Innovation is something everyone seems to be discussing right now. When it comes to innovation in theological education, I believe the advancement/development office is uniquely positioned to play an important role. This presentation was part of a workshop that invited senior development officers to think about why innovation is important, why they should be part…
This will be a different post than you might usually find me writing. However, I think it is important given the landscape of … (Read more…)
Today, we are going to discuss the role of faculty in a new paradigm. Specifically, we’ll look at how faculty might direct student learning… (Read more…)
So what would happen if we progressed from thinking about a seminary as “place” or “institution” to considering its role as a platform for … (Read more…)
For (what seems to be) the first time in a long time, there is a lot of change occurring within schools across ATS. In a recent conversation with an individual from ATS I learned that number of applications for changes that have been submitted to the Board of Commissioners has increased quite significantly. More schools…
We are facing unprecedented change in theological education. Enrollment is declining, financial models are being challenged, and longtime assumptions are no longer true. Students, accreditors, the federal government, and local ministries are all demanding more from seminaries and the system of theological education. What are we to do? I say it is time to learn…
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…
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…
In part one of this topic, I challenged us to think more broadly about innovation within theological education. I think we are missing some big opportunities for significant levels of innovation. Innovation can be about much more than “product” or program innovation. As I mentioned in part one, I strongly believe that theological education is…