Greg Henson | Beyond Tomorrow
In the first post on this topic, I shared how I believe it may be time to stop using FTE as a metric because it doesn’t serve institutions well when it comes to planning. In this post we are going to look at a few of my thoughts related to finding better metrics. Total Active
I believe it may be time to retire the age-old metric of Full-time Equivalent (FTE) in theological education. It may have served us well in the past, but I do not believe it can serve us well in the future. The gap between FTE and headcount, the “part-time-ization” of theological education, and the subjective nature
What if seminaries took full advantage of a student’s current ministry? While many seminaries try to “integrate theory and practice” in their classrooms, in my experience those efforts still result in talking about something versus doing it. As seminaries, we relegate the “ministry practice” requirements of a degree to “field education,” “internship,” and “mentored ministry”
A well-researched list of peer schools can serve an institution well. This is the second of two articles in which we talk about how to create a list of peer schools and then how to use that list effectively. In my last post I mentioned two specific reports ATS member schools receive each year. They
A well-researched list of peer schools can serve an institution well. Over the past four years I have put quite a bit of work into identifying peer schools for various projects. I have also worked closely with Gary Hoag on an advancement and enrollment management peer study of evangelical schools within ATS. Recently, a number
As a group, incoming students are saddled with over $85,000,000 in educational debt BEFORE they enroll. Since 2001, the percentage of incoming students that enter seminary with more than $25,000 in educational debt has increased by 143%. The majority of incoming students will find seminary to be nothing like (or at least very different from)
81% of all incoming seminary students do not expect to have a parish ministry position. Less than half of all incoming students plan to be ordained. School websites account for more incoming students than all traditional advertising combined. Below is the second of three infographcis based on the 2011-2012 ATS ESQ. During the most recently
Two-thirds of all incoming MDiv students at ATS seminaries commute to class – regardless of their size, all seminaries seem to be regional schools. 78% of all incoming part-time MDiv students work more than 20 hours per week. 81% of ALL incoming MDiv students work while attending school. During the 2011-2012 academic year (the most
I attended the ATS CFOS conference last week and came away encouraged by many of the conversations. Like the DIAP Conference for which I serve as a Steering Committee Member, the CFOS Conference has value in both the presentations and the conversations. People are asking good questions and wanting to create models of theological education
The world is changing and the rate of change is only going to increase. I believe there are 5 “steps” which we need to take in order to be properly equipped to engage all those in our constituency base. The steps are based on a few shifts we are seeing in the world around us.
I am a follower of Christ who is passionate about the work of the Church. At Northern Seminary, I serve as Chief of Institutional Advancement. At home, I serve as husband and father. My passion is creating an integrated system of theological education which serves the Church. I love change and love watching God work in amazing ways. Read more
