LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–A new four-year undergraduate program at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has received accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, seminary officials were notified in a June 29 letter from the agency.
Responding to a prospectus submitted by the seminary which sought accreditation for a bachelor of arts in biblical studies, SACS’ Commission on Colleges approved the degree to be offered by James P. Boyce College of the Bible.
“Based on the strength of your prospectus, and the fact that Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has a number of well-established programs from pre-baccalaureate to graduate level, we accept your prospectus and approve the new degree offering,” James T. Rogers wrote President R. Albert Mohler Jr. Rogers is executive director of the SACS Commission on Colleges.
Seminary officials welcomed the accrediting agency’s approval of the new degree program.
“We are very pleased to receive this official announcement from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools granting full authorization for James P. Boyce College of the Bible to begin its baccalaureate programs with accreditation,” Mohler said. “This is a very significant move and tremendous announcement for this new venture. We are thrilled that students are assured from the very onset of this program that their degree is fully accredited.”
The new college’s accreditation is “another very significant affirmation of the academic quality and institutional integrity of Southern Seminary. We appreciate the Southern Association’s prompt and thorough consideration of our proposal and their approval of accreditation,” Mohler said.
The seminary’s other accrediting agency, the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, does not cover undergraduate programs.
Southern Seminary trustees gave approval to the new Bible college program last October, replacing the Boyce Bible School which was created in 1974 to offer non-degree granting undergraduate education for ministers. In 1994, the school was accredited by SACS to offer an associate of arts degree.
The new bachelor of arts degree will require 129 credit hours in four areas of study: theological, biblical, ministry and general studies.
The Boyce College faculty is in place and eager to begin its first academic year, reports dean Ted Cabal.
“Our new full-time faculty has moved to Louisville and shares my excitement that the Lord is at work here,” Cabal said. “There is a growing awareness at Boyce College that God is doing something very special. Prospective students continue to visit, catch the vision and decide to get in on the ground floor of the new program.”
Announced in January as the college’s first dean, Cabal joined the seminary community June 1. Following Cabal to Louisville are:
— Hal Ostrander, associate professor of Christian theology. Ostrander taught at Dallas Baptist University from 1993-98.
— Charles Draper, assistant professor of biblical studies. Draper served on the faculty at North Greenville College, Tigerville, S.C., from 1996-98.
— Mark Howell, assistant professor of preaching and pastoral ministries. Howell was pastor of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Greensboro, N.C., and served as an adjunct professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, N.C.
“Clearly, one of the strengths recognized in the Boyce College is the quality of the faculty,” Mohler asserted. “Under the superb leadership of dean Ted Cabal, we have recruited a remarkable faculty of godly, Christian scholars eager to teach future ministers of the gospel.”
