Effectiveness
OUR MISSION
Stark College & Seminary exists to equip educationally under-served followers of Christ for service in the church and community.
CORE VALUES
- Christ Centered
- Christian Formation
- Multicultural Competency
- Biblical/Theological Fluency
- La Familia
- Baptist History and Heritage
INSTITUTIONAL OBJECTIVES
- Equip educationally under-served men and women for Christian ministry.
- Deliver broad-based student support services in the areas of financial aid, classroom environments, an adequate resource learning center, and sacred spaces lending to spiritual formation.
- Provide flexible and accessible continuing education programs.
- Conduct systematic, broad-based planning and evaluation systems.
- Ensure a qualified, competent faculty, staff, and administration dedicated to carrying out the mission of the institution as approved by the board.
- Deliver biblical content in a way that is relevant with a joint focus on academic excellence and practical applications to ministry.
- Provide adequate physical, financial, and technology resources to support accessible academic programs.
- Connect and partner with local churches throughout Texas that serve as educational extension sites via technology in order to reach more ministry leaders.
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
CERTIFICATE IN MINISTRY
At an appropriate collegiate level, the student will:
- Demonstrate a basic knowledge of the history and interpretation of the Christian scriptures;
- Apply the practices of spiritual formation as they relate to their relationship with God, families, the church, and the world; and
- Integrate a basic understanding of the tenets of the Christian faith and the practice of the faith in everyday life.
DIPLOMA IN MINISTRY
At an appropriate collegiate level, the student will:
- Demonstrate an intermediate knowledge of the history and interpretation of the Christian scriptures;
- Integrate an intermediate understanding of the tenets of the Christian faith and the practice of the faith in everyday life;
- Value diversity;
- Practice leadership skills for use in life and ministry; and
- Demonstrate digital fluency.
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN MINISTRY
At an appropriate collegiate level, the student will:
- Demonstrate proficiency in knowledge of the history and interpretation of the Christian scriptures;
- Integrate an understanding of the tenets of the Christian faith and the practice of the faith in everyday life;
- Value and celebrate cultural and ethnic diversity;
- Practice and apply leadership skills for use in life and ministry; and
- Demonstrate proficiency in digital fluency.
MASTER OF ARTS IN MINISTRY
At an appropriate collegiate level, the student will:
- Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of the history and interpretation of the Christian scriptures;
- Integrate and apply an understanding of the tenets of the Christian faith and the practice of the faith in everyday life and the ministry context;
- Value and celebrate cultural diversity;
- Practice and implement advanced leadership skills for use in life and ministry; and
- Demonstrate advanced proficiency in digital fluency.
MASTER OF DIVINITY
At an appropriate collegiate level, the student will:
- Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of Christian Scripture, Church History, Christian Theology, and Ecclesiology.
- Establish a repertoire of spiritual formation and ministry leadership skills necessary for effective ministry endeavors to include leadership of self, others, and organizations.
- Depict a culturally sensitive ministry leader, exhibited by the application of ministry skills and Christian virtues in engagement with individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
- Incorporate knowledge of church polity and governance to specific ministry contexts.
- Demonstrate graduate-level proficiency in theological research and effective communication in written and verbal forms, to include proficiency in digital fluency.
ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS
STUDENT SATISFACTION SURVEY
Data is collected from the Student Satisfaction Survey annually to measure student perceptions of the institution’s success in helping students to achieve student learning outcomes. Students provide a grade (A – F) for the ability of their degree program at SCS to prepare them to achieve each of the student learning outcomes, in addition to the development of a Biblical worldview. SCS considers a “B” average or above in each area to be successful in meeting student expectations for the assessment of both student learning and institutional effectiveness.
Employment data is collected and updated annually using information from the Application for Graduation. The benchmarks for each program are: Certificate: 80% employment rate; 100% employment in a ministry setting; Diploma, Bachelor, Masters: 95% Employment Rate; 100% employment in a ministry setting.
