The purpose of the study was to provide knowledge about the organization of Departments of Christian Education in the forty-seven member colleges of the Christian College Coalition. The information was used to develop a model for the reorganization of the Department of Christian Education of Huntington College, Huntington, Indiana.The objective of the study was to determine the status of the organization of the -Departments of Christian Education in the forty-seen member colleges of the Christian College Coalition. The areas investigated were the status of the Christian Education Department chairperson, faculty, and the organizational structure of the curriculum format of the Departments of Christian Education of the member schools of the Coalition.The Academic Deans of the member colleges of the Coalition were contacted by letter and asked to provide the name and address of the Christian Education Department chairperson. Based on the information supplied by the Deans the total population for the study was twenty-eight Christian Education Department chairpersons located within the member colleges of the Christian College Coalition.The data were gathered from a review of the literature, a questionnaire, and a review of the catalogs of the member schools of the Coalition. The data were presented in narrative form and where appropriate, tables were developed.Some of the findings of the study were:1. Sixty-three percent of the member colleges of the Christian College Coalition have Christian Education Departments located within the organizational structure of the institution.2. Seventy-five percent of the responding Department chairpersons considered insufficient the time available for research (other than for classroom preparation).3. The Department chairperson was responsible for an average of 48.9 student advisees.4. The average instructional course load for Christian Education Department chairpersons, equated in semester hours per academic year, was 18.25 semester hours.5. The Department chairperson was identified as being the key factor in departmental success.6. The preservation of the small, private, Church-related, Christian college was linked to distinctive mission statements and objectives.Based on the data, some of the conclusions made were:1. The initial assumption presented in Chapter One, "Christian liberal arts colleges customarily include a Department of Christian Education in the academic scheme of the institution," proved to be inaccurate.2. Departmental leadership is extremely important to the success of Christian Education Departments.3. Departments of Christian Education lack a specific identity as revealed by the various Divisions in which the Department of Christian Education is located and the variety of nomenclature used to describe the curriculum format.4. Christian Education Department chairpersons appear to carry a heavy instructional and activity load which mitigate research opportunities.5. The department structure may not be the best academic unit for housing Christian education curriculum in a Christian liberal arts college.6. The preservation of the Christian College was linked to distinctive mission statements and objectives which were identified as the integration of faith and learning, an uncompromising institutional commitment to Biblical truth and the lordship of Jesus Christ, and a program which validates institutional claims both in and out of the classroom.Following are some of the recommendations of the study:1. The study should be replicated to determine the status of the organizational structure of Christian Education Departments in Bible colleges.2. A future study should be conducted of the status of the discipline of Christian education within the member colleges of the Christian College Coalition.3. A future study should be conducted with students majoring in Christian education to determine department effectiveness in vocational, avocational, and professional training.4. A Christian Education Department model for Huntington College, Huntington, Indiana was also presented in the recommendations of the study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/179273 |
| Date | January 1981 |
| Creators | Osberg, Richard L. |
| Contributors | Snyder, Jack F. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | v, 112 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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