment was made on this article in 2016.

https://jbhe.com/2016/04/the-new-preside...lynchburg/

"I have always been proud of the history of VUL. However, I feel that this appointment is not for the good of the institution. Dr. Franklin has served in numerous capacities, and sadly has executed a level of nepotism as it relates to hiring practices that is most unprofessional and unethical. It is a public knowledge that her boyfriend was hired as the Director of Institutional Effectiveness prior to having earned a bachelors degree, and is by all means unqualified for such a position. Furthermore, numerous members of her family have been hired without appropriate experience or credentials for the positions in which they hold. There is has been severe mismanagement of funds, even federal funds. Numerous lawsuits have been filed against the institution, faculty teach in areas in which they are not qualified, degrees conferred without standards being met. Yes it is true, this is a historic appointment, but it is a disgrace to a history that has produced some of the greatest educators, ministers, missionaries, and public servants, particularly African-American, that this nation has ever seen."

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This is getting juicy. Here's an article from 2017. Students wanted the president to step down, and she was accused of using school funds as her personal bank account.

https://www.wdbj7.com/content/news/Stude...55583.html

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There is more! The current president was provost prior to getting promoted to president in 2016. People were calling for her to be fired in 2013. A few years prior to 2013, VUL had been under federal investigation. They hired a coach and a director who had convictions and charges for violent crimes. The director appears to be the same man the commenter above said was the president's boyfriend. A common theme is accusations of mismanagement of funds and theft. VUL was put on probation in 2013. This is twice that they've been put on probation under the leadership of Dr. Franklin. She needs to be fired.

https://wset.com/archive/vuls-president-...university

[Dr_Chirp]

The Tracs probation on VUL is picking up traction:

News Report
https://www.wfxrtv.com/lynchburg/hbcu-vi...editation/

Rico Knows. This one stands out as he suggests avoiding enrolling in VUL because it doesn't look good.
https://youtu.be/WA-8vEqMuec?si=2ejAgoqEQflVa45g

[Stonybeach]

There were previous accreditation questions about the Virginia University of Lynchburg (VUL) (1996 to present), formerly known as the Virginia Seminary and College (1962), formerly Virginia Theological Seminary and College (1900), formerly Lynchburg Baptist Seminary founded in 1886 by the Virginia Baptist State Convention.

Currently, the school appears to hold TRACS accreditation with probation: https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/institution-profile/148283
This link shows on pages 124-125 (129/181) that when the school was Virginia Theological Seminary and College in 1929 and 1930 it held a form of Southern States regional accreditation as a Virginia Junior College: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED542090.pdf

Sadly, it is difficult to see the struggles of a legacy private HBCU Christian University that has continuously operated as a Virginia State-approved school since 1886!

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The school apparently suffers from mismanagement. The approval of distance learning programs, such as the DHA and DMin, has given the school much-needed revenue. I sincerely hope the school rebounds from this unfortunate state of affairs. Are there any regionally accredited schools that accept coursework from VUL in transfer toward another doctoral or graduate degree program?

[cc95]

There were previous accreditation questions about the Virginia University of Lynchburg (VUL) (1996 to present), formerly known as the Virginia Seminary and College (1962), formerly Virginia Theological Seminary and College (1900), formerly Lynchburg Baptist Seminary founded in 1886 by the Virginia Baptist State Convention.

Currently, the school appears to hold TRACS accreditation with probation: https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/institution-profile/148283
This link shows on pages 124-125 (129/181) that when the school was Virginia Theological Seminary and College in 1929 and 1930 it held a form of Southern States regional accreditation as a Virginia Junior College: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED542090.pdf

Sadly, it is difficult to see the struggles of a legacy private HBCU Christian University that has continuously operated as a Virginia State-approved school since 1886!

---

The school apparently suffers from mismanagement. The approval of distance learning programs, such as the DHA and DMin, has given the school much-needed revenue. I sincerely hope the school rebounds from this unfortunate state of affairs. Are there any regionally accredited schools that accept coursework from VUL in transfer toward another doctoral or graduate degree program?

They have some sort of agreement with Liberty University in Lynchburg, they are located just a few miles down the road from each other

[newdegree]

There were previous accreditation questions about the Virginia University of Lynchburg (VUL) (1996 to present), formerly known as the Virginia Seminary and College (1962), formerly Virginia Theological Seminary and College (1900), formerly Lynchburg Baptist Seminary founded in 1886 by the Virginia Baptist State Convention.

