FALL2011
Money Management, Recession Style | 18 Christ-centered Higher Education Isn’t Only for Traditional On-Campus Students | 30 As Goes the Church, So Goes the CCCU? | 34
Minding the Gaps: Calculating the Future
inadvance COVER: Money Management, Recession Style Tuition, Financial Aid Increase at CCCU Member Universities
18
By Joy Pullmann
Survey Says: Give Me a Live Person When Crunching Numbers!
24
Reaction and Response to the Department of Education’s Net Price Calculator By Heidi Raass Spencer
Christ-Centered Higher Education Isn’t Only for Traditional On-Campus Students
30
Finding New Models for Keeping ‘Christ-Centered’ in Education for Students Who Spend Little Time on Campus By Luke Reiter
As Goes the Church, So Goes the CCCU?
34
Exploring the Implications of People’s Changing Relationship with Churches By Rebecca Rine
Reorganizing Campus Departments Can Be Another Tool in the Enrollment Toolbox
44
Adjusting for the Market Might Mean Revamping Institutional Organizational Structure By Jessica Shumaker
From the President . . . . . . . 1
R&D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
By Paul R. Corts
By Ashley Walters
Around the Council. . . . . . . 3 The news of the CCCU offices
From Capitol Hill . . . . . . . . 10 By Shapri D. LoMaglio
Distribution CCCU Advance is published each year in the fall and spring and is mailed to members, affiliates, and friends of the CCCU. It is also available online at www.cccu.org/advance. Direct questions and letters to the editor to editor@cccu.org. Advertising CCCU Advance is now accepting advertising from organizations that serve the students, faculty, or administration of our campuses. For more information and/or to receive a CCCU Media Kit, please email advertising@cccu.org. People Paul R. Corts President Shapri D. LoMaglio Executive Editor Director of Government Relations & Executive Programs Kami L. Rice Editor Kevin Zwirble Graphic Designer
Ashley Walters Copy Editor
Throughout Advance you will see the web extras icon. This indicates exclusive resources located online for our readers. Visit www.cccu.org/advance to access these extras.
By Kami L. Rice
The mission of the CCCU is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help transform the lives of students by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth.
Jason Hohertz Web Manager
Web Extras
Editor’s Note. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) is an international higher education association of intentionally Christian colleges and universities. Founded in 1976 with 38 members, the Council has grown to 113 members in North America and 72 affiliates in 25 countries. The CCCU is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Stay connected with the CCCU on twitter, facebook, LinkedIn, vimeo, & Issuu. Visit www.cccu.org/connect.
Faith & Learning. . . . . . . . . 12 Going Global. . . . . . . . . . . . 28 On the Shelf . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 The Last Word. . . . . . . . . . . 48 Q&A with Father Michael Scanlan
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From the president
Alive and Well – Minding the Gaps by Paul R. Corts, Ph.D.
M
ind the gap! Anyone who has ever visited Great Britain and used the trains or Lon-
to academic excellence because we know we
don Underground knows the familiarity of that command. For those of us from the
cannot offer service to our Lord that is less than
United States, it’s another way of saying “Watch out!” or “Be careful with your next
our very best. Finally, studies show that spiri-
step!” That is probably always pretty good advice, but it seems especially so in these times of
tuality is on the rise among college students.
substantial change in cultural mores and potentially monumental changes in how higher edu-
Such growing student interest in things spiri-
cation may function in the near future.
tual and our comprehensive faith integration throughout the totality of a student’s university
The lead article in the Fall 2011 issue of the
These are, however, times of unprecedented
American Council on Education’s The Presi-
changes, and more are coming. Encouragingly,
dency magazine is entitled “Is College Still
we have a terrific track record of adapting to
Cultural, technological, pedagogical, and
Worth It?” This rather ominous title starkly
change, which I believe comes from our deep
economic changes are evolving rapidly and
posits a question many Americans, including
spiritual commitment to serve. Our growth has
coalescing in ways that foretell likely-signif-
some policymakers, are asking with seem-
enabled us to offer more in the way of programs
ing increasing fervor and frequency. Our own
and services, and we have seen major transfor-
CCCU research data, reported at the 2010 In-
mation in our schools’ offerings in the traditional
ternational Forum from the 2009 Noel-Levitz
sciences, health and medical sciences (like
commissioned study, indicates church-going
nursing and pharmacy), technology, math, and
families may be assigning decreasing value to
engineering. Yet, by broader higher education
the “Christian” in Christian higher education.
standards we are still small. This allows us to
We also face pressures from culture wars,
be quick, nimble, and responsive to new needs
and the list could go on.
and changing market forces.
Media outlets are consumed with reporting
Additionally, in the midst of financial chal-
to embrace change and develop positive
our society’s abundant negative news, and the
lenges and regulatory pressures, the type of
responses that will meet the contemporary
steady but unsensational life-shaping, charac-
liberal arts education we provide is increasing
needs of society and the church. Our institu-
ter-forming, good work of our institutions sim-
in value as rapid economic changes make an
tions are character-shaping institutions where
overly specific “training” type of education in-
the campus communities have shared values
creasingly obsolete, while our tradition of holis-
centered in Jesus Christ. This core mission,
tic education steeped in the arts and sciences
rooted in truth, only confirms my optimism.
ply does not make ink in secular publications, nor, for that matter, in many faith-based publications. But we recently captured a snapshot of good news about our CCCU schools from the general higher education news released
provides students with a foundational core well suited for adaptability to innovation.
experience gives us incredible opportunity.
icant adjustments in institutions of higher education, especially in our institutions with their commitment to maintaining a historic Christ-centered mission while trying to adapt and ensure relevance. The contemporary Christian college/university must articulate a clear mission with conviction and establish an institutional culture that is intentional about fulfilling the mission. At the same time, Christcentered institutions must have the courage
On our campuses in the United States, Canada, and around the world, our faculty and staff
by the U.S. Department of Education Office
Some of these trends have propelled areas
daily commit to be scholar-teachers, mentors,
of Federal Student Aid revealing that students
where CCCU schools were already excelling.
and spiritual advisors in an effort to shape and
graduating from CCCU institutions default on
For instance, service learning is on the rise as
mold students to live their lives following the
their Title IV student loans at less than half the
the traditional college-age cohort wants to have
example of Christ and thereby to help change
national average, marking the third straight
a positive impact on the world around them,
the world for good with the love of God and
year CCCU institutions earned this distinction.
and that’s already the heart of our historic mis-
In addition, the CCCU institutional student loan
sion. Technological changes in communication
default rate was lower than the national rate for
and the rise of social networking also fit us well
all private, four-year, nonprofit institutions, also
as our great strengths include student-faculty
for the third straight year. When I read reports
contact and vibrant campus community. The
like this, I am reminded of how many ways our
increased public demand for quality and ac-
institutions have been blessed and are being a
countability is a call our schools can respond
blessing to so many.
to with confidence, knowing that we are driven
through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. In these days of enormous tension for higher education at large, our institutions continue to perform in ways that bring honor to our Christ, whose name we bear.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
1
Editor’s note
Don’t Let an Expired Recession Get You Down by Kami L. Rice
T
hough that ugly “recession” word has seemed indelibly inked in daily headlines since 2008, news reports and economists tell us the United States has been post-recession for two years now. But, and it’s a big but, median income has fallen more in the past two years than it did during the actual recession, according to recent analysis of U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That means CCCU institutions are still feeling the crunch because, as Bethel University’s Vice President for Admissions, Financial Aid, and Retention Daniel Nelson notes in our cover story, “Colleges cannot
Letters
pull out of the recession before their families do.”
politan Corporation” by Pankaj Ghemawat, that
Thus, our fall issue is packed with feature stories considering various angles of the enrollment, funding, and sustainability challenges you are navigating. Listen in and learn from each other. Perhaps you will pick up an idea or two, ingest an appropriate word of caution, or find reason to release a relieved sigh over the opportunities of the future. Read all the way to the end where, in the new Q&A format for The Last Word column, Franciscan University of Steubenville’s retired president Father Michael Scanlan speaks from experience with uncertain times. This issue is also packed with articles highlighting the scholarship taking place on our campuses, something we hope to highlight better with every issue. For the first time, we have included a listing of the CCCU’s current Fulbright awardees, and just as we headed to press came the exciting news of Eastern Mennonite University’s Nobel Peace Prize winning alumna, Leymah Gbowee. We have also added a Faith & Learning section where academics like you (even exactly like you—let us know if you would like to contribute to this section) share insights into the neverending, never-boring journey of faith, living, and learning. That’s a journey no recession—new, old, lingering, or imagined—can dampen. Kami Rice (www.kamirice.com), a 1997 Asbury University and BestSemester American Studies Program alumna, is a Nashville-based freelance writer and editor.
2
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
I was heartened to read about diversity research in the Spring 2011 CCCU Advance. As an administrator who has worked in diversity for nearly 10 years, the information and statistics bear out daily in my work place. As much as I appreciate the growing commitment to diversity, it continues to be framed as more international than domestic. Robert Reyes’ comment about students needing to interact with people from other parts of the world belies statements in a May 2011 Harvard Business Review article, “The Cosmo90 percent of people in the world will live out their entire lives in their home country. It is simply not enough that students encounter international students for their intercultural growth. Students need to understand who they are as cultural beings as well as their racial, ethnic, or gender privilege and power in the United States, where a majority of them will be living in cities or suburbs, working jobs, and worshiping in churches. Over the years students of color have told me what would mean the most to them are white students (and I would add faculty, staff, and administrators) who “get it,” i.e. get that white students also have a culture, get that they have privilege, and get that we live in a racialized society for which race is still salient as a feature in our society and on our campuses. Elena Yee Director of Intercultural Programs Westmont College
As a CCCU member institution graduate (Taylor University, 1984) working as a faculty member at a secular university, I enjoyed the Spring 2011 CCCU Advance issue featuring articles on Christian campus engagement in politics and govern-
non-Christian institutions, and policymakers from all branches of government. I particularly encourage more CCCU institutions to have their libraries become involved in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP): www.fdlp.gov. This U.S. Government Printing Office program consists of over 1,200 member libraries nationally that provide Americans with free access to U.S. government information. CCCU universities wishing to join this program should recruit and retain librarians and other university faculty with a passion for promoting government information to their students and incorporating the qualitative and quantitative contents of government information into all of their instructional activities and their own research. For instance, when talking about the Obama Administration’s controversial health care legislation, students and faculty should actually read this legislation, relevant legislative history such as committee reports and congressional debates, congressionally-mandated reports from agencies such as the Department of Health & Human Services, comments on proposed regulations seeking to implement this legislation (www.regulations.gov), adopted regulations seeking to implement this law, and court cases challenging its constitutionality. The vast majority of recent U.S. federal, state, and local government resources, along with many foreign national and international government organization resources, are Internet accessible. CCCU faculty and students need to integrate these resources into their curriculum, instruction, and research in order to become more informed citizens and be effective and intellectually credible witnesses for promoting Christian perspectives on these issues within the political arena.
Christian colleges be familiar with the mechan-
Bert Chapman Government Information, Political Science, & Economics Librarian
ics of government policymaking and be able
Purdue University Libraries
ment. It is imperative that students and faculty at
to converse intelligently about it with members of their constituencies, students, colleagues at
Around the Council
The News of the CCCU Offices President’s Office CCCU Submits Comments to Department of Health and Human Services New government regulations, 45 CFR Part 147 RIN 0938-AQ07, mandate that all health plans cover preventative care for women that includes contraceptives and emergency contraceptives, some of which are abortifacients.
Two New Members Accepted at CCCU Board Meeting At its July board meeting, the CCCU Board of Directors approved two new member institutions. Anderson University and the University of Mobile join 113 other CCCU members and 72 affiliate campuses from
The CCCU submitted comments to the
from the mandate, expressing concern that
Department of Health and Human Services
even if the religious exemption is expanded, if
requesting that HHS eliminate the mandate or
it applies only to employers, then student plans
Anderson University is affiliated with the South
dramatically expand the religious exemption,
will remain subject to the mandate.
Carolina Baptist Convention. The university
since requiring CCCU institutions to cover
To counteract these regulations, the Respect
these preventative services will force them
for Rights of Conscience Act of 2011 has been
to act against their Christian convictions. The
introduced in the House and Senate. The
religious exemption in the new regulations is
CCCU has encouraged presidents of CCCU
extremely narrow, and it is uncertain whether
institutions to contact their congressional
any CCCU institutions will meet requirements
representatives on this matter. In addition
for exemption. The CCCU views the mandate
to joining an inter-faith letter opposing
Founded in 1961 as Mobile College, the
as unconstitutional and a violation of the
these regulations, the CCCU submitted its
University
Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
comments to the Internal Revenue Service
education with a Christian worldview. The
around the world.
seeks to provide “a Christ-centered, peoplefocused, student-oriented, quality-driven, and future-directed” academic community with approximately 50 areas of study. Anderson College opened its doors in 1912, becoming Anderson University in 2006.
of
Mobile
combines
quality
and the Department of Labor’s Employee
In its comments to HHS, the CCCU also
university’s mission is reflected in the
Benefits Security Administration, which co-
requested that student health plans be exempt
phrase “changing lives to change the world.”
promulgated the regulations with HHS.
Approximately 1,650 students attend the university, which is affiliated with the Alabama Baptist State Convention.
Fall 2011 Members 113
New Presidents and Governance Institutes Convene in Breckenridge
Affiliates 72 Totals 185
This summer the CCCU offered two important institutes for college presidents. First, eight new presidents joined eight mentor presidents July 9-12 for the New Presidents Institute in Breckenridge, Colo. Designed for CCCU
their
presidents in their first or second year of presidency, NPI encourages new appointees to come
and revitalize team efforts to strengthen
together to learn best practices and consider the personal and spiritual aspects of the presidency. In the year following NPI, each new president will work with an experienced president in a mentoring relationship and further explore the themes of the conference.
respective
responsibilities,
refresh
institutions, and receive updates on new legal and regulatory issues and other hot topics within higher education. This year’s Institute was shortened from the usual four
Immediately following NPI, eight other CCCU presidents and their board leaders converged on
days to three to provide time for a one-day
Breckenridge for the annual Governance Institute, July 13-16. The Institute teaches institutions’
pre-conference that focused on the Board
leaders how to strengthen their board, enhance the board-president relationship and clarify
Standing Policies Manual.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
3
Around the council
CCCU Publications
Mathematics Through the Eyes of Faith
CCCU Releases Two New Monograph Publications
On Eyes
The CCCU recently released The
2,
of
Faith
series published
two new titles in its Monograph Series.
August
the Through the
its latest volume,
Monograph
Mathematics Through the Eyes of Faith by
Series features two formats:
James Bradley and Russell Howell, which
a narrative series and a
discusses how Christian professors explore
research series. The second Monograph research publication, Nature and Consequences of Weak Financial Markets in Reconstructing Postwar Economies: The Liberian Case by former CCCU professors John Gorlorwulu and Jonathan Warner, was released in October. This latest publication in the research series explores financial issues and potential economic solutions in postwar Liberia.
mathematics from a Christian worldview. Bradley, Howell, and other scholars examine secular scholarship and theology as they explore issues such as the relationship between chance and divine providence
The first Monograph narrative publication, Caring for the President by CCCU President Paul R. Corts, was released in July. It presents a compelling approach for how to practically care for the president of a Christ-centered institution. The second title in the Monograph narrative series, Leadership Sabbaticals also by Corts, will be released later this year. All narrative series titles are designed for easy reading, quick reference, and practical counsel and rely on personal experience and real-life stories.
and whether or not mathematic concepts point to a higher reality. Recognizing that the study of numbers can raise spiritual questions, Mathematics Through the Eyes of Faith demonstrates that math contributes to a Christian understanding of an ordered world.
Digital editions of Monograph publications are available for purchase through the CCCU’s Amazon storefront: www.cccu.org/advance.
For a review of this book, see page 37.
AKA | Institutional Name Changes
Communications Pam Jones joins CCCU as Interim Vice President for Communications Pamela K. Jones comes to the CCCU as the
among Arab people in the Middle East and
interim vice president for communications
London, England, as a cross-cultural mission
with 18 years of experience as an administrator
worker with Mission to the World. In 1996,
at Belhaven University in Jackson, Miss.
Jones returned to Belhaven as the vice
Jones holds a Bachelor of Science degree in
president for student learning, where she
communications from Mississippi University
served until 2007 and worked to unify student
for Women and earned a Master of Science
learning experiences inside and outside the
degree in higher education and student
classroom. Jones was appointed to the CCCU
personnel from Florida State University. She
Commission for Senior Student Development
also holds a doctorate in higher education
Officers during this time, serving from 2001-
and student personnel from the University of
2007. She has since worked as an operations
Mississippi.
consultant
Jones served as the dean of students at Belhaven from 1983-1989 before working
4
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
and
action
research
project
developer, performing research and analysis for businesses.
Atlanta Christian College (GA) is now Point University. Atlantic Baptist University (New Brunswick) is now Crandall University. Cornerstone Christian College (South Africa) is now Cornerstone Institute. Hannibal-LaGrange College (MO) is now Hannibal-LaGrange University. Johnson Bible College (TN) is now Johnson University. Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (Kenya) is now Africa International University.
Around the council
Professional Development & Research Mahurin and E. Bussema Fill Interim Professional Development & Research Roles
P. Jesse Rine Joins CCCU Staff
Ron Mahurin and Evelyn Bussema began serving September 1 in interim roles in the professional
The CCCU welcomes P. Jesse Rine as its
development & research department of the CCCU. Mahurin rejoins the CCCU as the interim vice
director of research and grants initiatives. For
president for professional development and research, and Bussema fills the role of interim director
more on Rine’s background and new role, see
of conference services.
this issue’s R&D column on page 11.
Mahurin received a bachelor’s degree in
Bussema received a Bachelor of Science
political science from Gordon College and
degree from Northwestern College and
holds a master’s degree and doctorate from
a master’s degree in education from
Miami University of Ohio. Mahurin held
Northwestern Arizona University. She also
positions on the political science faculty of
holds a certificate of advanced graduate
The 2009 Noel-Levitz market research
Westmont College and Gordon College, served
studies from Boston University and is a
project showed the CCCU to be a group of
as a Malone Fellow with the National Council
licensed master social worker and certified
schools facing new challenges, such as
on U.S.-Arab Relations, and worked as director
psychiatric
practitioner.
matriculants’ shift from emphasizing uniquely
of corporate and foundation relations at Gordon
Bussema has worked as an elementary
Christian college choice factors, as well
College before transitioning to the role of vice
teacher, a family and protection services
as great opportunities, such as improved
president for professional development and
specialist, a psychiatric rehabilitation program
understanding of student expectations and
academic endeavors for the CCCU. He served
manager, and an adjunct faculty member at
the potential of untapped student markets.
in this role 1999-2008. Mahurin most recently
Dordt College. She most recently served as
A recent survey of chief enrollment officers,
served as academic vice president and dean
education and training director at the United
presidents, and public relations/marketing
for Houghton College.
