HIGHER Education the Purpose and Function of an Adventist APPROACH to the Adventist Teaching Accrediting Psychology Association the JOURNAL OF

THE JOURNAL OF

® ADVENTISTWebsite: http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae EDUCATION APRIL/MAY 2008

HIGHER tHE tENSION bEtWEEN EduCAtION AdvENtISt MISSION ANd ISSuE ACAdEMIC HOW RELIGIOuS vISION SHOuLd WE bE? WHO’S IN ANd HOW SHOuLd CHARGE? WE bE RELIGIOuS? ObSERvAtIONS ON GOvERNANCE tHE CHALLENGE IN AdvENtISt OF GROWtH HIGHER EduCAtION tHE PuRPOSE ANd FuNCtION OF AN AdvENtISt APPROACH tO tHE AdvENtISt tEACHING ACCREdItING PSyCHOLOGy ASSOCIAtION THE JOURNAL OF

ADVENTIST EDUCATION® APRIL/MAY 2008 VOLUME 70 / NUMBER 4 FEATURES

4 How Religious Should We Be? And How Should We Be Religious? PAGE 4 BY RICHARD RICE 10 The Challenge of Growth: Managing the Expansion of Adventist Education Around the World BY C. GARLAND DULAN 15 The Purpose and Function of the Adventist Accrediting Association BY LISA M. BEARDSLEY 20 The Missiological Roots of Adventist Higher Education and the Ongoing Tension Between Adventist Mission and Academic Vision BY GEORGE R. KNIGHT 29 Who’s in Charge? Observations on Governance in PAGE 20 Seventh-day Adventist Higher Education PAGE 29 BY FLOYD GREENLEAF 38 An Adventist Approach to Teaching Psychology BY GRANT LEITMA AND JULIAN MELGOSA 44 When Faith and Knowledge Clash: Leveraging the Tension to Advance Christian Education BY H. THOMAS GOODWIN PAGE 38 48 Guiding Students Through the World Wide Web BY LAUREN MATACIO AND BRUCE CLOSSER DEPARTMENTS

PAGE 44 3 Editorial 43 AVLN Column

Cover: The cover depicts the old and the new, with Battle Creek College and Andrews University at the lower left, as well as the goal of Adventist education, preparation for heaven. Across the bottom are some notable people from the early days of Adventist education. Left to right: Ellen G. White, Frederick Griggs, Warren Howell, H. A. Morrison, W. W. Prescott, Sidney Brownsberger, E. A. Sutherland, P. T. Magan. Photo and art credits: Design for cover and p. 38, Howard Bullard; pp. 4, 5, 9, 38, 41, 44, Shutterstock; pp. 6-8, 13-17, 19, 25 (center and bottom), 27, Lisa Beardsley; pp. 22 (bottom), 23 (center), 30 (bottom), GC Dept. of Education; p. 23 (top), 24 (top), 32 (top), GC Archives; p. 24 (center), 25 (top), 30 (center), 31, 32 (bottom), Review and Herald; pp. 26, 29, 33, Beverly Robinson-Rumble; p. 34, Haley Wesley; p. 35, Rod Jamieson; p. 45, Stefan Smith; p. 46, courtesy of Leonard Brand; p. 48, courtesy of the authors. The Journal of Adventist Education®, Adventist®, and Seventh-day Adventist® are the registered trademarks of the General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists®.

2 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae THE JOURNAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION® Editorial EDITOR Beverly J. Robinson-Rumble

ASSOCIATE EDITOR (INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS) Enrique Becerra Learning History’s Lessons SENIOR CONSULTANTS C. Garland Dulan Lisa M. Beardsley, Ella Smith Simmons

CONSULTANTS A pundit has written that “The only thing we learn from history GENERAL CONFERENCE is that we don’t learn anything from history.” George Santayana John M. Fowler, Luis A. Schulz EAST-CENTRAL AFRICA warned that “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed Hudson Kibuuka to repeat it.” EURO-AFRICA Branislav Mirilov For Adventists, thinking about the lessons of history brings EURO-ASIA to mind Ellen White’s well-known and more optimistic statement that “We have Guillermo Biaggi INTER-AMERICA nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led Moisés Velázquez us, and His teaching in our past history” (Selected Messages, Book 3, p. 162). NORTH AMERICA Larry Blackmer This larger-than-usual issue of the JOURNAL was prepared in the hope that NORTHERN ASIA-PACIFIC examining some aspects of the history of our educational system can stimulate Chek Yat Phoon SOUTH AMERICA discussion and thought that will prevent us from repeating some mistakes and Carlos Alberto Mesa set a course that will honor God and serve our students and the church more SOUTHERN ASIA Nageshwara Rao effectively. SOUTH PACIFIC George Knight looks at the challenge of balancing academics and mission Barry Hill SOUTHERN AFRICA-INDIAN OCEAN that has always existed in Adventist education. Surprisingly, he sees this tension Ellah Kamwendo SOUTHERN ASIA-PACIFIC as absolutely necessary to keep our schools from succumbing to either of two Mile Lekic extremes: the “dying-of-the-light” syndrome or a less-than-adequate Bible college- TRANS-EUROPEAN Daniel Duda type program. WEST-CENTRAL AFRICA Historian Floyd Greenleaf explores “Who’s in Charge?” of Adventist colleges, Chiemela Ikonne a controversial question raised 110 years ago at Battle Creek College that is still COPY EDITOR relevant today. You may be surprised at his conclusions! Randy Hall ART DIRECTION/GRAPHIC DESIGN In two stimulating articles, Richard Rice explores “How Adventist Should We Be? Howard I. Bullard And How Should We Be Adventist?” and Tom Goodwin describes how to leverage

ADVISORY BOARD the tension between faith and knowledge in order to advance Christian education. C. Garland Dulan (Chair), Though many of his illustrations are science-related, his recommendations can be Lisa M. Beardsley, Enrique Becerra, Larry Blackmer, Hamlet Canosa, John M. Fowler, Dunbar Henri, used in many disciplines. Erline Burgess, Michael Ryan, Luis A. Schulz, C. Garland Dulan and Lisa Beardsley look at how to grow Adventist schools in a Carole Smith, Charles H. Tidwell, Jr., Bonnie Wilbur responsible way and how the work of church accreditation helps ensure academic quality and faithfulness to mission. And fi nally, Grant Leitma and Julian Melgosa offer some insights about teaching an Adventist philosophy of psychology, and Lauren Matacio and Bruce Closser provide practical advice on how to help students use the Internet responsibly. You may have noticed the multiple occurrences of the words mission and tension THe JoURNAL oF AdVeNTiST edUcATioN publishes articles concerned with a variety of topics pertinent to Adventist edu- in the themes of this issue. As the Adventist educational system continues to grow cation. opinions expressed by our writers do not necessarily represent the views of the staff or the ofﬁ cial position of and develop worldwide, constant vigilance is necessary to ensure that our schools the department of education of the General conference of are both academically strong and truly Adventist. Examining our history, and the Seventh-day Adventists. way the Lord has led us, will provide inspiration, courage, and guidance for the THe JoURNAL oF AdVeNTiST edUcATioN (iSSN 0021-8480) is published bimonthly, october through May, plus a single future. summer issue for June, July, August, and September by the I hope that you will read each of these articles and discuss them with your department of education, General conference of Seventh- day Adventists, 12501 old columbia Pike, Silver Spring, colleagues—and maybe write a letter to the editor with your reactions (you can Md 20904-6600. TeLePHoNe (301) 680-5075; FAX (301) do that online now at our Website: http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae).—B.J.R. 622-9627; e-mail: [email protected]. Subscription price, U.S. $18.25. Add $1.00 for postage outside the U.S. Single copy, U.S. $3.75. Periodical postage paid at Silver Spring, Maryland, and additional mailing ofﬁ ce. Please send all changes of address to P.o. Box 5, Keene, TX 76059, including both old and new address. Address all editorial and advertising correspondence to the editor. copyright 2008 General conference of SdA, PoSTMASTeR: Send address changes to THe JoURNAL oF AdVeNTiST edUcATioN, P.o. Box 5, http://education.gc.adventist.org/jaeKeene, TX 76059. The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 3 How Religious Should We Be? And How Should nrollments Surge at Chris- tian Colleges” proclaimed a headline in The Chronicle We Be Religious? of Higher Education several years ago.1 From 1990 to 1996, the article went on Eto say, undergraduate enrollment in- By Richard Rice creased by 5 percent at private institutions and 4 percent at public colleges, but by 24 percent at 90 U.S. evangelical institutions. Enrollment at some schools almost doubled during these years. At Indiana Wesleyan, the number of undergraduate students increased from 889 to 1,628. In 1993, the enrollment at California Baptist University in Riverside, California, was 829 students. Last year (2006-2007) it was 3,400. The figures indicate dramatically increased interest in Christian education. More and more young people evidently want to spend their college years at institutions where learning is based on Christian principles and where student life reflects solid biblical values. And many of them are coming to Adventist campuses. At Loma Linda Uni- versity, where I teach, about half the students are non-Adventists, although the proportion varies from school to school. Although there is increasing interest in pursuing a college education in a religious environment, it is not always clear just what that environment should be. Increased diversity in the religious orientation of students on Adventist campuses raises questions that demand careful attention. Whether we see this development as a challenge or an opportunity, it requires us to re-think the role of religion at Adventist colleges and universities. Just how important is religion to our identity as institutions of higher learning? And just what role should religion play in college and university life? In other words, how religious should we be? And how should we be religious?

How Religious Should We Be? Religion can be integrated into the life of a college or university in several different ways.

4 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The purpose of certain institutions is for example, are known for the evangeli- graduates are looking to the church for indoctrination. They exist to promulgate cal convictions of their teachers and stu- employment. Moreover, students today a specific religious vision. At a Jewish dents. Still other institutions have a close who choose to be religious—it’s now a yeshiva, a Roman Catholic seminary, or association with religion, although their choice, not an expectation—express their a fundamentalist Bible college, religion is students do not share a specific religious commitment in various ways, not neces- not only central to the curriculum, in perspective. At places like Notre Dame sarily by attending traditional Adventist many ways it is the curriculum. The University, there is considerable diversity services. Whatever the future of religion purpose of the institution is to study among students (and faculty members) at Adventist colleges, one thing is cer- and preserve a specific tradition. Teach- in their attitudes toward religion. tain—it will be different from its past. ers and students embrace a common Where should we go from here? Some religious vision. Students pursue similar o any of these profiles fit the say it is time for us to modify our reli- vocational goals. Adventist college or university gious identity and dedicate ourselves to Religion also plays a role in many of today? The situation varies becoming the best private educational secular institutions. Within the past few Dfrom one campus to another, institutions we can be. We could have decades, the study of religion has come but overall, the answer is No. For many of age as an academic discipline. Com- years, the goal was clearly indoctrination. munity colleges, state universities, and When I attended La Sierra College in the private universities not only offer courses 1960s, non-Adventist students were rare. in religion, many of them offer majors The campus provided a protective envi- and graduate degrees in religious studies. ronment, with lots of required religious Public institutions take a scholarly services and many social restrictions. approach to religion. It is seen as an Many of us planned on careers in minis- important aspect of human culture, but try. And everyone seemed to agree that the institution as such takes no stand religious devotion would naturally lead

Increased diversity in the religious orientation of students on Adventist campuses raises questions that demand careful attention. on religion. No one assumes that faculty a person to active participation in the members or students share anything in Adventist Church. the way of religious convictions, let alone None of these factors applies to the a common religious vocation. Religious present situation. As noted above, the organizations do exist on many secular number of non-Adventist students on campuses, but they are voluntary as- our campuses is growing. We no lon- sociations with no official connection to ger closely monitor our students’ the institution. behavior; after all, they’re Many institutions stand somewhere legally adults. And between these extremes, including some fewer and fewer prestigious universities. Harvard, Yale, under- and Princeton all started as training schools for ministers, and they have divinity schools today. But nobody thinks of them as religious institutions anymore. Other institutions emphasize their religious identity while striving for intellectual breadth and academic excellence. They give religion an important role in both their curriculum and their student life. And they typically attract students with deep religious commitments. Wheaton College, Westmont College, and Azusa Pacific University,

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 5 fine colleges and universities, they argue, challenge of an increasingly competitive Many of them want to give the inculca- without striving to maintain a distinc- academic market, we need to remain tion of personal values a central place in tive religious orientation. Since we are responsive to our natural constituency. education. We can do this most effectively no longer primarily a training ground for In spite of the growing religious diversity at institutions with a strong religious denominational workers or a refuge from of our students, most of them still come identity. It would be ironic if we softened surrounding society—geographically, in- from Adventist families. Our constituents our religious profile when this is the very intellectually, or socially—and since our are rightly concerned about the religious thing that could increase our attractive- students are no longer exclusively church environment of their children. Most par- ness to prospective students. members, it’s time to leave our religious ents want higher education to be a posi- The most important reason for affirm- distinctives behind and relocate our- tive experience for their children both ing a strong religious identity is the es- selves on the academic landscape. academically and religiously. We must sential purpose of higher education. Following this proposal would put us continue to attract Adventist young While colleges and universities seek to in good company. It is the route taken people. stimulate intellectual growth and provide by many fine centers of learning. Thus, professional preparation, this is only part the question is not whether this is a strong religious identity will of their task. A more basic goal of higher model that attracts students; clearly, it also make our campuses at- education is to assist students in becom- is. The question is whether this is the tractive to college-age young ing well-balanced, fully mature human best model for us in Adventist academia. Apeople generally. There is a beings. As described by Sharon Parks, it Given the distinctive resources and chal- growing appreciation in society today consists in helping them on the difficult lenges of the present, should we respect- for spiritual and moral values. Educators path to adult faith which she calls “mean- fully leave our religious identity in the and public figures are calling for more ing-making.”3 past and move in another direction? The emphasis in American schools and col- Contrary to popular belief, young peo- answer, I believe, is No. We would lose a leges on ethical and religious matters.2 people do not arrive on a college or uni- great deal if we sought to become small, versity campus with a well- well-run colleges and universities with- What role should reli- formed system of personal out a strong religious identity. values and religious con- There are also practical reasons to gion play in college and victions. The young adult preserve our identity. As we face the university life? years are a period of im-

A choir sings on Sabbath morning at Adventist University Zurcher (Sambaina, Antsirabe, Madagascar), directed by Forsythia Galgao.

6 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae Students sing about working for the Lord at Solusi University (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe). mense fluctuation and transition. This Students today who choose to be re- is when people make the commitments that guide them through life. And during ligious—it’s now a choice, not an ex- this critical time, college professors play pectation—express their commitment a very significant role.4 in various ways, not necessarily by at- People often speak of the educational enterprise at church-related colleges and tending traditional Adventist services. universities as a religious version of what is essentially a secular task. But if Parks is forms and styles of past decades, where does not necessarily equate with denomi- right, the converse is true. Non-religious does this leave us? national loyalty. While many students are institutions provide a secularized version The ideal role of religion in our future active in traditional organized religion, of what is really a religious task—helping differs from both alternatives mentioned others with an interest in religion are not. students make meaning in their lives. We earlier. It consists neither in seeking to Our approach to religion must take into can pursue this objective most effectively in indoctrinate our students nor in making account this sort of diversity, too. a setting where religious values are im- religion an object of mere scholarly inter- plicitly affirmed and explicitly acknowl- est. Indoctrination is no longer an option t the same time, religion on edged. because of the growing religious diversity Adventist campuses must be So, how religious should Adventist of our students. They now come from a more than an object of schol- colleges and universities be? The answer wide variety of religious backgrounds. A arly examination. We want is “very religious.” Our religious identity Many are not members of the Adventist students to view religion as an important should be a factor in every aspect of our Church; a number follow traditions other part of their personal lives, not just part plans and activities. than Christianity. of human life in general. And this calls Just as significant, there is in our stu- for something more than dispassionate How Should We Be Religious? dents a wide range of attitudes toward inquiry. The best way to describe it, I Of course, it is one thing to call for a religion, particularly organized religion. believe, is “recommending a religious strong religious identity at our institu- Years ago, some connection with the perspective.” While we do not assume, or tions and another to describe it with any church was a given in almost everyone’s expect, a certain attitude toward religion precision. Exactly how should we be re- life. Deeply religious students were closely from our students, neither do we treat ligious? If it is undesirable to move away connected to the church. The not-so-re- religious values and beliefs as matters of from our historic religious identity but ligious still saw themselves as part of the purely private preference. Instead, we impossible to perpetuate the religious church. Today, religious commitment encourage students to think carefully

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 7 about their religious convictions, and we tive means bringing Christian ideas and their students to attend religious services. provide a framework of values and com- values into conversation with the beliefs It’s part of the educational experience mitments for them to consider as they do and values reflected in all the disciplines such institutions provide. For this rea- so. This proposal calls for several con- we offer. This involves the entire faculty, son, we will require students to attend crete measures. not just religion teachers. It does not religious services on Adventist campuses. First of all, it will affect the way we mean that faculty members must hold To show that we are serious about this teach religion. To recommend a religious identical religious views or avoid raising aspect of religion, we will provide pro- perspective, we will require students to serious questions about religious issues. grams of the highest quality, whatever the take religion classes in several different It does call for faculty members to be cost.5 In addition to various required ac- areas, and we will explore our religious sensitive to students’ religious needs. tivities, students should also have plenty tradition “from within” as well as “from And it invites them to share their own of opportunity to express and explore without.” In other words, we will teach convictions with students both inside religion in informal settings. We will also as representatives of a religious com- and outside the classroom. express our commitment to a Christian munity, not merely as historians, literary ethic by encouraging students to partici- scholars, sociologists, anthropologists, or o recommend a religious per- pate in community service. philosophers. This doesn’t mean that we spective, we must attend to the Clearly, recommending a religious per- avoid looking at religion as a phenome- public side of religion, too. And pective requires us to resist developments non that deserves scholarly investigation, Tthis has implications for student that would relegate religion to the pri- nor that we uncritically recite traditional life. Students need to learn something vate, individual sphere of our students’ doctrinal formulas. To the contrary, we about the perspective we’re recommend- lives. We must avoid the notion that seri- are not averse to the rigorous explora- ing in settings other tion of religious ideas, institutions, and than the classroom. A strong religious identity practices. But the goal is to help students Religious universities will . . . make our campuses reflect carefully on the claims of Christi- across the spectrum— anity. Jewish, Catholic, and attractive to college-age To recommend a religious perspec- Protestant—expect young people generally.

