Undergraduate - Lee University

6 INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
ACCREDITATION
Lee University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award Bachelor’s
degrees and Master’s degrees. Teacher Education programs are approved
by the Tennessee State Department of Education for licensure. The
School of Music is accredited by the National Association of Schools of
Music. Lee also holds membership in the American Council on Education,
the Council of Independent Colleges, the Council of Christian
Colleges and Universities and the Appalachian College Association.
LEE UNIVERSITY MISSION STATEMENT
Lee University is a Christian institution which offers liberal arts and
professional education on both the baccalaureate and master’s levels. It
seeks to provide education that integrates biblical truth as revealed in
the Holy Scriptures with truth discovered through the study of the arts
and sciences and in the practice of various professions. A personal commitment
to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is the controlling perspective
from which the educational enterprise is carried out. The foundational
purpose of all educational programs is to develop within the students
knowledge, appreciation, understanding, ability and skills which will
prepare them for responsible Christian living in the modern world.
Founded as Bible Training School in 1918 by the Church of God,
Cleveland, Tennessee, the institution was renamed in 1947 to honor its
second President, the Reverend F. J. Lee, and attained university status
in 1997. The original purpose was to provide both general and biblical
training for those persons entering the Christian ministry, and through
the years Lee University has continued this purpose of “ministry,” ever
more broadly defined to include both church and non–church vocations.
Enrollment consists primarily of recent high school graduates, and
fifty–two percent of the students reside on campus. Most of the students
are affiliated with the Church of God, although many come from other
denominations. The graduate student body is relatively new and is in
the process of defining its own identity.
As an independent institution, Lee University is controlled by a
Board of Directors appointed by the General Executive Committee of
the denomination. The President is responsible to this board for facilitating
an educational program presented from a theological perspective that
is conservative, evangelical and Pentecostal. In keeping with the amended
Charter of Incorporation (1968) and the Bylaws of Lee University (article
I, sections 2 and 4), all board members, administrators and faculty
members certify annually by contract that they will not advocate anything
contrary to the Church of God Declaration of Faith.