States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association.
officers
rehabilitation
Survey Results Highlight Value of Noel-Levitz Market Research Project
at
CCCU
member
institutions
demonstrates that the findings of this market study are being incorporated into strategic
CCCU Hosts Multi-Ethnic Leadership Development Institute and Women’s Advanced Leadership Institute
planning at CCCU colleges and universities. The anonymous survey inquired into the
This summer the CCCU added a new institute to its line-up of leadership development
perceived value of the 2009 project and
opportunities. The Multi-Ethnic Leadership Development Institute, held June 20-24 at Cedar
revealed that 68 percent of administrators
Springs Christian Retreat Center in Sumas, Wash., supports the goal of identifying and equipping
at institutions that participated in the market
people of diverse ethnic backgrounds who have been gifted and called by God to serve as
research project reported they had met with
leaders in Christian higher education.
campus leadership to discuss the research and its relevance to their institution. Sixty-four
Multi-Ethnic LDI participants are part of a
The CCCU’s second Women’s Advanced
year-long leadership development program
Leadership Institute was held June 12-16
that begins with the June institute. During
also at Cedar Springs. WALI is targeted
the program they will have an individually-
toward women from CCCU’s campuses
tailored shadowing experience with a mentor
who
on another CCCU campus, introduction
presidential leadership. Organized to be a
to cutting-edge leadership literature and
highly personal and relational professional
The survey investigating the perceived
research, a one-on-one meeting with a
development experience in a seminar-style
value of the market research project was
resource team member to outline a year-
format, WALI offered participants a focused,
requested by the CCCU president and board
long professional development plan, and
practical, Holy Spirit-led opportunity to
of directors to assist them in planning future
the opportunity to learn from case studies
consider their giftedness and discern God’s
CCCU-wide research efforts.
and best practices within and beyond
leading, both professionally and personally.
are
considering
cabinet-level
or
percent of administrators from participating institutions reported that they had evaluated and/or made specific changes in their areas of responsibility in response to key findings of the market research.
Christian higher education.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
5
Around the council
International Faculty Development Seminar in China Brings Together Chinese and American Academics
2011-2012 Fulbright Awardees
The CCCU partnered with the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity at Calvin College to sponsor its third immersive interdisciplinary
international
faculty
development seminar June 2-16 in Shanghai and Beijing. North American professors and Chinese academics considered together how China can achieve legal reform for the sake of religious freedom, how Westerners can understand China’s legal and religious context, and what Chinese and North American scholars can learn from dialoguing together about religion and the rule of law. Over the coming year, CCCU scholars who attended the seminar will be collaborating with several of the Chinese participants for a publication on the themes of the seminar. To read descriptions of some of the research projects developing out of this trip, please see the Going Global section on page 28.
C.R.A.L. Data Update: CCCU Colleges Have an Impact on Adult Learners The CCCU Center for Research in Adult
Bluffton University (OH): Perry Bush, professor of history, to teach American studies in Ukraine
North Park University (IL): Michael Nelson, 2011 graduate in history, English Teaching Assistantship in Poland
Calvin College (MI): Corwin Smidt, professor of political science, in The Netherlands writing a book about theological and political leanings of American clergy
Northwestern College (IA): Jennifer Feenstra, associate professor of psychology, to research the effectiveness of youth development work by New Horizons Foundation in Romania
Calvin College (MI): Johnathan Bascom, professor of geology, geography, and environmental studies, in Ethiopia creating a digital geography of Ethiopia
Northwestern College (MN): Charity Straszheim, 2010 graduate in Visual Arts Education, English Teaching Assistantship in the Czech Republic
Franciscan University of Steubenville (OH): Bernadette Recznik, 2011 graduate in English, English Teaching Assistantship in Germany
Trinity Christian College (IL): Patti Power, professor of education, to assist with development of a deaf education program at a college in Jamaica
Messiah College (PA): Edward Davis, distinguished professor of the history of science, a Fulbright Specialist award to serve as a short-term guest lecturer in New Zealand Messiah College (PA): Michael Cosby, distinguished professor of New Testament and Greek, in Cyprus to conduct research on Joseph Barnabas, an important but neglected saint North Park University (IL): Aaron Nilson, 2010 graduate in Spanish and global studies, English Teaching Assistantship in Brazil
Wheaton College (IL): Marjorie Brumm, 2011 graduate in anthropology and communication, English Teaching Assistantship in Indonesia Wheaton College (IL): Eileen Sleesman, 2011 graduate in anthropology, English Teaching Assistantship in Germany Wheaton College (IL): Kristine Solo, 2010 graduate in German and Spanish and a current M.A. in Teaching student, English Teaching Assistantship in Germany
Learning at Indiana Wesleyan University has been collecting data through entrance
6
and exit surveys for over 10 years. Recently,
all circumstances. Nearly three-quarters of
the Center compared data from nearly 640
the students (71.3 percent) reported their
students in the 2009 entering cohort at two
knowledge about Christianity increased and
Christian college adult programs to 690 2011
over half (54.1 percent) reported their attitude
graduates to see how their spiritual lives and
toward Christianity is more positive as a result
attitudes compare.
of their Christian college experience.
The results of the analysis show strong
The survey also reveals that there is no
evidence that Christian colleges are having a
significant difference in graduation rates by
significant impact on adult students’ spiritual
race when comparing African Americans to
lives. Statistical analysis of questions regarding
Caucasians. Contrary to what is happening
students’ spiritual development indicates a
across the nation in secular schools, African-
significant increase in Christian behaviors
American adult students in Christian colleges
such as prayer, church attendance, forgiving
are just as likely to graduate as are Caucasian
others, volunteering, and thankfulness in
adult students.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
by the numbers
Institutional Default Rates by Institutional Type and Year 2009 Entire sector 8.82% Private not-for-profit 4yrs+ 4.54% CCCU institutions 4.22%
Around the council
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Is CCCU Member Alumna
AKA | Presidential Changes
Leymah Gbowee, one of three women jointly awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, earned
Harrisonburg, Va. Only 12 other women have
The following institutions have experienced presidential transitions in the last year. The new presidents are listed with their start dates for each campus.
won the Nobel Peace Prize in its 110-year history.
Alderson-Broaddus College (WV): Rick Creehan, June 2011
The Nobel Committee selected the 2011 awardees for their non-violent
Gordon College (MA): D. Michael Lindsay, July 2011
a master’s degree in conflict transformation in 2007 from Eastern Mennonite University in
struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work, stating Gbowee “mobilized and organized women
Milligan College (TN): Bill Greer, July 2011
across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long war
Shorter University (GA): Donald Dowless, June 2011
in Liberia, and to ensure women’s participation in elections.” Gbowee has since “worked to enhance the influence of women in West Africa during
Southern Wesleyan University (SC): Todd Voss, July 2011
and after war.” She is a central figure in the documentary “Pray the Devil Back to Hell,” which is airing on PBS stations this fall.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
7
Around the council
Student Programs
The India Studies Program Welcomes First Students
Faculty Visit CCCU’s BestSemester Programs Faculty members who visit a BestSemester student program gain an unrivaled perspective
BestSemester’s India Studies Program began its inaugural semester September 7. India’s
of what their students experience and leave with a fresh understanding of the importance of
diverse culture provides a rich and engaging
programs outside the traditional classroom.
setting for equipping students to be servant-
BestSemester’s Contemporary Music Center
tour will begin in Costa Rica and end in Cuba.
hosted an official faculty visit at its new
“Our hope is that this trip will be a kind of
Nashville facility May 23-27. During the visit,
‘Mini-LASP,’ where participants will not so
a dozen faculty members became better
much observe from a distance what LASP
acquainted with the CMC experience their
semester participants experience, but rather
students encounter and participated in a
that faculty might have their own meaning-
professional
filled
development
workshop
that
helped participants build, develop, or expand on the contemporary music curriculum at their universities. The CMC plans to hold another faculty tour in May 2012. BestSemester’s Latin American Studies Program
Latin
American
encounter,”
says
Anthony Chamberlain, LASP director. For more information about opportunities for campus faculty and staff to visit Be st S eme ster programs, ple ase visit www.bestsemester.com/studytours.
will host a faculty tour May 18-28, 2012. The
leaders in a world of pluralistic beliefs, cultures, and needs. ISP will challenge students to discover for themselves a variety of ways to address the needs of the poor and disenfranchised, acting as agents of salt and light in a broken world. ISP is structured to provide students with immersion in a local community as well as broad exposure to a variety of peoples, places, and customs in India, including an extensive two-week travel portion that will afford students a close-up look at India’s diversity. Students are participating in two core courses that offer a broad overview of India’s historical, religious, geographical, and economic landscape and
AKA |
Academic Officer Changes
Conferences & Events
are also taking courses in their major areas with Indian students and professors.
Upcoming CCCU Events On December 1, the CCCU will kick off the 2011-2012 peer conference season with
Columbia International University (SC): James Lanpher, June 2011 Franciscan University of Steubenville (OH): Daniel Kempton, July 2011 LeTourneau University (TX): Philip Coyle, July 2011 Mid-American Christian University (OK): Kathaleen Reid-Martinez, August 2010 Northwest Nazarene University (ID): Burton Webb, July 2010 Prairie Bible College (Alberta): Kevin Peters, May 2010 Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (NC): Kenneth Keathley, Fall 2011 William Jessup University (CA): Dennis Jameson, August 2011
the Financial Aid Administrators Conference. The Council has put together a variety of conferences and events that inform, encourage, challenge, and inspire members. Upcoming events include: 2011 Free Market Forum - Oct. 27, 2011 CCCU Research Roundtable - Nov. 3, 2011 • 2011 Financial Aid Administrators Conference - Dec. 1-3, 2011 • 2012 PR/Communications Officers Conference - Jan. 4-6, 2012 • 2012 Chief Enrollment Officers Conference - Jan. 4-6, 2012 • 36th Annual Presidents Conference - Jan. 31- Feb 3, 2012 • 2012 Campus Ministry Directors Conference - Feb. 16-18, 2012 • 2012 Chief Institutional Advancement Officers Conference - Feb. 22-24, 2012 • 2012 Chief Student Development Officers Conference - March 7-9, 2012 • 2012 Chief Academic Officers Conference - March 21-23, 2012 • 2012 Commission on Technology Conference - May 29-31, 2012 • 2012 Chief Financial Officers Conference - June 6-8, 2012 • 2012 New Presidents Institute - July 7-10, 2012 • •
•
2012 Governance Institute - July 12-14, 2012
For more information on the CCCU Conferences & Events schedule, visit www.cccu.org/conferences_events.
8
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
Around the council
find your next vendor CCCUVendor DirectorY:
product & service providers to christ-centered higher education To start your search, please visit cccu.org/vendordirectory.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
9
from capitol hill
Defending Secular as Sacred By Shapri D. LoMaglio, J.D.
O
n October 5, the U. S. Supreme Court
many of its schools, the brief affirms the principle
strain on the ability of parachurch organiza-
heard oral arguments for a crucial re-
firmly held within the CCCU that all truth is God’s
tions to defend the religious nature of the social,
ligious freedom case, Hosanna-Tabor
truth and, thus, all learning can be infused with
medical, educational, and other such work their
Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v.
such Truth. Pointing to writings, studies, and
employees do. Establishing a secular-sacred
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
scholarship on faith and learning, the CCCU brief
distinction at the Supreme Court would open
and Cheryl Perich. This case will determine
emphasized the sincere, legitimate, holistic inte-
wide the doors for intrusive state inquiry into
whether the Supreme Court will uphold the min-
gration of faith into all learning and all aspects of
what activity is religious enough to be protected
isterial exception, a First Amendment doctrine
campus life. Disavowed is any accusation that
and, consequently, into the overall religious le-
widely applied by circuit courts that dismisses
religious principles are merely subterfuge for em-
gitimacy of parachurch organizations.
without trial most employment-related lawsuits
ployment discrimination in this case.
against religious organizations brought by em-
The stakes of this important religious freedom
tections to religious organizations than to church-
case were raised when the Department of Justice
es appears in the recent Health and Human
While the circuit courts agree that the ministe-
intervened on behalf of the EEOC and rejected a
Services regulations that mandate contraceptive
rial exception applies to positions such as priest,
general ministerial exception altogether in favor of
rabbi, and pastor, they are divided regarding the
case-by-case application only to employees who
extent to which this exception can be applied to
perform “exclusively religious functions.” This
other employees. In this case, the plaintiff, Cheryl
rejection prompted Chief Justice John Roberts
Perich was a “called teacher,” a commissioned
to point out that even the Pope, who performs
minister in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Syn-
important secular functions as the chief executive
od, in a school that seeks to provide a “Christ-
of Vatican City, would not meet their test.
ployees performing religious functions.
centered education.” In her suit, Perich accused
10
Another example of attempts to grant lesser pro-
coverage, including some emergency contraceptives considered to be abortifacients, for all group health care plans. Creating a religious employer exemption that would essentially exempt only churches, these regulations disregard the sincerely held beliefs and religious conscience rights of other, non-church organizations and would give government agencies the role of determin-
the church of violating the Americans with Dis-
The importance of the ministerial exception can-
ing which organizations are religious enough to
abilities Act when it fired her after a disability-
not be overstated. This exception prevents courts
be granted an exemption. (For additional details
related leave of absence. The church, however,
from unconstitutionally entangling themselves in
on these regulations see page 3).
maintains it fired her because she threatened
matters of religion by having to hear testimony
to sue the church, violating a central teaching of
from theological experts arguing whether hiring
Lutheran doctrine requiring church members to
only male priests is a legitimate interpretation of
prosecute internal disputes before the denomina-
Catholic teachings, or whether requiring church
tion’s governing body rather than in civil courts.
members to resolve disputes in church tribunals
While the district court agreed with the church’s
is a true holding of Lutheran doctrine. While the
argument that allowing Perich to sue would vio-
Court’s adoption of the test proposed by the
late its First Amendment right to choose religious
Obama administration would most certainly un-
employees who uphold the religious mission of
dermine this important exception, it would also
the school, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals re-
suggest that different legal protections be af-
jected the application of the ministerial exception
forded to churches than to other religious orga-
to Perich because “her religious activities [only]
nizations, an outcome that would be especially
consumed 45 minutes out of a seven-hour day.”
troubling to CCCU institutions.
Such quantitative analysis is very troubling, as it
As highlighted by Chief Justice Roberts’ point
requires all activities or subjects of study to be
about the Pope, defending secular as sacred
designated as either secular or sacred. In its am-
would be hard enough in the context of a
icus brief filed in support of the Lutheran school,
church, so establishing the precept that only
the CCCU strongly rejects such distinction. Stat-
those performing exclusively religious functions
ing the mission of the CCCU, as well as that of
can be considered ministerial would put added
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
The courts have long recognized the perils of placing themselves as the arbiter of determining which groups of people are religious enough or interpreting church doctrine as it relates to employment decisions, and we are hopeful that the decision in this case will uphold this proper separation of church and state. Since the court of public opinion also impacts such matters, we, along with our allies in these issues, must continue to make the case that CCCU institutions, religious charities, and other religious organizations do not perform religious functions as a part of their larger “secular” purpose, but rather that their “secular” functions exist only because of their religious mission. Shapri D. LoMaglio is the Government Relations and Executive Programs Director at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. A native of Tucson, Ariz., Shapri is a graduate of Gordon College and of the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law.
R&D
CCCU Hires New Research Staff to Further Research Agenda by Ashley Walters
A
s of August 15, P. Jesse Rine is serving as the CCCU’s director of research and
unteers to chart out and then implement a
grants initiatives. In this newly-created position, Rine provides leadership and acts
comprehensive research agenda for Christ-
as a liaison for CCCU member and affiliate campus-based researchers to encour-
centered higher education,” says Rine.
age their participation in research projects in support of Christ-centered higher education. In particular, Rine will coordinate the Council’s annual data collection efforts, issue peri-
odic topic-driven research reports on behalf of the Council, and convene teams of CCCU faculty to take on large-scale research projects.
In early 2012, Rine expects to issue a research report on behalf of the Council to provide an overview of the current state of Christian higher education in the United
Rine holds a bachelor’s degree in Christian
today’s college students,” Rine says of his
States. “This study will serve as the first in
thought from Grove City College in Pennsyl-
most recent research. “This national dataset
a series of Council research reports and will
vania, a Master of Arts in Teaching in Latin
allows researchers to examine how institu-
present a snapshot of our institutions and
from Washington University in St. Louis,
tional factors shape student faith develop-
their characteristics,” he explains. Future
Mo., and a doctorate in higher education
ment over time, a phenomenon at the core
reports will detail studies conducted by the
from the University of Virginia. Prior to join-
of the mission of Christian higher education.”
Council to further the research agenda and
ing the CCCU, Rine served as a research associate at the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (CASTL-HE) at the University of Virginia.
to accomplish, in part, the Council’s straHe says that in his research using the CSBV
tegic commitment to strengthen research,
dataset, he has found that students attend-
data collection, analysis, and use.
ing CCCU member institutions experience spiritual growth during the college years
In 2009, Rine received a grant from the
when they have professors who model
Higher Education Research Institute (HERI)
Christian faith. This finding is especially
at the University of California Los Angeles
relevant because CCCU member institu-
to analyze a longitudinal dataset created as
tions are required to hire only professing
part of its Project on Spirituality in Higher
Christians as faculty members. Rine adds,
Education, a multi-year research initiative
“Though students can experience spiritual
funded by the John Templeton Founda-
growth in a number of diverse institutional
tion. Rine’s chapter, “Christian College Per-
environments, we now have quantitative
sistence in the Postmodern Turn,” details
evidence that the CCCU hiring requirement
those analyses and is set to appear in the
actually helps to establish the conditions
forthcoming volume, Spirituality Enacted in
demonstrated to predict for increases in
Higher Education: Translating Research into
student faith commitment.”
Practice, edited by Alyssa N. Bryant Rockenbach and Matthew Mayhew. In addition, his study “Committed to Faith yet Open to Difference: Validating a Model for Fallibilist Christian Spirituality among College Students” is scheduled to appear in the Journal of College Student Development in 2012.
Ashley Walters is the former managing editor of Equip to Disciple magazine of the Presbyterian Church in America. A graduate of Furman University and The George Washington University, she resides in Washington, D.C.
This November, Rine will lead the CCCU Research Roundtable convened by President Paul Corts and hosted by Azusa Pacific University. A number of higher education researchers from CCCU member and affiliate campuses have been invited to help construct and prioritize a national research
“The longitudinal data collected by Alexan-
agenda for Christian higher education. “We
der Astin, Helen Astin, and Jennifer Lind-
have assembled a talented and experienced
holm via the College Student Beliefs and
group of researchers representing the geo-
Values provides a remarkable resource for
graphic reach and rich denominational heri-
college impact scholars seeking to under-
tage of the CCCU. I am delighted to have the
stand the role of spirituality in the lives of
opportunity to partner with our faculty vol-
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
11
Faith & Learning
Grappling with Scholarship and Biblical Truth
I
n 1975, Professor Arthur Holmes published The Idea of the Christian College, where he helped frame a series of questions about the relationship between human inquiry and the Christian faith. In the past 35 years, countless books, articles, essays, and, more recently blogs have engaged in the deep discussion and robust debate regarding what has been referred to as faith integration, or in more recent times, as faith, living, and learning.
