Texas higher education officials announced today that they have postponed action on a Bible-oriented group’s proposal to offer a master’s degree in science education.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board had been scheduled to consider the proposal by the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research at a meeting Jan. 24.
But Eddy Miller, dean of the institute’s graduate school, said in an e-mail to the coordinating board Monday that the school needs more time “to do justice to the concerns you raised,” according to a news release issued by the coordinating board. Miller asked the board to delay consideration of the matter until its April meeting.
Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes said last week that he was posing questions to the institute about whether it should offer a degree in creation studies instead of one in science education and about policies that require students and faculty members to believe in the biblical account of creation.
For instance, the students and faculty are required to believe that humans did not evolve from animals but were created in fully human form from the start.
The Texas Citizens for Science, a Midland-based group, contends that the institute’s proposal amounts to an effort to teach religion under the guise of science.
* You can syndicate our news and blog using the file