New program partnership
Liberty launches new online courses in collaboration with Dr. James Dobson
The Liberty University James C. Dobson Center for Child Development, Marriage and Family Studies will be launched in spring 2016. The center is a partnership between Dr. James Dobson and Liberty under the department of counselor education & family studies.
Partners — Dr. James Dobson is pictured with President Jerry Falwell (left) and former provost Dr. Ronald Godwin (right). Photo credit: David Duncan
“It has often been said, as the family goes, so goes society,” Dobson said. “The family is a foundation, the ground floor on which everything of value rests. Our institutions, our government, our children, all depend on strong and stable families, and that is why I am excited to partner with Liberty University to equip students of all ages with the skills needed to impact families.”
Students will now be able to enroll in online courses that are an accumulation of Dobson’s life work.
“The center provides a wonderful opportunity to invest into the lives of students and train them in a Christ-centered marriage and family relationship-coach concentration and provides certification programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels,” Tim Clinton, executive director for the department of counselor education and family studies, said. “So we went to work together … and are very excited to launch our programs of study at Liberty.”
Three undergraduate minors are currently offered through the center: family advocacy, public policy and the future, parenting and child/adolescent development, and marriage and family studies.
According to Michele Hewitt, director of recruitment at Liberty, students are able to sign up for these classes through ASIST.
“We created a project involving developing curricula at the certificate level,” Clinton said. “It means developing academic curriculum at the bachelor level, at the master level and beyond, where students, regardless of major, can go through relationship education, developed primarily by and from Dr. Dobson. We put around Dr. Dobson select professionals to help develop a robust curriculum selected to change students’ lives personally and assist them professionally.”
Kevin D. Corsini, vice provost for Academic Operations and professor of clinical mental health counseling, said 25 students have enrolled for B-term and 31 students have enrolled for D-term.
However, Corsini explained the number of students enrolling for these courses is growing every day.
Hewitt said graduate level courses will be offered through the center beginning summer 2016.
SHOW — Dr. James Dobson has a radio show called “Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk.” Photo provided
Dobson said the plans for the center have been in the works since July 2013. Clinton said the center is a legacy project. The purpose is to have all of Dobson’s works in one place so others may benefit from it.
“I thought it would be a modern day tragedy if we lost that voice, the heart that God placed inside of him, that wisdom, that knowledge about children, about marriage, about the family,” Clinton said. “There’s no one who’s done more for the family in our generation than Dr. Dobson.”
Dobson is the founder and president of Family Talk, founded in 2010. It is a nonprofit organization that airs Dobson’s radio show “Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk.” Dobson has also written more than 30 books about preservation of the family. His most recent book is “Your Legacy: The Greatest Gift.”
Dobson was a clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine for 14 years and an attending staff member of the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles for 17 years. He also advised three U.S. presidents on family matters.
In 2008, Dobson was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. He holds 18 honorary doctorate degrees, including one from Liberty he received in May 2006.
Dobson’s relationship with Liberty began in 1993 when Dr. Jerry Falwell invited him to speak at the university commencement service.
“I was on campus for just one day, but I recognized immediately what Liberty University stood for, and that hasn’t changed throughout the years,” Dobson said.
“We have a dream, and that dream is to change the world, one student, one coach, one pastor and one parent at a time,” Clinton said. “The ultimate goal is to strengthen and preserve the institution of the family.”
Students can visit the James C. Dobson Center page by visitingliberty.edu and searching for the James C. Dobson Center.
Frost is a news reporter.