Sabbath school at Avondale College (Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia).

8 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae Notre Dame University sponsored by the Pew Foundation. Its purpose was to encourage religious young people to pursue careers in academia as their Christian vocation. She found it inspiring to study with world-class scholars from some of America’s greatest universities who were not the least bit defensive about their Christian beliefs. In fact, rather than apologizing for Christianity, they felt that the burden of proof rested on those who were not believers. I was glad she was exposed to that attitude, and I hope the students in Adventist schools fi nd in their teachers the same combination of scholarly excellence and Christian confi dence. In The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind,6 Mark A. Noll challenges believers to “think like a Christian” in every area of life. This means taking “seriously the sovereignty of God over the world he created, the lordship of Christ over the world he died to redeem, and the power of the Holy Spirit over the world he sus- tains each and every moment.” This is the kind of thinking we must encourage our students to do. 0 ______Dr. Richard Rice is Profes- sor of Religion at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, Cali- fornia. ______This article is adapted from “Re- ligion and the Adventist Univer- sity,” Spectrum 28:2 (Spring 2000), and is used by permission. ______ous academic work approaches religion dents need to appreciate these aspects of from outside but never from inside a religion, too. NOTES AND REFERENCES religious tradition, and that instructors Finally, recommending a religious per- should refrain from expressing their perspective means bringing Christian beliefs 1. March 5, 1999, p. A42. 1 I have in mind in this discussion Adventist institutions in North sonal religious convictions in the setting and values into conversation with all aca- America. of the classroom. We must also avoid the demic disciplines and with all human 2. Among recent publications that illustrate this tendency to emphasize the emotional concerns. One of the most important are The Book of Virtues by William Bennett, former and downplay the intellectual aspects of things we can communicate to our stu- U.S. Secretary of Education (New York: Simon religion; to elevate private above public dents is an expansive vision of Christian and Schuster, 1993) and The Culture of Disbelief by expressions of religion. Both approaches scholarship. They need to believe that a Stephen L. Carter (New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1994). rest on the assumption that serious aca- Christian commitment summons them 3. Sharen Dudly Parks, The Critical Years: The demic inquiry and formal religion have to high intellectual endeavor. They need Young Adult Search for a Faith to Live By (San Fran- little to do with personal religious experi- the confi dence that Christian beliefs and cisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991). ence. But a religious perspective is more values give them a secure basis for pur- 4. Parks’s book convinced me that if I could send than personal preference and private suing any avenue of human inquiry and my children to an Adventist school for only four years of their lives, it should be for college. experience. Christianity, and its Advent- interacting with bright minds wherever 5. We should abandon the oxymoron “required ist expression, involve shared beliefs, they meet them. worship.” If worship is the soul’s free response to values, and experiences—in other words, Several years ago, my daughter at- God, it cannot, by defi nition, be required. tradition and community. And our stu- tended one of the summer seminars at 6. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1994).

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 9 The Challenge of Growth: Managing the Expansion of Adventist Education Around the World

By C. Garland Dulan

he Education Depart- The [GC Education Department] staff also provides ment of the General Conference is respon- support through the world divisions to educational sible for the supervi- leaders at union/conference/mission levels and to sion, coordination, promotion, training, teachers in Adventist elementary and secondary and quality of the schools to ensure that the Adventist philosophy of global Seventh-day Adventist educational education and the principles of faith and learning are program, which includes more than integrated into the life of each institution. T7,000 schools, colleges, and universities, with approximately 75,000 teachers and more than 1.4 million students. Ours is colleges and universities worldwide. impossible to reach. The church now one of the largest Protestant education The department’s two publications, The has schools in more than 140 countries programs in the world (see Table 1). Journal of Adventist Education and Dia- and continues to expand. Just since Working in close cooperation with logue, are produced in English, French, 1960, when statistics began to be listed the education directors of the 13 world Spanish, and Portuguese. by school categories rather than as an divisions, the General Conference (GC) From its inception in 1872 to the aggregate, the number of higher educa- Education Department offers services to present, the Lord has richly blessed the tion institutions has increased from 42 boards, administrators, and faculty of educational program of the church and to 106, secondary and worker training Adventist colleges and universities has empowered it to expand in regions institutions have increased from 328 worldwide. The staff also provides of the world that were earlier thought to more than 1,500, and elementary support through the world divisions to educational leaders at union/conference/ 1 mission levels and to teachers in Ad- Table 1. Seventh-day Adventist Education World Statistics ventist elementary and secondary schools Schools Teachers Students to ensure that the Adventist philosophy of education and the principles of faith Elementary 5,663 40,337 944,207 and learning are integrated into the life Secondary 1,472 23,968 380,213 of each institution. In addition, the staff Training Schools 42 533 7,100 cooperates with Adventist Chaplaincy Colleges/Universities 106 9,745 106,081 Ministries and the Youth Ministries De- ______partment in nurturing the faith of Ad- Totals 7,283 74,583 1,437,601 ventist students attending non-Adventist December 31, 2006

10 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae schools have increased from 4,400 to students flock to the newly recognized Prior to receiving the government more than 5,600. In fact, between 1990 institution, often dramatically increasing charter, the institution submits to the and 2000, the church added 18 new col- its enrollment. government a list of “potential” degree leges and universities, as well as more programs it would like to offer should than 140 secondary and worker-train- Rapid Growth and Change it be issued a charter. Once the charter ing institutions. Another 12 higher edu- A common scenario is for an institu- is granted, the institution feels obli- cation institutions and 352 secondary tion to begin small, between 200-300 gated to begin offering the degrees as andworker training schools have been students, of which 95 to 100 percent soon as possible, regardless of available added since 2000. are Adventists. The predominant and in resources, fearing that unless it does so, some instances, only academic program the government may decide that the in- Maintaining Adventist Educational on such a campus is religion or theol- stitution was not serious about its intent Philosophy ogy. Rarely are there any non-Adventist to expand and meet the needs of the The Seventh-day Adventist philosophy teachers at this time. citizenry, and may revoke the charter. of education is Christ-centered. Advent- At this point, the institution petitions ists believe that, under the guidance hen the government recog- the church to allow it to rapidly begin of the Holy Spirit, God’s character and nizes the institution as of- offering the new programs that have purposes can be understood as revealed fering quality education and been approved by the government’s in the Bible, in Jesus Christ, and in offers an official charter— charter. (Such petitions are to be submit- nature. The distinctive characteristics putting it on a par with pub- ted through the General Conference of Adventist education—derived from Tlic tertiary institutions in that country. Education Department to the Interna- the Bible and the writings of Ellen G. This is when the changes and challenges tional Board of Education, the church White—point to the redemptive aim of begin to occur. There is usually a rapid entity responsible for authorizing new true education: to restore human beings influx of students, most of whom are not tertiary programs.) The petition must to the image of their Maker.2 Adventists and have little understand- answer the questions raised in Table 2. Academic goals, curricula, hiring poli- ing of church doctrines or lifestyle. The Since the institution already has gov- cies for faculty and staff, admissions institution praises the Lord for the new ernment approval, it probably wants to criteria for students, on-campus reli- students, viewing this as an answer to inaugurate the new programs as soon as gious and secular activities, student-life prayer, a public affirmation of Adventist possible, so it pressures church agencies services and activities, student conduct education, and as a way to ensure the to fast-track denominational authoriza- requirements, dormitory facilities, and school’s financial viability, as well as an tion. Meanwhile, to generate interest in other co-curricular functions are cen- opportunity for carrying out the mission the programs, the institution promotes tered in the Adventist educational of the church. them to potential students who, having philosophy. Foods served in the cafeteria, groups and organizations allowed Table 2. Proposal Requirements to form on campus, and the like are evaluated on the basis of the church’s 1. Name of the proposed new academic program. philosophy of education. 2. Need for the program. 3. How does the program support the church’s and institution’s International Acceptance of Advent- mission? ist Higher Education 4. Resources available to the institution to offer the program. In the past 10 years, some government a. Human—available Adventist faculty and their qualifications. authorities have requested the accreditation documents that the church uses b. Financial—how does the institution plan to sustain the pro- in assessing the quality of its institu- gram after it starts? tions. The governments of these coun- c. Physical plant facilities available to offer the program. tries have recognized the value of the d. Equipment, library books, and other academic support needed. church’s accreditation procedures and 5. Target group of students for whom the program is intended have indicated an interest in adopting (including the number expected/recruited). some of our review processes. 6. Curriculum proposed. Also, in recent years, several govern- 7. Effect of the proposed program on the institutional environment. ments have contacted our institutions to 8. Outcomes expected of graduates from the new academic pro- offer charters. When a private university gram. is recognized as on par with the govern- 9. When the program is proposed to begin. ment institutions of such countries, this 10. Is there regional or governmental support for the program? is so remarkable that it is featured on the national news. As a consequence, a 11. Does the institutional board support the program? large number of (mainly non-Adventist) 12. Does the division support the program?

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 11 The distinctive characteristics of Adventist educa- oversight board(s). This, of course, takes time. tion—derived from the Bible and the writings of Ellen Once the revised proposal is sent to G. White—point to the redemptive aim of true educa- the International Board of Education or the IBMTE (whichever is appropriate), tion: to restore human beings to the image of their the board may mandate a site visit to Maker. the institution in order to examine its readiness to begin offering the proposed received glossy promotional materials demic program proposals requires peer academic program. or visits from college marketing people, review. Therefore, professionals with ex- expect to be able to enroll right away. pertise in related fields must study the he speed at which a proposal The evaluation of the proposal follows proposals and submit their comments receives approval depends the steps shown in Table 3 (for institu- to the Department of Education, which upon the status of the insti- tions without a proven positive track then relays them to the institution seek- tution submitting it. For in- record). ing program approval. stance, if the team making a The church’s consideration/evaluation The General Conference Education Tsite visit to a new institution determines of the proposal may take longer than the Department serves as the clearinghouse that the institution is ready to initiate institution expects, especially during for all such proposals. In many cases, programs and has the capacity to do steps 4-6. Sometimes school administra- institutions’ proposals must undergo re- so, the process for proposal approval is tors do not realize that evaluation of aca- vision in order to be acceptable to the essentially the same as for an established institution. However, if an institution is on probation, there is often a freeze on Table 3. International Board of Education and IBMTE the initiation of new programs or a limit Appropriate Approval Process for New Programs placed on how many new programs the school may start until the probationary 1. E-mail notification to the institutional board/union conference, division, status is lifted. and GC Education Department of the institution’s intent to develop a new program. Developing a Site Visit Team 2. Proposal development/approval by local board. In conjunction with the education 3. Proposal submitted to the division education director, the government, director of the division from which the and GC Education Department. proposal has come, the General Confer- 4. Review by GC Education Department/consultation with specialists. ence Education Department develops 5. Comments sent back to institution with request for revision of proposal (if a team of specialists to conduct the necessary). institutional site visit. This involves not 6. Review/approval by division. only the selection of individuals with the 7. Submission by division education director (through GC Education Depart- appropriate expertise, but also assistance ment) to IBE or IBMTE. with flight schedules, meeting times, interview questions, and documentation materials—all of which must be coor- dinated with the administration of the institution whose proposed program is being reviewed. After the institutional visit, the team’s report is forwarded to the appropriate review board, which de- cides whether to approve the program(s). At this point, the proposal is either approved for implementation or rejected. It is not hard to understand why institutions become impatient with the process of proposal consideration and authorization. Anticipating a positive response, they may have advertised the startup date for the proposed academic program prior to submitting the formal proposal. Should delays occur due to inadequately developed proposals, scheduling the onsite visit, or securing

12 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae experts to serve on the site team, the to 80 percent non-Adventists. The new the needs of students, (2) on-campus administrators of the institution become students soon begin to recognize that facilities for students—i.e., dormitories, frustrated. In some instances, institu- the social and spiritual lifestyle expecta- food-service facilities, and library sup- tions have actually enrolled students and tions are quite different than what they port for new academic programs, and started programs before final authoriza- have previously experienced. There (3) the often-sudden change in campus tion has been granted. This can have are dormitory curfews, expected and/ climate produced by the influx of mostly catastrophic consequences, should the or required worship services, “strange” non-Adventist students. Often, the spiri- program fail to gain approval or should cafeteria food, Sabbath observance is- tual tone of the campus undergoes rapid health-related programs be instituted sues, prohibition of tobacco and alcohol change. that pose complications due to inad- use, and so forth. The campus climate, In my experience, institutions tend to the values and minimize the difficulty of meeting these commonly three challenges. Their success in these Table 4. Enrollment: understood areas depends on how well the campus Adventist Primary Schools Worldwide3 practices, has planned for the proposed changes. codes of con- Unfortunately, some institutional re- 2001 2006 Change duct, and sponses have produced less-than-posi- ethics that tive outcomes. A number of institutions Total Students 732,698 944,207 +211,509 Adventists have hired non-Adventist teachers; some

have grown have overcrowded their dormitories, cre- SDA Students 335,986 402,811 +66,825 (45.9%) (42.7%) to expect are ating dismal living conditions for stu- eroded due dents; and others have had to confront Non-SDAs 396,712 541,396 +144,684 to the new irate students who quickly realized that (54.1%) (57.3%) students’ dis- the institution had not made adequate comfort with preparation for them. New students the standards may quickly conclude that the institu- equately trained students, unqualified of the school, and perhaps the failure of tion has only admitted them in order to faculty, or lawsuits alleging medical the faculty and administration to publi- “make money” rather than to meet their malpractice. cize and/or explain the rules. academic needs.

Student Life and Conduct Major Considerations hen these problems As the new programs are announced When our higher education institu- occur, the General (and even in anticipation), the campus tions expand rapidly, at least three is- Conference Educa- ratio of Adventists to non-Adventist sues become critical: (1) the availability tion Department students changes rapidly, often from a of Seventh-day Adventist faculty and often gets a call for 95 percent Adventist population to 70 staff to provide instruction and care for help.W Clearly, if these institutions had followed the rules and submitted to the appropriate approval process for proposed programs, many of these issues could have been prevented or amicably resolved.

