THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:

The Honorable the Members of the Board of Regents

FROM:

Johanna Duncan-Poitier

COMMITTEE:

Higher Education and Professional Practice

TITLE OF ITEM:

Renewal of Permission to Operate in New York State: The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

DATE OF SUBMISSION:

December 17, 2003

PROPOSED HANDLING:

Approval (Consent Agenda)

RATIONALE FOR ITEM:

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has requested that the Regents renew its permission to offer courses in New York

STRATEGIC GOAL:

Goals 2 and 3

AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

 

SUMMARY:

 

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, seeks renewal of its permission to offer courses from its Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program in New York City.  The Regents granted such permission in 1996 and renewed it in February 2001.  That permission expires on February 29, 2004.  Pursuant to Section 224 of the Education Law, Regents action is needed to renew the Seminary’s permission to operate in New York State.

 

Recommendation:  I recommend that the Regents take the following action:

 

VOTED, that permission be granted to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, to offer courses from its Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program, effective January 12, 2004, for a period beginning immediately and ending on January 31, 2009.

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Louisville, Kentucky

Permission to Offer Courses in New York

 

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was established in 1859.  It offers graduate-level professional programs through the doctorate.  The Seminary has an enrollment of about 2,400 students.  It operates an extension location at the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association, 236 West 72nd Street, Manhattan, at which students may take up to 60 of the 90 semester hours of course work in the Seminary’s Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program.  To complete the program, students must go to the Seminary’s main campus in Louisville.

 

Southern Baptist is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as well as by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada.  The two accreditors conducted a joint visit to the Seminary, including its New York City center, in 2002.  They renewed the Seminary’s accreditation for ten years.

 

The Department has determined that The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s activities in New York and the courses it has been offering meet satisfactory academic standards.  In Manhattan, it offers five to 12 courses each semester.  Faculty from the Seminary’s main campus and adjunct faculty, approved by the Seminary’s president and academic administration, teach the courses.  Of 21 faculty members teaching in Manhattan since the spring 2001 semester, 14 were from the main campus and seven were from the New York City area.  Facilities at the Baptist Association building can accommodate up to 30 students in three classrooms and include a basic theology library.  Students also have borrowing privileges at General Theological Seminary’s library.

 

Southern Baptist sought authorization to offer courses in New York City because it believed that none of the seminaries in the City offered graduate theological education that embraced all evangelical Protestant Christian values.  It has been serving between 100 and 200 students a year in Manhattan.  It does not plan to increase either its enrollments or the number or diversity of courses offered.  Therefore, the Department determined that there was no potential effect on other institutions and waived the need to canvass degree-granting institutions on this request.

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