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A Philosophy for Christian Education
As a Christian school, North Greenville
University must keep
the emphasis upon the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who
was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, true God and true
man who died as the substitutionary atonement for the forgiveness of sin,
was resurrected from the dead, and now reigns as the living Lord. The
university is Christian when this Christ is the head and center of all its
thinking and conduct.
An education at North Greenville University is regarded as
preparation for effective Christian service and witness. The Bible, as the
inspired and infallible Word of God, is the solid foundation of the
curriculum and the basis of the philosophy of education and of life.
We care about the spiritual well-being of our students as
well as their academic achievements.
Attendance at North Greenville University is a privilege, and
not a right, which may be forfeited by any student who does not conform to
the standards and regulations of the institution. The university may request
the withdrawal at any time of any student, who, in the opinion of the
college, does not fit into the spirit of the institution, regardless of
whether that student conforms to its specific rules and regulations.
Statement of Purpose
Affiliated with and committed to the South Carolina Baptist
Convention, North Greenville University is a small, co-educational liberal arts
institution that provides opportunities for higher education in a Christian
atmosphere. The college strives to prepare students to become better,
contributing members of society by educating the whole person through an
integration of academic discipline, a Christian lifestyle, and an enriched
cultural experience while offering students the best opportunities for
spiritual growth, academic training, and Christian service. Christ must be
the center of the campus for the purpose of Christian education and
Christian character-building.
Institutional Objectives
The university endeavors to serve these purposes by:
1. Offering basic liberal arts curricula that lead to
the associate, baccalaureate and graduate degrees;
2. Strengthening opportunities to meet the needs of
advanced and gifted students while continuing to maintain the university's
heritage of providing quality education for all students;
3. Presenting distinctive, innovative programs that
attract and meet the needs of non-traditional students;
4. Achieving high academic standards through the
employment of qualified professionals and through furnishing appropriate
educational support services;
5. Providing an environment in which students can
realize their fullest potential as complete persons, developing
intellectually, physically, socially, culturally, morally, and
spiritually;
6. Affording a special sense of community through the
development of close, personal relationships and the nurturing efforts
of a caring, Christian, dedicated faculty, staff, and administration.
History
On October 14, 1891, at the fourth
annual meeting of the North Greenville Baptist Association, a momentous
decision was made. A committee of nine men was appointed to determine the
best location for establishing a high school in the northern region of
Greenville County. The recommendation to create the committee came in
response to a suggestion made at an earlier associational meeting by John
Ballenger of the Tigerville community. He asked that the association
consider the possibility of providing educational opportunities for mountain
area students as there were only three high schools in the entire county at
that time.
The work of the committee led to the
establishment of what is now North Greenville University. Benjamin F. Neves
offered ten acres of beautiful rolling land midway between Glassy Mountain
to the north and Paris Mountain to the south. By 1892 the first building was
completed and ready for occupancy, and North Greenville High School began
with the arrival of the first students on January 16, 1893.
The State of South Carolina
chartered the institution as North Greenville High School in 1904. The next
year the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention assumed
control of the school as part of its Mountain Mission School System, a
relationship that lasted 25 years. In 1929, the North Greenville Baptist
Association again accepted responsibility for the school, which had been,
renamed "North Greenville Baptist Academy" in 1915.
In 1934, the charter was amended to
create a junior college in addition to a high school. Fifteen years later,
the growing institution was transferred from the founding association to the
direct control of the General Board of the South Carolina Baptist
Convention. In 1957, North Greenville was accredited by the
Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
as a two-year liberal arts college, and the high school courses were
discontinued. Previously, an amendment to the charter in 1950 changed the
name to "North Greenville Junior College," and the word "Junior" was deleted
from the title of the college in 1972.
In 1991, the college reaffirmed its
basic commitment to quality education, applying to the Commission on
Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to offer
baccalaureate degrees in Christian Studies and church music. The school was
given candidacy status the following summer, with its initial cohort of
upperclassmen enrolling in the fall semester of 1992. Level II accreditation
was granted in June 1994. In 1997, the university's Teacher Education Program
received approval from the South Carolina Department of Education.
In the fall of 2005, the North
Greenville Board of Trustees approved a change from North Greenville College
to North Greenville University. This transition was made because of the
continued growth of the school and the addition of the Walter T. Brashier
Graduate School which received Level III accreditation to offer graduate
degrees in December 2005.
In the course of the school's
existence, enrollment has stabilized, the academic program has been
strengthened, and campus facilities have been improved. Throughout this
period of development, the fundamental purpose for which North Greenville
was founded has remained constant: to provide a quality educational
experience in the context of genuine Christian commitment.
Location
North Greenville University is located
in Tigerville in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Tigerville is a
pastoral community 18 miles north of Greenville, South Carolina, the state's
largest metropolitan area, less than 12 miles from Greer and about 35 miles
from Spartanburg with easy access to I-85, I-26, and US 276 and 25. The
campus setting provides a panoramic view of the surrounding mountains, with
the campus itself situated on the summit of a rolling hill amid acres of
college-owned land.
Most of the buildings on the campus
have been constructed in the past few decades, replacing older buildings,
which were erected during the first 100 years of the college's history.
Accreditation and Affiliation
North Greenville University is
accredited by the
Commission on Colleges of
the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane,
Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097: Telephone Number 404-679-4501) to award
Associate degrees, Bachelor's and Master's degrees. North Greenville
University is also a
member of the
South Carolina Association of
Independent Colleges and Universities, the
South Carolina Higher Education Assessment Network, the
Southern Baptist Association of
Colleges and Schools, The
South
Carolina Association of Colleges and Universities, the
National Association of Intercollegiate
Athletics, the
National Collegiate
Athletic Association, the
National
Christian College Athletic Association, the
International Assembly for
Collegiate Business Education, and
Tuition Exchange, Inc. Documents of accreditation may be found in the
office of the President of North Greenville University
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