In this new section of the Advance, we are providing space for faculty, administrators, and other scholars who work across multiple disciplines
and different denominational and church traditions, to engage in reflection on what we take to be an essential core of our work as Christian educators. Namely, how does our Christian faith inform the way in which we think and study within our respective disciplines, and just as importantly, how do our disciplines help shape our understanding of our Christian faith? In each Advance issue, we will invite you, our readers, to respond to a prompting question which we hope will draw out the richness, beauty, and complexity of approaches to faith, living, and learning. With over 20,000 faculty members across the CCCU representing the best in liberal arts and sciences, professional studies, and the new areas of inquiry emerging each year, there are virtually limitless possibilities for this work. Our hope is that this column will provide space for reflection and robust discussion on the nature of our task in Christian higher education. We hope you will be encouraged to think deeply about your own calling as a leader in this great work, and be inspired and challenged by what you read in this space. Ronald P. Mahurin CCCU Interim Vice President for Professional Development & Research
What is the biggest challenge to integrating faith into your discipline, and how do you overcome this challenge?
recting itself. Other students see themselves
creation’s age often depends on the confi-
as intellectually superior because they em-
dence they place on the methods of natural
brace the “facts” of science rather than the
science and the confidence they place on
“opinions” of theologians.
the methods of biblical interpretation. I do
My goal is to help students see that both Steve Badger Professor of Chemistry Evangel University Several issues in biology are readily informed by both biblical faith and natural science (e.g., creation care, evolution, and the differences between humans and other animals),
science and biblical faith are the result of human interpretation: one of natural phenomena, the other (primarily) of sacred ancient texts. Thus, neither can claim complete objectivity; both are subjective, at least
not try to persuade students to embrace a young or an ancient creation, but I try to help them properly evaluate evidences in order to understand the issues and each position’s strengths and weaknesses. I find integration less obvious in my chemistry
in part, and therefore fallible. Consequently,
classes. I keep asking myself, “How are my
the conclusion a person reaches regarding
chemistry courses at a Christian university dif-
making integration easy, if not necessary. My biggest challenge in biology has two sides: avoiding condescension while presenting scientific evidences for an ancient creation and avoiding condescension while presenting a variety of theological interpretations of Genesis as it relates to the age of creation. Some students consider themselves spiritually superior because they view Scripture as unchanging and science as constantly cor-
12
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
Badger
Baker
Ballard
Beversluis
Faith & learning
ferent from those I taught at a public commu-
While all of their suggestions are not of equal
I relay this story because I feel most a part
nity college? How can my Christian faith inform
value, I use these to encourage students to
of the mission of George Fox University when
my understanding of chemistry?”
continue looking for evidences of the Creator’s
I am engaged in relationships with students,
nature and power in all of their science courses
faculty, and donors. We use the phrase “be
and work. I hope they leave university aware
known” to describe our vision. God has given
that faith and science should inform each other.
each person a unique story, and we want to
Romans 1:18-20 claims that God’s creation reveals certain things about God, because His “… invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen…from what has been made…” (NIV). My classes usually have little trouble naming a few divine qualities
know that story and empower that student or
Robin Baker President George Fox University
donor to fulfill God’s call. When I take the time to walk alongside those engaged at George Fox, as the runner Eric Liddle once said, “I
and how chemistry reveals these. Typically, or-
On the first day of orientation this fall I met
der is named early in the discussion. We might
John, a student who had just flown in from
discuss the orderliness of atomic structure and
Massachusetts. His parents couldn’t make it
Holding firm to my passion of engaging in re-
the properties of the elements.
for orientation, so he had to go through the
lationships can be challenging. As president,
orientation process alone. He was thousands
there are many obstacles along the way that
of miles from home, in a different culture with
test my faith. The frustrations of students,
new people. At the time, I didn’t really think a
faculty, and staff bubble up to my office. An-
great deal about it.
gry parents sometimes call. We never have
Students frequently name a love of beauty as another aspect of God’s nature. Beautiful chemistry is more than just 4th of July fireworks. I tell them of hearing my biochemistry
feel the pleasure of God.”
enough money to do what we would really like
professor describe Watson and Crick’s double
After George Fox’s orientation ended, my wife
helical model of DNA as beautiful and the
and I took our daughter away to college and
Meselson-Stahl experiment, which demon-
found out how difficult the transition can be.
strated the semi-conservative nature of DNA
As a result of my own experience, I returned
replication, as elegant. Students sometimes
to campus and had the admissions staff pro-
find chemical analogies to God’s consistency
vide me with a list of students who had come
(2 Cor. 1:18-20) or compare isotopes of a
alone and were far from home. I wrote a note
Things seem to conspire to consume my time,
single isotope to the triune Godhead.
to each of them and invited them into a con-
disrupting my day and my rhythm. I start to think,
versation. Several of them took me up on the
“Lord, why am I here?” Then, all of a sudden, a
offer of conversation over coffee.
student drops by and pops her head in the door.
If I ask the class to calculate God’s power, they usually claim we cannot, since his power is infinite. Using E=mc2, a mass (m) estimat-
I so much enjoyed sitting with John and hear-
ed at between 6x1052 to 4x1079 kg and a
ing about his dreams, what he believed God
speed of light in a vacuum (c=almost 3x108
was calling him to be, and what he believed he
m/s) squared, we calculate an enormous
needed to do to achieve that dream. I learned
value for energy, giving them an indication
about his family and his friends back home. I
of the energy our Creator expended to create
felt his homesickness and shared just a bit in
our universe.
his life story. I was glad God called him to be a part of our institution.
to do. Two employees are mad at each other and need a referee. Five people need an answer now. Some say we’re too conservative, others say we’re too liberal. There is little time to read, think, and pray.
“Pres B, you got a few minutes?” It’s then I remember: I am here for students. I’m here to help George Fox become a place where students are known for serving the world in the name of Jesus. Jack Ballard, Jr. Associate Professor of Music Malone University In my field of music production and industry, there are numerous dichotomies: balancing an academic focus within the liberal arts with a focus on lived vocation; balancing an equally paradoxical
Diddams
Long
Naugle
Smith
Visser
relationship
between the sacred
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
13
Faith & learning
and the secular, as they have been known to be
becoming a hypocrite on one side or the other,
called; and balancing pragmatism at the risk of
or discovering the elusive position that there
artistic prostitution compared against the pure
is after all no conflict and the solution lies in
but starving artist.
embracing both sides of the performance di-
Yet, the solution is the same in all of these di-
chotomy under grace.
chotomies. The gospel’s paradoxical nature
Overt lecturing on the gospel in music often
makes possible such marriages. To discount
elicits no response from students focused
one aspect or the other—whether academy or
more on signing a record deal, but teaching
industry, faith or learning—does a disservice
from experience develops empathy with them.
to both and disregards the example of human
It is interesting to be in the middle of discuss-
marriage in which the unity itself fulfills rather
ing the intricacies of music production and
than negates the individual. It is not the effort to
suddenly find myself describing how to do our
of possibilities for thinking about our work has
bring both aspects together that is difficult. It is
best in honor of and ultimately as a sweet sac-
shifted. I sometimes describe current state-
the realization that—and this is a severe para-
rifice to God. The work we do and the gospel
ments as focusing on person, practice, and
digm shift for artists—the solution envelops the
are not mutually exclusive.
proposition. Faculty examine how disciplinary
concept of both/and rather than either/or, or the even more unfortunate compromise between.
As a friend of mine in the recording industry once said regarding his secular writing, “If
Practically, the most visible contention sur-
you are living by the Spirit, then there is noth-
rounding music probably relates to music
ing you can create that does not eventually
played in the church. Opinions often seem to be
reflect Christ.” I have found this to be true, not
polarized on the most inane subjects, as people
only in the industry but also in the classroom.
blur the lines between personal preferences and doctrines. Performance is an example.
knowing arises from our unique identities as Christian persons; they reflect on the thoughtful incorporation of formative patterns and actions into teaching and scholarship; and they examine and construct worldview assertions or propositions that can lead to further insight into both their academics and their faith. All of these approaches are needed in Christian
Claudia Beversluis Provost Calvin College
colleges today.
Our CCCU colleges exist because we believe
inherently interdisciplinary work. Many of the
However, while we see Herod stricken by death
that doing significant academic work from the
academic questions that most need Christian
after accepting adorers’ adulation in Acts 12:22-
perspective of faith is our calling. That doesn’t
reflection and practice are at the exciting inter-
make it easy. From my perspective as an aca-
sections of traditional disciplines—questions
demic administrator, below are some of the
about good communities, healthy cities, the role
more significant challenges to the kind of faith
for the arts and humanities, food policy, health
and learning integration we hope to nurture
care, biological interventions, identity, sexual-
and practice at our colleges.
ity, and so on. We need theology and biblical
Complainants state their conviction that performance should never be a part of leading worship, lest focus be taken off worship’s Purpose.
24, we also see the Lord admonishing Israel in Malachi 1:6-8 for offering diseased animals on His altar. My students have struggled with this performance dichotomy. For some, the response is the somewhat hypocritical dual lifestyle of displaying a demeanor of overt humility
Bringing faith and academic work together is
knowledge that go beyond what many of us The sheer breadth of possibilities for faith-
have studied. We need multiple perspectives,
shaped teaching and scholarship is both a bar-
from theorists and practitioners in many areas.
rier and invitation. New faculty, full of faith and
Creating learning communities that can tackle
educated in their disciplines but immersed in
these big questions is an administrator’s dream
university culture for the past few years, find
but is hard to do in practice. At Calvin College,
the task of bringing faith to bear in a deep
one source of particularly timely and generative
way to be challenging. They frequently ask
thinking has come from our practice of faculty
for a rubric or model for the faith and learn-
book groups. For relatively modest funding from
In the classroom, having experience with such
ing statements they are asked to write at hire,
a variety of sources across campus, 10-12 fac-
dichotomies aids teaching, for no Christian
reappointment, and tenure. But the models
ulty members define an area for learning, buy
musician who succeeds as a full-time profes-
are changing: as we have come to know more
and read multiple books together, and, often,
sional can face these contradictions without
about the construction of knowledge, the range
produce a monograph, conference, event, or
in worship band on Sunday then performing in a working band or orchestra during the week. In reality, there is no more conflict for musicians than for the church’s Sunday treasurer who works at a secular accounting firm the rest of the week. It is all done to and for God’s glory, fulfilling the whole person.
14
“The work we do and the gospel are not mutually exclusive.”
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
Faith & learning
some other product that moves the conversa-
the product per se but the faithful intent of
this requested minute would transform the way
tions forward.
the scholarship that may impact the conse-
I teach business law, or any other course for
Sometimes the faith and learning work we
quence of such research.
that matter. The student proceeded to say, “I transferred here from a state school because I
most need on our campuses is avoided be-
So rather than create a playbook by which to
cause we are afraid. Some new learning
judge what constitutes Christian scholarship,
comes with controversy. If one reads even the
I stress to our new faculty to think about the
short list above, one sees the potential for dis-
questions that interest them as they grapple
agreements—about the meaning of the Bibli-
with making sense of both their faith and field.
cal text, or implications of the tradition, or the
While much of integrative scholarship has
needs of the church, or the relevance of disci-
tended to focus on theoretical work such as
plinary knowledge. It is hard to remain true to
questioning underlying presuppositions, cri-
Stung, I walked back to my office disappointed
our calling. But the beauty of our campuses is
tiquing epistemologies, and putting forward
in myself because I had failed to make my class
that we are not called to act as lone scholars,
new paradigms, Christianity can also inform
“distinctively faith-informed.” As a member of
but to be in covenant with each other and with
empirical work.
the Christian academy, it was (and is) my re-
the churches that have supported us. The covenant keeps us humble and gives us courage. Margaret Diddams Director of the Center for Scholarship and Faculty Development Seattle Pacific University Integrating Christian faith into scholarship is difficult work to undertake. There are the obvious challenges: faculty at Christian institutions do not always have adequate theological training nor were they likely to be intentionally exposed to such scholarship during their graduate work. Then there is the limited availability of academic venues in which Christian faculty can present and publish such integrated scholarship. Finally, institutions’ standards for judging productivity may preclude scholarship published in journals that do accept integrative work but do not measure up in their impact score. Regardless of these truly significant issues, the biggest challenge in working with faculty to consider integrating a faith perspective into their scholarship is the very nebulous
In my field of psychology, Christians are engaged in examining questions that are both implicitly and explicitly an outgrowth of their
attempt to prove the tenets of faith through the lens of one’s academic field, there is no
three weeks into your business law class, and you have yet to incorporate a Christian’s approach to the legal system. Is there anything different about your course than the one offered at [the state school]?”
sponsibility to take a legal topic like contract law and make a space for the students to discuss inherent conflicts between legal teachings and Kingdom teachings. So, I pulled out my syllabus
Christian faith. Some examples of this implicit
and laid it alongside my Bible. I began creating
scholarship include research on character vir-
a new matrix for the course that included col-
tues such as forgiveness, gratitude, and humil-
umns for not only the legal topic to be covered,
ity and their effect on human flourishing; the
but also for the faith lesson to be shared and
differences between guilt and shame; authen-
pondered by the students.
tic leadership; intrinsic motivation; self-control; moral self-identity; other-orientation; subjective well-being and life satisfaction; redeeming aspects of suffering and grief; social support, coping, and resiliency; and the impact of worldviews on ethical sensitivity. More explicit research includes one’s sense of calling and vocation, correlates of religiosity, pastoral burn-out, God-images, and the similarities between spirituality and religiosity. Getting faculty to think generatively this way frees them to think more creatively of what it means to do Christian scholarship and to focus more importantly on how their research could have lasting consequences for the kingdom.
nature of this scholarship itself. While Christian scholarship should not be seen as an
was looking for a Christian education. We are
Charla Long Dean of the College of Professional Studies Lipscomb University
agreement that Christian scholarship is even
I was exiting my classroom after finishing a
a category separate from other scholarly en-
business law session on the elements of a valid
deavors. To this end, philosopher Nicholas
contract when I heard a student say, “Dr. Long,
Wolterstorff has made the point that it is not
do you have a minute?” Little did I know that
At the next class session, I went before my students and publicly thanked the bold individual who challenged me as a teacher to be more deliberate about sharing lessons of faith when teaching statutes, regulations, and case law. After I humbly apologized for my shortcomings, we spent the class period wrestling with I Corinthians 6:1-8, Matthew 18:15-20, and Romans 13:1-7. It was one of the best class sessions of my academic career. Since then, my students and I often discuss issues such as: •
Why do we need laws in the first place?
• Can a Christian sue someone else? Does the answer change if the person is a fellow believer? Should we convene tribunals for believers? • Does a Christian have a right to defend herself in a court of law? • Can a business be a “Christian” business? What does this mean? Are there legal ramifications?
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
15
Faith & learning
• Why isn’t a handshake enough? Why must we have contracts? • If we are supposed to turn the other cheek, why do we have all of these tort provisions? •
Should a Christian ever file for bankruptcy?
•
Is it okay for a Christian to own insurance?
You see, when I taught business like I did in the University of Wisconsin system—just delivering pure academic content—it was safe for me. Teaching law from a faith-informed perspective
In concrete, disciplinary terms, this means that
cause faith and art are naturally at odds with
Christ converts philosophy.
each other. It is because all too often the evan-
An Alvin Plantinga point is now most applicable: are Christian philosophers courageous enough
What makes faith integration in contemporary
that grace restores philosophy? Thus, Christian
evangelical cinema untrue? After eight years of
philosophers, Plantinga says, need “courage,
working with over 500 cinema students from
or boldness, or strength, or perhaps Christian
CCCU institutions all across the country, I can
self-confidence” to act on this in their vocations
say with some authority that the vast major-
(Alvin Plantinga, “Advice to Christian Philoso-
ity of our students despise recent “Christian”
phers,” Faith & Philosophy 1 (1984), p. 254).
films, including Facing the Giants, Fireproof,
So come to think of it, maybe the lack of and
and for me. I am convinced that raising the dif-
need for courage, boldness, strength, and
ficult faith questions related to my academic
Christian self-confidence is really the greatest
discipline and not always having the answers to
obstacle and the greatest challenge in integrat-
my students’ questions is God’s design for my
ing faith and learning or faith and philosophy,
classroom—even when it makes me uncom-
whatever the discipline may be.
that I am not the all-knowing, He is.
The question, of course, is how to do it? How
and the like. I have pushed students to describe why they loathe these films, given that they are produced by and distributed to people of their own faith tradition. The reasons vary, but all stem from a sense that these films provide easy answers to complicated situations. As another CCCU educator, Craig Detweiler, has insightfully noted, Christian films are often
may we gain and impart courage, boldness,
about making nice people nicer.
strength, and Christian self-confidence to stu-
What’s the problem with that? Well, “nice” nei-
David Naugle Professor of Philosophy and Distinguished University Professor Dallas Baptist University
dents in philosophy (or any discipline). Here’s
ther resonates with the truth we know from our
my answer: by example.
experience nor with the truth of Scripture, the
One of the biggest challenges to integrating faith
all, every one of us—young and old alike—
and philosophy arises from a failure to grasp the
natural born imitators. Understudies will learn
revolutionary nature of the relationship of nature
cowardice or courage, timidity or boldness,
and grace in the context of the Christian story
weakness or strength, insecurity or Christian
or narrative.
self-confidence from their mentors.
Nature, here, signifies a reference to all of life
I am certainly a candidate to be impressed
palette, the resulting work will be false. Fur-
and culture. Grace, of course, is indicative of
positively or negatively by my seniors, peers,
thermore, if we find it essential to censor such
God’s work of redemption in Jesus Christ. How,
and juniors. You probably are too. St. Paul gets
aspects of human experience in a screenplay,
then, does grace relate to nature, so under-
it just right when he says in 1 Timothy 1:7 that
then the Bible needs a rewrite. Read Judges
stood? In other words, what is the relationship
“God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power
19:22-29. A biblical character gives his sex
of Christ or Christianity and culture?
and love and self-control.” Let us live this out for
slave to a mob that rapes her to death, then
the sakes of those above, below, and equal to
takes her dead body and hacks her to pieces,
us. May others live this out for our sake.
then ships those pieces to all corners of the land
If we embrace an inherent theological unity in the overall biblical narrative such that creation and
It may sound simplistic, but it is true. We are
recognize that Christ’s gracious redemption restores all things: grace restores nature, even if, on occasion, grace opposes, learns from, and stands
ultimate measure of truth in evangelical tradition. “Nice” is often equated with films that have no “bad” language, perhaps mild violence, and certainly nothing approaching an honest depiction of the human form and human sexuality. The problem is, if we remove significant aspects of human experience from the cinematic artist’s
just to make a point (a scene that would make
new creation are inter-connected, then we should
16
superficial, simplistic, and ultimately untrue.
to act on the idea that grace restores nature,
is so much more challenging for my students
fortable as a teacher. Each day He reminds me
gelical “faith” being integrated into the art is
Michael C. Smith Associate Professor of Cinematic Arts Azusa Pacific University
even Tony Soprano blush). God’s word does not shy away from graphic, honest depictions of our fallen nature. Neither should God’s artists.
in tension with nature as well. (For a helpful dis-
Christian film students face a common ob-
The central events of the gospel are emblematic
cussion of nature and grace, see Jan Veenhof’s
stacle: forcibly integrating faith in a cinematic
of this kind of faith integration. Easter has deep
Nature and Grace in Herman Bavinck, translated
story has all the grace and beauty of jamming
meaning to us because it is preceded by the
by Albert Wolters, Dordt College Press, 2006).
a square peg in a round hole. This is not be-
graphic obscenity of Good Friday, not despite
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
Faith & learning
those awful events. Good cinematic storytellers know this to be true. Sadly, the people most likely to condemn truthful, blood-and-guts rep-
John Visser Professor of Business Administration Dordt College
resentations of God’s world in art are we evan-
Corporate finance is a challenging area for in-
gelicals. The greatest obstacle to faith integra-
tegrating Christian perspective for a variety of
tion in the cinematic arts is us.
reasons. Financial theory and practices, as well
In practice, I have tried to find a way to help our students overcome the lack of an exemplary cinematic aesthetic in the evangelical tradition. I don’t give students a list of what they can or cannot show on screen. Rather,
as spreadsheet and financial calculator skills, must all be mastered, leaving limited time for the development of Christian perspective. In addition, financial models encompass a complex of goals, values, methodologies, and economic and accounting assumptions, constructed over
as all truth is God’s truth, I tell them I don’t
several decades by people who assumed that
care about content as much as I care about
religious beliefs are not relevant to corporate
truth. With that simple guide, they are left to
finance.
tell whatever story they choose depicted in whatever manner they choose. In my experience overseeing 750 films, students do not abuse the freedom. Rather, they carry the burden of the responsibility well.