Students in the Diploma in Ministry, Bachelor of Arts in Ministry, and Master of Arts in Ministry complete a Capstone course as a requirement for graduation. These capstone courses are for-credit and require students to reflect on their entire degree program through a variety of assignments. The final project for each Capstone course is for the student to present a Capstone Portfolio in a 30-45 minute presentation to their Capstone professor. The student presents artifacts from their coursework which best demonstrates their achievement of each learning outcome. For each artifact presented, the student must describe the assignment and course from which the assignment was completed. The student then must describe what they learned from the assignment and how it demonstrates achievement of the student learning outcome it represents. This process evaluates the student’s success in the achievement of student learning outcomes with criteria appropriate to each program’s level of education using a rubric for the purpose of achieving measured results. Each outcome is graded on a 5-point scale and SCS considers an average of 4 to be successful in the student’s achievement of learning outcomes.
The Retention Report is completed every semester and provides longitudinal information related to semester-over-semester program specific student retention. Data is reviewed by the staff/faculty and Executive Cabinet each semester.As a result of our mission to equip the educationally under-served, significant numbers of students are nontraditional in age and are returning to college after a long absence, or attending for the first time. Additionally, many students come from socio-economic backgrounds that often disadvantage students. Finally, many students attend SCS for the purpose of general Bible knowledge and only take one or two courses as a part of general enrichment.
These things obviously impact the goals of the institution as it relates to retention and completion rates. SCS dissagrigates retention for this reason because students pursuing a degree program (as opposed to the Certificate in Ministry) tend to have better retention. SCS calculates retention based upon all students from one semester to the next semester, not only first-time freshmen fall over fall. This is because we do not have many first-time freshmen as a result of our mission, and our recruiting and retention efforts lend themselves to tracking semester-by-semester to determine success. The Institution has an aspirational goal of 70% retention in the Certificate in Ministry and 90% retention in all other programs.
The Registrar Report is completed every semester and provides longitudinal information related to enrollment (hours sold, number of students, number of new students, number of graduates) and demographic information (age, gender, ethnicity, and denominational affiliation.) Data is reviewed by the staff/faculty and Executive Cabinet each semester.
The Graduation Report is updated annually with the Academic Catalog. Traditionally, a graduation rate is the percentage of a school’s full-time, first-year undergraduate students who complete their program within 150% of the published time for the program. For example, for a typical two-year degree program, entering freshmen who complete the program within three years are counted as graduates. As SCS has no full-time students, our part-time students complete their two-year program in four years. Therefore, to allow the same rate of consideration, our graduation rate is the percentage of our part-time students who complete the program within 300% of the published time for full-time students. The Graduation Report is reviewed by the Executive Cabinet and Board as a part of the Academic Catalog review process.
Due to our mission to equip the educationally underserved, we have few traditional first-time freshman, and few full-time students at this time. SCS students take an average of 5.4 credit hours per semester. Average hours broken down by degree include: Certificate in Ministry (5.4), Diploma in Ministry (4.9), Bachelor of Arts in Ministry (9.2) and Master of Arts in Ministry (5.2). The demographic breakdown across all programs, specifically with regard to age, indicates why SCS students are primarily part-time with only 15% who are 24 years of age and under, whereas 55% are 40 and over. SCS students are mature adults seeking to expand their biblical knowledge while serving their local church.
The part-time nature of the SCS student means that traditional measures of graduation rates that measure the rate at which full-time students complete a program are not adequate. Traditionally, a graduation rate is the percentage of a school’s full-time, first-year undergraduate students who complete their program within 150% of the published time for the program. For example, for typical two-year degree program, entering freshmen who complete the program within three years are counted as graduates. As SCS has no full-time students, our part-time students complete their two-year program in four years. Therefore, to allow the same rate of consideration, our graduation rate is the percentage of our part-time students who complete the program within 300% of the published time for full-time students.
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