February 6, 2024
John Derry reflects on a career in Christian higher education that has included serving in campus ministry, as president of two Christian colleges, and with the ABHE accrediting agency. "My thinking has always been that we must seek to collaborate as we recruit from a shrinking pool of students and secure financial support," he writes . . .
No longer are we stunned to read, “A Christian college is closing its doors!” . . . By 1980, about 40 colleges were committed to preparing the next generation of servant-leaders among the independent Christian churches. What has happened in recent years to reduce that number to fewer than 20?
December 14, 2021
Amy Plummer says the COVID-19 pandemic certainly hasn’t made it easier to reach at-risk families in her community with the love of Christ. Plummer oversees a ministry called Giftmart at Community Christian Church, a multisite congregation in the Chicago metro. Now in its 19th year, Giftmart collects toys for families in need to purchase at a deep discount. . . .
The presidents of Lincoln Christian University, Hope International University, Kentucky Christian University, and Boise Bible College share their reflections of the most unusual school year that is just ending.
October 27, 2020
By Jim Nieman Two Canadian Christian colleges have undergone major changes over the course of the last several months. At Alberta Bible College in Calgary, the disruption resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the school to deliver its classes via an online method since the springtime. “We weigh the information we receive from Alberta Health Services weekly and are trying to determine if beginning some physical classes in January is prudent,” president Stanley Helton said. Maritime Christian College also has seen disruption, but those changes were in motion even before the coronavirus began dominating the world’s headlines. MCC—located in
By Jim Nieman Christian colleges and universities were already under significant stress even before the COVID-19 tsunami came crashing over our nation. In fact, two of them—Cincinnati Christian University and Nebraska Christian College—have closed during the past year. We decided to take the temperature of institutions across the United States by asking college presidents to share their year-over-year attendance figures and to describe the challenges they are facing. It might surprise some to learn that a handful of the 16 colleges and universities that shared their data with us actually saw their enrollment increase from fall 2019 to fall 2020.
By Chris Moon In his 24 years at Ozark Christian College—10 as a professor and 14 now as president—Matt Proctor has never experienced a spring semester like this one. “We’re all learning,” he said. The university in Joplin, Mo., just finished its first week of being an online-only school amid the campus closures that have affected colleges across the nation during the coronavirus pandemic. Proctor said things haven’t been easy, but they haven’t been overwhelming, either. “I am blessed with an amazing team,” he said. “I have been able to see our team at Ozark just rally together and do
By Jennifer Johnson It”s common knowledge that the Internet has transformed traditional approaches to higher education. Although one out of every three academicians considers online learning to be inferior to face-to-face instruction (according to SEO.com), millions of undergrad and graduate students enroll in online classes each semester, and the National Center for Education reported recently that 22 percent of United States graduate students study exclusively online. Many schools have also realized class schedules and degree programs must become more flexible to attract growing numbers of nontraditional students. These changes, along with the growing desire among growing churches to raise up
Gary Tiffin considers how Christian colleges can adapt to changing educational realities while remaining faithful to their founding mission, congregational ties, and ministry purpose.
September 10, 2006
Abilene Christian University has formed a Department of Conflict Resolution and launched a master’s degree in conflict resolution and reconciliation, building on its longstanding Center for Conflict Resolution and graduate certificate program.
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