“… maybe the lack of and need for courage, boldness, strength, and Christian selfconfidence is really the greatest obstacle…”
I incorporate Christian perspective in this subject by addressing the subject matter as a whole rather than the individual components. I start out by noting how what students do in the classroom in a corporate finance course
ers can do for their companies and the world can be easily demonstrated. Also, by breaking down the stock price valuation formulas into their math-
Last year our students made a film about a
is quite close to what professionals need to
teenage girl suffering all manner of abuse
do in the real world. I then help them identify
from her broken, working-class family with a
such things as their strengths, weaknesses,
penchant for “bad” words. The film ultimately
attitudes, habits, and fears in order to con-
affirms love as God’s means for redemption
vince them of the need to use the challenging
in our lives, but it does not shy away from
nature of the course to develop themselves
depicting evil truthfully, nor does it offer easy
and to help others in needed, God-glorifying
This groundwork opens the door to demonstrat-
answers (the girl ultimately runs away from
ways. As such, I try to keep the focus as
ing how misguided goals or ends-justifies-means
home). This film went on to earn acceptance
much or more on character and life skills as
thinking can lead to the destruction of value and
at five nationally competitive festivals in just
corporate finance skills.
much human suffering (à la Enron), and how
a few months—more than any other undergraduate film I have overseen. I believe this kind of faith integration will lead this generation of evangelical filmmakers to be the first to
I also try to help them understand how corporate finance, like other bodies of knowledge, reflects the religious orientation of its primary architects. Textbook authors will emphasize
ematical components (e.g., cash flows, growth rates, interest rates, and measures of risk), it can be demonstrated how people’s worldviews and ethics will directly or indirectly affect these components and, therefore, value creation.
Christians, like the late Kenneth Lay (former Enron CEO), can become ensnared in corporate wrongdoing when they do not see God’s call extending well beyond religiosity, morality, and ethics. It also permits discussions of how, for
make a notable impact on the world through
profits or net present value in place of broader,
mainstream art and entertainment.
example, a secular, materialistic culture tends
religiously-informed goals like human flourish-
to develop accounting/financial and decision-
ing, service, stewardship, or shalom. Over time,
making conventions that reflect only material
then, secular goals like stock price maximiza-
assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses. And
tion and technologically-oriented methods of
although Christians cannot change these con-
reaching those goals become imbedded in the
ventions overnight, their ability to recognize the
models.
significance of things that do not show up on
We should not create and promote ugly for ugly’s sake. We should examine the stories we tell and hold them to a much less superficial standard such as cutting out all the “bad” words, sex, and violence, or mimicking some PG-13 standard. Rather,
However, by connecting the dots between terms
our much higher, faith-integrated standard
like stock price maximization and things that
should be: is it true? Any other standard is
might seem more important to Christians, like
beneath those who follow the way, the truth,
value creation or stewardship, the immense
and the life.
amount of good that corporate financial manag-
the balance sheet or income statement—such as employee values and attitudes, a well-designed piece of software, or positive customer relations—has the potential to make them better stewards of God’s gifts to the company.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
17
Money Management, Recession Style Tuition, Financial Aid Increase at CCCU Member Universities By Joy Pullmann
W
hile navigating recession-era financial gaps and tremors, CCCU schools have increased average tuition and financial aid slightly more than other private colleges and universities. For the 2011-2012 academic year, tuition at CCCU institutions rose by an average of 5.23 percent and student aid rose by an average of 10.87 percent, according to a survey by the National Association of 18
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
money management
Independent Colleges and Universities. The same survey noted that average tuition rose 4.6 percent and financial aid rose 7 percent at NAICU private colleges. To allow for increasing financial aid twice as much as average tuition, CCCU colleges and universities are squeezing other areas, such as staff, less-popular majors, and physical plant expenditures, to support their main revenue source and mission: students. Particularly in 2008, the year the recession hit, colleges saw a spike in need among current and incoming students, but student need has remained unusually high since then as the economy has struggled to recover. The recession also hit college endowments and charitable giving, dampening all of colleges’ main
“Colleges cannot pull out of the recession before their families do. We are in it with our families, and we need to continue to be as frugal as we can in our operations and be entrepreneurial to provide the education students are demanding.” Daniel Nelson Vice President for Admissions, Financial Aid, and Retention Bethel University
income streams at once. “Colleges and universities will have to be continually frugal,” says Daniel Nelson, vice president for admissions, financial aid, and retention at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn. “Colleges cannot pull out of the recession before their families do. We are in it with our families, and we need to continue to be
“We always look at each other when setting
colleges use, like building upkeep and edu-
fees. Schools will draw their competitor or
cational software, also tend to be expensive.
aspiration lists together and want to target
Economic measures like Commonfund In-
themselves appropriately for that group.”
as frugal as we can in our operations and be
Averaging $21,667, tuition at CCCU schools
entrepreneurial to provide the education stu-
in 2010-2011 is about 80 percent of the to-
dents are demanding.”
tal average tuition for all private colleges and universities, though it is nearly three times the
Stanley Clark, provost of Simpson University
average cost for public higher education this
in Redding, Calif., notes a “stewardship ethic”
fall. Consistently keeping tuition lower than
stitute’s annually-issued Higher Education Price Index, a higher education specific measure—similar to the Consumer Price Index—created by measuring average prices of certain goods and services colleges regularly use, show rapid price doubling since 1990.
among CCCU members, which means “rec-
other privates has kept CCCU members “very
Industry analysts have also started to note
ognizing we have to respect the status of a
competitive in the college world,” Clark says.
the expansion of university administrators
lot of our students who don’t have that much
as another central reason for rising costs.
money and try to price ourselves fairly reasonably in the overall market. We’re trying to emphasize our mission.”
Spiking College Costs Even Without a Recession
“Between 1993 and 2007, the number of full-time administrators per 100 students at America’s leading universities grew by 39 percent, while the number of employees en-
It is well known that the cost of college has
gaged in teaching, research or service only
soared since the 1980s. According to Clark,
grew by 18 percent,” notes a 2010 study
CCCU schools in the late ‘80s charged just
from the Goldwater Institute, a think tank in
Despite economic fluctuations, the rate of
$4,000 to $5,000 for annual tuition. Part of
Arizona. Between 1999 and 2009, CCCU
tuition increases among CCCU member col-
the reason for the steep tuition climb is the
members more than doubled their spending
leges and universities has been remarkably
steep increase in colleges’ expenses.
on administrative services, for an average in-
Long Pattern of Consistent Tuition Increases
stable at about 4 percent each year over the past 26 years, says Clark. Each year, he com-
Since schools offer labor-intensive services,
crease of 105 percent.
the rapid increase in health insurance and
“I have never met a Christian college pro-
labor costs in recent decades have pushed
fessor that didn’t want to educate his or her
prices, even without other economic pres-
students,” says John Mark Reynolds, direc-
“I can’t overemphasize how predictable we
sures at play, Bethel University’s Nelson
tor of the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola
are as a group over the decades,” he says.
says. He notes that the types of hard goods
University in La Mirada, Calif. “But they can’t
piles the CCCU tuition and financial aid report using Chronicle of Higher Education data.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
19
money management
educate in giant classes where students use
student aid. The university is also adding
clickers to participate. The largest building
programs in demand like graduate classes
on campus is full of administrators that do
and low-cost Internet courses over the next
not deal with students each day.”
10 years to “diversify revenue,” says Janice Supplee, Cedarville’s vice president for enrollment, management, and marketing. Accord-
Responding to the Present Reality Some CCCU schools have found ways to
stay where we are,” Supplee says. Supplee attributes the university’s continued increase in enrollment, up 70 students this fall and 111 students in 2010, to its new financial aid strategy. Starting in 2010, Cedarville con-
ing to its website, the university has increased
solidated its myriad grants and scholarships
its financial aid commitment more than 145
into two streams and allowed prospective
percent in the past five years.
parents and students to calculate online how much of a tuition discount they are likely to re-
respond to these factors and come out in
Cedarville made these changes after trustees
the black. Cedarville University in Ohio, for
and the financial aid staff worked with con-
example, is one of many schools trimming
sultants to review their programs and budget.
programs, such as smaller courses of study,
“We’re in a good financial position but realize
Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, Calif., in-
and supplemental support staff to focus on
the financial world is changing, and we can’t
creased its financial aid budget by $7 million
ceive, making the financial aid process easier and more transparent.
Innovative Loan Repayment Program Helps Reduce Student Anxiety By Sarah Trainor
In 2008, Huntington University in Huntington, Ind., signed on
school like Huntington means taking out student loans. LRAP
to an innovative program that assists low-income graduates with
was adopted as a new retention tool for the college, factoring
repaying student loans. Offered through the LRAP Association,
into whether financially struggling students will enroll or continue
the Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) reimburses
enrollment.
qualifying alumni for the entire amount of their quarterly loan payments when they earn $20,000 or less annually. As their salary grows, reimbursement reduces proportionally and ceases when graduates earn $40,000 per year. For Huntington students, LRAP reimburses up to $90,000 of loan repayment. Now in its third year of offering LRAP, Huntington made waves as one of the first private liberal arts colleges to adopt this program, which originally became popular with law schools. “It’s a model that’s worked on one level, and now we are trying to see if it can be adapted to a different level and setting,” says Jeff Berggren, senior vice president of enrollment management and marketing at Huntington. Huntington pays a $1,300 to $1,500 annual fee to the LRAP Association per qualifying student. Similar to insurance policies, institutions pay for students accepted into the program, but only a small portion of these students end up actually claiming the reimbursement funds. Berggren says Huntington has seen a consistent increase in tuition and recognized that, for most students, attending a CCCU
20
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
In addition to reducing anxieties commonly associated with financing private higher education, LRAP also allows graduates to pursue a calling that doesn’t pay well. Berggren notes that this is one way Huntington can assure both prospective and current students that they will not have to worry about loan repayment, especially if they pursue a career path not paved in gold. Last spring, seven of Huntington’s first LRAP students graduated. Berggren says the university’s administration is excited to hear how LRAP assists these students as they begin their careers. Eight more students participating in LRAP are slated to graduate in 2012, and Berggren says the school expects numbers to increase since the past two entering classes have more LRAP recipients. Other CCCU members participating in LRAP include Greenville College in Greenville, Ill., Judson University in Elgin, Ill., Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor, Mich., and Taylor University in Upland, Ind., as well as CCCU affiliate Central Christian College in McPherson, Kan.
money management
“We’re in a good financial position but realize the financial world is changing, and we can’t stay where we are.” Janice Supplee Vice President for Enrollment, Management, and Marketing Cedarville University
Work-Study Model Increases Job Security and Decreases Post-College Debt By Sarah Trainor
Instead of paying for the cost of education, students at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Mo., work campus jobs for their college education. Upon students’ full participation in the Work Education Program, College of the Ozarks, the only CCCU school operating on this work-study model, guarantees to meet the entire cost of education through a combination of private scholarships and grants. Students commonly begin in work departments such as laundry or security but are assigned to workstations of choice after gaining seniority and demonstrating work ethic. This provides students with valuable
this year using similar cuts, resulting in similar student enrollment in-
experience before entering post-college workplaces.
creases. The university also launched an online-only degree program in
The annual cost of education at College of the Ozarks is $17,600.
June. Ninety-two percent of APU students now receive financial aid. In
Through the Work Education Program students earn $4,060 annually
2007, this figure was 90 percent.
toward that total. Kyla McCarty, financial aid director, says the rest of
Private colleges call this difference between sticker price and what students actually pay “the discount rate.” The Department of Education is requiring all colleges and universities to post a net price calculator on their websites by fall 2011 so prospective students can see and compare discount rates. Pushed by the recession, the discount rate among all colleges rose to an all-time high of 42 percent in 2010 from previous averages around 25 percent. “Our families are becoming much more price-sensitive, which I think is in the higher education market as a whole,” says Matt Sink, director of scholarships and financial aid for Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. “They’re comparison shopping.” The burst housing bubble has also impacted colleges because families could previously take out a second mortgage to pay for college or use a house as a student loan guarantee, but that ability has evaporated as vast numbers of mortgages are now underwater, says Nelson.
Recovering from the Recession
the cost is largely covered by interest from the college’s endowment and from federal and state grants for which students qualify. “We don’t want to see students graduate with debt, but on occasion a few students do take private loans,” says McCarty, noting that those who take out private loans usually do so to cover the cost of living on or off campus. The college openly discourages debt and does not participate in any government student loan programs. According to an alumni survey of the 2009-2010 graduating class, 89.1 percent earned their degree without compiling any debt. The remaining 10.1 percent left with an average of just $5,389 in federal, state, or private loans. The college’s solid endowment helps it maintain its commitment to the work-study model. “We are very fortunate to have a large endowment. We’ve been very blessed with gift income throughout the recession,” says McCarty, noting that the school invests conservatively and, like the majority of its students, does not have any debt. Tim Huddleston, dean of development, says the work-study model gives students a great advantage. “We have an opportunity for students
Rigorous colleges with an extremely strong sense of mission have
to graduate without having a pile of debt to contend with when they
fared well within the recession. Wheaton College in Illinois avoided
leave,” he says.
borrowing through the recession and saw its endowment recover 18 percent in the last year after 2008 losses. It recently completed a $260 million capital campaign, though after extending it a year to account for current economic conditions.
In an economy where employers are highly selective, the college’s reputation for developing work ethic in students means its graduates find no trouble landing jobs. “Our students already know what it means to be at a certain place at a certain time,” notes Huddleston. “They
Ninety of the 113 CCCU members took endowment hits from
know what it means to work.” He says the college’s administration
2007 to 2009, for an average decrease of 18 percent. The mem-
is pleased that students find increased job security as a result of its
ber school that lost the most dropped 40 percent, while another
work-study model.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
21
money management
lost $100 million, 30 percent of its endowment. By now, though, most CCCU members have begun recovering and stabilizing financially, says Jesse Rine, CCCU’s director of research grants and initiatives.
thropy at Indiana University.
year, but families are still struggling.”
However, though private colleges are not as
Recessionary conditions have pushed CCCU
dependent as publics on legislative largesse,
schools to keep financially fit and prioritize
private colleges do depend heavily on state
spending, skills necessary for Christian
and federal tuition grants like Pell Grants,
stewardship, Clark from Simpson University
“It’s starting to come back, but you can see
which were nearly cut in Congress’ August
notes. Adds Calvin College’s Sink, “We’re
it’s still not where it was,” he notes, explain-
budget ceiling deal and which face likely cuts
working harder than we have in the past and
ing that at the end of 2007-2008 CCCU
in the future. Given states’ current fiscal woes
at the same time probably more wisely.”
schools held $3.82 billion in endowments
and long-term structural imbalances—states
altogether, which dropped to $3.12 billion
currently borrow one quarter of each dollar
in 2008-2009 and is now at $3.44 billion.
they spend and have $3 trillion in unfunded pension liabilities—private colleges may soon
Cautious Financial Outlook
have bigger tuition holes to fill as states and the federal government trim higher education
CCCU member colleges remain conserva-
support.
tive in price and spending forecasts as their
In the interim, however, Christian colleges
endowments recover and charitable giving works its way back toward pre-recession levels. After two years of declining by 13 percent, charitable giving ticked up 2 percent in 2010, says a 2011 report from the Center on Philan-
are taking a wary breath after several tough
Joy Pullmann is managing editor of School Reform News. She writes from Fort Wayne, Indiana.
CCCU affiliate Point University (formerly Atlanta Christian College) is staying competitive and accommodating growth by relocating next year from metropolitan Atlanta to West Point, a small Georgia town near the Alabama border. Visit www.cccu.org/advance for the story.
years. “At best I see a slow economic recovery over time,” Bethel’s Nelson says. “Our indicators of the economic condition of our families say the worst year was probably last
Reducing Tuition Pays Off for Warner Pacific By Sarah Trainor
With tuition on the rise at colleges and universities around the
this stigma. “In reality, when they complete the financial aid
nation, Warner Pacific College in Portland, Ore., decided to
process,” says Cook, “they are quite often pleasantly surprised
address the problem head-on. Its administration took a long, hard
to find that this experience is affordable for their families.”
look at the effect cost and spending have on student tuition. As a result, in 2008, the college lowered tuition 23 percent from the previous year. In 2007-2008, the average cost of tuition at four-year, private schools in Washington and Oregon was $26,249. At $16,630, Warner Pacific’s new tuition was 37 percent lower than its competitors. Such a drastic tuition restructure positioned Warner Pacific as one of the most affordable private institutions in the Pacific Northwest.
In the May 2010 strategic plan update, Warner Pacific’s administration listed tuition restructure as one of its top priorities in an effort to address economic issues and as “an initiative to increase traditional undergraduate enrollment.” Though no official data has been collected, Lani Faith, executive director of marketing and college relations, believes the tuition reduction has made a difference in enrollment numbers. “In 2005, our total enrollment was 578, and this year, 2011, it’s 1,679.” This staggering increase of 190 percent cannot all be
“What Warner Pacific College has done with the decision to
credited to the reduced cost, but it does make a strong case for
lower tuition in 2008 is really about reframing the conversations
the benefits of lower tuition.
around college attendance, cost, and financial aid and making it about accessibility, opportunity, and possibility,” says Andrea Cook, president of Warner Pacific. Cook thinks many families are initially intimidated by the sticker prices of private higher education, so she is working to remove
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CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
Sarah Trainor is a 2008 graduate of Biola University, where she majored in journalism and spent a semester studying journalism and art history at Roehampton University in London. Currently, she works in marketing for CB Richard Ellis.
money management
Is a Christian College Education ‘Worth It’? Faith Development Among Christian College Students By Kaye Cook, Professor of Psychology, Gordon College
The era of emerging adulthood, roughly ages 18 to 25, is marked by distinctive tasks and challenges. College attendance is an increasingly normative experience during this time: two-thirds of emerging adults attend college and, of those, two-thirds graduate within five years. As a developmental psychologist, I have long been interested in spiritual formation at all ages, including development in relationships, identity, and faith during college. Through its initiative grant, the CCCU provided funding for my colleagues— Cynthia Kimball and Kelly Flanagan from Wheaton College, Kathleen Leonard from UMass Lowell, and Chris Boyatzis from Bucknell University—and me to collaborate on a study of spiritual development during college.
