Academic Freedom in the Balance

On March 26, 2008, the Institute for Creation Research Graduate School (ICRGS) submitted documents to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) in Austin, Texas, in response to a request to provide institutional documentation that describes the Master of Science in Science Education program offered by the school. These documents were subsequently reviewed by the THECB as part of the ICRGS application for a Certificate of Authority to grant degrees in the state.

At the THECB Commissioners meeting on April 24, 2008, Commissioner Raymund Paredes and his board voted to deny the ICRGS authority in the state to grant the M.S. degree in Science Education. Dr. Paredes read into the record his recommendation at a committee meeting the day before, expressing his belief that the ICRGS promoted a viewpoint different from perceived science standards in the state, based on his non-public consultations with yet-to-be-identified science educators.

Because of the choice of the THECB to withhold from the public the ICRGS documents—documents that demonstrate that the ICRGS does indeed meet and, in some cases, exceed state educational standards—the ICRGS is making the entire document available to the public.

It will become clear to careful readers that 1) the ICRGS M.S. program is both a demanding and rigorous academic offering to Texas students desiring to be equipped in major disciplines of science and in the practical aspects of teaching science to others, and 2) the THECB, and its advisers, failed to properly evaluate the ICRGS program based on educational and academic standards, as expressed in the documents, preferring rather to penalize the ICRGS program because of differences in viewpoint regarding how and why ICRGS teaches science and science education.

The importance of the ICRGS’ institutional viewpoint of creationism, as an example of academic freedom, was explained by Dr. Eddy Miller, Dean and Chief Academic Officer of the ICRGS, who flew from California with other faculty members to attend and participate in the THECB proceedings.

The Institute for Creation Research, founded in 1970, began offering graduate degrees in California in 1981 where it received full authority by the state to operate its graduate school. Based in Santee, California, the ICRGS currently offers the M.S. in Science Education through an online distance education program.

For the past 27 years, qualified applicants have completed the M.S. degree through ICRGS, some going on to enter doctoral programs in the sciences at various universities throughout the U.S., while many have obtained their degree to assist them in the teaching of science in secondary and post-secondary schools, many of whom have had as their primary career emphasis the teaching of science in the Christian school environments.

The ICRGS, a private postsecondary institution which receives no federal funding, contends that 1) the ICRGS program is completely voluntary for qualified applicants, 2) the ICRGS program in no way compels graduates to only teach in state-funded public schools, and 3) the ICRGS program recognizes that its educational emphasis is well suited for the Christian school science teacher.

The ICRGS believes that the decision by the state of Texas unnecessarily discriminates against Texas residents seeking the type of education that the ICRGS can uniquely fulfill and has successfully offered for more than 25 years to students throughout the country.

Because of the decision by THECB Commissioner Raymund Paredes and the THECB Board, the state of Texas is denying a full-range of educational offerings to Texas residents in the area of science education, and in doing so, is failing to “close the gaps” in higher education.