The Potential Benefits of Expansion Table 4 shows that over the five-year period from 2001 to 2006, Adventist primary school enrollment worldwide increased by 211,000 students, and that by 2006, 57 percent came from other faith communities. (This compares to a non-Adventist enrollment of 40 percent in our tertiary institutions and almost 62 percent in our secondary schools worldwide in 2006.) This trend suggests that other faith groups are selecting Adventist schools in significantly larger numbers than are Adventist students and par- Week of prayer, Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (Philip- ents. These changes suggest the need pines) for careful review to ensure that current

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 13 Table 5. Adventist Education Statistics from 1960 to 20004

Year Tertiary Institutions Secondary and Worker Primary Schools Training Institutions

Schools Students Schools Students Schools Students

1960 42 16,513 328 43,041 4,453 230,446

1980 76 32,882 806 111,927 3,849 331,894

1990 76 42,562 919 153,453 4,627 540,647

2000 94 65,589 1,161 266,805 4,809 732,698

blessing the work of the church through its education program and are pleased to be a part of the process. Opportunities abound for sharing the gospel through Adventist education, and though challenges accompany growth, God is more than able to help us meet these challenges. The General Conference Department of Education wishes to encourage greater cooperation from institutions in following established church guidelines for Business class at Adventist University ensuring quality academic programs Cosendai (Yaounde, Cameroon). throughout the world. We are currently studying ways to streamline proposal review and approval, and hope that and outreach. Statistics show that the within the 2008 calendar year, changes average number of baptisms on Advent- can be implemented to make the process ist primary, secondary, and higher edu- less onerous for higher education institu- cation campuses over the past fi ve years tions. We solicit your input and sugges- totaled more than 30,000 per year. tions. 0 Science laboratory at Spicer Memorial ______College (Pune, India). Current Work of the Department Ensuring the quality and consistency Dr. C. Garland Dulan is and anticipated trends correlate to the of the Adventist educational program Director of the Department of educational philosophy and mission of and keeping it aligned with the church’s Education, General Confer- the church. mission is always challenging and often ence of Seventh-day Advent- While challenges will always accom- diffi cult. It involves collaboration, con- ists, Silver Spring, Maryland. pany institutional expansion, growth sultation, and cooperation by many ______also offers the potential for positive out- levels of church organization. In addi- REFERENCES comes. One is the opportunity to reach tion, committed specialists dedicate a students of other faiths who know little great deal of time, effort, and resources, 1. Source: 144th Annual Statistical Report—2006, or nothing about Adventist beliefs. The on top of their regular responsibilities General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. opportunity can be exciting, since this at other church entities such as confer- Compiled by the Offi ce of Archives and Statistics. provides a powerful reason for focused 2. Source: FE 05 10 General Conference Working ences, hospitals, and colleges/univer- Policy 2006-2007, p. 213. planning of spiritual activities, evange- sities. 3. 144th Annual Statistical Report—2006. listic opportunities for campus ministry, We see evidence that the Lord is 4. Ibid

14 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae A team representing the Adventist Accrediting Association evaluates Roorkee Adventist College (Roorkee, India) in November 2006. Article author Lisa Beardsley is third from the left. The Purpose and Function of the Adventist Accrediting Association By Lisa M. Beardsley

hat assurance can credence is given to a school’s claim that with the assurance that new graduates a student, parent, it is achieving its mission. It signifies that have acquired the necessary knowledge or employer have the school has met minimum criteria of and skills to enter the profession for that an Adventist quality. which they have studied. It assures the school provides Accreditation provides a number of school’s constituency that it is true to its quality educa- benefits: Credits earned are transferable purpose and mission and deserves on- tion? How is to other schools. Students can obtain going support. qualityW defined, and by whom? Does the government-guaranteed loans and grants. The accreditation process itself is ben- work of the Adventist Accrediting As- The institution is eligible for funds from eficial. It provides an opportunity for sociation duplicate work done by other a variety of sources. Students who earn a the institution to reflect and engage in accrediting bodies (and there are many), degree from an accredited institution can dialogue about what it is doing. First, or does it add unique value? enroll in advanced studies and qualify it participates in a process of self-study, The root of accreditation is from the for exams that license them to enter vari- then continues that dialogue with a team Latin, accredere, “to give credence to.” ous professions like medicine, dentistry, of academic experts. Visiting teams from Through the process of accreditation, or law. Accreditation provides employers the Adventist Accrediting Association are

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 15 uniquely qualified to assist the schools Like other accrediting bodies, the Adventist they visit, since they are experts in their fields and share a philosophical com- Accrediting Association (AAA) evaluates conformity mitment to redemptive education in an to threshold standards of academic quality. But Adventist milieu. because Adventist education is based on a broad he majority of institutions need definition of wholistic education in the context of a several forms of accreditation redemptive goal, the AAA also evaluates evidence for different purposes. In most Tcases, affirmation by the govern- that the school is achieving success in the spiritual ment, regional accreditation agencies, or domain and that it is truly “Adventist.” professional organizations enhances a school’s marketability and makes its context of a redemptive goal, the AAA sion in the spiritual domain and is in- graduates more attractive to secular em- also evaluates evidence that the school tegrating faith and learning in content ployers. But in a few cases, the require- is comprehensively achieving success in areas and worldview. ments of secular accreditation entities the spiritual domain and that it is truly have distanced the school from its con- “Adventist.” Accreditation by the AAA The Accreditation Process stituency or compromised institutional is available only to church-owned-and- The accreditation process is cyclical values. The competing demands and operated schools and degree programs. and seeks to foster continuous quality constraints imposed by external accredit- A variety of indicators are examined to improvement. Several months before a ing bodies or partnership arrangements affirm that the overall educational ex- campus accreditation visit by AAA repre- with non-Adventist universities may re- perience furthers the development of sentatives, the institution writes a report quire prayer and negotiation to resolve. the whole person and promotes a bib- (“Self Study”), in which it reflects on its lical worldview. The complete list of own performance. The report also pro- Ensuring That Adventist Education standards and criteria for review can be vides evidence that it has responded to Is Truly Adventist found in documents at http://education. recommendations from the last visit and Like other accrediting bodies, the Ad- gc.adventist.org/approval.htm. shows how it meets or exceeds standards ventist Accrediting Association (AAA) Abbreviated criteria apply to institu- and criteria. evaluates conformity to threshold stan- tions with regional accreditation. This A team of carefully selected peer re- dards of academic quality. But because eliminates unnecessary duplication and viewers then visits the campus to cor- Adventist education is based on a broad allows the evaluation team to focus on roborate the report and examine the definition of wholistic education in the whether the school is achieving its mis- institution’s capacity and educational ef-

Evaluation team from the Adventist Accrediting Association, with administrators and faculty of Valley View University (Accra, Ghana), December 2007.

16 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae [Adventist education] becomes a reality through the day-by-day mentoring of committed church members who share their faith and not just their passion for a particular area of study.

In addition to a good revenue base, the institution must demonstrate fi nancial integrity in all its dealings. The visiting Institutions must provide evidence that they meet AAA criteria. team reviews audited fi nancial statements to ensure that internal control is sound, generally accepted accounting fectiveness. The experts on the visiting school’s credits and degrees may not be practices are followed, and funds are de- team examine many forms of evidence, recognized within the Adventist system, ployed to adequately support academics, using the following approaches: affects insurability by Adventist Risk library and learning resources, student • Conducting interviews with stu- Management, and constitutes a warning services and the co-curriculum, and dents, faculty, staff, and members of the sign to prospective students, potential spiritual programming. board of trustees; employers, and the church constituency. • Examining enrollment, retention, The most common weaknesses re- Faculty Fit and employment data and trends; vealed by accreditation visits are the four It goes without saying that the faculty • Reviewing the qualiﬁ cations of fac- “F’s”: fi nancial weakness, faculty fi t, fa- must have the appropriate qualifi cations ulty and administrators; cilities, and faithfulness to mission. to teach in their respective disciplines. • Assessing the adequacy of the physi- But they need more than that. There cal plant and student housing; Finances must be a good fi t between the values of • Reviewing the minutes of various A strong university or college will have the faculty and those of the school. The meetings to assess institutional decision- a robust fi nancial base with diversifi ed teachers at a college or university are key making capacity and confi rm thatstudent income derived from tuition, industries to the transmission of values, as C. S. learning outcomes are used to “close the and services, appropriations and gifts Lewis observed: loop” in processes and instruction; (including endowments), and research “This very obvious fact—that each • Visiting the library and resource cen- grants. generation is taught by an earlier gen- ters to review their holdings; eration—must be kept very fi rmly in • Evaluating Internet access; mind….The moment we forget this we • Examining indicators of the quality begin to talk nonsense about educa- of worship services; tion….None can give to another what he • Checking on the quality of the food The Accrediting Association of Sev- does not possess himself. No generation in the cafeteria. enth-day Adventist Schools, Col- can bequeath to its successor what it has Because the primary focus is evalua- leges, and Universities (AAA) is the not got. You may frame the syllabus as tive, at the end of the visit, the team denominational accrediting author- you please. If we are skeptical, we shall writes a report on its fi ndings and makes ity for all tertiary and graduate edu- teach only skepticism to our pupils, if a recommendation to the board of the cational programs and institutions fools only folly, if vulgar only vulgarity, if Adventist Accrediting Association regard- owned by the Seventh-day Adventist saints sanctity, if heroes heroism. Educa- ing the accreditation status of the insti- Church. It is responsible for evalu- tion is only the most fully conscious of tution. The team can recommend that ating the quality of the denomi- the channels whereby each generation accreditation (or candidacy) be approved national institutions’ programs and infl uences the next…. Nothing which (or extended), or that it be withheld or their implementation of the Seventh- was not in the teachers can fl ow from withdrawn. Even positive votes by the day Adventist philosophy of educa- them into the pupils. We shall all admit board almost always endorse the recom- tion in order to foster the unity and that a man who knows no Greek himself mendations for improvement made by mission of the church (GC Working cannot teach Greek to his form: but it is the visiting team. Policy, 2006-2007, pp. 233, 234). equally certain that a man whose mind Loss of accreditation means that the was formed in a period of cynicism and

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 17 By means of the accreditation process, the the skillful eye of dedicated, godly teach- institution demonstrates how it aligns effort with ers. Programs that nurture faith (devotion- resources to provide the best academic education als, worship services, mission trips, re- possible that also nurtures and matures faith and quired courses and modules in religion) are all part of the spiritual master plan prepares students for positions of leadership in their that every school should have. Some communities and churches. pull back from the task of trying to measure the spiritual domain, believing that disillusion cannot teach hope or forti- being exposed to healthy lifestyle habits schools cannot possibly be accountable tude” (“On the Transmission of Christi- are important parts of a wholistic educa- for student choices. They rationalize that anity,” God in the Dock, p. 116). tion. since God gave humans free choice, who It is not the policies, historical roots, are we to question students’ decisions? buildings, required chapel attendance, or tudents typically complain The fact that some students will use the vegetarian food that make Adventist about the cost or lack of variety their power of choice in undesirable education Adventist. Rather, it becomes in “cafeteria food”; some desire ways, or that the spiritual domain might a reality through the day-by-day men- Svegan food while others want to be diffi cult to measure does not excuse toring of committed church members be served meat. A few even choose to use a school from being accountable for and who share their faith and not just their alcohol or illicit drugs even though they intentional in the task of strengthening passion for a particular area of study. agree to refrain from doing so in their ap- faith and promoting an Adventist world- For this reason, the increasing trend of plication to attend the school. Although view. Adventist schools build on stu- employing faculty of other faiths (world- no school, teacher, or student is perfect, dents’ prior learning and experiences in wide, nearly 25 percent of all tertiary high standards for healthful living and spiritual life as well as in academics. That faculty in 2005, up from 18 percent in attractive surroundings are still part of growth continues into doctoral studies 2000) is of concern to the Adventist Ac- the vibrant Adventist educational pack- and does not end with undergraduate crediting Association. This increase age. education. parallels an upturn in the percentage of Spiritual growth and development can students from other faiths enrolled in Faith and Faithfulness to Mission be measured and quantifi ed using the our colleges and universities: from 25 The fi nal “F” of accreditation is the same principles of measurement that percent to 38 percent during the same most important. In addition to meeting are used to evaluate other learning—for fi ve years. Without faculty members who all the expectations for quality education example, through pre- and post-tests are thoroughly committed to Adventism, (e.g., program integrity, faculty qualifi ca- and by assessing the impact of interven- who will pass on the faith to the next tions, adequate learning resources), faith tions against benchmarks over a period generation? is foremost. The integration of faith and of time. learning happens most naturally under Students and their parents select Ad- Facilities Historically, Adventist higher education has been residential and located in rural areas. Despite changing demo- graphics (more schools located in urban areas and a larger percentage of commut- Criterion 1: History, Philosophy, Mission, and Objectives ing and part-time students), our colleges Criterion 2: Spiritual Development, Service, and Witnessing and universities still need to provide safe, Criterion 3: Governance, Organization, and Administration comfortable, and healthful facilities. At Criterion 4: Finances, Financial Structure, and Industries times, an accreditation team includes Criterion 5: Programs of Study a representative from Adventist Risk Criterion 6: Faculty and Staff Management to ensure that adequate Criterion 7: Library and Resource Centers safety measures are implemented, such Criterion 8: Academic Policies and Records as deterring intruders while still allowing Criterion 9: Student Services effi cient and rapid egress in the case of a Criterion 10: Physical Plant and Facilities fi re or other emergency. Criterion 11: Public Relations and External Constituencies Building and maintaining technology- Compliance with the International Board of Ministerial and Theological smart classrooms, laboratory and clinical Education (IBMTE) for programs in Religion and Theology facilities, dining halls and housing for ______single and married students, all add to From Accreditation Handbook, Part III. Table 1. Standard for Review by the Adventist Accrediting the cost of Adventist education. But liv- Association. ing in a safe, healthful environment and

18 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae ventist education from among other options. And so our institutions must put forth deliberate, concerted effort and resources to provide quality academics, positive modeling, and integration of faith and learning inside and outside the classroom. Through the accreditation process, the institution demonstrates how it aligns its efforts and resources to provide the best academic education possible—while also nurturing faith and preparing students for positions of leadership in their communities and churches. The church’s accreditation process helps the institution accomplish these goals. The Website of the Adventist Accredit- ing Association provides guidelines for developing a spiritual master plan, but allows institutions some freedom to de- Lots of lawn surrounds married student housing at Adventist International Insti- termine how to accomplish and measure tute of Advanced Studies (Philippines). spiritual education and faith formation in their students. Whatever plan the Accreditation provides choose some other method to consider school embraces, it should identify the not only accountability the concerns of the institution. spiritual goals of the institution, describe Accreditation provides not only ac- how it plans to meet them, develop a for the integration of countability for the integration of faith list of indicators measuring the extent faith and learning and and learning and for quality education, to which outcomes have been achieved, but also serves as a forum for refl ection, and show what has been done to im- for quality education, but commitment (including fi nancial com- prove on performance. In this way, also serves as a forum mitment by governing boards or spon- institutions substantiate that they use soring organizations), and collaboration numerous types of feedback to improve for reﬂ ection, commit- between gown and town—in this case, practice and policy. ment (including fi nancial the church. The process promotes trans- At last, a vote. When the board of the commitments by govern- parency and demonstrates accountability Adventist Accrediting Association votes to the church constituency. Furthemore, on the status of an institution, it desig- ing boards or sponsoring this form of intentional dialogue fos- nates a date until which the accreditation organizations), and col- ters collaboration and understanding is valid. Accreditation is for a limited pe- between the work of education and the riod, with a maximum of fi ve years. An laboration between gown work of the church. 0 annual progress report is often required. and town. ______Schools that are still developing or that Dr. Lisa M. Beardsley is raise some concerns are often required to an Associate Director in the have an interim visit. This is to keep the pus. Two steps are taken to ensure that General Conference Depart- channels of dialogue open between the the evaluation is as accurate as possible. ment of Education in Silver institution and its constituency. Institu- First, an exit report is given to highlight Spring, Maryland, and Ex- tions with a solid track record and many major fi ndings, commendations, and ecutive Secretary of the Ad- forms of other accreditation (regional/ recommendations before the team leaves ventist Accrediting Associa- national and professional) may have an campus. The institution receives a draft tion. Dr. Beardsley has served as a commissioner “administrative” interim visit by a small and is invited to report any errors of fact of the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges team at the midpoint of regional accred- within two weeks. When the report is fi - and Universities of the Western Association of itation (typically in the fi fth year of a nalized, such errors of fact are corrected. Schools and Colleges (WASC), as a site team member for WASC in the U.S., Singapore, and 10-year regional accreditation period). However, should an institution still wish Russia, and as member of the WASC Substan- to dispute the fi ndings and recommen- tive Change Committee. She also served as a site The Team’s Report dations of a visiting team, it may appeal team member for the Middle States Commission Members of the visiting team seek to to the board of the Adventist Accredit- on Higher Education of the Middle States Com- write a fair and collegial report, but usu- ing Association. The board may autho- mission of Colleges and Schools for business pro- ally spend no more than a week on cam- rize another team to visit the school or grams offered in the People’s Republic of China.