Currently, the school appears to hold TRACS accreditation with probation: https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/institution-profile/148283
This link shows on pages 124-125 (129/181) that when the school was Virginia Theological Seminary and College in 1929 and 1930 it held a form of Southern States regional accreditation as a Virginia Junior College: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED542090.pdf

Sadly, it is difficult to see the struggles of a legacy private HBCU Christian University that has continuously operated as a Virginia State-approved school since 1886!

---

The school apparently suffers from mismanagement. The approval of distance learning programs, such as the DHA and DMin, has given the school much-needed revenue. I sincerely hope the school rebounds from this unfortunate state of affairs. Are there any regionally accredited schools that accept coursework from VUL in transfer toward another doctoral or graduate degree program?

Liberty University accepts VUL credits and American College of Education accepts them. I haven't found many other schools that will take them but if a school typically accepts NA credits they will accept them on a course-by-course transfer basis.

[sanantone]

Even without agreements, Liberty has been open to accepting credits from NA colleges.

[ashkir]

HBCU's are holding on because of TRACS. They're in their long twilight now. They're slowly dying. The time for many of these HBCU's are slowly fading, as our world becomes more integrated and diverse. They're getting absorbed by, or dwarved by, much larger campuses with more degree pathways for student. By the end of this century, I suspect only a few HBCUs will remain. We don't live in a world where you're banned from pursuing degrees by skin color.

Hopefully the remaining HBCUs can adapt. VUL tried. I hope it works out for them, if not, at least they tried. But, I think a lot of the issues stim from Franklin's tenure.

I have job alerts for all online instructor job openings posted on Indeed and for several different fields on Higher Ed Jobs. Some institutions have stopped specifying that they require regional accreditation while others still list it as a requirement.

The problem I have with VUL is that they lie to students and say that it's illegal now for an employer to require regional accreditation. It is not. I still haven't come across a VUL DHA graduate who is a professor or instructor at an RA school in a job that requires a doctorate. I've come across some who became professors with a regionally accredited master's degree prior to starting VUL or at the beginning of their DHA program. VUL told me that some of their graduates have become professors. It would help if they posted those examples on their website.

---

I searched for "regionally accredited" on Indeed, and there were 6,143 results mostly in higher education.

ashkir is now teaching at U of the P. Maybe that's what VUL is referring to? Or maybe they're just blowing smoke.

I teach at U of P and University of Maine at Presque Isle. A few of my cohort from the DHA class teach at Scripps, University of Texas, Tyler, Florida State.

[sanantone]

HBCU's are holding on because of TRACS. They're in their long twilight now. They're slowly dying. The time for many of these HBCU's are slowly fading, as our world becomes more integrated and diverse. They're getting absorbed by, or dwarved by, much larger campuses with more degree pathways for student. By the end of this century, I suspect only a few HBCUs will remain. We don't live in a world where you're banned from pursuing degrees by skin color.

Hopefully the remaining HBCUs can adapt. VUL tried. I hope it works out for them, if not, at least they tried. But, I think a lot of the issues stim from Franklin's tenure.

I have job alerts for all online instructor job openings posted on Indeed and for several different fields on Higher Ed Jobs. Some institutions have stopped specifying that they require regional accreditation while others still list it as a requirement.

The problem I have with VUL is that they lie to students and say that it's illegal now for an employer to require regional accreditation. It is not. I still haven't come across a VUL DHA graduate who is a professor or instructor at an RA school in a job that requires a doctorate. I've come across some who became professors with a regionally accredited master's degree prior to starting VUL or at the beginning of their DHA program. VUL told me that some of their graduates have become professors. It would help if they posted those examples on their website.

---

I searched for "regionally accredited" on Indeed, and there were 6,143 results mostly in higher education.

ashkir is now teaching at U of the P. Maybe that's what VUL is referring to? Or maybe they're just blowing smoke.

I teach at U of P and University of Maine at Presque Isle. A few of my cohort from the DHA class teach at Scripps, University of Texas, Tyler, Florida State.

HBCU applications are up because of the negative rhetoric surrounding diversity. The larger HBCUs have easily maintained regional accreditation, some for nearly 100 years. 

Are the alumni teaching with their master's degrees or their DHAs? If they're adjuncts, lecturers, or instructors, most of those jobs only require a master's degree. In unique situations, a person may even be able to become a tenure-track professor with a master's degree. I came across a VUL graduate who started as a professor with just a master's degree.