SPRINGDALE : Faith-based college expands offerings
Posted on Monday, January 12, 2009
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/WILLIAM MOORE Oren Paris II and his son, Oren Paris III, pose Dec. 19 outside "The Dome" on the Ecclesia College campus in Springdale. The college was founded by the elder Paris in 1975, and his son is the current president.
SPRINGDALE - Up until two years ago, Ecclesia College offered degree programs that strictly were focused on biblical and faith-based studies.
These days, it is broadening its scope to include traditional college subjects such as liberal arts and business, having listened to students who want more choices but still prefer to begin their studies in a Christian setting.
Ecclesia College (pronounced EK-luh-SEE-uh) began getting state approval to add various secular courses in 2006 - something it still is pursuing.
"We're sitting in the land of Wal-Mart and of other wellknown national businesses," said the college's registrar and assistant vice president of academics, Donna Brown.
That reality led the Springdale-based Bible college to successfully seek approval from the state for its first nonbiblical bachelor's degree in October 2006.
At that time, the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board approved Ecclesia's bachelor of science in business administration degree as well as a two-year associate of general studies degree.
"It's for student transferability," Brown said of the associate's degree, which covers the usual college core courses such as English, science, mathematics, humanities, social studies, psychology, computers and certain electives.
The ultimate goal for the general studies degree is that its credits would transfer fully to any four-year university in or out of state, she said.
ACADEMIA BEYOND THE BIBLE
Ecclesia began offering those two degrees in 2007, adding them to a list that includes associate's and bachelor's degrees in biblical studies, and bachelor's degrees in biblical ministries, Christian ministries, music ministries, communication ministries, education ministries and Christian counseling.
Then on Oct. 14, the coordinating board approved Ecclesia for another secular degree - the bachelor of science in sport management - and the college has requests for two more broad-based degrees in the pipeline.
The sport management program will begin in the fall.
"It is definitely tied to our student population," said Brown, who, aside from her administrative duties, currently serves as acting division chairman of music ministries.
Ecclesia offers men's and women's basketball and men's baseball. Adding other sports such as golf and soccer are being discussed.
So, the college has athletes enrolling there, and some of those students aspire to study for sports-related occupations at a faith-based school, she said.
The other degree program approvals the college has pending with the coordinating board are a bachelor of science in emergency management and a bachelor of science in organizational communication, the latter a blend between a communication program and a broad-based business program.
STUDENT WELCOMES CHANGE
Ecclesia student Marcus Killingsworth, 22, of Fayetteville wants to earn his bachelor's degree in the emergency management program.
"When I decided to attend, they had what would have been the proposed curriculum awaiting approval," he said, adding that he still is hoping the emergency management program earns the state's OK.
A 2004 Springdale High School graduate, Killingsworth had completed 28 credit-hours of study at Northwest Arkansas Community College before deciding to take a couple years off to work.
When he returned to college, he wanted a "Christ-centered education" but also was looking for a degree program that would let him continue the criminal justice studies that he'd started at NWACC. Emergency management seemed a perfect fit for his plans to go into law enforcement.
"I was going to take courses here anyway," Killingsworth said of Ecclesia, where he estimates he is a sophomore. "But I was glad that they did have a degree targeted toward my career choice."
Killingsworth started at Ecclesia in fall 2008.
He took the disaster response and recovery course along with devotional principles, mentoring foundations, world history, applied business ethics and a seminar for first-year students covering how to succeed in one's college life.
COORDINATING FOR APPROVAL
Ecclesia's unusual journey to broaden its scope was and continues to be complex.
"We are navigating between two governing bodies - the state of Arkansas and the Association for Biblical Higher Education," Brown said, with the latter being the accrediting body for biblical studies colleges. It is recognized by the U.S. Department of Higher Education and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation, which accredits accrediting bodies.
"We worked about a year through the process," she said of getting the first broader-based degrees off the ground in 2006. "We had to make modifications to meet state requirements, and we were glad to do those. We actually see the process as very helpful."
Though Ecclesia receives no public funds from the state, the coordinating board is vested with the authority and responsibility to certify Ecclesia's nonbiblical programs through Act 560 of 1977 - specifically Arkansas Code Annotated 6-61-301 and 6-61-302, said Zanette Douglas, coordinator of institutional certification for the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.
Act 560 doesn't apply to faithbased colleges and universities that existed before the act's passage, and those schools were "grandfathered" in, Douglas said.