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 19 THE MISSIOLOGICAL ROOTS oF ADVENTIST HIGHER educaTION AND THE

ONGOINGBattle Creek College TENSION BETWEEN ADVENTIST MISSION AND ACADEMIC VISION By George R. Knight

The birth of Seventh-day Adventist t was no accident that higher education [was] filled with tension our present circumstances. But the establishment of we can do it if the Lord bless Adventism’s first col- between the missiological/theological our effort in the establishment of lege and the sending goals of the ecclesiastical leaders who our proposed school. . . . Men of of its first official for- founded it and the academics who other nationalities desire to be in- eign missionary took structed concerning” the Second place in the same year operated it. Both had something valuable Advent.1 (1874). After all, the to contribute. In a similar vein, General Con- founders of the col- ference president George I. Butler lege had been quite clear in noted just before the opening of stating their goals. For them, the college that the denomination would the college was seen as a nec- soon need hundreds of its members ed- essary institution for the ucated for mission service.2 There was training of missionaries for absolutely no doubt in the minds of the both the homeland and over- founders of Battle Creek College that seas. their educational institution was to have a missiological focus. Born in Tension But then there were the teachers. Even Thus, J. N. Andrews could more basic yet was the question of where write in 1873 that “the calls the budding denomination could even that come from every quarter, find faculty. Fortunately, they had at least from men speaking other one university graduate in their midst. languages, must be answered Sidney Brownsberger had graduated from J. N. Andrews George I. Butler by us. We cannot do this in the classical-studies program of the Uni-

20 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae versity of Michigan in 1869 place in the school’s offer- may have been an excellent academic, and would be awarded an ings. In fact, there were no but under his leadership, things went M.A. by the same institu- regular religion courses, from bad to worse. The institution closed tion in 1875.3 Given the let alone required ones. for the 1882-1883 school year with no needs of the church and While it’s true that Uriah certainty that it would reopen. Brownsberger’s education Smith hobbled over on It is into the mess of the McLearn lead- and dedication to Adven- his one real leg to provide ership that Ellen White waded with a tism, he was the obvious some dusty elective lec- testimony entitled “Our College,” a paper choice to head up the new tures on Bible prophecy, it read in College Hall in December 1881 college. appears that he didn’t have before the ecclesiastical and educational There was only one a large number of takers. leaders of the denomination. drawback to his appoint- The college catalogues “There is,” she stated emphatically, ment. While he excelled in advertised that “there is “danger that our college will be turned Sidney Brownsberger academics, Brownsberger nothing in the courses of away from its original design. . . . For one had next to no understand- study, or in the rules and or two years past, there has been an effort ing of how to implement the goals of the practice of discipline, that is in the least to mold our school after other colleges. founders. At a meeting of the board, the denominational or sectarian. The biblical . . . To give students a knowledge of new president confessed that he did “not lectures are before a class of only those books merely is not the purpose of the in- know anything about the conducting of who attend them from choice.”5 Again, stitution. Such education can be obtained such a school.” Apparently no one else “the managers of this College have no at any college in the land. . . . If a worldly did either, so W. C. White (Brownberger’s disposition to urge upon students sec- influence is to bear sway in our school, roommate at the time) recalled, “it was tarian views, or to give such views any then sell it out to worldlings and let them agreed that the work of the school prominence in their school work.”6 take the entire control; and those who should be organized on the ordinary have invested their means in that institu- lines” and that adjustments be made uch was the birth of Seventh- tion will establish another school, to be later.4 day Adventist higher educa- conducted, not upon the plan of popular The young educational leader did what tion. It was a birth filled with schools, nor according to the desires of he knew best. The school that he devel- tension between the missio- principal and teachers, but upon the plan S 8 oped in the mid-1870s had as its cur- logical/theological goals of the ecclesi- which God has specified.” ricular core a traditional liberal arts prep astical leaders who founded it and the Ellen White’s rousing thrust left no one school and a collegiate course focusing academics who operated it. Both had in doubt about the disaster of having put on Latin, Greek, and the “heathen clas- something valuable to contribute. “the moral and religious influences . . . in sics” even though most of the students To put it bluntly, Adventist higher educa- the background.” She called in no uncer- were not qualified to enter that elite tion was born in tension. That tension did tain terms for the centrality of the Bible track. not end with the beginnings of the sys- and its worldview.9 Bible study and religion found scant tem. We still have it today. I will argue in With such a raft of pronouncements, the balance of this article that the tension one might surmise that she desired for is not only an ongoing reality but one of Adventists to develop a Bible college or crucial necessity. Without it, Adventist a Bible institute. Such a call, had it been higher education would drift toward one implemented, would have eliminated the or the other of two unhealthy extremes. tension between mission and academic vision and set Adventism’s higher schools Bible College or Liberal Arts on a certain course toward one extreme Institution? of a bipolar dynamic. Those thoughts bring us to the next But such was not Ellen White’s vision. major round of events in the tension be- In her second sentence, she plainly stated tween Adventist mission and academic that “God’s purpose has been made vision. Brownsberger resigned in 1881 known, that our people should have an and was replaced by Alexander McLearn, opportunity to study the sciences and at the who arrived at Battle Creek with the ad- same time to learn the requirements of His vantage of having an exalted Doctor of word.” By sciences, she meant what we Divinity degree but the disadvantage of call the arts and sciences. The overall either not being an Adventist or of being thrust of her remarks was that the de- a recent convert.7 Brownsberger may not nomination’s young people should not have understood the needs of a genu- “merely” study books, but do so in the inely Adventist education, but McLearn context of the biblical worldview.10 Ellen G. White didn’t even understand Adventism. He It is of the utmost importance to recog-

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 21 nize that Ellen White at that crucial It is of the utmost importance The remarkable outcome of juncture of our history steered the to recognize that Ellen White at that controversy is that Ellen denomination away from the Bible White opted for a precarious bal- college model of higher education that crucial juncture of our history ance in higher education rather and toward what we could call a steered the denomination away than a more comfortable polar Christian liberal arts approach. extreme. With that stand, she She also supported the liberal from the Bible college model of helped position the denomina- arts orientation later in the 1880s in higher education and toward what tion’s system of higher education the curricular struggles of recently we could call a Christian liberal arts for ongoing tension, but she also founded South Lancaster Academy. helped ensure its relevance in the There S. N. Haskell, the confer- approach. professional marketplace of the ence president and board chair, 20th and 21st centuries. Without sought to steer the institution toward a nation in 1888 for further study at Har- that positioning, Adventist higher educa- Bible college design against the wishes vard.11 tion would have been pushed toward of Principal Charles increasing irrelevance, except Ramsey, who argued perhaps for the training of for a broader perspec- clergy, in the increasingly rig- tive. Once again, Ellen orous professional atmosphere White sympathized of the first half of the 20th with the broader per- century. spective, even though she feared Ramsey From One Extreme to the didn’t understand the Other proper balance between The third round in the academic and religious tension-filled struggle be- knowledge. And he tween Adventist mission and didn’t. An early casualty academic vision was stimu- of the struggle between lated by events related to the academic vision and momentous 1888 General Adventist mission, he S. N. Haskell W. W. Prescott Conference session at Min- departed the denomi- neapolis. Those meetings, with their emphasis on Christ’s righteousness and the need for more in- tensive Bible study by the denomination’s clergy,12 led to a series of field schools for ministers in the late 1880s and early 1890s.

hose meetings, in turn, led W. W. Prescott, who was simul- taneously president of Battle T Creek College, Union Col- lege, and Walla Walla College, and head of the Seventh-day Adventist Educational Association in the early 1890s, to call a similar convention for Adventism’s educators at Harbor Springs, Michigan, during July and August 1891. This produced a major turning point in the development of Adventist higher education. W. C. White described the meetings in terms of spiritual revival, stressing the emphasis on spontaneous personal testimonies. He noted that each day began with A. T. Jones’ expositions of the Book of Ro- Teachers and students of the Washington Foreign Mission Seminary (Ta- mans. Ellen White also spoke on such koma Park, Maryland), sometime between 1905 and 1913. topics as the necessity of a personal rela-

22 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae tionship with Christ, have ever known him The Christocentric revival the need for a spiri- to do before,” publicly tual revival among the stating that “‘the colin the church’s theology educators attending lege is dead,’” “‘liberal had led to spiritual revival the convention, and education is dead,’” the centrality of the “‘religious liberty is in its educational program Christian message to dead.’”19 accompanied by a clearer education.13 On the other hand, vision of its purpose. Prescott asserted Prescott noted happily at the 1893 General that the students had lowing the lead of the recently organized Conference session reacted positively. But Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign that Harbor Springs this response did not Missions, American Protestants were had marked the turn- come without a strug- spearheading in the 1890s a move for ing point in Adventist gle. Wilmott Poole, for “the evangelization of the world in this education.14 Before example, wrote to his generation,” which brought about the Harbor Springs, the parents that many of greatest expansion of missions in Ameri- 23 teaching of Bible had Frederick Griggs the classical scholars can history. The foremost educational held a minor place in were all broken up outcome of that mission thrust was the Adventist education. But the convention adopted a recommendation calling for four years of Bible study for students in Adventist colleges.15 The convention also recommended the teaching of history from the perspective of the biblical worldview. The Christocentric revival in the church’s theology had led to spiritual revival in its educational program accompanied by a clearer vision of its purpose. As a direct result, noted Prescott, “during the last two years there has been more growth in the educational work than in the seventeen years preceding that time.”16 Much had been accomplished by early 1893, but much remained to be done. From Harbor Springs, Ellen White Early photo of teachers and students at Avondale College (Cooranbong, went to Australia, where she gave much Australia), which opened in 1897. thought to education. Her recommendations led Prescott to attempt even more far-reaching curricular reforms at Battle about the decision but had declared their rise of the missionary college and Bible Creek College in late 1893. In particular, resignation to the will of God.20 institute movement among American the reforms would displace the domi- Prescott planned to test the new cur- evangelicals.24 nance of the classics in the curriculum ricular approach at Battle Creek and and uplift its Christian aspects.17 then, using his position as leader of the dventism would follow As might be expected, certain elements Educational Association and two other the lead of the evangeli- among the faculty objected, especially, colleges, urge its adoption by other Ad- cals. The 1890s proved Prescott (a Dartmouth graduate him- ventist institutions.21 to be its most dynamic self) pointed out, those who had “ob- “I believe,” Prescott wrote to the Gen- decade in the expansion of its missions tained their education in other colleges, eral Conference president, “this move and its educational system.25 And it is conducted after the worldly plan.”18 A will mark the beginning of such changes probably no accident that within a few month later, Prescott described the meet- in our general school work, as will make years, Adventism would begin to call ing at which the faculty were told that it much more efficient in preparing many of its collegiate institutions mis- the college board had decided to move those who wish to go out to spread the sionary colleges, giving them names like forward with the reforms: “Prof. Hartwell truth.”22 Emmanuel Missionary College, Washing- made a worse spectacle of himself than I On that point he hit a live issue. Fol- ton Missionary College, and the College

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 23 of Medical Evange- And a mighty shift be educated, and to be educated we must lists. it was. Ellen White study.”32 In 1907 he noted that Adven- One of the most spoke in no uncertain tism had “a dearth of well-educated men remarkable aspects terms of Avondale and women—those who can edit our of the Prescott-driven establishing a pattern papers, man our training-schools and our curricular reform era for other schools to intermediate schools, who can present was Ellen White’s follow.29 But this nec- the message to the most highly educated moderate counsel. essary course correc- classes of the world.”33 The extremists could tion could be taken to Griggs saw a balanced education as an easily have urged the extremes. investment in which educational attain- schools away from And so it was by ment dramatically increased an individu- the academic classi- Edward Alexander al’s worth.34 Quality education for Griggs, cal extreme toward Sutherland, Percy T. of course, included service to God and its polar opposite (as Magan, and the other others. some would in 1897 radicals who took over During Griggs tenure, academic vision and thereafter). Percy T. Magan Battle Creek College in achieved a renaissance. It is no accident General Conference the late 1890s. They that the first Adventists to earn Ph.D.’s, President O. A. Olsen, totally eradicated the B. G. Wilkinson from George Washing- who was visiting Australia during the classics, developed a curriculum that ton University in 1908 and M. E. Olsen reform initiative, questioned Ellen White was nearly all reli- from the University of about the traditional curriculum. He re- gion, advocated the Michigan in 1909, did ported to Prescott that she had said that Bible as the only so in the Griggs era the light that she had on the topic was textbook, plowed up of educational leader- that they should not ignore “‘the regular the school’s playing ship.35 lines of education, but that they should field for the planting But even Griggs make the Bible paramount [sic].’” Her of potatoes, devel- worried about achiev- advice to students: “‘Climb just as high oped a wide variety ing a balance between as you please in educational lines, if it of mission activities, academic vision and be only balanced by the highest wisdom and stopped offering Adventist mission. In that men can attain from the word of academic degrees. By his keynote address God.’”26 1901, when Battle to the 1910 General Creek College moved Conference educa- he set forth Moses, Daniel, to Berrien Springs tional convention, he and Paul, who had had for even more radical noted that “the pen- both higher education and reforms, the school dulum has been Sreligious understanding, was teetering off the Edward Alexander Sutherland swinging, is swinging. as examples to be emulated. One reason right edge of the Bible But now we must se- that “Paul was such a power” was that college/mission insti- riously ask ourselves “he had knowledge that could match” tute extreme of North American higher if there is not danger of its swinging too that of the “greatest scholars” combined education.30 This did eradicate the ten- far, and of again measuring our work and with a knowledge of Christ.27 sion for a while. Adventist mission had of setting our standards by those of the As in the 1880s, Ellen White was at become everything and the academic vi- world.”36 the forefront, calling for an education sion nothing. Griggs was a moderate voice in Ad- that ensured a balance between Adventist ventist education in the early 20th cen- mission and academic vision. But, as we Back to Balance tury. During his tenure, academic vision shall see, not all of her readers under- But tensions in higher education have had been recovered and the granting stood that nuanced balance. a difficult time staying dead for very of academic degrees in such places as The momentum from Harbor Springs long. That brings us to the fourth round Emmanuel Missionary College (EMC) and its aftermath continued through the of the tension, with the entrance of Fred- restored. But the extremists were still on 1890s in the founding of the Avondale erick Griggs, who chaired the General the loose. In 1915, for example, Suther- School for Christian Workers in Australia Conference Department of Education land wrote in his Studies in Christian under the guidance of Ellen White and from 1904-1910 and 1915-1918. Griggs Education that the granting of academic other reformers.28 The Avondale experi- was a moderate who agreed with Suther- degrees would eventually be nothing less ence was a major shift away from the land and Magan on the goals of Advent- than “a seal or a mark of the beast.”37 In domination of the classics found in most ist education but who decried their one- the late 1910s, reactionary forces gained American institutions and toward Ad- sided means of achieving it.31 Griggs’ the upper hand, unseating Griggs and ventist mission. motto was that “to be educators we must exiling him to Berrien Springs, where his

24 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae presidency marked EMC’s “golden age.”38 sanitariums will en- 1920s, when schools Meanwhile, the reactionary Warren E. tertain the idea that sending students to Howell, as secretary of the General Con- they must get in line the College of Medical ference educational department, gave his with the world, study Evangelists needed commanding voice to the denomination’s the things which the only junior college schools and colleges during the explosive world studies, and accreditation, which 1920s.39 become familiar with could readily be ac- the things that the quired. But by 1928, The Innate Tension in Professional- world becomes famil- it was evident that izing iar with. This is one of they would have to be In the early 1920s, Adventism saw a the greatest mistakes accredited as senior new round of attacks on the academic that could be made.”42 colleges. That require- vision. Those with Ph.D.’s, such as M. E. The accreditation ment proved trouble- Olsen, came under suspicion and even at struggle would domi- some for many rea- times lost their jobs. That is one reason nate Adventist higher sons, but the central Olsen found time to write the first sub- education for 20 threat was that college stantial history of Adventism—Origin and years, but the hard teachers would need Progress of Seventh-day Adventists (1925). fact was careers were Warren E. Howell graduate degrees that changing and, with could be earned only The Avondale experience them, professional education. Such areas at “pagan” institutions. Some feared the was a major shift away as teaching, nursing, and medicine were entire system would be corrupted by pro- by the 1920s requiring professional certi- fessors who brought their ideas back into from the domination of fications undreamed of in the 1890s. The Adventism’s colleges. the classics found in most new shape of professionalism would in- Solving the problem became a major creasingly challenge Adventism. The de- item on the Adventist agenda. In 1928, American institutions and nomination’s educational and ecclesiasti- the GC Annual Council established the toward Adventist mission. cal leaders would once again be forced to Board of Regents as a denominational ac- examine the tension between academic crediting association. The church hoped During those years, even working to- vision and Adventist mission. that the regional accrediting bodies ward an M.A. degree was frowned upon. The problem wasn’t acute in the early would accept the Board of Regents’ ac- H. A. Morrison, president of Union Col- creditation, thereby enabling Adventist lege, raised the ire of leaders supporting colleges to avoid “contamination.” Howell’s policies when he encouraged This proved to be wishful thinking. some of his teachers to earn Master’s Some educational leaders had known this degrees. As a result, when M. L. An- all along. Chief in that crowd was P. T. dreasen requested permission to study Magan, who had moved away from his at the University of Nebraska, Morrison responded: “I can’t give you permission to go, but you may go without my permission, with the understanding that you quit when it is found out.”40 Mountain to ocean vistas at Helder- berg College (South Africa). eedless to say, Howell and those of like mind at the General Conference N opposed the accreditation of Adventist institutions. They were more than happy to use Ellen White quotations to push their point. Two of their favorites were “let us determine that we will not be tied by so much as a thread to the educational policies of those who do not discern the voice of God and who will not hearken to His commandments”41 and “there is constant danger among our people that those Fountain (which doubles as a baptismal font) at University of Eastern Africa, who engage in labor in our schools and Baraton (Eldoret, Kenya).