Our Research in Brief In the context of recent discussions and concern about the value of a Christian education, the desires of college students for the freedom to ask bigger questions about values and mission and to explore deeper meanings in life often go unnoticed. Christian colleges are uniquely positioned to provide students an opportunity to explore these questions and to serve as models for contexts in which values and academic disciplines are taken seriously. Our study explores the religiosity, identity, attachment, and well-being of almost 1000 recent graduates from two Christian colleges. Two religiosity measures were of particular interest: 1) religious coherence measures the degree to which values affect one’s life and is a composite measure based on intrinsic religiosity, Christian Orthodoxy, religious identity, and religious coping, and 2) quest measures the degree of “readiness to face existential questions in all their complexity while at the same time resisting clear-cut, pat answers” (Religion and the Individual: A Social-Psychological Perspective by C. Daniel Batson, et al., 1993, p. 166). Committed questers—those high in both measures—display higher well-being and provide an opportunity to explore movement toward more complex faith and greater ownership of one’s faith and values. Our research results show that a Christian college can create a place where values guide personal behavior and nurture human flourishing, and questing can be a positive if sometimes stressful path to spiritual growth.
A Sample of Our Findings Participants were highly religious and influenced by highly religious parents. Religion was “very important” to most of our participants. Three-quarters attended church at least once a week, and orthodoxy and intrinsic religiosity were high. Participants reported that their parents were highly religious. Religious faith has multiple positive effects on daily life, improving wellbeing by influencing one’s personal characteristics (identity), relationships (attachment), and the choices one makes. A Christian college creates a place where values guide personal behavior and intellectual maturity can be nurtured in a Christian environment. One interviewed student said, “Having a well-founded faith is great when it comes to tricky decisions.” Another said, “I laughed to think that I might be accepted at a Ph.D. program at Harvard, but Gordon prepared me well. I not only got in [to Harvard] but I’ve loved it. My faith is often challenged but it’s stronger now, and even if [people at Harvard] don’t know it, they operate from values too.” Participants described God and their faith in terms of classic descriptors of faith more than in terms of “moralistic therapeutic deism.” MTD was developed by University of Notre Dame’s Christian Smith to describe a parasitic form of “watered-down” religion. MTD adherents picture God as the source of moral rules for good and bad behavior (moralistic), as problemsolver (therapeutic), and as distant (deistic). In our study, those scoring high in four measures of religiosity described God and their faith using classic descriptors, for example, mentioning ownership of their faith, trust in God, and a historically central religious idea (e.g., salvation). Those low in religiosity did not. Moralistic (M) and particularly therapeutic (T) comments appeared in the high religious coherence protocols, as well as in the low religious coherence protocols, although deistic (D) comments did not.
Sample comments made by those high in religious coherence (initials have been changed): • K.D.: “God is so much bigger than the way we understand Him to be.” • M.G.: “God makes a difficult situation easier.”
Our Methodology In 2008, surveys were sent to 2006 and 2008 graduates of two Christian colleges to evaluate their religiosity, ego identity, relationships, and well-being using standardized measures. In 2010, surveys were sent to 2006, 2008, and 2010 graduates of those same colleges, seeking longitudinal data when possible. In total, 2,579 graduates were petitioned (1,813 were contacted twice), and 962 respondents (37 percent) emerged (284 participated twice), including 530 recent graduates, 478 two-year graduates, and 238 four-year graduates. Participants were in middle to late emerging adulthood (mean age 24 years, range 20 – 34) and were generally Caucasian (91 percent), female (69 percent), and Protestant (91 percent, predominantly self-identified as nondenominational, Anglican or Episcopal, and Baptist). A subsample of 159 alumni participated in half-hour interviews that more carefully explored faith, identity, and relationships.
• S.M. described God as sovereign, saying he is continually “feeling close
to God and feeling secure.” • L.G. experienced God as “good,” saying she “realized God’s love for me
and His value for my life.”
Sample comments made by those low in religious coherence: • P.J. talked about “feeling more distant from God” and about God as “the
source of ethics.” • E.N. talked about no longer going to church because God is “hands-off.” • K.H. described God as “independent…doing His own thing.”
Visit www.cccu.org/advance for a link to the complete research findings.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
23
Survey Says: Give Me a Live Person When Crunching Numbers! Reaction and Response to the Department of Education’s Net Price Calculator
F
24
By Heidi Raass Spencer
or prospective students and their parents, figuring out the true cost of higher education can be elusive, confusing, and even somewhat intimidating. In addition to trying to understand a new language of code words— such as Pell grants, Stafford Loans, and EFC (Estimate Family Contribution)—parents and students must also filter through an institution’s
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
net price calculator
advertised tuition costs while subtracting a school’s varying merit scholarships and potential institutional aid. They are searching for the bottom line. “How much is this education really going to cost our family?” asks Jeanette Kiddie, whose son, Alex, is a freshman at Bryan College in Dayton, Tenn. In 2009 the U.S. Department of Education
“I think there’s no substitute for talking with admissions personnel or visiting a school if your son or daughter is really interested.” Jeanette Kiddie Parent of Bryan College Student
mandated that every college and university nationwide, including all CCCU schools, provide a cost calculator on its website by late October 2011. According to the department, “The net price calculators will give students and their families an idea of what college costs would look like based on their individual
and potentially result in a school losing a stu-
Live Conversation Still Best
circumstances, such as the size of their fam-
dent who otherwise might apply, he explains.
ily and their family’s income. This information
That’s why Gordon decided to liberally invest
sonalized aid packages developed when col-
in its online cost calculator. Going beyond the
leges know a student’s unique situation. “We
requirements set forth by the Education De-
are all about getting to know our prospective
partment, Gordon opted to provide two calcu-
families at Asbury University. We understand
lators—one for incoming first-time students
that the loss of a job, the death of a parent, and
would go beyond a school’s ’sticker price’ to help students and families better estimate their actual costs to attend that institution, once grants and scholarship aid are taken into consideration.”
and a separate tool for transfer students.
However, calculators cannot replace the per-
the economy can all affect our students. This is why we don’t want a prospective student’s
The process is fairly simple. Students log on
“These very different students need different
to a college’s website, locate the net price
methods in estimating college costs, and we
calculator, and enter a series of basic details,
felt it was important to offer separate calcula-
such as the prospective student’s grade point
tors,” O’Connell explains. Gordon’s net price
average, standardized test scores, and family
calculator is also marketed to make clear that
income. The calculator is then supposed to
it will only approximate a family’s out-of-pock-
Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan., has featured
calculate the amount a prospective student
et expenses.
two scholarship calculators on its website for
will have to pay each year.
At Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky., admis-
It sounds good. But Kiddie isn’t completely
sions officials are incorporating similar ele-
convinced. “It’s a great online tool in getting
ments into their online cost calculator. Like
an estimate of a how much a family might pay
Gordon, Asbury’s website indicates that the
out of pocket. However, it’s not accurate. It
tool is only an estimate. Customizing Asbury’s
can’t take into account outside scholarships from outside sources, for example. I think there’s no substitute for talking with admissions personnel or visiting a school if your son or daughter is really interested.”
online calculator, such as embedding admissions office contact information into the
interest in our university to end with an online calculator,” notes Harper. “Ultimately, we want the opportunity to have a live conversation with prospective students and their families.”
the past couple years, recognizing the school’s sticker price is not reflective of how the cost of a Tabor education actually compares to the cost of a degree at, for example, a public university. “The calculators do help students look beyond the sticker prices,” says Scott Franz, director of student financial assistance.
pages, was necessary to encourage future
Tabor is revamping, and will rename, their
dialogue with prospective students, notes Lisa
merit scholarship calculator to comply with
Harper, director of admissions.
the Education Department’s net price calculator specifications. The school will continue
The Calculator’s Limitations
Another reason both Gordon and Asbury
to offer prospective students the option to
have spent extra resources on the new cal-
be anonymous secret shoppers computing a
Daniel O’Connell, director of student financial
culator is that prospective students may use it
general idea of Tabor’s real cost or to identify
aid at Gordon College in Wenham, Mass.,
as a way to preview colleges. “This could be
themselves by providing additional documen-
agrees with Kiddie, noting, “The net price
another great way for interested students to
tation that allows financial aid staff to explore
calculator is only as good as the information
hang out at our website for a while and get a
the student’s unique options and admissions
entered.” Wrong information entered by a
better feel for what we have to offer, not only
staff to follow up. Echoing Harper, Franz says
student unfamiliar with their parents’ assets,
financially but academically and spiritually,”
Tabor focuses on customer service for fami-
for example, could generate misleading totals
O’Connell notes.
lies. “There are too many different scenarios
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
25
net price calculator
Above: Matthew Reese (#18) with the Gordon soccer team. Left: Craig and Jeanette Kiddie with son Alex at Bryan College.
“This could be another great way for interested students to hang out at our website for a while and get a better feel for what we have to offer...” Daniel O’Connell Director of Student Financial Aid Gordon College
for each student. We try to [offer financial aid] more on an individual basis.”
Since the online calculator is a brand new
A Student Perspective
cess to it when they were previewing colleges last year. “Looking at the net price calculator
Knoxville, Tenn., thinks the calculator is help-
now,” Kiddie says, “I’m not so sure about it. I
ful and isn’t certain it would push away pro-
think it’s good in a broad sense, but I could
spective students. Rather, he believes the ad-
have easily plugged in our family’s numbers
vertised high cost of tuition, room, and board
and said, ‘Whoa, we can’t afford that,’ and we
at many private colleges has the potential to
would have lost out on Bryan College, which
dissuade interested students first. “If inter-
is a great fit for Alex and a great school.”
ested students and parents are willing to give the calculator a go, they are probably realistic enough to consider that there may be additional financial aid available,” he offers.
She adds, “If Alex didn’t have outside scholarships to attend Bryan, the net price calculator would have been fairly accurate. However, we ended up paying a lot less than what the
Reese also notes that for many incoming
college calculator said when I plugged in my
students, making a college decision hinges
numbers [to Bryan’s net price calculator] this
on much more than the price tag. From aca-
fall out of curiosity.”
demics and majors to sports teams and environment, students are persuaded to attend certain colleges based on a host of factors. Despite assumptions about how tech-savvy teenagers like to garner information, Reese prefers the old-fashioned method of making a phone call and getting information from a live person
“Colleges need to educate parents about this tool, making sure parents realize it’s not the bottom line…There’s no substitute for talking to people in the financial aid office. The people at Bryan were very well prepared and walked us through the process beautifully.”
who can answer his specific questions.
mator on their website, Reese thinks adding a large disclaimer disclosing “that this is only an estimate” could prevent some people from navigating away from the website as soon as they see their results on the cost calculator.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
tool, Kiddie and her son did not have ac-
Matthew Reese, a freshman at Gordon from
But if a university has to have this cost esti-
26
Mixed Response from Parents
Heidi Raass Spencer, a 1997 Asbury University alumna and former associate editor of Asbury’s alumni magazine, lives all over the world with her husband, an active-duty U.S. Air Force Chaplain, and their three children, but currently calls MacDill AFB in Tampa, Fla., her home. In 2007, Heidi was a contributing writer for Meredith Publishing’s Along the Way: Real Life Moments Touched by God.
Going Global
American and Chinese Scholars Consider Role of Religion in China
Our team was guided by three Chinese experts: Prof. Yan Kejia, a senior researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences; Prof. Lu Yunfung, a sociologist at Peking University and director of the Center for the Study of Chinese Religion and Society; and our main host, Dr. Liu Peng, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. They assigned works for the group to read, briefed us on trends, and brought us to a variety of government, academic, and religious agencies to meet leaders and ask questions. Most of the North Americans had not been to China before, and most of the Chinese had not been to the United States, so we made good company for each other. We were impressed by the good humor, resourcefulness, and energy of our Chinese partners. Most of them were Christian believers, and they were well-equipped to guide us as we encountered both the officially-recognized Three-Self Protestant churches and some unregistered house churches as well. We were visiting China at a rather tense time. There was a controversy involving a prominent unregistered church in Beijing that the government was forbidding to meet in public, and there was nervousness about the “Arab spring” uprisings in the Middle East. Even so, we were greeted cordially at universities, government research centers, and church agencies. Chinese and North American seminar members came away with a veritable basket-full of topics for research and writing, and we expect to see some fine publishable work as a result of the seminar. This was the third in a series of seminars sponsored by the CCCU through a partnership with the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity at Calvin College and the Plowshares Institute, a faith-based agency in Connecticut. In 2008 we had an international encounter of visual artists in Indonesia, and it resulted in Charis, a traveling exhibit of 40 fresh works of art. In 2009 we had a team in South Africa studying the role of Christi-
28
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
anity in public life. Out of that encounter is coming a book: Walking Together: Christian Thinking and Public Life in South Africa (ACU Press, 2012). What’s next? “Evangelicals and Social Change in Brazil” will happen in June 2013, led by the eminent Brazilian sociologist, Paul Freston. It will be another life-changing experience. Want to join us? Joel Carpenter, Director Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity China and the Geography of Religion The CCCU- and Nagel-sponsored Faculty Development Seminar in China was a once in a lifetime opportunity to explore the complexity of religion and the rule of law alongside Chinese scholars and Chinese Christians. The seminar was an immersive experience as eight North American scholars roomed, debated, studied, participated in worship, and explored tourist attractions with 12 Chinese experts in religious studies, theology, political science, law, sociology, and anthropology. These new relationships have strengthened my faith and passion for Jesus Christ while opening new avenues of interesting and important research, especially in three areas of my primary field of study, the geography of religion. The focus of the seminar was religious freedom and the rule of law. Dr. Liu Peng of the Institute
of American Studies in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who also serves as the Director of the Beijing Pu Shi Institute for Social Sciences and was a leader in our seminar, has proposed a fascinating geographic solution to the “problem” of rapid house church growth. Dr. Lui suggests that special religious zones could be created in the same way that special economic zones helped to open China to free economic markets. These special religious zones would encompass a geographical region in which the country’s typical or national laws would be modified as a type of social experiment in religious freedom. Dr. Lui’s proposal could provide for gradual religious freedom in the country using an indigenous model that has already proved fruitful in the country. Secondly, since the seminar, I have become very interested in exploring Christian reactions to regional migration. China is currently experiencing the largest internal migration in the world as 150 million migrant workers flock to cities from the countryside. Their population registrations remain in the country, so they are essentially secondclass citizens lacking proper housing, social services, and, frequently, fair wages for their labor. A majority of the governmentsanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement churches exist in the countryside, leaving substantial urban social needs unmet by the church. Alongside Chinese scholars, I hope to further explore the capacity of unregistered house churches to meet the growing social demands of China’s cities. Finally, I would like to further engage leaders of the Three-Self churches and house churches regarding creation care and environmental stewardship. During the seminar, I had many conversations with indigenous Christian leaders regarding the substantial environmental degradation in China due to severe air and water pollution. In one such conversation with the elder in charge of social services in the Three-Self Church at the church’s national headquarters, I used the
photograph by Joel Carpenter
D
uring the first two weeks of June, eight professors from CCCU institutions met with a dozen Chinese scholars in Shanghai and Beijing. We wanted to learn more about the role religion plays in contemporary China and the prospects there for a more positive environment for religion.
going global term “creation care” and had to subsequently define it. The Christian leaders I met in China were not attuned to the Scriptural importance of caring for creation, and I would like to humbly continue these dialogues to learn more about Christian environmental stewardship in the world’s most populous, and most polluting, nation. Michael P. Ferber Assistant Professor of Geography and Director of Environmental Studies The King’s University College New Perspective on First Amendment Issues In some ways, the 2011 CCCU China Seminar on Religion, Society, and the Rule of Law can be summed up with the number two. Two dozen scholars spent two weeks together studying two very different perspectives on two specific questions: What religious activities ought to be protected? And to what extent can adherence to the rule of law protect religious freedom? Yet, in another way, our time together could be characterized by the number one. Early on in the seminar, it became obvious that our unified group had one goal, which was to better understand the common cares and concerns that unite us as people and scholars. To further that understanding, our time together was divided between official visits to academic and religious institutions and debriefing sessions that took place each afternoon. For me, the best part of the day occurred when we gathered together to share insights and observations gained from the morning presentations. Often, the robust conversations that marked these sessions were provocative, prompting members of the group to reexamine their political, philosophical, and theological assumptions. For instance, we discussed the nature of religious freedom: Does it encompass the right to possess one’s own religious beliefs? Should all religious activities be protected? We also questioned the source of human rights: Are they divinely bestowed and thus inalienable? Or are they mutable because they are dispensed by the state? By extension, some of these conversations prompted a discussion about the existence of natural law and the precepts that are regarded as
true despite one’s nationality, religion, or paradigm of thought. Still other discussions revealed that much of our understanding about law, freedom, and religion is also framed by language, history, and culture. This comparative perspective will undoubtedly make my own scholarship richer, as I employ an enhanced understanding about the rule of law and religious freedom to First Amendment issues here at home. One of my projects currently in progress is an examination of the U.S. Department of Justice’s implementation of religious rights codified in the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Person’s Act of 2000. Previously, I had assumed that the legislation was largely superfluous in light of the First Amendment protections long-established for religious activities and organizations. However, after discussing concerns about religious land use with our Chinese colleagues, including Professor Liu Peng, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, I have come to realize that supportive legislation—even in an area already protected by constitutional law—can help to minimize conflicts and can help to constructively guide discretionary decision-making of local officials. Moreover, the implementation of comprehensive legislation, such as the kind that is presently being debated in China, would aid small, local congregations who lack the resources to engage in expensive, protracted litigation. Although the primary target of my analysis will be readers in the United States, I am hopeful that a comprehensive review of this program might aid our new friends in tackling similar problems in China and thus reap tangible benefits for many years to come. Jennifer E. Walsh Professor of Political Science and Associate Dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Azusa Pacific University Experiencing Development It seems appropriate to describe topics in scholarly fields through the meaning of the word “development.” I am quite narrowminded but did experience meaningful development during the days of the June 2011 China Seminar, which left many interesting sidelights lingering in my memory. The
episodes I describe below might reflect my learning from the seminar. Hesitation: Our small, temporary groups talked about religious law at a dialogue period in the afternoon. As usual at any academic conference, I prepared to listen more and speak less. The host said to me that I might have my views on the topic. Without deep thinking, I spoke hesitantly and unintelligibly, saying that we do not have any religious law but that we have some regulations and ordinances related to religious affairs. According to my knowledge from reading newspapers and listening to radio and TV broadcasting, China completed the law system a few years ago at a certain level with help from scholars and experts who we invited from Europe, America, and other areas. Understanding: We visited Yanjing Seminary in the morning. After meeting with faculty and students, listening to a class course, lunching there, etc., some scholars noted that they thought the works related to religious studies and theology were not many in the library that was especially for students to use. Because of this, it probably was not easy for students to upgrade their academic level. Some scholars, with deep understanding, pointed out that those students were quite diligent and eager to learn, and they could still get a good education at the seminary. Action: During the culture trip, we asked a lot of questions and received some interesting answers. Those questions and answers made us think open-mindedly and resulted in each scholar’s new research interest. I prefer to study further both English and theology, which can allow me to incorporate intercultural and religious studies into my research in the field of cultural studies. During the seminar, my spoken English was quite poor. My written English even makes me more embarrassed today. Fortunately, despite this barrier, I did learn the meaning of development somewhat. Zhao Hong Editor working with the Hong Kong Foundation of Chinese Culture Development
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
29
Christ-Centered Higher Education Isn’t Only for Traditional On-Campus Students Finding New Models for Keeping ‘Christ-Centered’ in Education for Students Who Spend Little Time on Campus By Luke Reiter
A 30
fter graduating from high school in 1976, Susan Courneya spent five years working as a secretary before marrying a Northwestern College graduate, giving birth to two children, and staying home to raise and homeschool them. She thought this was the extent of her lifelong calling.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
changing demographics
“I got married right out of high school and of
While entering college directly after high
dents’ lives both inside and outside the
course the generation I grew up in, which is
school is still considered traditional, it is no
classroom are re-examining how to provide
the Baby Boomers, that’s pretty much what
longer the standard in America. Students like
a spiritually formative education to nontradi-
you did as a woman,” Courneya says. But
Courneya are increasingly common. Accord-
tional students living off campus and attend-
when she returned to work as an administra-
ing to a report from the National Center of
ing classes part-time.
tive assistant in the early 1990s, Courneya
Education Statistics, by the turn of the millen-
realized she wanted more from her career
nium, 73 percent of all undergraduates pos-
this time around and feared her limited edu-
sessed at least one attribute qualifying them
cation would keep her from achieving ad-
as a nontraditional student.
vancement.
