Is this considered discrimination?

[Grace_Adler]

What is the name of your state? NC

I was just wondering -- I know a teacher who applied for a job at a public school but was turned down because they said they couldn't or wouldn't accept her credentials because she went to Bob Jones University, which as some of you may know, is a private Baptist University.

Would this be considered discrimination?

If so, what can she do about it or what steps can she take to do something about it?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

 

[Beth3]

I rather doubt this has anything to do with the applicant's religion or religious beliefs. I can't imagine there aren't any number of Baptists (and members of dozens of other faiths) already workign for this school system.

The first question that comes to my mind is whether Bob Jones University is an accredited school? If they're not, then I would expect many school systems wouldn't accept those credentials. The other possibilty is that they are familiar with the educational teaching curriculum and are not impressed. If either of these are the case, this is not remotely prohibited discrimination.

 

[gobonas99]

Grace -

I just did a bit of research on the web (I don't know if you've had a chance to look around yet)...but based on what I've found, Bob Jones University is NOT an accredited university.

My guess the that the school has a policy of only accepting credentials from accredited colleges/universities. Since Bob Jones is not accredited, they cannot accept her credentials.

Based on various articles and whatnot that I found, it also appears that other graduates of Bob Jones University have had similar problems due to the school's non-accreditation.

I know that many professions for which you must receive a state license (ie CPAs, lawyers, TEACHERS, etc) require degrees from accredited schools.

So the school likely did not reject your friend because she went to Bob Jones University, but because she went to a NON-accredited school, which is not discrimination, by any means.

-Christina

 

[Beth3]

There ya go. Mystery solved.

Thanks, Christina.

(I wonder if the students at BJU have any idea what kind of difficulities they may run into because the school isn't accredited. I tend to doubt BJU is volunteering that information.)

 

[gobonas99]

hey...no problem

Actually...I tried to find info about it on the BJU website. There was some rambling about how they are "accredited" by local churches and the like. Not that that means squat to graduate schools, state licensing boards, or prospective employers. They TOTALLY skirt the issue of state accreditation - saying that it isn't important. The example they give is of one student (yes, ONE) who got into the med-school program at Virginia, making it into the class of 127 students out of over 4,000 applications, saying that this kid beat out applications from people from Harvard and Yale. The kid probably had a 4.0 GPA or something, but they do not, however, describe the hoops that I'm sure this kid had to jump through in order to qualify due to his non-accredited pre-med program.

Other websites I found had comments from students (current and alumni) stating that had they known BJU was not STATE accredited, they would not have attended. It is QUITE apparent that most kids don't know or realize the issues that surround attending a non-accredited school.

There's a lot of other negatives surrounding BJU that you have to wade through (such as discrimination, racism, etc - apparently as of March 2000 it was against the rules for a white student to date a black student ) to get to the accreditation issues. But those are another discussion irrelevant to Grace's post.

-Christina

 

[Beth3]

Imagine spending all that money, time and effort to obtain a degree (of sorts), only to discover it was worthless. Oh, well...

 

[Grace_Adler]

Thanks!

Wow! I had no idea. Christian schools have no problem accepting her credentials obviously. LOL But thank you I will pass the information along.

I thought about going there when I was a teenager. So many people made it sound like it was a great school, but that was back in the 80's, I don't know if things have changed since then. Thank God I didn't go.

How the heck do you find out if a school is accredited anyway? I'm getting ready to transfer next fall and hopefully after that to law school. I don't want to get stuck with this problem.

Thanks again!

 

[gobonas99]

Grace -

I just did a google seach for "Bob Jones University accredited" and that's how I found my info...you could probably do the same thing with any college/university (although most reputable ones let you know upfront on their website/in their mailings that they are).

If you let me know which ones you're considering, I can do some digging. You also need to look not just at the school as a whole, but the specific program (ie a school can be state accredited in accounting and education, but not in, say pre-law), because schools sometimes gain accreditation one program at a time until the entire school is accredited.

-Christina

 

[Grace_Adler]

I will more then likely transfer to East Carolina University. I'm pretty sure I'm going to major in Political Science and minor in English or History. There is a small chance that I would major in History or English. I'll know more Monday when I go to talk to one of the Dept heads of Poli Sci. They have some Pre-Law courses there but not a Pre-Law major or minor. One of the counselors of Poli Sci told me, if I can survive those Pre-Law classes, I should be able to make it in Law School LOL. He also said that Poli Sci is most closely related to going into law but that I can also major in one of the others I listed.

If ECU for some reason rejects me, I'm going to apply at lots of schools so I'll go with whoever takes me. LOL If they reject me, then I'll probably apply to Duke, UNC at Chapel Hill, NC Central University, and Campbell University, which many lawyers have told me, even though it is a private, Baptist oriented school, it is an excellent one. It's one of the few around here that actually teach you how to apply what you learn before you graduate and many attorneys around here went there, so I guess they are accredited. I may also apply to schools in VA like ODU, William and Mary, and the Univerisity of Richmond if I don't get into ECU. I really don't see any reason why they wouldn't accept me.

Then again, if I get a scholarship, I guess I will just go to whoever accepts it and me. LOL If all else fails, I will just sit on someone's doorstep until they take me. LOL (J/K)

If I end up applying to Law School, I'll have to apply to some of the above anyway.

I will try to do some digging too.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[cbg]

"Christian schools have no problem accepting her credentials obviously"

Actually, she just got lucky. I know of several Christian schools that would also insist on her degree being from an accredited school. In fact, I went to one.

 

[Grace_Adler]

I was referring to the ones around here that I know didn't turn her down.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

I'm dying laughing!

BJU?

No, I'd rather have you BJME.

IAAL

 

[Grace_Adler]

LMAO! No you didn't go there!

"No, I'd rather have you BJME."

I bet you would. LOL Well, if you'll make it worth my while and it will get me brownie points.

 

[gobonas99]

Grace -

Based on what I've found, ECU, Duke, and UNC at Chapel Hill are accredited. FYI ECU's graduate Poli-Sci program is NATIONALLY accredited. All of these schools, as opposed to BJU, proudly state on their websites that they are accredited.

I haven't had a chance to look into the others yet, but wanted to post an updated. what is ODU? Don't think I've ever heard of that one...

-Christina

 

[Grace_Adler]

Thanks! That is great news. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help!

Ya know, I don't care for NC all that much but I have to admit, they have some pretty good colleges here. Of course I think VA does too. LOL

ODU is Old Dominion University. It's in Norfolk, VA which is the area I was born and grew up in. Well, southeastern VA aka Hampton Roads. LOL

Oh, I spoke with the teacher and she appreciates everything too. I don't know if I had misunderstood her before but from what she understood, at least to the best of her knowledge, back in the 80's NC would accept graduate teachers from there but things have changed over the years. She also said she heard or found out somehow that there is someone in Raleigh, I guess someone in office, that does not like Bob Jones so they may have changed what some schools, especially the public ones in NC will accept. So who knows?

Anyway, thanks again.