STATE OVERSIGHT
Biblical colleges and others that offer programs not customarily offered at colleges can apply to the Higher Education Department for an exemption from certification. Ecclesia's biblical programs received such an exemption in 2002, Douglas said.
The department ensures the colleges are accurately conveying information to students through course titles, degree titles, marketing materials and Web sites, she said.
"For these exempt institutions, we want to make sure that the students realize that if they get a degree, they know it's church-related training," Douglas said. "We don't want them to think they can take this and then transfer to a four-year institution."
Ecclesia receives state oversight on both its exempt, biblical programs and its certified secular programs, which can involve transfers to and from other twoyear or four-year higher education schools.
The college is hopeful it will be able to forge partnerships with other Arkansas colleges and universities, so that its nonbiblical associate's and bachelor's degree programs will provide students seamless transfers to and from Ecclesia and the other schools, Brown said. Other kinds of partnerships, with local employers, could provide Ecclesia students with internships, community service work-study opportunities or volunteer work.
ECCLESIA'S HISTORY
The college began in 1975 as Ecclesia Inc. Basic Ministries Program in Elm Springs, according to Higher Education Department documents. At the time, it offered noncredit ministry programs.
Oren Paris II was the college's founding president, Brown said.
In 1990, the college became known as Elm Springs Bible College and began offering four-year biblical ministry degrees, according to the department. Five years later, it merged with the Omaha Bible School of Omaha, Neb., and was renamed Ecclesia College.
The college received national accreditation from the Association for Biblical Higher Education in 2005.
These days, Paris is the college's chancellor, a ceremonial position, while his son, Oren Paris III, serves as president.
The elder Paris said that his advancing age hasn't kept him from being active in college busi-1
ness: "I'm 72 /2," he said, and he still makes all the meetings.
MOST FAMOUS FAN
Another of the elder Paris' children, Twila Paris, a wellknown contemporary Christian recording artist and songwriter, is a former student of the college who plugs its attributes during her concerts, her father said.
She also gives Ecclesia a mention on her official Web site: www.twilaparis.com/ thoughtsinfo.php?id=15.
Twila Paris, 50, said she studied at her father's Bible college in the late 1970s. Initially, she thought she didn't need to take classes there since she'd grown up in a pastor's home, but later was pleased that she enrolled.
"All these years later, I look back on my life, and I draw in an unconscious way - and sometimes in a conscious way - on those things I learned," she said.
She credits the coursework with enriching her career, as well.
"There may have been less depth and less valuable content in my music had I not taken courses at Ecclesia," said Paris, whose Web page lists 22 albums since 1981, 33 No. 1 singles on the Christian charts and three times as the Gospel Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year.
THE DOME
In October, Ecclesia's latest official overall headcount was 235 students, Brown and the state's Douglas say.
That figure includes both full-time and part-time students. Ecclesia's 235 students are the equivalent of 138 full-time students.
The college doesn't yet have a student center, but it has plans for one and plenty of room to grow on 200 acres, Brown said.
Its defining structure is "The Dome," which houses administrative functions at 9653 Nations Drive. The college used to have an Elm Springs mailing address, but these days is within the Springdale city limits, Brown said.
Ecclesia College also aspires to seek the approval desired by traditional colleges and universities.
The college plans this month to send a letter seeking accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
"It's the very first step in the process," Brown said.
COST FACTOR, INSTRUCTOR TIME
Killingsworth said he could have chosen to enroll at John Brown University, or some other faith-based college offering a broad-based curriculum.
"I would say the main reasons for choosing Ecclesia is it's very affordable," he said.
According to the two school's Web sites, Ecclesia's tuition rate for an academic year, or two semesters, is $14,250, compared with $17,256 per year at JBU.
With full room, board and student fees added, Ecclesia costs $20,030 annually compared with JBU's $24,646. (Ecclesia students who choose to live off campus save $3,210 a year on a meal plan but still pay a $1,800 per year "nonresident fee" that equals the college's housing costs).
The school's small size and intimate feel also were attractive to Killingsworth.
"Something about the instructors here - they're very, very helpful," he said. "Even if you need something that's outside of their class, they're very willing to give the time to help you out.
"It really feels more like a family."
A well-spoken young man who follows the finer English grammar points, Killingsworth said that he believes Ecclesia's courses are the appropriate level of difficulty to challenge him.
He embraces the college's transformation.
"They've still remained true to their origins - they haven't had a huge paradigm shift," Killingsworth said.
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