Corban University to merge with Washington seminary
School will offer its first accredited doctoral program
Written by
Dee Moore
Special to the Statesman Journal
Corban University will soon expand by merging with North Baptist Seminary in Tacoma, which will become Corban University School of Ministry.The merger becomes official in October and will allow the university to tap into already established graduate ministry curriculum at the seminary.
The seminary benefits from having access to more traditional graduate offerings such as an education program, MBA and online degree completion programs. A seminary typically only offers graduate ministerial degrees.
"One key desire was to extend our mission by providing graduate education to ministers not being reached by current seminaries," said Steve Hunt, Corban's Vice President for Marketing.
Most seminaries only provide religious curriculum. Not only will the merger allow for the graduate students in ministerial programs to take graduate-level liberal arts classes, it also allows Corban to reach potential students in the Seattle/Tacoma area.
Even before merger talks began, Corban was looking to develop and provide graduate-level ministry programs, which it does not currently do.
The job of running a church or its various programs can be challenging today than it was 20 years ago.
Congregations expect more from their churches, such as singles outreach, child care, early education, in some cases primary and secondary school educations and addiction and other counseling programs.
Students today not only need religious training but also a business education, teaching certificates and broader liberal arts education.
"Our purpose was to design a school of ministry that will address the 21st century ministry challenges," Hunt said.
Although current seminary students may be concerned about these changes, Hunt said students will continue their classes with no interruption and will receive degrees. The only difference will be the name of the institution issuing the degree: Corban University School of Ministry.
Greg Trull, formerly Corban's chairman of the ministries department has been named dean of ministry for the seminary.
Trull thinks the merger will allow the university to offer short-term modules and online graduate classes in addition to semester classes.
Few religious schools offer classes that allow students to count work time as class time. When students are freed from actual classroom time, they can avoid giving up their jobs, which is common for seminary students because the course work is extremely time intensive.
"This is a desirable asset for those already in the ministry who want to get an advanced degree," Hunt said. "It gives them the ability to continue in their work and finish their schooling.
Corban's current president, Reno Hoff, will now become acting president of the seminary.
Hoff expects the school of ministry to have as many as 100 students enrolled in their programs by the 2011 school year.
With this merger, the university will now be offering its first accredited doctoral program.
Copyright Statesman-Journal 2010
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100811/COMMUNITIES/108160021
The seminary benefits from having access to more traditional graduate offerings such as an education program, MBA and online degree completion programs. A seminary typically only offers graduate ministerial degrees.
"One key desire was to extend our mission by providing graduate education to ministers not being reached by current seminaries," said Steve Hunt, Corban's Vice President for Marketing.
Most seminaries only provide religious curriculum. Not only will the merger allow for the graduate students in ministerial programs to take graduate-level liberal arts classes, it also allows Corban to reach potential students in the Seattle/Tacoma area.
Even before merger talks began, Corban was looking to develop and provide graduate-level ministry programs, which it does not currently do.
The job of running a church or its various programs can be challenging today than it was 20 years ago.
Congregations expect more from their churches, such as singles outreach, child care, early education, in some cases primary and secondary school educations and addiction and other counseling programs.
Students today not only need religious training but also a business education, teaching certificates and broader liberal arts education.
"Our purpose was to design a school of ministry that will address the 21st century ministry challenges," Hunt said.
Although current seminary students may be concerned about these changes, Hunt said students will continue their classes with no interruption and will receive degrees. The only difference will be the name of the institution issuing the degree: Corban University School of Ministry.
Greg Trull, formerly Corban's chairman of the ministries department has been named dean of ministry for the seminary.
Trull thinks the merger will allow the university to offer short-term modules and online graduate classes in addition to semester classes.
Few religious schools offer classes that allow students to count work time as class time. When students are freed from actual classroom time, they can avoid giving up their jobs, which is common for seminary students because the course work is extremely time intensive.
"This is a desirable asset for those already in the ministry who want to get an advanced degree," Hunt said. "It gives them the ability to continue in their work and finish their schooling.
Corban's current president, Reno Hoff, will now become acting president of the seminary.
Hoff expects the school of ministry to have as many as 100 students enrolled in their programs by the 2011 school year.
With this merger, the university will now be offering its first accredited doctoral program.
Copyright Statesman-Journal 2010
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100811/COMMUNITIES/108160021
No comments:
Post a Comment