In 2009, more than 21 percent of students
When Courneya researched adult education
at public and nonprofit undergraduate pro-
programs, she was intrigued by the faith-in-
grams were over age 25. In CCCU schools
fused curriculum and accelerated degree op-
that number was higher, with students over
tions offered at Bethel University in St. Paul,
age 25 equaling nearly 23 percent of CCCU
Minn. She enrolled and, after two arduous
undergraduates. Since 2009, most adult
years of classes, studies, and full-time work,
degree programs have remained resilient
graduated this past May with a bachelor’s
despite the economic downturn and have
degree in communication studies. Courneya
marked continued—albeit slow—growth in
is now capitalizing on her academic momen-
student numbers.
tum by beginning a master’s degree this fall
The Ministry of Adult Higher Education In the 1990s and 2000s, private and public institutions alike scrambled to tap the burgeoning adult education market, increasingly battling for-profit competitors such as the University of Phoenix and Capella University. But in the 1980s, even before the adult education trend had been noticed, Indiana Wesleyan University (Marion College at the time) in Marion, Ind., began weighing the benefits of adding accelerated degree-completion programs for working adults against the risks
in Bethel’s counseling psychology program.
With enrollment demographics shifting,
of investing in the trending but still unproven
The Changing Demographics of CCCU Student Rolls
many Christian institutions historically com-
market.
mitted to shaping all aspects of their stu-
“At that time IWU...wasn’t doing that well fi-
Waiting for College Brings Added Opportunities for Trevecca Student By Luke Reiter
Originally from Brazil, Rejane Migliore moved to Nashville, Tenn.,
“For me to be here today is thanks to Trevecca,” says Migliore.
Images courtesy of:
Rejane Migliore,
Debra Hoag, and
Andre Bordeaux
in 2003 after marrying an American musician. A short time after she settled in her new home, Migliore was asked to serve as a
With the encouragement of her husband and son, Migliore also
Spanish translator at a high school. As a Brazilian, Migliore speaks
became one of the first nontraditional students from Trevecca to study
Portuguese, but she was intrigued by the offer and decided to
off campus when she entered the CCCU’s BestSemester Washington
study Spanish at a community college.
Journalism Center in Washington, D.C., for the fall 2011 semester.
After taking a few classes, she began receiving mailings from
Migliore says she’s been stretched between her internship at Market
colleges—mailings that evoked a yearning in Migliore, who was
News International and keeping up with her younger classmates,
unable to attend college under the Brazilian education system. She
but she’s constantly amazed to be working in the U.S. capitol and
enrolled at Tennessee State University in Nashville, but found herself dizzied by a thronging, fast-paced campus that operated on precepts of what was still a very foreign culture to her.
enjoying formative experiences she would have missed if she had gone to college in Brazil as she originally desired.
Driving home on Interstate 65 after class one day, Migliore spotted
“We can make up our plans, but I always believe in my heart that God
a billboard for Trevecca Nazarene University and decided to inquire
directs my path,” she says.
about their adult programs. After finishing a final semester at Tennessee State, Migliore transferred to the more personal setting
Migliore expects to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in
of Trevecca.
communications and a minor in journalism in May 2012 and is
Despite being nearly fluent in English, Migliore said taking classes in her second language is an obstacle. However, with the support of
considering a career as an international correspondent. Of all the knowledge she’s acquired since starting college, perhaps the most
her husband, her teenage son, and the Trevecca faculty, Migliore has
important lesson is also the simplest: “It’s never too late to get an
thrived in the classroom.
education,” she says. “This old dog is learning new tricks.”
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
31
changing demographics
nancially. It was really on the edge,”
must convert to Christianity or practice their
Reaching a Milestone Despite the Roadblocks
explains Bridget Aitchison, vice presi-
faith in a certain way to be accepted at APU.
dent and dean of IWU’s College of
The school does not require nontraditional
Adult and Professional Studies. But
students to follow a particular doctrine, but
By Debra M. Hoag 2009 Houghton College P.A.C.E. alumna
the school took a risk and launched
Garlett says he tries to be forthcoming in ex-
the program, and as Aitchison says,
plaining that all classes are taught from a bib-
that program “has really helped cre-
lical perspective and some required courses
ate what we have we have today: this
will focus largely on theology.
As a single mother, my mission had always been to instill in my daughter the importance of a college education, despite
amazing university.”
“Occasionally there are companies who say ‘I
IWU is now considered one of the
won’t pay for a Bible class’ or ‘I won’t pay for a
foremost leaders in continuing edu-
certain kind of class [for which] we can’t show
degree. I was inspired to complete my bachelor’s degree
cation among CCCU members and
work relevance,’” Garlett notes.
when I discovered my daughter’s plans to continue toward
hosts the CCCU Center for Research
a doctorate in public health administration. It was my
in Adult Learning. The 12,000 adults
daughter’s motivation and tenacity that drove me to work
enrolled annually between the CAPS
harder than I imagined I could and to achieve more than a
and nursing schools now outnumber
mere degree, to achieve a milestone.
their traditional peers four to one.
not having one myself. I completed my associate’s degree around the time my daughter received her bachelor’s
I was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2007,
IWU offers classes at education cen-
right in the middle of my progression toward a bachelor’s
ters in three states and strives to add
degree through Houghton College’s P.A.C.E. (Program for
up to three centers per year. Count-
Accelerating College Education). I underwent aggressive
ing its online programs, the school
treatment every weekend for six months. My energy was
serves students in all 50 states and
zapped, but I insisted on returning to work and class every
around the globe.
week. I don’t think my professors knew about my cancer; I didn’t want any favoritism or special consideration.
While IWU continues to post steady enrollment in its adult programs,
In January 2009 I was informed by my doctors that I had suffered a stroke that would have permanent implications on my learning ability. My comprehension was affected. I now forget names, and things I want to say often linger at the tip of my tongue, out of reach. Reading is difficult, and my attention span is limited.
Aitchison says the most important metric for success can’t be found in the balance sheets. “Growth is not about the money. It’s not about the numbers,” she emphasizes. “It’s about the ministry.”
In cases where a corporate sponsor cannot be persuaded to pay for a mandatory religion course, the school tries to work with students to find alternative funding or an appropriate substitution for the credits. However, Garlett says that’s becoming less of a problem as companies increasingly find the strong ethical foundation their employees receive at APU to be an asset in the workplace. Similarly, Aitchison says IWU maintains its identity as an institution of Christ-centered learning while appealing to a diverse range of adults because of its reputation for quality. According to Aitchison, 50 percent of the university’s nontraditional students come from secular or alternative faith backgrounds. While these students are not required to follow a particular set of beliefs, she notes that
Despite the obstacles, I refused to give up. I had to work
the school has a unique opportunity to pro-
twice as hard to get through the P.A.C.E. curriculum as I
vide spiritual guidance to them.
battled school, work, cancer, and a newfound learning disadvantage. In May 2009 I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in management from Houghton College P.A.C.E.
Achieving market appeal while teaching a Christian worldview One major consideration unique to
Today I work for the Seneca Nation of Indians Education
CCCU members offering adult educa-
Department as the higher education coordinator. I assist
tion programs is finding a way to honor
Seneca Nation members with college admission and help
the Christian worldview and heritage of
them prepare financial aid forms. I get excited for the students when they graduate. It’s like I’m graduating all over again!
their institutions while increasing their market appeal and accessibility for
Finding a way to pastor nontraditional students Because of nontraditional students’ busy lifestyles, IWU is finding new and creative ways to deliver that spiritual guidance. Bob Burchell, an online chaplain at IWU, is tasked with caring for nontraditional students who rarely set foot on campus and likely will never meet Burchell
Aside from my daughter, my greatest accomplishment was
adults, especially those who receive tu-
the completion of my degree. Houghton College P.A.C.E.
ition assistance from secular employers.
face-to-face.
According to Fred Garlett, dean of
“We realized what we’re doing is sort of
was the ideal place for me to complete my bachelor’s degree. It has enlightened me on life and academics,
pioneering a level of ministry here, realizing
helped me understand more about life and society, and it
the College for Adult and Professional
has given me credibility in my position. I even enjoy learning
Studies at Azusa Pacific University in
and reading for fun now! That degree was all I wanted to
Azusa, Calif., prospective students
accomplish, and P.A.C.E. made it possible.
can be apprehensive about faith-
see what worked, what didn’t work.”
based education and often ask if they
One of the early ideas Burchell abandoned
32
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
there wasn’t a whole lot of example out there to follow,” notes Burchell. “We tried things to
changing demographics
Testimonials from Indiana Wesleyan University Online Adult Students Excerpts from the publication “Instruments for God’s Use: The Spiritual Impact of Indiana Wesleyan University Faculty Members on their Students,” which was presented at IWU’s fall 2011 faculty retreat
was an online faith corner where he
ies at Courneya’s new alma mater, Bethel,
could host chapel services and al-
many Christian schools may have been slow
low students to play games together
to serve the nontraditional market because
through the College of Adult and Pro-
they were unsure how to tailor their faith
fessional Studies website. However,
components to an accelerated program.
Burchell quickly found that idea was unrealistic in the nontraditional market, as are many of the requirements placed on traditional undergraduates at IWU, such as including a statement
By a recent graduate of the online M.Ed. program: After completing [the] M.Ed. program, I look back at where I started 18 months ago, and I can honestly see a big transformation. This transformation has occurred in my professional, personal, and spiritual life, and I am so thankful for this experience. I feel that every class has been helpful, and I have learned things that can improve my teaching. Personally, I have learned to balance my time more carefully and to rely on others for help… Did I mention
of faith and a pastor’s referral in their applications and attending mandatory chapel services three times a week once enrolled.
“Part of it is, we have historically been very committed to a whole-person education, and sometimes that is interpreted to mean that you provide the residential education, and you provide student life, and you provide chapel, and you provide all of these things that go into a richly-resourced undergraduate education—all of which are hugely important—but I think sometimes we’ve thought you can’t
“[Adults are] there for an education,
provide a good education without all of those
first of all, and they’ll go somewhere
things, rather than saying ‘How can we pro-
else if we load them up with all these
vide a strong education without some of those
other external requirements,” he ex-
things?’” Jass notes.
plains.
Bethel, like IWU, does not require adult students
Instead, he believes IWU’s ministry to
to adhere to its statement of faith or come from
in person? I know that some of the relationships I have
adults should be carried out primar-
a Christian background, but professors are in-
formed with my cohort members will last long after this
ily by instructors, who tend to have
structed to integrate faith elements into their les-
program has ended, and I am very thankful for this!
the most interaction with both online
son plans and provide ministry in the classroom.
the wonderful friends I have made who I have never met
Spiritually, I have finally been able to fully connect my Christian worldview with my chemistry teaching. I have appreciated each devotional this program has offered, and I will miss this part of the program!…Like many others in this program, I made a last-minute decision to start this journey without much research about education programs anywhere else. The fact that I’ve had such a positive experience has helped me to really trust God with His plan for my life.
and classroom students. He says the faith-based aspects of IWU’s education are interwoven into the curriculum, and his role now tends to center on student care and crisis resolution. Burchell hopes to partner with 12Stone Church of Georgia in the near future to share their online services through the CAPS website for
By an online New Testament Survey class student:
interested students. For now, even
I am joyful to say that this course has brought some
though nontraditional students may
much-needed awareness for me. I feel a much stronger connection to Christ and a longing to keep up with the weekly ritual of taking my family to church. During this class, I attended church regularly to complete my New Testament Field Project, and this has brought upon many good things for not only me, but also my family!
By an online New Testament Survey class student:
have a less overt spiritual component
In some sense, Jass says, the approach not only follows Bethel’s mission but expands on it by adding an element of outreach. “We really see ourselves as having a huge opportunity to be salt and light, and to be kind of world-changers,” she explains, “in the respect that we come into contact every single day with nonbelievers and we have an opportunity to say, ‘This is what being a Christ-follower looks like.’ And we invite them into that walk with us.”
to their education than their tradition-
Visit www.cccu.org/advance for
al campus-dwelling peers, Burchell
the story of nontraditional student Andre
says weaving faith into the classroom
Bordeaux who is studying at
still plays an important role and is
BestSemester’s American Studies
often the only way students receive
Program this fall.
Christian influence.
I learned a wealth of biblical knowledge while completing this class, moved closer to Christ, and resolved a
“I don’t know that anything’s lost,” he
negative impression of religion and Christianity, in
says. “I think based on the testimony
particular. I have completely changed my attitude in a
[from students] that we do get, there’s
positive manner since completing this class. I found the
a lot of spiritual impact.”
class interesting, beneficial, and most of all a stepping stone in Christ’s direction. I anticipate the class not only increasing my spiritual wellness, but also improving my life socially and academically.
Enrolling a mission field According to Lori Jass, dean of the College of Adult & Professional Stud-
Luke Reiter is a graduate of Bethel University and an alumnus of the Washington Journalism Center. He now works as a reporter at a community newspaper covering the suburbs of St. Paul, Minn.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
33
As Goes the Church, So Goes the CCCU? Exploring the Implications of People’s Changing Relationship with Churches
T
By Rebecca Rine
his September the Hartford Institute of Religion Research released the results of a 10-year study of the health of American congregations. The study noted a significant decline in church attendance among both mainline and evangelical denominations, with average attendance for weekend worship dropping from 130 to 108 persons between 2000 and 2010.
34
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
Church-university relations
An additional shift taking place among those who attend church regularly is a weakening loyalty to particular denominations. Rather than identifying themselves using denominational labels, many Christians instead profess affiliation with a broader theological tradition, a style of worship, or simply a local congregation. CCCU member institutions stand in a complex set of relations with both denominations and local churches. Since CCCU schools draw most of their students and employees from American congregations, a decline in overall church attendance indicates a potential decline in the pool of students, faculty,
Since CCCU schools draw most of their students and employees from American congregations, a decline in overall church attendance indicates a potential decline in the pool of students, faculty, and administrators available to study and serve at Christian colleges.
and administrators available to study and serve at Christian colleges. Furthermore, a decline in loyalty to denominations raises important questions about how CCCU schools formulate their own religious identities. This is particularly true with respect to student recruitment and enrollment. How will CCCU schools represent their own denominational particularities to prospective students, parents, and church leaders? Sixty-four of the CCCU’s 113 member institutions (57 percent) describe themselves as affiliated with a sponsoring denomination. At some universities, the majority of the student body is also affiliated with this denomination.
colleges’ church relations professionals, and
PLNU established the Center for Pastoral
for collaboration among CCCU schools and
Leadership in 2004. The Center has devel-
other higher education institutions.
oped a Master of Ministry program to train church leaders, hosts numerous training
Growing Focus on Partnership Increasingly, leaders in both the university and the church are considering themselves as partners in the task of Christian education rather than entities on either end of a pipe-
events annually, and helps church-goers identify and cultivate their strengths through the Nazarene Strengths Institute. PLNU’s extensive engagement with the church positions it as an educator of students as well as of the church at large.
line through which students and resources
Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif.,
are transferred. “Even though our ties with
has a similar philosophy. Silvio Vazquez, dean
the Church of the Nazarene have traditionally
of admissions, says, “We are experts at pro-
been strong, we have started to ask a new
viding education. That is what we are good
set of questions about how we can do more
at. What we try to do is to reach out to youth
to help the church be effective,” says Bob
pastors, pastors, and church members and
lower: Houghton College in Houghton, N.Y.,
Brower, president of Point Loma Nazarene
to provide opportunities for them to learn, to
reports just 17 percent of its students are af-
University in San Diego, Calif. “We’re not ask-
hear speakers, to attend conferences, to con-
filiated with the Wesleyan Church, while 20
ing what we can get from the church in terms
nect with alumni. We want them to see that
percent of students at Point Loma Nazarene
of money or students; we’re asking how we
we are continuing the work that they have
University in San Diego, Calif., are affiliated
can engage with and serve the church.”
started in their local churches, that we are
For instance, Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., is affiliated with the Missouri Baptist Convention and reports 60 percent of its students are Baptist. At other institutions, the percentage of students from the college’s sponsoring denomination is much
with the Church of the Nazarene.
Brower sees this as a response both to the
educating people for service in the church.”
CCCU schools not affiliated with a denomi-
changing landscape of Christian denomina-
Denominational leaders also value university-
nation are equally concerned with cultivating
tions and to uncertain economic times. “Due
church partnerships. Vic Borden, chairman
relationships with congregational leaders and
to the economic downturn, local churches are
of the Missouri Baptist Convention’s Inter-
churches. Given the changing shape of the
increasingly restricted in terms of resources,”
Agency Relations Committee, describes the
American church, many CCCU schools are re-
he notes. “This gives us as a university the op-
MBC’s relationship with affiliated schools as
thinking their approaches to church relations,
portunity to assist the church by developing
one of “accountability and facilitation.” The
creating new trends for relationships between
and housing resources that highlight our insti-
committee sees itself as a resource for its
CCCU schools and churches, for the roles of
tutional identity while also serving the church.”
colleges and makes every effort to remain in-
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
35
Church-university relations
formed about the challenges and opportuni-
members to connect prospective students
sometimes regard Christian institutions of
ties facing Christian higher education. It then
or interested church members with the col-
higher learning as less academically challeng-
responds to these circumstances, as Borden
lege. As the CCCU’s 2009 Market Research
ing than their private or public counterparts.
says, “in a way that only we could do.” For
revealed, pastors and church leaders are
Other Christians believe a CCCU school will
example, the MBC recently established a
concerned about the spiritually formative ele-
shelter their students in undesirable ways, ul-
$10,000 scholarship fund for the training
ments of Christian higher education as well as
timately preventing them from getting a “real”
of ministerial students at Southwest Baptist
with issues of academic excellence, cost, and
education in an environment outside of their
University and Hannibal-LaGrange Univer-
career preparation.
faith tradition.
“Though the responsibility of planning and
“At times our message is collectively strength-
implementing recruitment plans correctly falls
ened when we say something together about
under the office of admissions, an institution
what someone will experience at a Christian
is hindered from reaching its enrollment goals
college,” says Mullen. But she also notes that
The promise of the partnership model is
if admissions is not working strategically with
cooperative efforts should be balanced with
that both denominations and universities do
other offices such as financial aid, academics,
thoughtful consideration of how a particular
what they do best, working together in mutu-
campus technologies, athletics, church rela-
CCCU school might draw on its institutional
ally beneficial ways within the larger body of
tions, alumni, development, and marketing,”
history and identity to contribute uniquely
Christ. However, this model also introduces
notes Westmont’s Vazquez.
to the sector of Christian higher education.
sity. This fund provides essential resources for student recruitment while reinforcing the connection between the MBC and its affiliated schools.
new levels of complexity and requires that participants in the partnership communicate well and build trust.
