SESSION 1
Cooperative Economics: Helping Our Students & Institutions Navigate Student Debt
Ashly Cargyle-Thompson, Founder and CEO, Edvise Consulting, LLC
Fekecia Gunn, Director of Enrollment Services and Professor, Memphis Theological Seminary
Who owns the student debt crisis? Is it a matter of personal responsibility as our institutions suggest? Or, are our students scapegoats for institutional and systemic failures? In reality, both parties play a critical role in the prevalence of student borrowing and, with experience as financial aid officers, we are uniquely positioned to address the issue from both sides. This presentation will explore financial aid personnel’s impact on the micro (student-centered) and macro (policy and finance) levels of our institutions and discuss programmatic, administrative, and financial strategies for effecting sustainable change for our students and our schools.
Admissions as Spiritual Discernment: Expanding the Role of Seminary Admissions Personnel
Kevin O’Coin, Assistant Director of Admissions, Associated Canadian Theological Schools of Trinity Western University
Considering the possibility of pursuing graduate theological education can be daunting and confusing. Seminary admissions personnel can help people discern their next steps by extending an invitation for them to reflect on and employ their own spiritual resources. This session will explore specific care practices that all admissions personnel can incorporate into their interactions with students in order to move beyond a transaction-based approach to one founded on care and discernment. Based on soon-to-published research for a Doctor of Ministry degree at ATS member school ACTS Seminaries of Trinity Western University (Langley, BC).
Mind the Gap: Building Awareness and Adaptive Models to Support Student Flourishing
Katherine Smith, Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives, Duke University Divinity School
Amidst the turbulence of pandemic and accelerating changes in higher education, how can theological schools build on strengths, identify challenges, and adapt their practices to support not just student persistence, but student flourishing? This session will address practical and cost-efficient strategies to foster student well-being, strengthen collaboration among those who support them, and realize meaningful outcomes for both students and schools.
Changes in Higher Education: Student Information System Helps to Stay in Compliance
Devona Sewell, Director of Registration and Records, University of Saint Mary of the Lake
The one constant in higher education is that change is constant. In today’s never-ending university, local, state and federal changes, it is essential to have technology that assists with the ability to keep our colleges and universities in compliance with these changes. One important technology in this endeavor is the Student Information System (SIS).
SESSION 2
Bridging Theology with Career Goals Objective
Reginald Boyd Jr., Director of Recruitment and Admissions, Hood Theological Seminary
Vernice Randall, Associate Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid and Lecturer in Homiletics, Yale University Divinity School
This session will explore questions about why students chose their particular degree, the benefits of chosen degree program, and tying theology and career objectives together with degree program selection. The session will also touch on how to think about recruitment approaches for students seeking theological degrees for non-traditional career paths.
Today’s Student Loan Program: What Every Financial Aid Professional Needs to Know
Heather Jarvis, Director, Student Loan Expert, LLC
In spite of high student loan balances and low clergy salaries, a typical theological school graduate can successfully manage his or her student loans. Federal student loan programs provide flexible repayment options that set monthly payments at an affordable percentage of income and offer loan forgiveness for responsible borrowers. But the details are tricky and can be difficult to navigate. Bring your toughest questions because the expert is in the house!
Achieving Strategic Enrollment Health
Tim Fuller, Founder, Fuller Higher Ed Solutions
Finding enough of the right students, those students who will thrive as they pursue their calling to theological education, is an important task for every enrollment leader. This workshop reviews the keys to meeting enrollment goals with the right focus, data, and campus mobilization.
“If You’re Going through Hell, Keep Going”: A Grounded Theory of Spiritual Struggle among Seminarians
Lee Richards, Registrar and Director of Financial Aid, Methodist Theological School in Ohio
As they prepare for careers in vocational ministry, academic teaching, or other forms of social and public service, some seminarians endure one or more periods of intense spiritual struggle – that is, an experience of disequilibrium, disturbance, and/or disillusionment as it relates to their own spiritual identity. For some students, this experience of spiritual struggle leads them to abandon their studies, their vocation, and even their faith; for others, it leads to transformation, deepened spiritual identity and a renewed sense of vocation. Through theory and narrative, this workshop will explore the phenomenon of spiritual struggle among seminarians and outline practical approaches that student affairs personnel use to aid and equip students to successfully navigate their way through these crises.
SESSION 3
Retooling Recruiting and Admissions Methods for Continued Enrollment Success
Cameron Schweitzer, Director of Enrollment; International Student Adviser; Jonathan Edwards Center West Research Assistant, Gateway Seminary
Despite some of the challenges seminaries have faced the last several years, both pre and post Covid, Gateway seminary has been able to achieve consistent new student enrollment growth. And our office has done so without the use of a CRM. In this session I will discuss some of the strategies we have employed (personnel, technology, and office culture) to achieve this success.
Financial Aid: Advanced Topics
Heather Jarvis, Director, Student Loan Expert, LLC
Join Heather Jarvis, student loan expert, for an overview of the latest information on federal student loans including:
• The big picture: student debt as part of a total financial picture
• Understanding the eligibility requirements of the income-driven repayment plans
• What's different for married folks
• Loan forgiveness that is not tied to employment
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness
• Tax issues specific to student loan borrowers
• Proposed rule changes: what they are and how they could affect your students
What Are We Learning as We Navigate Challenging Times?
Jeff Sajdak, Dean of Students, Calvin Theological Seminary
Pandemic, political battles, racial division, Zoom, masks, vaccines. We’re all weary. We won’t be going back to the old “normal,” and we’re not sure what’s ahead. Let’s step back to see what we’ve been learning to help us balance agility and stability amidst rapid change. This workshop will be a chance to pause, pay attention, and ponder what we’ve learned for our life and work.
"SPANning the Hot Topics!"
Michael P. Sandner, Chief Business Officer; Acting Director of Human Resources; Title IX Officer, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace
Here is your chance to join in with your peers and discuss some current hot topics for theological education administrators.