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 25 Howell and those of sionals to serve the modern world. With- the worldly influence and dictation is a out Ellen White’s clear counsel, Adventist tremendous disappointment.”48 like mind at the General colleges would probably not have offered By 1931, when Sutherland came out Conference opposed the training adequate for professionals in the in the open on the topic, the problem accreditation of Adventist 20th century. had become well recognized. In fact, the 1931 Autumn Council voted to allow institutions. ut those alternatives were Adventist colleges to secure regional ac- not always immediately ap- creditation. But despite this authoriza- earlier extremes and was dean and would parent to those facing the tion, many church leaders continued to later become president of the College of Baccreditation controversy. oppose the idea. William G. White noted Medical Evangelists, as well as several of One of Magan’s first converts was E. A. that “the 1931 Council decision did the college presidents. They had state- Sutherland, the antidegree champion not solve the problem, but was only the ments from Ellen White that logically led of the 1890s and Magan’s colleague in opening salvo of a five-year war of words to nothing but accreditation even though the radical reforms at Battle Creek and as the pros and cons of regional accredi- she warned of the dangers involved. The Madison colleges. As early as 1923, tation were debated by church adminis- basis for their stand went back to 1910 Sutherland, convinced by Magan of the trators and educators.”49 when the denomination had to decide seriousness of the problem, began quietly A major setback for the accreditation what type of medical education to offer sending some of his teachers to recog- forces came in October 1935 when W. at Loma Linda, and church leaders had nized institutions for advanced degrees, H. Branson delivered the report of the placed the matter before Ellen White.43 so that Madison could meet the rising Survey Commission on Accreditation to She replied unequivocally that the standards of professional education.46 the GC Autumn Council. Branson closed school must “provide that which is es- Sutherland’s maneuvers did not be- his report by noting that “we are ready to admit that in our action of four years ago we went too far.”50 As a result of his speech and the ensuing discussion, the delegates decided to minimize the danger by accrediting only two senior colleges. However, the 1936 General Conference session reversed that decision. By 1945, all six of the North American senior colleges at the center of the controversy had obtained accreditation.51 But the denomination was still faced with the problem of educating faculty so as to preserve the primacy of Adventist mission. “Let’s train our own” had been the earliest line of thought. Thus in the early 20th century, a few Master’s degrees were offered by Pacific Union College, Union College, and Emmanuel Mission- ary College.52 But that approach soon dissipated. More permanent in nature was the Advanced Bible School (ABS), Good Samaritan statues at Loma Linda University (Loma Linda, California). inaugurated at Pacific Union College in 1934. It was hoped that this institution could offer advanced degrees to Bible sential to qualify our youth who desire to come public until 1931,47 but when teachers and thus preserve the Adventist be physicians.”44 In addition, Mrs. White they did, there was quite a reaction. For perspective for that crucial group of the indicated that Adventist colleges must of- example, Otto J. Graf, one of the presi- faculty. The ABS would eventually evolve fer a preparatory education that brought dents who followed Sutherland at Em- into the Seventh-day Adventist Theologi- students to the necessary “point of liter- manuel Missionary College, sounded a cal Seminary at Andrews University.53 ary and scientific training” to “meet the note of anguish and surprise. “Now my The Advanced Bible School, of course, entrance requirements specified by state brother,” he wrote, “years ago we looked didn’t solve the educational needs of laws.”45 upon you and your school as bulwarks most faculty. As a result, boards sought Those statements would eventually against things worldly, and now to find mature, experienced, “safe” faculty who provide the support for Adventist col- you leading out in this matter of subject- could be sent to non-Adventist institu- leges’ preparing a broad range of profes- ing ou[r] school system unnecessarily to tions for advanced study, hoping that the

26 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae impact on that select group would be two appeared to be in a state of construc- able colleges and universities, some of minimal. And up through the late 1950s, tive balance. But then came the 1960s them even offering fully accredited doc- that plan seemed to be working fairly and new challenges to the ongoing ten- toral degrees. But the question of achiev- well. sion. ing balance was still an issue. The de- Meanwhile, the denomination contin- nomination’s schools of higher education ued to grapple with the ongoing tension The Challenges of Maturity were obviously doing well academically. between Adventist mission and academic The dynamic 1960s saw unprece- But what about mission? One wonders, vision, but the dynamics between the dented growth in American higher for example, about the significance of education as a flood of baby a caution I received when addressing boomers entered its doors. the faculty of one Adventist institution Adventist higher education to avoid the word “Christian” lest I of- faced the same stresses and fend some of the practicing Islamics and strains as public education. Hindus on the faculty. And what are we With a Ph.D. now the ex- to think when a department removes the pected degree for college phrase “biblical perspective” from assign- teachers, the send-the-old ments originally formulated to reflect the safe-professors-off-for-ad- institution’s mission statement, because vanced-study approach col- the non-Christians among the students lapsed as a wave of young Ad- know little about the Bible? ventists enrolled in a variety of graduate schools. Nobody hat about Adventist knew what the results might mission? This ques- be. tion has repeatedly By the 1970s and 1980s, stimulated actions by House of Prayer, Spicer Memorial College W Adventist institutions had General Conference educational leaders. (Pune, India). joined the ranks of respect- One thinks of Charles Hirsch’s attempts

Educators from 16 countries attended the 37th International Faith and Learning Seminar (Institute for Christian Teach- ing) in February 2008 at Avondale College (Cooranbong, Australia).

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 27 to give Adventist history and Ellen White 10. enth-day Adventist Educator and Administrator. Ph.D. studies a more prominent place in the 6. Ibid., 1879-1880, p. 6. dissertation, Andrews University, 1984. 7. Emmett K. Vande Vere, The Wisdom Seekers 32. Frederick Griggs, “Teachers an Example,” Re- curriculum (1970s), the massive ener- (Nashville: Southern Publ. Assn., 1972), p. 42. view and Herald (December 8, 1904), p. 20. gies and expenses dedicated to bringing 8. Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church 33. ______, “Educated Missionaries,” Re- Adventist professors from around the (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacifi c Press Publ. Assn., view and Herald (March 7, 1907), p. 22. world to participate in the integration of 1948), Vol. 5, pp. 21, 22, 25, 26 (italics supplied). 34. ______, “The Education of Our Chil- 9. Ibid., pp. 21, 22. faith and learning conferences initiated dren,” Review and Herald (March 21, 1906), p. 21. 10. Ibid., pp. 21, 22 (italics supplied). 35. While it is true that C. Moench came to by George Akers and Humberto Rasi 11. Myron F. Wehtje, And There Was Light: A His- Union College with a Ph.D. in modern languages in (1990s through the present), and the In- tory of South Lancaster Academy, Lancaster Junior Col- 1895-1896, he apparently earned it before joining ternational Conference on the Seventh- lege, and Atlantic Union College, vol. 1, 1882-1928 the church. See Everett Dick, Union: College of the (South Lancaster, Mass.: Atlantic Press, 1982), pp. day Adventist Philosophy of Education Golden Cords (Lincoln, Neb.: Union College Press, 74-84; White, Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 586-590; 1967), p. 348. (2001). “Record of Meetings of Stockholders of S. Lancaster 36. Frederick Griggs, “Our Times, Our Message, Today, there is little doubt about the Academy, 1883,” pp. 63-70. and Our Schools,” Convention of the Department of success of Adventist higher education in 12. See George R. Knight, Angry Saints: Tensions Education of the General Conference of Seventh-day the area of academics. The greater chal- and Possibilities in the Adventist Struggle Over Righ- Adventists (1910), p. 19. teousness by Faith (Washington, D.C.: Review and 37. E. A. Sutherland, Studies in Christian Educa- lenge is to maintain the vitality of Ad- Herald Publ. Assn., 1989), pp. 100-115. tion, reprint ed. (Payson, Ariz.: Leaves-of-Autumn ventist mission. 13. W. C. White to E. R. Jones, July 28, 1891. Books, n.d.), pp. 137, 138. The tension between the two, as we have 14. W. W. Prescott, “Report of the Educational 38. Vande Vere, Wisdom Seekers, p. 142. Secretary,” Daily Bulletin of the General Conference 39. John Francis Waters, Warren Eugene Howell: seen, had existed from the inception of the (February 23, 1893), p. 350. denomination’s tertiary institutions. And Seventh-day Adventist Educational Administrator, 15. Ibid. Ph.D. dissertation, Andrews University, 1988. while this tension has been and continues 16. Ibid., p. 357. 40. Dick, Union, p. 157. to be taxing at times, I believe that it is 17. W. W. Prescott to E. G. White (November 8, 41. Ellen G. White, Counsels to Parents, Teachers, absolutely necessary for the health of Ad- 1893). and Students Regarding Christian Education (Moun- 18. Ibid. tain View: Pacifi c Press Publ. Assn., 1943), p. 255. ventist colleges and universities. Without 19. W. W. Prescott to O. A. Olsen, December 8, 42. Ellen G. White, Fundamentals of Christian 1893. it, there are only two options: the-dying- Education (Nashville: Southern Publ. Assn., 1923), 54 20. W. W. Prescott to E. G. White, December of-the-light syndrome in the absence of a p. 534. 8, 1893; Wilmott Poole to parents, December 16, distinctive Adventist emphasis; or a Bible 43. Dores Eugene Robinson, The Story of Our 1893. Health Message, 2d ed. (Nashville: Southern Publ. college program that would be inadequate 21. W. W. Prescott to O. A. Olsen, December 8, Assn., 1955), pp. 371-389. for 21st-century needs. While the tension 1893; W. W. Prescott to E. G. White, December 8, 44. Ellen G. White, letter reproduced in “A 1893. is always uncomfortable, the alternatives Medical School at Loma Linda,” Review and Herald 22. W. W. Prescott to O. A, Olsen, December 8, would be disastrous in fulﬁ lling the commis- (May 19, 1910), p. 18. 1893. 45. ______, Counsels to Teachers, pp. 479, sion envisioned by James and Ellen White in 23. John R. Mott, “Report of the Executive Com- 480. the founding of Battle Creek mittee,” in Student Mission Power: Report of the First 46. E. A. Sutherland to O. J. Graf, May 18, 1931. 0 International Convention of the Student Volunteer College. 47. [E. A. Sutherland], “Why Should Madison ______Movement for Foreign Missions, Held at Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., February 26, 27, 28 and March 1, 1891 Become a Senior College,” The Madison Survey George R. knight served (Pasadena, Calif.: William Carey Library, 1979), (January 7, 1931). the Seventh-day Adventist pp. 21-23; Ernest R. Sandeen, The Roots of Funda- 48. O. J. Graf to E. A. Sutherland, January 16, Church for 40 years as a pas- mentalism (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1978), p. 1931. Cf. Clifford G. Howell to E. A. Sutherland, tor, elementary and secondary 183; Sydney E., Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the March 18, 1932. American People (New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univer- 49. William G. White, Jr., “Another Look at teacher, school administrator, Those Pioneers of Adventist Accreditation,” Focus and Professor of Philosophy of Education and Ad- sity Press, 1972), p. 864. 24. See Virginia Lieson Brereton, (Winter 1978), p. 11. ventist History at Andrews University in Berrien Training God’s Army: The American Bible School, 1880-1940 (Bloom- 50. W. H. Branson, “Our Presentation of the Springs, Michigan. He is the author of 30 books ington: Indiana University Press, 1990). Report of the Survey Commission on Education and writes from Rogue River, Oregon. 25. See George R. Knight, “The Dynamics of Regarding Accreditation,” speech delivered at Fall ______Educational Expansion,” Journal of Adventist Educa- Council, October 30, 1935. NOTES AND REFERENCES tion 52:4 (April-May 1990), pp. 13-19, 44, 45. 51. For the best and most extensive treatment 26. Ellen G. White in O. A., Olsen to W. W. of the accreditation struggle, see the unpublished 1. J. N. Andrews, “Our Proposed School,” Review Prescott, December 20, 1893. book manuscript by William G. White, Jr., entitled and Herald (April 1, 1873), p. 124. 27. Ibid. “New Times, New Measures, New Men: The Re- 2. George I. Butler, “What Use Shall We Make of 28. See Milton Hook, The Avondale School and gional Accreditation of Seventh-day Adventist Lib- Our School?” Review and Herald (July 21, 1874), Adventist Educational Goals, 1894-1900. Ed.D. dis- eral Arts Colleges, 1922-1945.” pp. 44, 45. sertation, Andrews University, 1978. 52. Walter C. Utt, A Mountain, A Pickax, A Col- 3. See Joseph G. Smoot, “Sidney Brownsberger: 29. See George R. Knight, Myths in Adventism, op lege (Angwin, Calif.: Alumni Assn. of Pacifi c Union Traditionalist,” in Early Adventist Educators, George cit., pp. 17-25. College, 1968), p. 70; Dick, Union, pp. 179, 180; R. Knight, ed. (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrews 30. See Vande Vere, Wisdom Seekers, pages 95- Vande Vere, Wisdom Seekers, p. 157. University Press, 1983), pp. 72-94. 103. For the best study of Sutherland’s early career, 53. Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, 2d. rev. 4. W. C. White, “Pioneer Pilots in Christian Edu- see Warren Sidney Ashworth, Edward Alexander ed. (1996), s.v. “Andrews University.” cation,” in Founders’ Golden Anniversary Bulletin of Sutherland and Seventh-day Adventist Educational 54. See James Tunstead Burtchaell, The Dying of Battle Creek College and Emmanuel Missionary Col- Reform, 1890-1904. Ph.D. dissertation, Andrews the Light: The Disengagement of Colleges and Universi- lege: 1874-1924, p. 29. University, 1986. ties From Their Christian Churches (Grand Rapids, 5. Battle Creek College Catalogue, 1876-1877, p. 31. See Arnold Colin Reye, Frederick Griggs: Sev- Mich.: Eerdmans, 1998).

28 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae t was 10:15 a.m., Tuesday, March the board. The GC Committee regarded demic integrity.4 The failure to achieve 16, 1897, when the General Con- this as a crisis, and now as “guests” of closer cooperation with the sanitarium ference (GC) Committee con- church leaders, Caviness and Aul were was particularly irksome to Dr. John H. vened in Battle Creek, Michigan, being called to respond to allegations Kellogg, who wielded no small influence for their fourth meeting of the about a rigged election.3 in the community as well as the church spring session, with General Con- Two years earlier, in 1895, reform- at large. ference President G. A. Irwin as minded delegates to the GC session di- The meeting that March morning was chair. Besides 12 members of the rected the college administration to re- not pleasant. A. T. Jones, a newcomer to Icommittee, six invitees were present, an engineer the school so it would better the GC Committee, spoke first. A 47- unusually large number, including G. fulfill church leaders’ understanding of year-old former United States Army ser- W. Caviness, president of Battle Creek Ellen White’s testimonies. They wanted geant, he employed unvarnished rheto- College, and W. E. A. Aul, a mathemat- greater emphasis on agriculture, more- ric. In his view, the issue was of concern WHO’S

Stained-glass window, college IN CHARGE? church, Union College, Lincoln, Nebraska. Observations on Governance in Seventh-day Adventist Higher Education

By Floyd Greenleaf

ics teacher at the college. Also among Holser’s question of who had authority over the guests were W. W. Prescott and W. C. White.1 the church’s educational institutions had This meeting immediately followed a been long in the making, and some will prob- series of gatherings by the stockholders ably argue that it has never been truly re- of the Educational Society. Usually this group met twice in quick succession to solved. conduct their annual business: first to hear reports and then to elect a board of effective worker-preparation courses, and to the entire church because problems at trustees for Battle Creek College.2 Events closer cooperation with Battle Creek San- Battle Creek College were demoralizing went awry in 1897, and they had to itarium. Church historian E. K. Vande the church’s educational program. meet several times. Prior to the election Vere suggests that church leaders thought Caviness defensively responded that of trustees, which was ordinarily a per- Caviness, with Aul’s support, was drag- the stockholders’ meeting in question functory exercise, Caviness and Aul had ging his feet on the expected reform. In was “no worse” than some others, in- collected sufficient proxy votes to replace Vande Vere’s opinion, Caviness and Aul cluding one the previous year with vot- some of the regularly nominated candi- believed that the changes outlined by the ing “irregularities” on changes in the Ed- dates and secure seats for themselves on GC committee would compromise aca- ucational Society’s constitution. No one

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 29 had objected at that time. Jones could By the time of the 1897 Caviness episode, not have missed Caviness’ implication. Why raise questions now? What would church leaders . . . . realized that the Gen- this accomplish? eral Conference needed more than moral H. P. Holser, a member of the GC suasion to create any semblance of a system Committee and president of the Central European Conference, was unconvinced among the schools. by Jones’ attempt to make this a church issue rather than an institutional ques- coup de grace to the Caviness administra- anything about the “adjustment of the tion. He asked why the GC Committee tion. Two days later, Irwin announced difficulties connected with the college.” should be discussing this matter. Irwin, the resignation of the college president. Jones bombastically declared that it was Prescott, and White all jumped in, ex- While the college board had already in- a question of whether God or Satan was plaining that “there was a difference be- vited E. A. Sutherland, president of Walla going to control the work. However, by tween the Committee assuming authority Walla College, to replace Caviness, Irwin adjournment, the secretary noted that over matters outside its jurisdiction, and felt that the General Conference Com- “there seemed to be unanimity . . . in re- giving counsel when solicited by indi- mittee should confirm the decision.6 gard to the general course to be taken.”7 viduals or institutions.”5 The GC Committee was far from unan- Holser’s question of who had authority Since Holser’s was a minority opin- imous about these events. One member over the church’s educational institu- ion, the meeting proceeded despite his declared that he did not want to hear tions had been long in the making, and protest. Like Caviness, Aul refused to some will probably argue that it has back down, claiming that his actions never been truly resolved. It had were justified and that no one had in- commenced 24 years before the 1897 fluenced him to act as he did. This, in scenario with Caviness, at the time effect, denied any collusion between the GC Committee recorded its inten- himself and the college president. The tion of establishing a denominational GC Committee was not making much school and creating an Educational headway. Society. When actually formed, this group consisted of stockholders who fter learning that the raised money for the school.8 Legally, next meeting of the this body controlled the college. GC Committee would As long as Battle Creek College re- Adeal with education mained the sole denominational more broadly, Holser suggested that school, things went reasonably well. they spend some time studying El- But between 1884 and 1897, through- len White’s testimonies relating to out the United States, a number of schools. After doing so the next eve- new church colleges were established, ning, they decided that on the fol- none of which came under the juris- lowing Monday they would visit the diction of the Educational Society. college. And there was talk of more. The recording secretary did not say The GC Committee had not dis- whether the committee members in- G. W. Caviness couraged the founding of any of tended their visit to be a tour de force, these institutions, but to whom did but its net effect was to administer the they ultimately answer? In 1887, the

Washington Foreign Mission Seminary (now Columbia Union College), Takoma Park, Maryland, between 1905 and 1913.