An Expanded Vision for Church Relations
In order to maximize effectiveness, the various campus staff responsible for church re-
intentional about articulating our similarities but also be equally bold about institutional
priorities with respect to denominational/
personalities and differences.”
church relations, but also insuring that feed-
see denominational and church relations.
is available to other staff members who serve
These employees may be located in an of-
as liaisons to the church.
with youth pastors, and another with local
The trends identified here tell only part of the
The Value of Collaboration
century America. But they point to a signifi-
CCCU schools do not interact with denomina-
is intimately tied to the health of the church.
tions and churches in isolation. They often
The trends also reflect the deep connection
cant principle: the health of CCCU institutions
collaborate through associations such as the
between university and church, the impor-
CCCU, the Association of Reformed Institutions
tance of continual re-examination of that rela-
Such staff members rely on specialized skills
of Higher Education, the International Associa-
tionship, and the possibility that the university
and knowledge to cultivate key relationships
tion of Baptist Colleges and Universities, and the
may not only respond to but also shape the
and are essential liaisons with churches.
Nazarene International Education Association.
landscape of American denominationalism in
However, an overemphasis on their role in
One result of such collaboration is a new
the coming decades.
developing and maintaining church relations
study of denominationalism and the CCCU
tends to obscure the presence of additional
designed by nine professors at seven CCCU
avenues for productive interaction between
institutions. Baylor University’s Perry Glanzer,
university and church. Some universities
the principal investigator, estimates a sum-
are beginning to ask how the institution as a
mer 2012 release of the findings of the study,
whole can be informed about the best ways to
which will gather empirical evidence about
connect church-goers with the university. For
the role of denominational identity in various
instance, many members of CCCU campus
aspects of university life within the CCCU.
churches and congregants.
communities attend a local church, creating a natural but often under-utilized connection between the college and local congregations.
36
Looking Ahead story of university-church relations in 21st-
fice of church relations or may work in ad-
communicates with senior pastors, another
similar and where we’re different—that we be
This involves not only agreeing on institutional
back provided at one level of the organization
laincy. In many cases, one university official
tian colleges would state both where we’re
lations should stay in close communication.
Most CCCU schools appoint staff to over-
missions, upper administration, or the chap-
“What I would hope in the end is that Chris-
Perry Glanzer’s list for further reading on recent scholarship related to religion and denominational identity in higher education and for 2009 Market Research insights on church leaders’ knowledge of CCCU institutions.
CCCU schools also collaborate in making the case for Christian higher education in general, in both church and denominational settings.
The specialized staff who cultivate church re-
Shirley Mullen, president of Houghton Col-
lations can equip other campus community
lege, notes that church leaders and members
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
Visit www.cccu.org/advance for
Rebecca Rine, a 2001 alumna of Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C., is a Ph.D. candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Virginia.
On the shelf
What Your Peers are Reading
Mathematics Through the Eyes of Faith
The big questions are introduced and made approachable through an engaging dialogue between four idealized students about the nature of
By James Bradley & Russell Howell (HarperOne, sponsored by the CCCU, 2011)
mathematics and its relationship to the nature of God and Christian belief. Questions such as “Can the idea that chance exists in nature be reconciled with God’s sovereignty?” direct us to consider how reflection
Review by Kristin Camenga Assistant Professor of Mathematics Houghton College
on mathematical concepts gives insight to deep theological questions. Questions about the nature of truth and beauty call us to reflect on how these properties that are important to Christians are treated in mathematics. The classic mathematical question “Is mathematics invented or discovered?” leads us to investigate the source and nature of mathemati-
I have a confession: as a professor of
cal objects and reasoning in light of our Christian beliefs.
mathematics at a Christian liberal arts col-
The authors approach these questions by using Christian faith as a
lege, I struggle to integrate my faith and my discipline. Nothing in
lens through which to view mathematics. They do not seek to change
the content or methods of mathematics changes based on whether
mathematics or recreate it in a Christian form, but to consider the
I am a Christian or not. I find many of the attempts to integrate faith
nature and methods of mathematics from a faith perspective. While
and mathematics contrived: assigning a number to each letter of the
the text introduces possible answers to the big questions and consid-
alphabet and adding the values for “Love of God” to total more than
ers their strengths and their weaknesses, the authors do not take a
100 percent is neither math nor Christian faith.
position. Rather, the reader is invited to continue the conversation
While mathematics and Christian faith were often tied historically, modern practice of mathematics lends itself to treating issues of faith as independent from the discipline. Mathematicians are trained to think abstractly: logical reasoning does not claim that the axioms we base our reasoning on are true, but only that our carefully proved deductions will be valid. Even if the axioms are false, this does not affect the validity of the mathematical reasoning. This allows us to imagine different axiom systems where the rules are different and contradictory results are proved.
and come into dialogue with the different perspectives. It is these big questions that I find to be this book’s most compelling contribution to the discussion on faith, living, and learning. These questions serve as a starting place for continued reflection and exploration whether you are a mathematical novice or expert. The book is organized to be accessible and useful for a variety of students. Significant attention is given to introducing the mathematics concepts discussed so that the chapters are largely self-contained and might motivate students to explore mathematics further. Mathematics Through the Eyes of Faith could be used either as a whole in a capstone
We leave the question of whether our foundational axiom systems are
or introductory survey course or a chapter at a time throughout the ma-
true or false to scientists and philosophers. With this approach to rea-
jor. References for further study and exercises, both mathematical and
soning, it is natural for mathematicians to treat issues of faith as inde-
reflective, are included, moving the pedagogy of faith learning forward
pendent of the discipline; we are more likely to consider the implica-
with further opportunities for study and discussion.
tions of certain belief systems than to pass judgment on them.
This book has reenergized me with a new way to approach the interac-
Mathematics through the Eyes of Faith is a significant contribution to
tion between faith and mathematics by placing it in the context of big
my personal study and reflection, helping me to move past this pur-
questions instead of looking for isolated connections. Rather than a
ported independence and work toward complete integrity between
completed integration of the two, Mathematics Through the Eyes of Faith
my faith and work. The authors refrain from contrived examples and
charts a course for a lifetime of continued exploration and reflection.
frame the work around careful consideration of big questions on which both mathematical and religious perspectives can be brought to bear, thus providing common purpose and investigation to areas
For reflections on faith and learning from additional disciplines, see the Faith and Learning section on page 12.
usually seen as independent.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
37
on the shelf
Joining the Mission: A Guide for (Mainly) New College Faculty
Despite my esteem for VanZanten and this particular work, she does leave me wondering what influence the church has on how scholars
By Susan VanZanten (Eerdmans, 2011)
understand the academic vocation. She references the importance
Review by Todd C. Ream
church. However, she does not explore in detail how participation
Senior Scholar for Faith and Scholarship and
in the worship practices of the church defines how scholars under-
Associate Professor of Humanities in
stand themselves, the educational communities they populate, and
the John Wesley Honors College
the constituencies they serve. Such a conversation would prove to be
Indian Wesleyan University
Perhaps no faculty member serving a CCCU member institution is better suited to advise young scholars than Susan VanZanten. A noted Emily Dickinson scholar and the founding director of Seattle Pacific University’s Center for Scholarship and Faculty Development, VanZanten has served not only her newest colleagues well but also faculty across the country through her varied speaking engagements
of religious traditions and even her own personal involvement in her
a valued addition. Regardless, junior faculty (and, arguably, even many senior faculty) would be served well by considering this book as a means for getting their academic careers off to a good start. VanZanten’s collective wisdom is a valuable reminder that faculty serving in mission-driven institutions are part of a body of like-minded colleagues seeking to cultivate a valued understanding of the academic vocation.
and writing efforts. A collective form of her wisdom is now present in
Transformations at the Edge of the World: Forming Global Christians through the Study Abroad Experience
Joining the Mission: A Guide for (Mainly) New College Faculty. Admittedly, VanZanten’s book is not fully applicable to faculty serving in all academic contexts. She intentionally limits her audience to individuals serving in what she calls mission-driven institutions, or private
Edited by Ronald J. Morgan and Cynthia Toms
institutions that purposefully incorporate the religious nature of their
Smedley (Abilene Christian University Press, 2010)
missions into their cultures. With the exception of research universities such as Baylor University and the University of Notre Dame, mission-
Review by Kevin Book-Satterlee
driven institutions are comprehensive universities or liberal arts col-
Missionary, Latin America Mission
leges. VanZanten encourages faculty at these institutions to fully appreciate the “blessed reality” of the greater flexibility such institutions offer (p. 193). While research and publication are rightfully prized in
Transformations at the Edge of the World is a noteworthy book describ-
these environments, teaching and service are viewed as equally valued
ing student transformation through Christian study abroad programs.
components of the academic vocation.
Study abroad programs help create global students by exposing them
In cultivating an appreciation for this blessed reality, VanZanten’s work is a mix of well-catalogued information and heart-felt advice. After opening with a discussion of the nature of mission-driven institutions,
grams help their scholars become not just global students but also global Christians.
she offers a chapter on the history of higher education along with chap-
Editors Ronald Morgan, director of ACU in Oxford (England) for Abilene
ters on teaching, research, and community engagement. In the first of
Christian University, and Cynthia Toms Smedley, director of educational
two chapters on teaching, she includes a battery of information com-
immersions at the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Social Con-
monly found in student development literature but arguably of equal
cerns and former assistant director of the CCCU’s BestSemester Ugan-
value to faculty members. The clear, concise presentation of this in-
da Studies Program, present a four-part book that discusses a student’s
formation is part of what makes it valuable because this allows readers
inward journey, outward journey, relationship with the social other, and
to quickly ingest the relevant guidance on topics that include learning
solidarity with the global poor. They collaborate with other Christian
styles, cognitive development, and moral development.
study abroad leaders who write from the perspective of their respective
The value found in these chapters is enhanced by the elements of personal wisdom VanZanten offers. This candid and even vulnerable quality includes references to both the challenges and the triumphs
38
to the world’s vast variety of people. Yet, Christian study abroad pro-
programs. Each highlighted program is unique in location and focus, but from the ivory towers of Oxford to the slums of Manila, these global learning programs foster transformation for the Christian student.
she has faced over the course of her career—challenges such as sur-
Imagine the scene as a student steps out of an airport or off of a bus and
viving cancer and triumphs such as the publication of a challenging
experiences their shocking first moment in an unfamiliar place. Wheth-
yet rewarding book.
er the student stands in urban density with burning trash and open
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
on the shelf
sewers or in the desolate silence of a field dotted with small huts, all
one of my old yearbooks. Small colleges are all I know. During my high
the student’s senses are bombarded by a previously unknown-to-them
school days my father attended one. Then I drove across the country to
reality. Displacement creates anxiety, but it also creates space for self-
the Midwest for four years of first-hand experience at another such col-
discovery and learning from a new context. Study abroad participants
lege. Shortly after graduating, I took employment as an entry-level staffer
come to discover their abilities in a new way. For these students it is
at a small college, and once my family became too sizable, my wife and
gut-check time. They become vulnerable like babes. Rather than hold-
I moved to yet another small college. While I do not pretend to be a small
ing students’ hands, the Christian study abroad program creates space
college scholar, I “know” small colleges enough to affirm that Old Main is
for students to rely on God in a new way.
a strong defense of their importance.
Contributors Laura Montgomery and Mary Doctor of Westmont Col-
Schuman defines small colleges as those “institutions that award primar-
lege’s Westmont in Mexico program emphasize “Christ’s model of hu-
ily baccalaureate, four-year degrees and have between five hundred and
mility, empathy, and reconciliation” (p. 119). These core interpersonal
three thousand full-time students” (p. 2). At one time the dominant force
qualities of Christ are essential for becoming a global disciple. By learn-
in higher education, they now make up less than 10 percent of all institu-
ing the attitude of Christ, a student understands God’s heart for the
tions. Threatened with displacement by “huge new enterprises” (p. 4),
world. These qualities of humility, empathy, and reconciliation can only
small colleges find an unflinchingly biased advocate in Schuman.
be practiced, however, in relationship. Creating space for relationship with the social other is an essential part of studying abroad. Mimicking Christ in this way, a study abroad participant can, as contributor Richard Slimbach from Azusa Pacific University’s Global Studies Program writes, “encounter raw realities that resist simple explanations, much less easy solutions” (p. 186).
With the expected detail of a professor’s syllabus, Old Main begins with a fine introduction that deftly describes Schuman’s intended learning outcomes for his readers. From this beginning, the purpose of the book as a small college apologetic is clear. Schuman creates a fine blend of the “forest” and the “trees,” statistics and fieldwork, arguments and stories. While other books may require readers to ponder an author’s intentions,
Morgan and Smedley’s book is seamless. Despite being divided into
Old Main is so well written that all readers, from the prospective student
four parts with multiple authors, the lessons learned and stories expe-
to the retired faculty member, will enjoy Schuman’s style.
rienced by each author work together. Student experiences in the highlighted programs range from Roman Catholic studies and environmental stewardship to intentional community and slum dwelling, yet the lessons of student transformation and global discipleship are common threads in the descriptions.
Chapters two through four are full of descriptions. Indeed, a brief history of U.S. higher education can be quickly captured by simply digesting chapter two. The third chapter is a veritable viewbook for all small colleges. Had one
Slimbach notes “the growing commitment among evangelical twentysomethings to be agents of healing within a broken world” (p. 187). Too often North American evangelicals are criticized for their lack of
disembarked from a few-century journey and never heard of small colleges, this chapter would efficiently convey the necessary information within a matter of minutes.
global engagement and interest in social justice. The stories in this book
The family room of Old Main is found within chapter four. Seeking to ex-
refute this criticism and display an encouraging trend among evangelical
press why small colleges are special, Old Main portrays their people.
students. These students will become future leaders who have come to better know themselves, grow in their relationship with God, and experience solidarity with others through a globally-displacing experience that will continue to impact how they live.
Old Main: Small Colleges in TwentyFirst Century America
The core of Schuman’s advocacy is found in chapters five and six. Here, Old Main convincingly makes the case that smallness strengthens community and diversity, both of which contribute to student learning and development. In chapter seven, Old Main depicts small colleges’ and large universities’ attempts at mimicking each other. Without scorn, Schuman explains that these noble efforts have indeed created constructive outcomes but that
By Samuel Schuman (Johns Hopkins University
ultimately these types of institutions cannot replicate each other. A cost
Press, 2008)
comparison and perhaps a defense of small colleges against large public universities would have been an appropriate addition to this chapter.
Review by Joe Slavens Director of Student Life, Simpson University
The book concludes with an epilogue to new faculty colleagues. It is an excellent tutorial on small colleges’ strengths, weaknesses, and idiosyncrasies.
Reading Old Main: Small Colleges in Twenty-
Small colleges are necessary, different, and perhaps imperiled.
First Century America was like peering into
In Old Main, Schuman has well articulated a case for this type of school. CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
39
on the shelf
Seven Days in Utopia: Golf’s Sacred Journey By David L. Cook (Zondervan, 2011)
From there, Johnny tells the story of Simon Peter’s “chance” meeting with Jesus Christ, his repentance, and his decision to follow Jesus Christ (based on the opening paragraphs of Luke 5). Both biblical Simon Peter and fictional Luke Chisolm illustrate the fact that
Review by David Sanford Director of Communications & Public Relations and Special Representative of the President Corban University
someone never knows when he or she might meet someone who (or read some book that) will change his or her life. Resources beyond the book include a well-written study guide and soonto-be-released DVD, available from the publisher and from the author’s
What can a best-selling 176-page novel teach
www.linksofutopia.com website.
us—and CCCU student athletes, business majors, and others—about the game of life? Author David L. Cook is a Baylor University graduate who went on to
The Heavens: Intimate Moments with Your Majestic God
earn a Ph.D. in sport and performance psychology from the University of
By Kevin Hartnett (Thomas Nelson, 2011)
Virginia. His clients have included Olympians, national collegiate chamReview by Patrick Miller
pions, NBA champions, a number of PGA tour champions, and many
Professor of Mathematics, Hardin-Simmons University
Fortune 500 companies. After more than two decades of success as a high performance psy-
The Heavens: Intimate Moments with Your Majestic God by Kevin Hart-
chologist, Cook stumbled upon the tiny Texas town of Utopia, a real place
nett provides enjoyable and inspirational reading. You do not need to
with an authentic cowboy church, an old cemetery, and a golf course that
read it in one sitting. It flows nicely when read only a few pages at a time.
was so pitiful he couldn’t get it off his mind. Instead, Cook was inspired to write his first novel, Seven Days in Utopia, originally published in 2009 as Golf’s Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia. This fall a film based on the book hit theaters. The backdrop of the story is a “chance” meeting between a professional golfer named Luke Chisolm (played in the movie by Lucas Black) and an eccentric rancher named Johnny Crawford (played by Robert Duvall). As the story unfolds, Luke—and the reader—learn from Johnny about inspiration, influence, and a deeper, more profound way of looking at life. In many ways, Luke and Johnny represent each one of us in our various stages of growth. We clearly learn we must be willing to coach and be coached all through life. We also learn that we need to recognize, write down, and deliberately reject the half-truths and outright lies that keep us from a life of significance. This book offers more than effective and wise high performance psychological axioms. It also includes direct biblical content and a clear-cut invitation for the reader to commit (or recommit) his or her life to Jesus Christ. In Johnny’s words to Luke: Let me let you in on a little secret. Life in the end will be measured by significance, not a golf score. Significance will be defined by your character, relationships, values, virtues and faith, not by a golf score. Years ago there was a man who spent his life dreaming about the big win, the day he would be heralded as the best. He was defined by what he did, and his livelihood depended upon his performance. He was a passionate man, a contender. He was a fisherman. His name was Simon.
The author divided the book into 2- to 3-page segments, in which he presents the science of astronomy punctuated with incredibly spectacular deep sky photographs. He then draws a connection between the science and the spiritual. The science citations are impeccable, as they should be since the author is the NASA deputy science operations manager for the Hubble Space Telescope. The deep sky photographs are beautiful, many coming from the Hubble. People often think there is a conflict between science and the spiritual, but as the author clearly demonstrates, there is no conflict between the two. Hartnett shows how natural it is to derive spiritual insight from scientific insight. This is most definitely true for astronomy, in which scientists are striving to understand the nature of the universe created by God. As the book’s subtitle indicates, this devotional relates the majesty of the universe that we can see and measure to the majesty of the universe’s Creator. The Heavens is a book that you can take with you outside on a warm summer evening. It provides inspirational reading while you look up at the myriad stars and the Milky Way in the skies above. Or perhaps you are outside looking at an eclipse of the Moon or counting meteors flashing overhead in a shower. The Heavens offers you a clear and natural connection between God and the marvels that you can see above. Without reservation I recommend Kevin Hartnett’s book. You will find it a valuable and truly inspirational addition to your library. It will be one that you will pick up and read over and over again throughout the years. Each time you do, you will learn something new and gain a deeper insight into God and His creation.
40
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
on the shelf
Elegy for Trains
the reader to explore the divine impulse to bring two realms into
Benjamin Myers (Village Books Press, 2010)
one, where the sublime enters the ordinary, a wooden marionette becomes a real boy, and elegy turns into praise. In these poems,
Review by Miho Nonaka
Oklahoma and the world become a fresh text, which along with
Assistant Professor of English, Wheaton College
the poet and teacher, we, too, are reading “for the first time.”
