SFT will ask SACS about Casino Program - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Jul 6, 2005

SFT will ask SACS about Casino Program

Date: Jul 6, 2005

What does Doty mean by this statement?

"The casino management courses, however, do not involve the distance learning issues related to the executive MBA program and could possibly move forward sooner.

Harold Doty, dean of the Southern Miss College of Business, said he hopes to offer courses during the fall term."

Casino management will be distant learning and that's why SFT is looking for SACS approval first. He got burned on this before.

Date: Jul 6, 2005

From the archives...

HA, 1/16/04

..."We've been working on this for over a year," USM provost Tim Hudson said. "According to the casino industry, we think there will be high demand. We're hoping to attract students who are not at the university at all."

Hudson's comments came during an academic affairs committee meeting after board vice president Roy Klumb of Gulfport challenged university leaders to create programs to support the gaming industry. ...

CL, 5/20/04

...But Klumb said the College Board will not allow another university to offer gaming-related courses until all legal hurdles are crossed.

"We're kind of using USM as the one to get us in the door and to make sure everything is going to be OK," he said, "and we're not going to have any problems before we get any other university's time and money involved."...

Date: Jul 6, 2005

No distant learning issues? wrote:

Casino management will be distant learning and that's why SFT is looking for SACS approval first. He got burned on this before.

Casino management is not a distance learning program and that is hardly Shelby's motivation.

Date: Jul 6, 2005

Last night's WDAM news reported that casino management courses would be taught on both campuses in the fall. No mention was made of mode of delivery, though it would be SOP to offer at least some of the courses via video feeds and online -- and that means "distance learning." Why else would SFT be waiting on SACS approval?

Date: Jul 6, 2005

Those of you who have read the SACS report, as well as the standards, know that all courses taught at locations other than the main campus constitute "distance learning" programs. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that only online is "distance learning."

Date: Jul 6, 2005

The casino program is an emphasis area with an existing degree on the Coast. SACS only looks at degrees. There is no SACS issue with this program.

Date: Jul 6, 2005

SACS CLARITY wrote:

There is no SACS issue with this program.

The maybe you'd better tell the president. The first sentence in the newspaper article read:

"University of Southern Mississippi President Shelby Thames said Tuesday his decision to offer casino management courses depends on what a national college accreditation organization thinks."

Date: Jul 7, 2005

SACS CLARITY wrote:

There is no SACS issue with this program.

WDAM web site:

USM Casino Courses Not Certain Bet

...USM President Shelby Thames says only if the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is satisfied with the program will Southern Miss move full speed ahead....

http://www.wdam.com/Global/story.asp?S=3562860&nav=1Pw1bq41

Date: Jul 7, 2005

Tilt. Insert another quarter wrote:

"...his decision to offer casino management courses depends on what a national college accreditation organization thinks."

Maybe somebody should call his attention to the fact that the "S" in SACS stands for "Southern." SACS is a regional accreditation organization. If it were National, it would be named NACS.

In view of our "World class" status, it wouldn't suprise me if we see a press release reporing it to the local media as WACS.