30 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae General Conference revised its constitu- based. While the system had enabled educational secretary, Prescott attempted tion to include a secretary of education the young church to establish a college, to systematize Adventist education. He who would serve as the liaison between the Educational Society had become a was only modestly successful. When re- church headquarters and the institutions. legal buffer between the GC Committee sponding to Holser that March morn- For 10 years, W. W. Prescott held this po- and the school. Caviness and Aul had ing in 1897, Irwin and his colleagues sition, depending mostly on moral sua- demonstrated that, barring crisis inter- portrayed the question of authority as sion to promote the views of the General vention, the stockholders could keep the a less complicated matter than the facts Conference in the expanding education school one step beyond reach. suggest. The GC Committee was not just movement. For most of that time, he was offering advice to an institution that had also president of Battle Creek College, lsewhere, as well, the stock- asked for it. For years, church leaders and thus in theory, an employee of the holder system was in trouble. had involved themselves administratively Educational Society. In 1889, only seven years after in affairs of the larger schools. Eits founding, South Lancaster Matters came to a head at the 1895 Problems and Reforms in Control of Academy (Massachusetts) was on the General Conference session, just before Education verge of bankruptcy. An ad hoc com- a vote on the resolution for reform at By the time of the 1897 Caviness epi- mittee recommended, among other cor- Battle Creek College. One delegate dubi- sode, church leaders were becoming rective measures, that the stockholders painfully aware of weaknesses in the surrender their holdings to the General church’s control of education. They Conference so the “Academy may be realized that the General Conference controlled by the trustees elected by that needed more than moral suasion to cre- body.”9 A couple of years later, the GC ate any semblance of a system among Committee discussed the need to bring the schools. The problems were deeply “all institutions and enterprises con- rooted and serious. nected with the work under the direc- First, the Educational Society had out- tion and control of the denomination,” lived its usefulness. As the constituents a less-than-subtle reference to the quasi- of the college, the stockholders chose independent corporations and societies the board of trustees, or directors as they (which included the stockholder system) were occasionally called. Sometimes the that ran church institutions and minis- society designated some of its own mem- tries.10 bers as a nominating committee to ap- Another issue was the poor finan- point the college board; at other times, cial footing of most Adventist schools. the nominating committee at General Whether controlled by stockholders, Conference sessions selected board mem- conference associations, or some other bers. In either case, when they approved authority, almost all of them faced eco- A. T. Jones the slate of proposed board members, nomic woes. To extricate themselves, the stockholders reflected the will of the they typically relied on, or at least de- GC Committee. sired, General Conference assistance. ously asked how the resolution would Critics could argue that this action was Church leaders found themselves invest- be carried out. The General Conference as thoroughly rigged as the trick that ing money in institutions over which president assured the questioner that it Caviness and Aul had pulled off. What they had little control. The church was the “duty” of the GC Committee to the two men had done was legal, but it needed centrally administered policies care for all aspects of the “cause.”11 Two thwarted the desires of the GC Commit- to guide conference presidents and other years after the Caviness affair, the record- tee, from which the Educational Society leaders in establishing schools, to avoid ing secretary noted that the GC Commit- derived its authority. With other denomi- financial embarrassment, and to clarify tee wanted everyone to know that it had national schools sprouting up all over the relationship between church head- oversight of all Adventist schools.12 North America, the Educational Society quarters and institutions. No one knows precisely what Holser controlled only a fraction of the field, Still another problem arose from the was thinking that March morning, but and the events of 1897 showed that even lack of systematic curriculum at lower he was not merely trying to confuse the that hold was tenuous. By appealing to a levels, which produced uneven norms issue or escape a sticky problem. He was higher authority to resolve the impasse, for academic performance. Many stu- likely trying to pick his way through a the Educational Society effectively relin- dents were inadequately prepared for maze of conflicting precedents in order quished its power. college. The denomination also lacked to define the line of authority for Battle Also, church leaders had come to view a centrally administered credentialing Creek College and church institutions in as unsatisfactory the stockholder system system so teachers could readily transfer general. To whom did Battle Creek Col- of founding and maintaining schools, from one campus to another. lege answer? Who was really in charge? on which the Educational Society was During the years he held the office of Watershed moments in history are not

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 31 always easy to identify, but arguably, This decision agreed with the the actions by the GC Committee arguments of A. G. Daniells and W. in March 1897 constituted a pivotal C. White two years later during the point in the history of Adventist edu- 1903 General Conference session, cation. They set in motion a train of who urged the continuation of the events extending through the 20th union conferences that the delegates century that eventually provided had authorized in 1901. “Our Gen- some answers to Holser’s question eral Conference is to leave institu- about authority over institutions, tional work alone, and let Union particularly Adventist colleges. Conferences attend to the work of their Union Conference,” White ollowing that March morn- bluntly told the gathering.16 Two ing, the GC Committee years later in 1905, when Frederick lost little time dealing with Griggs, secretary of the Educational Fthe problem. As might be Department, unveiled his plan for expected, the first target was the a comprehensive system of schools Educational Society, which they dis- from grade one through college, mantled. Divesting the stockholders complete with denominationally of their role involved ownership of approved curriculum guides, opera- property, which made legal counsel tional manuals, and credentialing, necessary. By 1901, the Educational the pattern of union control over Frederick Griggs Society was dead, and the property colleges became standard procedure had reverted to the General Confer- in Seventh-day Adventist education. ence.13 Meanwhile, church leaders were experimenting with a committee [In 1891] the GC Committee discussed the to supervise denominational education. need to bring “all institutions and enter- However, the line of authority remained blurred until delegates to the 1901 prises connected with the work under the di- General Conference session created the rection and control of the denomination,” a Educational Department consisting of seven members headed by a secretary. less-than-subtle reference to the quasi-inde- This body was viewed as a branch of the pendent corporations and societies (which GC Committee.14 This action was part of included the stock- the historic organizational overhaul voted by the church at that session. holder system) Choosing the members of this that ran church committee was easier than defin- ing their authority. Soon after the institutions and process of reorganization began ministries. in 1897, an ad hoc group recommended that all Adventist schools All schools answered to church au- should function on an equal footing, thority at one level or another—in but the idea that the General Confer- the case of higher education, it was ence should operate a model train- the union conferences whose presi- ing school for workers persisted. dents chaired the college boards.17 Early discussions by members of The delegates unanimously ap- the Educational Department led proved Griggs’ proposal, which gave to the conclusion that the General Adventist education its basic shape Conference should jettison all direct that has endured to the present. control over schools and leave own- Essentially, the unions and confer- ership and control in the hands of ences would control the immediate the newly created union conferenc- administration of schools, but they es. Emmanuel Missionary College were expected to carry out the will would assume the role of a model of the parent body—the General training school, but it would not Warren E. Howell Conference—which would provide function under immediate General basic policies and parameters of Conference control.15 operation. It was a plan of shared

32 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae authority between the General Confer- authority to establish a systematic infra- of that tightrope were the chairmen of ence on one hand and lower levels of structure of standards, curriculum, and college boards. They sought to cooper- church administration, including officers governance policies to which the schools ate with college educators in promoting of higher education, on the other. would conform. viable professional education programs. During the century that has passed The two men parted ways over the At the same time, they were expected since that action, debate has focused on question of accreditation. Griggs sup- to function as loyal members of the GC the questions of which aspects of author- ported the idea of official recognition Committee, where the opposition to ac- ity are shared and how they should be by universities or state departments of creditation had reached policy-making shared. This article will review three of education, while Howell believed that levels. the major issues relating to shared au- to seek recognition from accrediting as- In the end, denominational leaders, thority: voluntary accreditation, ministe- sociations would compromise the found- including the General Conference presi- rial education, and general institutional ing principles of Seventh-day Adventist dent, gave in to the momentum of higher policies. schools. In 1918, he succeeded Griggs as education. In the process some board General Conference secretary of educa- chairmen—presidents of union confer- Challenge A to Systematic Control: tion, which allowed him to urge the de- ences—collaborated quietly with college Accreditation velopment of a unique Adventist system presidents to achieve the inevitable, a The struggle over voluntary accred- of education, leaving no room for secular general acceptance of accreditation. After itation consumed the better part of accreditation. the dust had settled in the late 1930s, it the 1920s and 1930s.18 Although this Continuing W. W. Prescott’s practice of was apparent that General Conference controversy focused on recognition of moral suasion, Howell brought the full authority over Adventist higher educa- Adventist schools by regional accrediting weight of General Conference influence tion had weakened. bodies, the problem involved numerous to bear on the need to reject “worldly” aspects of denominational education. trends. The debate pitted college ad- espite his opposition to re- At the vortex of the struggle were the ministrators, who faced the problem gional accreditation, Howell two personalities who dominated Ad- of delivering competitive education for was convinced that col- ventist education from 1903 through professionals—among them physicians, Dleges could not be laws unto 1930: Frederick Griggs and Warren E. teachers, and nurses, all of whom the themselves. He correctly saw accredita- Howell. Both men intensely believed in church desperately needed—against tion as a self-policing process, and held thorough organization and a true Ad- church leaders who believed Howell’s it in high regard. During the final two ventist system—not just a network— warnings that accreditation would de- years of his term as secretary of educa- with centralized control. Control did not stroy the identity of Seventh-day Ad- tion, he led the movement to establish mean micro-management, but rather the ventist education. Walking the middle an association of Adventist colleges and secondary schools, accompanied by an accreditation process administered by a board of regents. In 1930, this plan went into effect. On the strength of General Conference authority, education departments at union and conference levels would enforce these regulations on both Adventist secondary schools and colleges to demonstrate that the church’s schools could maintain competitive educational standards on their own. Because the unions and local conferences bought into the program, the idea of denominational accreditation succeeded, but contrary to what Howell had hoped, the plan did not eliminate the need for secular recognition. Thus he did not avert what he and others saw as in- trusive practices by secular accreditation. To the credit of Howell and others who conceived the plan, the concept of de- Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University, nominational recognition has endured to Berrien Springs, Michigan. the present and remains the single most effective tool for exerting church influence on denominational postsecondary

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 33 institutions around the world. In this This idea encountered immediate re- graduate program.21 This development sense, Howell succeeded, probably far sistance. As a group, ministers were occurred under the direct supervision of beyond his expectations. probably the least educated of any de- the General Conference. Colleges contin- nominational professional workers. ued their ministerial training programs, Challenge B to Systematic Control: Everyone agreed that ministerial educa- but they never achieved the standardiza- Ministerial Education tion was a critical issue for the church. tion recommended in the 1918 proposal. Another issue that figured in the However, as the church grew, it needed After the debut of post-baccalaureate debate about authority over Adventist increasing numbers of people trained in ministerial education, the primary aca- colleges was the question of ministerial many different professions. The accredi- demic outcome of the 1918 proposal education.19 To understand this issue, we tation movement, which was just heating was that colleges had to ensure that their must remember that the dual purpose up, sought to assure students that the ministerial graduates qualified for semi- of Adventist education was to prepare church’s schools provided competitive nary admission. denominational workers and to educate education for all degrees offered by the for the salvation of students. Church colleges, which meant that the entire he issue of ministerial educa- leaders typically associated worker-prep- gamut of class offerings and major fields tion rested on the assump- aration courses more with postsecondary of study met basic quality standards. tion that the denomination schools, and educating for salvation with All of this meant that the Bible school Thad an inherent right to the lower levels of education, but the model was not feasible for Adventist col- shape and direct the education of its two purposes were inextricably bound leges. Students, along with church lead- clergy. The model worker-training school together at all levels. ers seeking employees, expected profes- envisioned by 19th-century church lead- The first several generations of Ad- sional education in a growing number ers eventually became a reality in the ventist ministers were either converts who were already clergymen, or people who simply emerged from the pack as leaders but who lacked formal theological training. Mentoring was the primary method of training ministers. Through the first two decades of the 20th century, Adventist colleges designed their own ministerial training programs. Almost immediately after his appointment in 1918 as General Conference secretary of education, Howell introduced a plan that would make theological training the central activity at all Adventist colleges. The proposal laid out specific curricular requirements and stipulated that students completing the program would earn a bachelor of sacred theology de- Pacific Union College, Angwin, California. gree. To lend prestige to ministerial education, all theology programs would become schools of theology headed by of fields. The conclusion was unavoid- General Conference-controlled seminary. a dean, not just ordinary departments able: While ministerial training could be In 1953, the Autumn Council approved presided over by a chairman. These in- central on Adventist campuses, it could an action that established the Master’s structional units would not be autono- not achieve this status at the expense degree as the standard academic creden- mous, but rather the hubs around which of existing programs or future offerings tial for ministers (this action applied only everything on campus revolved. Planners that might be needed. Consequently, al- to North America). Conferences were to anticipated that all Adventist colleges though the ministerial training program implement the measure “as quickly as in North America would become Bible retained its stature on Adventist cam- possible, without damage to the supply schools. Later, Howell said he viewed puses, it functioned as one of a number of workers,” a caveat that led to pro- North American colleges as world insti- of programs and departments. longed delays in fulfillment of the action. tutions that produced workers for the Meanwhile, the focus shifted from In practice, it meant that conferences world field. It was beyond dispute, he undergraduate ministerial education to continued to employ as ministers those said, that their policies “should be de- advanced studies. In 1934, a program of with only undergraduate degrees and termined by the responsible body of the advanced studies for ministers was be- even people who had not completed a whole,” meaning, of course, the General gun. Three years later, it became a free- college education.22 Conference.20 standing seminary offering a bona fide The net impact of this decades-long

34 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae development was to remove ministerial of trustees were the governing author- growth of tertiary education in the North education from the jurisdiction of the ity for each institution “in accordance American Division, but the colleges’ Dar- colleges and place it under the control of with its articles of incorporation and winian approach to survival outstripped the General Conference. By establishing a bylaws.”26 The contradiction between all attempts to manage Adventist higher seminary with graduate programs, which the 1992 action and the in turn set academic standards of admis- authority over religion sion, the General Conference exerted departments assumed by implicit control over feeder programs at the IBMTE was obvious. the undergraduate level. This control did Although the IBMTE’s not translate into micro-management of endorsement procedures the college programs, but undergraduate sought to ensure theologi- institutions were to offer the necessary cal orthodoxy, its conflict prerequisites to students seeking admis- with North American col- sion to the seminary. leges had more to do with As the 20th century closed, institutions in several divisions were seeking to In 1905, when establish graduate programs in theology. Frederick Consequently, church leaders felt they needed to restudy church control of min- Griggs, sec- Canadian University College, Alberta, Canada. isterial education. In 1994, the GC Com- retary of mittee voted at the Annual Council that all graduate ministerial programs were the Educational Department, unveiled his the responsibility of “either the General plan for a comprehensive system of schools Conference (for Andrews University) or from grade one through college, complete the respective division.”23 Despite the explicitness of this action, with denominationally approved curriculum it did not prevent some colleges from in- guides, operational manuals, and creden- augurating their own post-baccalaureate programs, thus making the Master’s de- tialing, the pattern of union control over gree—the standard ministerial creden- colleges became standard procedure in tial—available on campuses controlled Seventh-day Adventist education. by unions instead of the General Confer- ence or a division. In order to gain further control over administrative control than theological education. By the end of the decade, the preparation of the denomination’s philosophy. there was growing concern over the ministers, a new agency, the International direction of denominational colleges, Board of Ministerial and Theological Ed- Challenge C to Systematic Control: leading to the conviction that coopera- ucation (IBMTE) was formed in 1998.24 General Policies tion was vital to their future. A master Division boards of ministerial education, Reflecting on the long tradition of plan evolved that would determine the as branches of this body, had the author- union-operated colleges, one wonders role denominational postsecondary in- ity either to endorse religion and theolo- why the NAD action in 1992 was nec- stitutions should play in the church. A gy teachers or recommend their dismissal essary, but the history of Adventist watchdog agency functioning as a kind based on standards set by the central in- higher education, especially during the of super board would prevent schools ternational board. Response was mixed. second half of the 20th century, led to from duplicating graduate programs and Generally, the world fields accepted the this vote.27 Following World War II, require them to obtain permission before stipulations, but North American schools North American colleges entered an era adding new degrees.28 erected a solid wall of resistance on the of unprecedented enrollment growth, This super board formed in 1971 as grounds that subjecting part of their fac- necessitating building programs and the Board of Higher Education (BHE) ulties to requirements established by an expanded curricular offerings. With the was invested with authority to adminis- extra-institutional body would jeopardize complications of graduate programs, ter a master plan for tertiary schools in the institutions’ accreditation. In effect, spiraling operational costs, and uncertain the North American Division. But within the authority of the IBMTE would violate enrollments, survival became a pressing a year, both Andrews and Loma Linda academic freedom and due process as problem, creating rivalry among NAD universities challenged the BHE by sub- defined by accrediting bodies.25 postsecondary schools. mitting requests to begin doctoral pro- The reaction of the NAD colleges and During the 1960s, church commis- grams in professional education. An ad universities was also influenced by a sions on higher education and gradu- hoc committee assigned to scrutinize the 1992 division vote declaring that boards ate programs attempted to control the proposals favored Andrews and recom-