Against our cultural moment, where the idea of “home” as a geographical location has become suspect, the elegiac poems of Benjamin Myers, associate professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University, speak clearly of their roots. The topography of Oklahoma looms large as readers enter landscape marked by barbed wire, buffalo grass, red clay, “knobby” plains, and ghost trains traveling westbound through “fields of broken corn.” Each scene is an attempt to trace personal genealogy as well as a signpost for the collective mythos; the local action of noodling for catfish, digging “the rusty dross of land” with “one thin arm fumbling for leviathan,” becomes the poet’s link to a greater ancestral consciousness.
ON TAKING COMMUNION WITH MY STUDENTS From Elegy For Trains By Benjamin Myers
Let greasy spikes be caught in halos thrown from chapel windows and the lazy shuffle of saints trace the body of Christ down the chapel alley. Let this one,
Based on this sense of rootedness, Elegy for Trains traverses history
paper late,
and literature, covering many grounds in both thematic and formal
eyes avoiding mine
concerns. Myers’ erudite journey takes readers through varied po-
like two blackbirds in sudden flight,
etic forms—sonnet, sestina, American haiku, to name a few—and
receive.
characters—biblical authors, Polonius from Hamlet, and such literary prophetic personae as Virgil, Whitman, and Pound. Never-
And let this one,
theless, this type of interaction with past literature is not the main
absent a week
strength of Myers’ book.
only to resurface
More interesting tension arises when he compares his career as a poet/teacher to his ancestors’ earthbound labor. His is “the struggle not with rock / nor earth,” but the task “to plant / one green thing in the minds of my students.” The speaker wants to show that his mental task is no less authentic than theirs, and he refuses to draw an easy line “between the book and the burden of the sun,” because “The men who make the road and man who makes / these words all work the same within our fall.” The penultimate poem of the book, “On Taking Communion with My
as the sinking vessel rises one last time from ocean’s deep midnight, also receive. The wind empties itself outside the chapel, madly hurls the vowels and consonants collected all its lifetime ceaselessly at the stones.
Students,” presents a rare occasion which unites the disparate spheres of the teacher’s professional persona with the deeply private moment of
I hear on the gale
receiving the Lord’s Supper. The teacher is called to participate in the
my words
body of Christ with his students (including the slacker who failed to turn
from the morning’s lecture:
in his assignment on time, “eyes avoiding mine,” or who showed up in
the world is text.
class “as the sinking vessel rises” after a week of unnotified absence). Epiphany comes when the words “the world is text” take on another
I, too, am reading it for the first time.
meaning: the world is indeed text not only in all its rhetorical forces, but also in light of its origin in God’s Word, where spirit meets flesh. Myers’ debut collection is a satisfying journey of lyrical mediation and a source of inspiration, especially for those who serve and are served in Christian higher education. Elegy for Trains invites
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
41
on the shelf
Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty By Mustafa Akyol (W.W. Norton & Company, 2011)
In his well-reviewed new work, Islam without Extremes: The Muslim Case for Liberty, Akyol grapples with one of the most serious questions facing modern Turkey and its relations with the West as well as with the wider Islamic world: Can Islam generate and sustain its own version of a liberal society? By asking this question, Akyol not only sheds much-
Review & Interview by David Holt
needed light on the shadow of conflict that currently obscures mutual
Director
understanding between Islam and the West generally, but also reminds
CCCU’s BestSemester Middle East Studies Program
Western readers how important it is to re-examine their own struggle to forge the pillars of a liberal society. For many readers, this call to reflec-
The Middle East Studies Program is honored to introduce CCCU faculty to an important new book by journalist, author, and speaker Mustafa Akyol, one of contemporary Turkey’s most engaging editorial writers. A long-time favorite speaker for MESP students, Akyol talks to MESP each semester about the main domestic and foreign policy challenges facing modern Turkey.
tion alone is a journey of potential transformation. Educated in international relations at Istanbul’s Bosporus University, Akyol communicates in ways that resonate strongly with Western evangelicals because he understands and appreciates their respect for the importance of combining the ideas of both liberty and religion in public life.
Q&A with Mustafa Akyol David Holt: Western media coverage of current political conflict and regional instability in the Middle East tends to reinforce Western views, however well or poorly informed, about Islamic culture as violent, authoritarian, tribal, or sectarian. How can your book help speak to these impressions?
world. I only have one chapter that focuses on Turkey, and I do this to use
Mustafa Akyol: I try to help those impressions in several ways. First, the
Erdogan, which has been in power since 2002, has underlined Turkey’s
media focuses on now, but I look at history and show that a millennium ago
Muslim identity and its connections with other Muslim nations. Some regard
it was actually Christendom which looked “violent, authoritarian, tribal, or
this as bad news, whereas I think in quite the opposite way: Turkey now
sectarian” when compared to the world of Islam. What has happened since
looks closer to other Muslim societies, so the democratic experience of
then, and why it has happened so, is a question I probe in the book.
Turkey becomes more inspiring for them. No wonder many liberal-minded
Turkey as a case study to observe the liberating influence of democracy and the market economy on the Muslim mind. Secondly, Turkey has actually become more relevant to other Muslims in the past decade. The incumbent Justice and Development Party (JDP) of Tayyip
Arab Islamists who have participated in the Arab Spring have explicitly said Secondly, I am “deconstructing” the troubles in the Muslim world, in a sense,
they take Turkey’s JDP as an example.
and showing that quite a few of them come from non-religious roots, such as pre-Islamic traditions, social structures, and even modern forces such as nationalism. In Turkey, for example, the main threat to Christians’ religious freedom is not Islam but Turkish nationalism, which is a secular and modern idea.
Holt: Especially since 9/11, many Muslim intellectuals around the world have written apologetic pieces arguing that Islam is a religion compatible with moderation, democracy, and pluralism. What motivated you to write this book and how do you see its contribution to this literature overall?
Thirdly, I am demonstrating the liberal trends within Islam, both in the
Akyol: You are right to point out the apologetic nature of some of the post-
pre-modern and modern periods. The medieval Islamic school called
9/11 Muslim rhetoric, and that’s one reason I wanted to avoid that in my
Postponers, for example, built a theological argument for religious pluralism
book. Instead, I tried to be more explicit about the troubles in the Muslim
that British liberal John Locke would repeat some nine centuries later. They
world and even the Islamic tradition. In other words, my book is not saying
were called Postponers because instead of warring over contradictory
that everything in Islam is okay; I am rather acknowledging the problems
religious interpretations, they decided to postpone such judgments until the
and offering arguments on how they can be overcome.
afterlife when God would resolve all things.
Holt: Some critics might argue that because you are a Turkish author and Islam in Turkey is not a model acceptable to most Sunni or Shiite Muslims around the world, the central message of your book is therefore limited to the particulars of Turkish society. How would you respond to such thinking?
Of course, I believe that Islam, at its very core, is a noble religion with a liberating message. I would not be a Muslim if I did not believe so. But I see a big difference between the divine core of this religion and the historical trajectory it has followed, which has, in my view, brought some authoritarian elements to it. The ban and punishment of apostasy, for example, is totally post-Quranic and reflects the political conflicts of the early Muslim community, not the everlasting principles they were asked to subscribe to.
Akyol: Well, first of all, much of my book has nothing to do with Turkey. Rather, I address questions relevant to all Muslims who live in the modern
42
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
See the rest of this interview online at www.cccu.org/advance.
Reorganizing Campus Departments Can Be Another Tool in the Enrollment Toolbox By Jessica Shumaker There’s a new office on Malone University’s campus. When students and faculty returned to the Canton, Ohio, school this August, in addition to reconnecting with each other, they began plugging into the newly-created Center for Student Success.
“What we had here was a standard three-person career services department that for many years had reported to the provost and had a strong academic sense,” he says. In time, the office was passed to student development. Then, more recently, as school leaders began discussing the possibility of a one-stop shop for student needs rang-
According to Howard Taylor, Malone’s vice president for university advancement, the addition of the center, which houses four formerly distinct offices (accessibility services, retention and tutoring, aca-
44
ing from advising to tutoring, they realized they could include career services, too.
demic advising, and career services), streamlined the school’s career
Thus, the old office was shuttered, with two career services employees
services department.
taking their expertise to the Center for Student Success and alumni
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
enrollment toolbox
office. The third employee, who had covered administrative responsibilities, was transferred to fill an opening in admissions. The move was an opportunity to scale back where possible, Taylor says, and to strategically organize personnel with career services expertise in order to better recruit new students, serve current students, and support alumni. “Necessity is the mother of invention, I think, in our case,” quips Taylor of the personnel shifts.
“I think as we see tighter and tighter budgets in higher education across the board, we’re going to see a lot more people looking at: What’s the synergy? Can we make this work? Can we make this better?”
Malone isn’t the only school seeking new ways
Howard Taylor Vice President for University Advancement Malone University
to support enrollment through either reshaping its organizational structure or encouraging collaboration among departments that were previously nominally related.
Orchestrating Moving Parts Taylor believes moves like Malone’s are indicative of a bigger picture in higher education. “I think as we see tighter and tighter budgets in higher education across the board, we’re going to see a lot more people looking at: What’s the synergy? Can we make this work? Can we make this better?” Jim Turcotte, vice president of enrollment management and student affairs at Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss., says money is one obvious incentive for college leaders to take a fresh look at their organizational structure.
An overarching interest in providing consis-
vote with their feet. They’ll leave if you mis-
personnel and prospective and current stu-
treat them.”
dents, which ties into attracting and retaining students, necessitated Mississippi College’s decision to combine enrollment, student affairs, retention, and career services into one oversight area, says Turcotte, noting that so far this system has worked for the college. “Our vision here fits for us,” he notes. “It depends on the university. Our vision is one V.P. orchestrating a lot of moving parts from the first point of contact to graduation and getting
Turcotte is no stranger to Christian higher
a job. It’s a very far cry from my initial job as
education. He’s been with Mississippi Col-
director of admissions.”
seen a shift in how the enrollment process is approached, as well as how other offices relate to the campus admissions office.
He adds, “We can’t just ignore all of these different moving parts and just recruit students. It takes collaboration for all of this to work together.” Gary Phelps, registrar at Malone, echoes that sentiment, noting that the desire for quality control also has played a role in the establishment of Malone’s Center for Student Success. Asking what would best serve students has shaped the center. “Is there a better way of doing it than four disjointed offices? Each one was doing their
lege since 1994 when he took the position of director of admissions. Over his career, he’s
meet the expectations of the students, who
tent, high-quality interaction between school
Leveraging Resources
own thing, but can we leverage that by putting
While finances often play a role in changes,
questions asked at Malone during the center’s
another factor shaping restructuring at institutions like Malone and Mississippi College
them all together?” Phelps asks, describing the creation. “We all had similar goals, but is there a way to put these groups together to provide
Turcotte himself has seen his responsibilities
is quality control. As Turcotte notes, from a
expand from director of admissions to his cur-
student’s perspective, dealing with a confus-
rent job of managing three directors who over-
ing system of offices can be frustrating and
see enrollment, student affairs, and retention/
can cause students to leave. “Quit running
career services.
people around, either physically or virtually,”
Not all changes at institutions have been as
he recommends.
big as rerouting employees, changing job
A few years ago, such a combination would
improved, ongoing services to students?”
Optimizing for Success
descriptions, or creating new offices specifi-
be unheard of, he says, noting that for many
While “quality” can be an ambiguous word in
years, career services operated under colleges’
higher education, Turcotte says it is something
academic side, under the watch of deans and
colleges should be mindful of. “It’s meeting
At Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minn.,
department chairs.
the expectation of the customer. You’ve got to
the newly formed Center for Calling & Career
cally to work with admissions.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
45
enrollment toolbox
... as school leaders began discussing the possibility of a onestop shop for student needs ranging from advising to tutoring, they realized they could include career services, too.
has formed a collaborative relationship with admissions, even though recruitment isn’t its primary goal. Ken Faffler, senior director of admissions for Northwestern, says prospective students are encouraged to visit the center during campus visits and to check into information for students still selecting a major. Center staff are also present at campus preview events. He says it’s natural that offering this service would tie in with admissions. “I think it has everything to do with the greater emphasis in this economy on outcomes. If a student is going to pay for tuition in a down economy, they really want to be sure that they walk away with marketable degrees and programs that help them find their sweet spot.” One example of the center’s services is that it administers StrengthsFinder materials to the campus. “With the Center for Calling and Career there’s a dual emphasis on, A., knowing yourself, your motivations, your calling and, B., how all those things can help you identify careers that fit your personality, skills, and abilities,” Faffler explains. “It’s an attempt to bring all the resources together for each student in order for them to optimize themselves for their success and for the glory of God.”
46
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
enrollment toolbox
While Malone’s new center works closely with current students, moving employees from the former career services department has also benefited the alumni office, which indirectly supports admissions, Vice President Taylor says.
Embracing Changes While there are several reasons why schools are restructuring and seeking new initiatives, changes aren’t always warmly received. Turcotte, who has also consulted with other
Jessica Shumaker, a 2009 graduate of Olivet Nazarene University, attended the CCCU’s BestSemester Washington Journalism Center during her sophomore year. Since graduation, she has reported for The Villages Daily Sun in The Villages, Fla. She resides in Lady Lake, Fla.
Christian colleges during his career, said a
His office, which recently gained a profes-
common hindrance to major change is an
sional who can help alumni in need of ca-
unwillingness to take an objective assess-
reer services, has a clear connection to
ment of one’s institution.
generating future prospective students in the long run. “[Alumni] would have a greater
“If you are not nimble as an institution, you
propensity to give when we asked for a gift,
do not have the ability to adjust with the mar-
since they felt it was something helping them
kets,” he says. “I don’t think you would be
[still],” he explains. “For the same reason,
as successful as you would need to be as a
[when] they were helped and aided [with ca-
Christian college. Most of us are going to have
reer services], they would feel better about
to be nimble and need to adjust according to
encouraging their kids, nieces, nephews,
need.” Ultimately, he says embracing change
and young adults in their churches to come
for the better is important to an institution’s
to Malone.”
survival.
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
47
The last word
What’s Your Mission? Q&A with Father Michael Scanlan
F
or 37 years, Father Michael Scanlan has been a dynamic and influential presence at CCCU affiliate institution Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio, serving as president then chancellor. He retired from the universi-
ty this summer. During his 26-year tenure as the university’s president, he transformed it from a struggling college on the brink of bankruptcy to a university that is hailed as an international leader in Catholic higher education. He also spearheaded a spiritual revolution at the university.
busy I was, to personally interview every new faculty member and many administrative and support staff positions. This was to insure we were hiring people committed to the mission. Remember, you have to first “stir it up” among your leaders. You and your team have to be excited and on the same page if you want the students and those enquiring about your school to see what is distinct about it.
What pitfalls should college leaders guard against during seasons that are particularly uncertain or precarious for their institutions? During my tenure as president, especially early on, I was aware of the pressure on almost all Catholic colleges and universities to blur the college’s Christian character and become more like a secular school. Almost all the Catholic colleges and universities I knew were abandoning or soft-pedaling their Christian character. They wanted to succeed professionally. Eventually, though, this leads to increasingly permissive, individualistic, hedonistic campus life and a loss of mission. You don’t need to always join the pack. Don’t panic and simply become like everybody else. Instead, find a fresh approach to proclamation of mission. It constantly needs to be renewed, through student life activities, through academic convocations, through special studies in the classroom, through chapel. In each aspect of university life, find a way to breathe new life into the school’s mission every year. What do Christian colleges offer that is unique and important in our current cultural milieu? We are surrounded by a culture of relativism. Anything goes. There are no rules, morals, or boundaries. As a result, we have this broken world with so many unhappy people. Christian colleges offer a way to grow in holiness and in academic preparation that many students want (though they may not fully realize they thirst for it before they step foot on your campus). Increasingly, it’s what parents want for their children.
48
CCCU Advance | Fall 2011
My first year as president I attended every group function on campus, every dance, sport event, every club, and I immersed myself in the classroom environment. I even ate in the cafeteria with the students. I kept an open door and saw students whenever they dropped by. I observed the students and how sad and lonely they were and how they were looking in all the wrong places for companionship. I’ve often said that the loneliest person on earth is a college freshman away from home for the first time. I observed all this, and then I prayed for hours and hours each day. Then I began to implement programs to combat this loneliness and the destructive patterns it caused. I sought to establish a genuine faith environment on campus that was true to our Franciscan, Catholic tradition. How important was reclaiming or redefining mission/identity to Franciscan University’s turn-around under your leadership? It was absolutely essential. We had to connect the mission of our university with the real life of the students. For us, that meant establishing Faith Households, small faith sharing student groups, and stirring up the faith life on campus in other ways—with praise and worship, with spiritual talks, and by establishing theology as the queen of the sciences and increasing its importance in the Catholic liberal arts curriculum. You also absolutely have to hire good leaders. They’ve got to share in the mission and the excitement of it; they can’t just look good on paper. I made it part of my job, no matter how
How can CCCU colleges maintain their identities even as they offer online learning, satellite campuses, and other competitive tools that disperse students from the traditional, physical campus community setting? It is more difficult, but they need to emphasize some form of distinctiveness and, I would suspect, some form by which students would have a presence on their campus, regardless of how much or little time is spent there. Their time on campus should include, as much as possible, learning and experiencing in some way the values and vision of your school—not just the completion of required courses. In conclusion, from the perspective of years in Christian higher education, what other words of wisdom or challenge would you offer CCCU faculty and administrators? I found it necessary to pray every day. Withdrawing into prayer was crucial for my ministry as president. From my prayer time, I experienced being sent forth as a disciple of the Lord Jesus to my official work as president. A Scripture passage I often thought about when I prayed was Matthew 21:21: “If you have faith and never doubt…even if you say to the mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will be done.” This passage seems to point to one aspect of faith—that faith involves risk. Faith means stepping out and relying on the Lord Jesus Christ. For the complete interview with Father Scanlan, visit www.cccu.org/advance.
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2011 Free Market Forum | Atlanta, GA | Oct. 27, 2011
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CCCU Research Roundtable | Azusa Pacific University | Azusa, CA | Nov. 3, 2011
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2011 Financial Aid Administrators Conference | Las Vegas, NV | Dec. 1-3, 2011
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2012 PR/Communications Officers Conference | Tucson, AZ | Jan. 4-6, 2012
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2012 Chief Enrollment Officers Conference | Tucson, AZ | Jan. 4-6, 2012
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36th Annual Presidents Conference | Washington, DC | Jan. 31- Feb 3, 2012
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2012 Campus Ministry Directors Conference | Pacific Grove, CA | Feb. 16-18, 2012
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2012 Chief Institutional Advancement Officers Conference | Tucson, AZ | Feb. 22-24, 2012
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2012 Chief Student Development Officers Conference | New Orleans, LA | March 7-9, 2012
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2012 Chief Academic Officers Conference | Nashville, TN | March 21-23, 2012
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2012 Commission on Technology Conference | North Charleston , SC | May 29-31, 2012
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2012 Chief Financial Officers Conference | Hobbs, NM | June 6-8, 2012
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2012 New Presidents Institute | Breckenridge, CO | July 7-10, 2012
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2012 Governance Institute | Breckenridge, CO | July 12-14, 2012
For a complete listing of all the CCCU Conferences & Events schedule, visit www.cccu.org/conferences_events.