Bethany Seminary to Launch MA Connections
Since 2002, Bethany Theological Seminary has offered a Master of Divinity degree completion track titled MDiv Connections for students unable to relocate to Richmond, Indiana for long-term residency. On July 12, the Seminary received approval from its accrediting body, the Association of Theological Schools, to launch the MA Connections track. The Seminary will officially enroll students in the track in the Spring 2011 semester. New and continuing students interested in the MA Connections track can take courses prior to Spring 2011 and transfer them into the track.
Distributed education tracks offer degrees through classes in a variety of formats: weekend or two-week intensives on campus, online, hybrid (a mix of online and residential), and offsite. The Association of Theological Schools (ATS) requires that students take half of the courses for the degree at the Richmond campus. The other half may be online courses or taken at the Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center or at other ATS-accredited schools.
The MA thesis sequence courses, which are the core classes of the program, will be offered in a variety of formats: as weekend intensives, hybrid classes, or meeting weekly with some students physically present in the classroom and others connected via video. Students enrolled in the MA Connections track will have access to Bethany's library resources, which are jointly housed with Earlham School of Religion and Earlham College's holdings in the college's Lilly Library, while they are attending classes on the Richmond campus, and to the many online resources available through the Library including the American Theological Library Association's ATLA Religion Database and ATLAS full-text PDF section. Both the MA and MDiv Connections tracks assume a part-time course load. MA Connections students will have six years to complete their degree.
Academic Dean Steven Schweitzer is delighted that the Seminary has the opportunity to extend its educational access through the MA Connections track, and to explore additional creative innovations for teaching and learning. "With a growing number of students interested in distributed education, Bethany will begin to offer other courses in alternative formats in the near future. These changes come at the same time as curriculum review is underway at the Seminary, and the convergence of these factors should allow us room to think 'outside the box' in terms of what we are teaching and how we are teaching it."
Malinda Berry, instructor in theological studies and director of the Master of Arts program, will serve as administrator of the MA Connections track. "Making graduate-level theological education accessible to people walking all kinds of career paths builds the church because it encourages spiritual growth and ownership in congregational life in ways that recognize vocational diversity," Berry says. "Bethany's MA Connections track is an excellent way to nurture this growth and interest. I am excited about how this new endeavor is making seminary education possible for a whole new group of people."
Persons in MA Connections can contact Ms. Berry at berryma@bethanyseminary.edu, or Bethany's Admissions Office at enroll@bethanyseminary.edu.
Distributed education tracks offer degrees through classes in a variety of formats: weekend or two-week intensives on campus, online, hybrid (a mix of online and residential), and offsite. The Association of Theological Schools (ATS) requires that students take half of the courses for the degree at the Richmond campus. The other half may be online courses or taken at the Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center or at other ATS-accredited schools.
The MA thesis sequence courses, which are the core classes of the program, will be offered in a variety of formats: as weekend intensives, hybrid classes, or meeting weekly with some students physically present in the classroom and others connected via video. Students enrolled in the MA Connections track will have access to Bethany's library resources, which are jointly housed with Earlham School of Religion and Earlham College's holdings in the college's Lilly Library, while they are attending classes on the Richmond campus, and to the many online resources available through the Library including the American Theological Library Association's ATLA Religion Database and ATLAS full-text PDF section. Both the MA and MDiv Connections tracks assume a part-time course load. MA Connections students will have six years to complete their degree.
Academic Dean Steven Schweitzer is delighted that the Seminary has the opportunity to extend its educational access through the MA Connections track, and to explore additional creative innovations for teaching and learning. "With a growing number of students interested in distributed education, Bethany will begin to offer other courses in alternative formats in the near future. These changes come at the same time as curriculum review is underway at the Seminary, and the convergence of these factors should allow us room to think 'outside the box' in terms of what we are teaching and how we are teaching it."
Malinda Berry, instructor in theological studies and director of the Master of Arts program, will serve as administrator of the MA Connections track. "Making graduate-level theological education accessible to people walking all kinds of career paths builds the church because it encourages spiritual growth and ownership in congregational life in ways that recognize vocational diversity," Berry says. "Bethany's MA Connections track is an excellent way to nurture this growth and interest. I am excited about how this new endeavor is making seminary education possible for a whole new group of people."
Persons in MA Connections can contact Ms. Berry at berryma@bethanyseminary.edu, or Bethany's Admissions Office at enroll@bethanyseminary.edu.
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