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 35 Griggs supported the idea of official recog- a hundred years of failed attempts by church leaders to a centrally controlled nition by universities or state departments system. Yet, because NAD higher educa- of education, while Howell believed that to tion administrators have realized that di- seek recognition from accrediting associa- alogue and collaboration are clearly beneficial for schools with shared goals and tions would compromise the founding prin- challenges, tertiary education in North ciples of Seventh-day Adventist schools. America is currently experimenting with a consortial model that is independent mended a rejection of Loma Linda’s plan, of higher education in North America. of the NAD and General Conference. but the BHE resolved the problem by ap- On the threshold of the 21st century, proving both programs. higher education in the North Ameri- A Concluding Observation This failure to prevent duplication of can Division could look back on nearly So who’s in charge of Adventist col- graduate programs demonstrated the weakness of BHE. Its chairperson was the North American Division president, A North American Experiment who represented imposed authority, while a large proportion of its voting Association of Adventist Universities and Colleges: members were representatives of the Professional Interest Group, Political Action Committee, rivalrous institutions. Notwithstanding or Consortium? the fanfare and high-sounding rhetoric at BHE’s inception, the ideal of a system n 2002, the North American Division colleges and universities formed of higher education based on a master the Association of Adventist Colleges and Universities (AACU),which has plan and governed by a central authority been legally incorporated as a “501(c)3 consortium of the fifteen colleges/ had become even more elusive than ever. universities located in the North American Division of the Seventh-day Despite the risks, college administrators Adventist Church dedicated to fostering collaboration.” The AACU rep- preferred a competitive approach to sur- Iresents an effort on the part of the colleges to cultivate cooperation on matters vival rather than paternalistic guidance. of mutual concern. Its board consists of the NAD college and university presi- By the 1990s, the irrelevancy of the BHE dents, who conduct the business of the association. AACU’s annual constituency had become so obvious that the division meetings bring together the presidents and the chief academic and financial was unsuccessful in filling the vacancy officers of the institutions. The 15 participating institutions share leadership of left by the executive secretary’s retire- the association by electing a college president to be the association president ment. for a deliberately short term. An executive director (currently one of the college During a brief experimentation with a presidents) also helps coordinate higher education in the North American Divi- cabinet of higher education, institutional sion. At present, the role and relationship of the NAD Office of Education and officers and board chairpersons tried to the GC Department of Education to the AACU remain undefined. achieve some division-wide control of Within five years after it began, the AACU launched two initiatives seeking North American tertiary institutions, but to achieve new understandings about two issues that had been both divisive it was never their intention for the cabi- and critical to survival—marketing and recruiting. At a constituency meeting net to exercise the authority that church attended by institutional board chairpersons, AACU thrashed out ideas of mis- and education leaders had originally en- sion for Adventist education. Association members also agreed to visit each visioned for the BHE. The meaningless- other’s board meetings on a rotating basis, which, they hoped, would nurture a ness of these exercises was clear. Colleges sense of fraternity and system in NAD higher education.29 had already agreed to revise the rules of Some six years after its inception, the AACU is still exploring new areas of union territoriality that had helped to mutuality among its members. It remains unclear how far the spirit of coop- identify them for decades. In 1992, they eration will take NAD higher education, especially as troubled institutions try also persuaded the North American to ensure their future in the face of survival problems that have historically Division to issue an official statement plagued Adventist higher education in North America. AACU members are recognizing the boards of trustees as the pledged to honor the principles of individual institutional authority, but will ultimate governing authority of its insti- they be willing to carry their agreement to foster collaboration far enough to tutions of higher education. The primary divide up the academic pie if this becomes necessary in order to perpetuate the reason for this action was pressure by traditions of Adventist education, to serve the college-age Adventist population, accreditation bodies for an assurance of and to meet the professional education needs of the denomination? Will the institutional autonomy. However valid weight of circumstances force Adventist higher education in the 21st century that reasoning, the timing of the action to resolve by cooperation the very issues that contributed to the demise of im- fit very neatly with the burgeoning resis- posed control in the 20th? tance to efforts to build a genuine system

36 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae leges and universities, anyway? Educa- to educate in the name of the church. 6. Ibid., March 21 and 24, 1897. tors and church administrators face a Achieving these benchmarks does not 7. Ibid., March 16, 1897. 8. Ibid., March 11, 1873. very different global landscape than the mean forced unanimity on a myriad of 9. Ibid., November 10, 1889. one that existed in 1901-1905. The edu- details but agreement on central issues. 10. Ibid., August 8, 1891. cational playing fi eld around the world Evaluation does not seek to compel 11. General Conference Bulletin, 1895, p. 358. has become more level since Frederick uniformity; it simply compares what 12. GC Committee Minutes, March 15, 1899. 13. Ibid., September 29, 1897; March 20, 1898; Griggs, A. G. Daniells, and W. C. White is happening on a given campus to the October 13, 1899; October 23, 1900. proposed their system of shared power established benchmarks in order to de- 14. Ibid., April 1, 18, 19, 22, 1901. more than a century ago. Their plan termine whether the school is living up 15. Ibid., March 20, 1899; April 21, 24, 25, functioned for most of the 20th century, to its claims to educate in the name of 1901. The original plan, to leave all institutions under the jurisdiction of unions, underwent although with mixed results. The vision the global church. It is appropriate that a some modifi cation. Oakwood Industrial School, of a ring of North American schools that central accrediting body, as an agency of later Oakwood College, did not become a union- would furnish workers for the rest of the the global church, should administer the operated school. The General Conference began world became passé as church admin- process of ensuring institutional consis- to participate in the management of the College of Medical Evangelists (now Loma Linda University) istration around the globe underwent tency and quality. in 1910; shortly thereafter, the school became a nationalization, and training schools In the egalitarian atmosphere of the GC institution. In 1937, the General Conference evolved into institutions of higher learn- world church, perhaps shared author- established the Seventh-day Adventist Theological ing with degree-granting authority. In ity, as understood in its original form—a Seminary, which merged with Emmanuel Mission- ary College slightly more than 20 years later. The short order, some of these newcomers means of achieving and maintaining a new entity, Andrews University, also became a GC established their own graduate programs; system of education—has given way to institution. and today, 86 percent of accredited Ad- shared responsibility. While this general- 16. General Conference Bulletin, 1903, p. 158. See ventist universities and colleges are lo- ization is not axiomatic, it does provide also Daniells’ comments on pages 100 and 101. 17. Ibid., 1905, No. 4, pp. 19, 20. cated outside of North America. The some insight into the question of author- 18. This passage about accreditation is based on functioning of North American tertiary ity in contemporary Adventist higher Chapter 13, “Debate Over Accreditation,” in Floyd schools has become more of an internal education. Although the relationships Greenleaf’s In Passion for the World (Nampa: Pacifi c issue for the NAD than a global question may have changed, the idea of a system Press Publ. Assn., 2005), pages 299 to 323. 19. Ministerial education is discussed in ibid., for the General Conference to monitor. of Adventist education and the task of pages 53 to 57, 345, and 346. Also see Richard The same is becoming true in other divi- preserving the traditions of educating for W. Schwarz and Floyd Greenleaf, Light Bearers: A sions. eternity and preparing professionals for History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (Nampa, Idaho: Pacifi c Press Publ. Assn., 2000), pages 387 But it is helpful to remember that ir- service to the denomination and com- to 400. Michael Campbell’s “A High and Sacred respective of how independent tertiary munity are still a sacred responsibility for Calling: A Look at the Origins of Seventh-day Ad- schools desire to be, or the division or Adventist schools. 0 ventist Ministerial Training.” Ministry (April 2007), union to which they are responsible, ______pages 20 and 21, also provides good background material. they retain an identity as Seventh-day 20. General Conference Bulletin, 1922, No. 3, p. Adventist institutions, which implies an Floyd Greenleaf, Ph.D., 76. This proposal did not include the College of accountability to and connection with retired professor of history at Medical Evangelists which, at that time, offered the global church. Southern Adventist University, nursing diplomas and medical degrees. is the author of The Seventh- 21. See Ronald Knott, “For a Beginning, ‘Most day Adventist Church in Satisfactory’: A History of SDA Graduate Educa- istorically, accreditation Latin America and the Ca- tion,” Journal of Adventist Education 45:3 (February/ March 1983), pp. 20-23; 38-41. has strengthened tertiary ribbean (Andrews University 22. GC Committee Minutes, October 26, 1953. education and ensured its Press, 1992), and co-author of Light Bearers: A 23. Ibid., October. 7, 1994. accountability. Most schools History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 24. See the Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist H (English edition, Paciﬁ c Press, 2000; Spanish edi- Ministerial and Theological Education (Silver Spring, have come to view it as an affi rmation tion, 2002). In 2005, he completed In Passion Md.: IBMTE, General Conference of Seventh-day rather than a threat to their indepen- Adventists, 2001). For comment on this agency, dence, often boasting of the number of for the World: A History of Seventh-day Ad- ventist Education (Paciﬁ c Press); on which this consult Bonnie Dwyer, “G. C. Approves Proposal to Control Theological Education and Theologians accrediting bodies that approve their article is based. programs. With ‘Endorsement’ Policy,” Spectrum (Winter ______1999), pages 70-76; and Douglas Morgan, “Target- However, administrators may fail to ing Higher Education,” ibid. (Autumn 2001), pages recognize the value of peer review if they NOTES AND REFERENCES 69 to 73. regard external oversight as a threat to 25. In Passion for the World, pp. 504-506. their institution’s autonomy and expan- 1. GC Committee Minutes, March 16, 1897. 26. North American Division Committee Min- General Conference Archives and Statistics. utes, October 14, 1992. sion. Regrettably, Adventist schools are 2. See accounts of the Educational Society in 27. For a discussion of this and related issues, as vulnerable to this temptation as other General Conference Bulletin for 1893 and 1895. see Chapter 20, “Challenges of Modernization,” In institutions. 3. See E. K. Vande Vere’s account in The Wisdom Passion for the World,” pages 491 to 520. Adventist accreditation concerns itself Seekers (Nashville, Tenn.: Southern Publ. Assn., 28. Ibid., pages 497-501, is the basis of this pas- 1972), pages 68 to 79. sage about the Board of Higher Education. not only with academic quality but also 4. Ibid. 29. E-mail message from Richard Osborn to with benchmarks for schools that claim 5. GC Committee Minutes, March 16, 1897. Floyd Greenleaf, November 9, 2007.

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 37 an Adventist Approach to Teaching Psychology

he teaching of psychology has an important place in Adventist higher education around the world. Most undergraduate programs include one or more introductory psychology courses as part of the general-education requirement for nearly every major. Both religion and education degrees require a number of psychology Tcourses. Other fields, such as social work, nursing, and business, also include psychology in various ways within their curricula. A recent search of the Adventist Profes- sional Network (APN) database indicates that 621 individuals had entered their names as Adventist professionals with at least one of three descriptors in psychology. Psychology instructors, counselors, and mental health professionals have a potentially profound influence on their students and clients. Anyone who has taught psychology knows how rewarding and challenging the experience can be. Teaching psychology in a Christian institution has an added dimension because, at its core, the subject deals with our relationship with God and other human beings made in His image.1 Good mental health is important because our minds are the prin- BY GRANT LEITMA cipal channel through which God communicates with us. The AND JULIAN Book of Isaiah reads: “You will keep in perfect peace him whose 2 MELGOSA mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you” (26:3, NIV). Ellen G. White stated that “The life of God in the soul is man’s only hope.”3 This places a special responsibility on psychology teachers and practitioners. The word psychology comes from two Greek words: psyche (soul) and logos (the word, or the study of). If the purpose of psychology is to study the soul, who would be in a better position to do this than teachers in a Christian institution? Several important biblical principles underlie the Seventh-day Adventist approach to teach-

38 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae ing psychology. The ultimate goal is to avoid illness and increase longevity. It sonality adjustment. Seen in this context, help students develop a character that also has the potential to directly influ- sex becomes a basic drive that conditions reflects the humility, kindness, and love ence their spiritual condition. “It should and drives human behavior. The person of Jesus (Titus 2:14; 2 Peter 3:11). There- ever be kept prominent that the great ob- has little choice because he or she is con- fore, this article will focus on a few of the ject to be attained through this channel trolled by this powerful force. Christian principles that can guide in the teaching is not only health, but perfection and the psychologists acknowledge the power of of psychology. spirit of holiness, which cannot be at- sex upon human existence, but they also tained with diseased bodies and minds.”6 believe that divine power can transform I. Unity of Mind and Body for Good The intimate relationship between natural inclinations, channeling these Mental Health mind and body and the nature of hu- drives in positive directions. This prin- Adventist doctrine does not teach that man beings as understood by Adventists ciple becomes very useful when teaching human beings have a soul, but that each offer a basis for deducing principles child and adolescent psychology, mar- person is a living soul (Genesis 2:7), a relating to prevention of physical and riage relationships, and the development wonderful wholistic organism created by mental disease. Furthermore, applying of healthy personalities in families, since God that combines the physical, mental, these wholistic concepts should lead the Christian psychology teacher can en- and spiritual. Good mental health re- to enhanced spiritual well-being in the courage students to pray for divine quires the harmonious functioning of the psychology classroom and throughout power. mind, body and spirit. And conversely, students’ lives. lack of that balance in the human organ- hristians believe that humans are ism produces malfunction and disease.4 II. Power of the Will and Personality free moral agents who can make This concept of an integrated human Current psychological literature tends thoughtful, informed choices, to emphasize the role of genet- Crather than animals driven by Teaching psychology in a ics and natural predisposition to uncontrollable urges and genetic predis- Christian institution has an explain problems such as addic- positions. This concept underlies one of added dimension because, at tions, obesity, and violent behav- the most important attributes of human ior. Many psychologists consider beings, a unique characteristic designed its core, the subject deals with negative early experiences as de- by the Creator. The will has been placed our relationship with God and terministic of subsequent abnor- in each individual so that through part- other human beings made in mal behavior. Others believe that nership with God, humans can achieve extreme personality character- His ideal for their lives. This is clearly His image. istics are so fixed that they are stated by Ellen G. White: “The will is practically impossible to change. the governing nature of man. [God] calls organism, in which disease may be All of the above dismiss, to a greater or upon us to make our choice on the right caused by physical and/or mental pro- lesser extent, personal responsibility. side, to connect with heavenly agencies, cesses, is well accepted in psychology.5 People affected by these problems may to adopt principles that will restore in us Accordingly, students preparing for psy- lose interest in making lifestyle changes the divine image.”7 chology careers, particularly in the area if they believe behavior is determined of neuroscience and biopsychology, need by circumstances outside their control. III. Authentic Freedom to be knowledgeable about the function- This attitude also rejects the idea that the Evolutionary and humanistic psychol- ing of the human body as well as the Holy Spirit can intervene in the healing ogy have gained a strong foothold in mental and emotional aspects of the hu- process. contemporary psychology textbooks.8 man condition. By contrast, Christian psychologists According to evolutionists, human be- Adventists have historically focused on and psychology teachers believe that the ings are organisms descended from less- living healthy lives (both mentally and will, under divine influence, can bring complex ancestors who have, through physically), viewing the health message about profound changes. This is a real- the Darwinian theory of survival of the as a pivotal branch of their work. In the ity revealed by the Bible: “And be not fittest, adapted to the environment and same way, psychology deals with the conformed to this world: but be ye trans- thrived. Consequently, human beings principles and practices leading to good formed by the renewing of your mind. are seen as evolving and improving over mental health. The Apostle John says: “I That ye may prove what is that good and time. Progress results from the evolution- pray that you may enjoy good health and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Ro- ary process combined with correct envi- that all may go well with you, even as mans 12:2, KJV). ronmental conditioning. This philosophy your soul is getting along well” (3 John 2). Another problem among certain has provided a faulty context for charac- Teaching psychology in a Christian schools of psychology is not the basic ter development, as it depends on uncer- institution thus has implications far be- concepts but overemphasis on certain tain conditions and false assumptions. yond helping students prepare for ca- principles, forcing them to explain every- The Christian approach to psychol- reers. It can help them improve their thing. For example, Freudian psychology ogy certainly emphasizes correct child mental and physical health in order to makes sex the underlying source of per- training, but also choice and free will.

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 39 This is fundamentally different from the divine power (1 Corinthians 15:57). contemporary writers of psychology philosophical assumptions of evolution- Not all psychological philosophies textbooks. Seligman12 has studied how ary psychology, which leave people, to a are deterministic. Some traditions, such people can achieve positive fulfillment, great extent, helpless to change their be- as humanistic psychology, celebrate the happiness, optimism, and hope in their havior and controlled by their genes and idea of individual freedom. This branch lives. As a result of his work, positive environment. By contrast, a Bible-based has become quite popular, with multiple psychology has found its way into the ar- understanding offers hope and the pos- applications in business, education, and eas of social psychology, human develop- sibility for improvement. It views human psychotherapy. However, humanistic ment, intelligence, occupational psychol- beings as endowed by their Creator with psychology exalts human capabilities ogy, and intimate relationships. the freedom of choice. They are able to to the point of eliminating the need for draw on divine power to help them over- or possibility of supernatural interven- hristians also believe that the come cultivated and inherited tendencies tion. According to this theory, humans study of how to achieve opti- to sin. (hence, the term humanistic) are capable mum psychological health and Take, for example, eating habits. Many of attaining self-improvement and self- Chappiness through positive people have a sweet tooth and consume actualization through their own power thinking can have enormous conse- more sugar than they need. And people and innate potential. quences. “Sow a thought and reap an act, While there is some sow an act and reap a habit, sow a habit If the purpose of psychology is to virtue in humanism’s theo- and reap a character, sow a character and study the soul, who would be in ries, the core problem is reap a destiny,” says a traditional adage. that selfishness and self- But, from a biblical perspective, the a better position to do this than centered desires motivate Adventist teacher of psychology can take teachers in a Christian institution? the human heart—“The a further step. According to Seligman,13 heart [is] deceitful above authentic happiness is achieved by ex- often consume far more calories than all [things], and desperately wicked: who amining our inner self for meaning and they can burn, producing obesity, which can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). purpose—a solution very similar to the can cause illness and even premature philosophies of Eastern religions. How- death. IV. Correct Thinking ever, according to the Bible, authentic Evolutionary psychology explains How we think influences our emo- happiness is gained by divine interven- these behaviors as based on human de- tions, which then produce actions that tion, which produces a transformation velopment in the remote past. Sugar, reflect our moral character. “As a man of the mind (“Let this mind be in you in its natural state, would be a good thinketh in his heart so is he” (Proverbs as it was with Christ Jesus” [Philippians source of energy to equip early humans 23:7). Ellen White also emphasizes this, 2:5]). A deep change of this type was for the rigors of work and inclement saying that “virtue of character depends called metanoia by the Greeks, a change weather. Since food was often scarce, upon the right action of the powers of of mind that leads to a spiritual conver- primitive humans overate to prepare for the mind and body.”10 sion.14 times of forced starvation. This behavior Perhaps the most widely used recent Thought control is, therefore, of up- (adaptation for survival) shaped the early approach to psychological intervention is permost importance not only to preserve humans’ genetic makeup and was passed Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Its mental health, but also to attain higher on to future generations.9 As a result, the procedures are built upon the idea that levels of character development, as em- human race inherited a strong tendency harboring adequate thoughts, rejecting phasized by Scripture: “Finally, brethren, to like sugar (and high-calorie foods) and unacceptable ideas, and changing the whatsoever things are true, whatsoever to overeat. This paradigm can be applied general way one thinks not only prevents things are honest, whatsoever things are to nearly any addiction (chemical or psy- emotional and behavioral disorders but just, whatsoever things are pure, whatso- chological) or sociopathic tendency. also cures them. ever things are lovely, whatsoever things The Christian psychology teacher, Positive psychology, which focuses are of good report; if there be any virtue, however, will explain the above behav- on the relationship between human and if there be any praise, think on these ior in terms of sinful tendencies and the thoughts and emotions, is the latest things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV). struggle between good and evil that has formal addition to the various branches The Adventist professor of psychology shaped human behavior since the Fall of psychology.11 Scripture teaches that should thus emphasize the importance (Genesis 3:6). Because of sin, the apostle thoughts do influence emotions: “A of the way we think. Students should be Paul said that he avoided what he knew merry heart doeth good like a medicine” encouraged to develop healthy habits of to be good and ended up doing evil (Ro- (Proverbs 17:22, KJV). And much ac- mind and to acquire skills that will en- mans 7:19). And this is true for every cumulated scientific evidence shows the able them to help others, both in their human being. The Christian teacher will manifold effects of thoughts and states of personal lives and as professionals. But offer a hopeful perspective for human mind upon physical and mental health. the Christian psychologist knows that development based on free choice (Deu- Positive psychology appears to have divine aid is available (and necessary) to teronomy 30:19) in partnership with much to offer, and is endorsed by many overcome both negative thoughts and

40 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae Teaching psychology 2. When you have an opportunity to do ship. Although points of disagreement in a Christian institution something helpful for someone, do so if it is will always exist, it is how you handle within your power. By doing this, not only them that determines the success of the thus has implications far will you be following biblical injunc- relationship. Being willing to compro- beyond helping students tions, but also enhancing your relation- mise, to give and take, will aid greatly in prepare for careers. It ship with that person. the conflict resolution. 3. Take responsibility for your own be- 9. Having a positive self-image is im- can help them improve havior (actions) and feelings. Do not blame portant to forming positive relationships. their mental and physical others for what happens to you. Changing Recognizing your value in God’s eyes will your own attitudes about an obstacle or enable you to build positive relationships health in order to avoid problem you are facing will bring posi- with others. If you are not happy with illness and increase tive results. Attempting to change others who you are, it will be difficult for your longevity. or blaming them for your problems will relationships to improve. only lead to frustration and bitterness. 10. Acquiring new attitudes requires a 4. Accept others as your equals. This new mind and a new heart. Surrendering uncontrolled emotions. Ultimately, we is a condition for optimal communica- to Jesus brings about the renewal of one’s need to recognize that “God alone can tion, which is among the most important entire being. This produces a vitalizing renew the heart.”15 qualities of good relationships. A loving force that generates new attitudes, new and non-condemning attitude will allow ways of thinking, and a fresh way to deal V. Social Interactions you to engage the other person in an with people. Research indicates that the develop- honest discussion and help you mend ment of a healthy personality is strongly broken relationships. Conclusion influenced by early childhood interac- 5. Forgive others for their indiscretions, Because psychology is about people— tions and the social feedback received whether intentional or unintentional. For- how they relate, think, and act—the from significant people in one’s envi- giveness is not only required by God, but psychology professor has a unique op- ronment.16 Because humans were cre- is also essential ated as social beings, they have a deep for spiritual, emo- psychological need for meaningful social tional, and physi- 17 relationships. Many developmental psy- cal health. This chologists believe that the ability to de- attitude will allow velop such relationships is influenced by you to repair and the quality of the parent-child interaction enhance your re- 18 during the first two years of life. lationships. 6. All relation- eventh-day Adventism has been ships require time consistently committed to pro- and energy to work moting optimal social interaction effectively. If you Swithin a Christian context. The are not intention- Bible is full of advice to create, develop, ally working to and maintain excellent social ties. enhance a rela- Below are 10 basic relational principles tionship, you based on Stan Hatkoff’s workshops and may actually be seminars.19 These Bible-based statements hindering it. Hav- will be very useful in psychology and ing a humble and counseling courses when covering such teachable attitude topics as relationship enhancement, so- is necessary to promote harmony in hu- portunity to relate with and influence cial influence, friendship, intimacy, dat- man relationships and to achieve peace students. Furthermore, many topics in ing, and marriage. with God. psychology have an intimate relationship 1. Accept others as persons just like you 7. Successful relationships are necessary with biblical themes. Thus, the way a with feelings, cares, desires, and fears. Peo- for a happy life. Emotional, physical, and Seventh-day Adventist teacher deals with ple sense how you feel about them and spiritual problems are often the result of psychological topics is of crucial impor- whether you like them. By adopting an poor relationships. Healthy relationships, tance. attitude of acceptance, you put others at combined with trust in God, will enable Correctly understood, there are many ease. When you treat them as you would you to cope with the disappointments areas of psychology that are compatible like to be treated (Matthew 7:12), you and failures of life. with Adventist theology. Professional improve their worth as persons as well as 8. Recognize that conflicts, quarrels, and meetings and conferences today include your own self-image. disagreements are normal in any relation- discussions on hope, happiness, spiri-

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 41 tuality, and prayer. Positive psychology humans possess them, it is because they is Developing a Healthy Mind, a comprehensive is growing signifi cantly, and many of its are created in God’s image. semi-popular book designed to solve emotional concepts are compatible with Christian In summary, we need to understand and relational problems. ______thought. CBT connects with the Pauline that psychology is an integral part of the doctrine of the transformation of the gospel (since all truth is God’s truth). NOTES AND REFERENCES mind. These and other biblically based Psychology helps us understand how to principles provide the psychology in- apply the redemptive and transforma- 1. Because of space constraints, this article cannot deal with all aspects of teaching psychology. structor with the opportunity to develop tional power of God. Sin (a concept not 2. Unless otherwise indicated, Bible texts in this and teach an Adventist perspective in the usually recognized by psychology) is the article are quoted from the New International Ver- fi eld. ultimate root of all bad things, including sion. Scripture texts credited to NIV are from the The Adventist psychology professor mental illness, behavioral disorders, and Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright © 1973, 1978, International Bible Society. Used by needs to keep in mind, however, that unhealthy relationships. Human beings permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. concepts such as prayer and spirituality, are responsible for the moral choices 3. Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing which we believe are based on scriptural they make, and the sum total of their (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacifi c Press Publ. Assn., principles, are not always understood in choices constitutes their character. 1905), p. 115. 4. ______, Medical Ministry (Mountain the same way by secular psychologists. View: Pacifi c Press Publ. Assn., 1932), p. 291. We should therefore make sure that we n closing, we would like to empha- 5. R. S. Lazarus, Stress and Emotion: A New are clear about our defi nitions before we size the desperate need for Christian Synthesis (New York: Springer, 1999); T. F. Robles, try to use these ideas as useful bridges psychologists who can counsel people R. Glaser, and J. Kiecolt-Glaser, “Out of Balance: A New Look at Chronic Stress, Depression, and Im- between psychology and religion. isuffering from depression, low self- munity,” Current Directions in Psychological Science On the other hand, some psychologi- esteem, loneliness, abusive relationships, 14 (2005), pp. 111-115. cal topics and theories are incompatible addictions, delinquency, personality dis- 6. Ellen G. White, Healthy Living (Battle Creek, with Adventist tenets. Concepts such as orders, and other mental health prob- Mich.: Medical Missionary Board, 1897), p. 54. 7. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 114. hypnosis, psychoanalysis, interpretation lems. Many people are specifi cally look- 8. D. A. Bernstein, L. A. Penner, A. Clark- of dreams, or unconscious forces put ing for help from professionally trained Stewart, and E. J. Roy, Psychology, 6th ed. (Boston: most Adventist psychologists on guard. Christian psychologists because they Houghton Miffl in Co., 2006); Benjamin B. Lahey, Yet, even those philosophies that clearly would prefer to obtain counseling from Psychology: An Introduction, 9th ed. (Boston: McGraw Hill, 2007). confl ict with Adventist beliefs may con- someone who shares their biblical values 9. D. M. Buss, Evolutionary Psychology: The New tain useful concepts. We must not forget and beliefs. Fear of being ridiculed for Science of the Mind, 2nd ed. (Boston: Allyn & Ba- that Freud’s ideas provided hope to the their faith has kept many Christians from con, 2004); L. Cosmides and J. Tooby, “Evolution- mentally ill, who until then faced lockup receiving help they need. Consequently, ary Psychology: Theoretical Foundations,” in En- cyclopedia of Cognitive Science (London: Macmillan, as the only form of treatment. Also, the there is a defi nite need for Christian 2003), pp. 54-64. importance of the early years (always young people to enter the mental health 10. White, Medical Ministry, p. 259. highly regarded by Adventists) in the fi eld. Opportunities exist for clinical 11. M. Seligman and M. Csikszentmihaly, “Posi- development of personality and future social workers, pastoral counselors, and tive Psychology: An Introduction,” American Psy- chologist 55 (2000), pp. 5-14. mental disease was presented by Freud school psychologists. 0 12. M. Seligman, Authentic Happiness: Using the to a scientifi c community that did not ______New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for value infants, children, or adolescents. Lasting Fulﬁ llment (New York: Free Press, 2004). Grant Leitma, Ph.D., is Due to his ideas, the importance of early 13. ______, Learned Optimism: How to Chair and Professor of Psy- Change Your Mind and Your Life (Fresno, Calif.: infl uences has never since been ques- chology at Columbia Union Vintage Press, 2006). tioned. College (CUC) in Takoma 14. Merriam-Webster: http://www.m-w.com/ The most important task for the Ad- Park, Maryland. He has (2007). ventist psychology professor is to ap- taught psychology at CUC 15. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 45. for 25 years. Dr. Leitma 16. M. Ainsworth, M. Blehar, E. Waters, and proach the subject from a Christian S. Wall, Patterns of Attachment (Hillsdale, N.J.: maintains a strong interest perspective. The psychology teacher Erlbaum, 1978); S. Greenspan, “Child-Care Re- in studying the relationship needs to have a clear understanding of search: A Clinical Perspective,” Child Development between spirituality, charac- the nature of human beings as presented 74 (2003), pp. 1064-1068; S. Greenspan and N. ter development, and mental B. Lewis, Building Healthy Minds: The Six Experi- in Scripture. He or she should study and health. He is a member of the ences That Create Intelligence and Emotional Growth refl ect on the reality of good and evil, American Psychological As- in Babies and Young Children (Cambridge, Mass.: and on their effects upon physical and sociation, Eastern Psycholog- Perseus, 1999). mental health. The psychology professor ical Association, and Council 17. Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets (Mountain View: Pacifi c Press Publ. Assn., 1890), should teach students to optimize social of Teachers of Undergradu- ate Psychology. Julian p. 46. relationships using proven principles 18. J. Bowlby, Attachment and Loss (New York: Melgosa, Ph.D., is Dean of the Walla Walla Basic Books, 1980), vol. 1, Attachment; E. Erikson, from humanistic psychology and Cogni- University School of Education and Psychology in tive Behavioral Therapy; while recog- Childhood and Society (New York: Norton, 1993). College Place, Washington. He has taught educa- 19. Stan Hatkoff (2007). Relationship material nizing that being able to forgive and to tion and psychology in Spain, Britain, the Philip- obtained by the authors and used with Hatkoff’s empathize are traits of divine origin. If pines, and the U.S.A. His most recent publication permission.

42 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae AVLN By Shirley Freed COLUMN Reflections on How Adventist Higher Education Has Changed in the Past Nine Years. . .

his column is a sequel to the De- North American Division.7 ment Program team’s survey of incoming cember/January issue of the Jo u r - • An external grant made it possible for freshman revealed that 72.5 percent “would n a l , where I focused on changes in 125 educators in Mexico, Philippines, Ber- like to be able to download a greater number K-12 distributed education since muda, Australia, Trinidad, South Africa, of class lectures in the form of podcasts or the first AVLN meeting in Orlando, Taiwan, and Thailand to register for AVLN webcasts.”13 Adam Hochman, project man- TFlorida, in January 1999. The visionaries courses and conferences. ager for Berkeley’s Education Technology gathered there (mostly faculty from traditional Since 1999, a number of inter-institutional Services department recently said, “Since we North American Division [NAD] colleges and collaborations have been established in the launched the [podcasting] offering in 2006, universities) adopted as their unofficial motto: public sector. Bob Paulson (AVLN president) we saw 2 million downloads of our podcasts “together we stand, divided we fall.” They is currently writing a dissertation on the readi- in the first year alone from our iTunes U chan- also committed themselves to the idea that ness of NAD colleges and universities to col- nel. We have had 650,000 views in the first “every light should be kept burning.”1 Many laborate.8 His literature review has revealed two weeks of our YouTube channel launch. colleges were instituting online courses, and the characteristics of these collaborations Interest in our content has exploded.”14 the AVLN founders wondered how the World and the parameters necessary for their suc- What does this mean for Adventist educa- Wide Web would affect Adventist higher edu- cess: tors? Can we discover who is interested in cation. • Communication at all levels; our content? Are we interested in what others Looking back after eight years, were those • Trust and respect; in our system are doing? who organized AVLN just visionaries, or did • Common purpose and goals; Clearly, it is going to take some bold their vision inspire practical action? Some • Clear roles and responsibilities; moves for us to continue to reach Adventist specific actions since that 1999 meeting in- • Adequate human resources—an organi- “digital natives.”15 Loma Linda University is clude: zational structure to facilitate the collabora- currently building The Centennial Complex • ADEC – The Adventist Digital Education tion; with three goals: growth, innovation and glo- Consortium was formed. This is a collabora- • Commitment to the collaboration, espe- balization. “Growth—an expected growth of tive effort in higher education for the NAD cially at the upper levels; and 25% from the current 4,000 students to 5,000 Association of Adventist Colleges and Uni- • Beneficial outcomes. students by 2010. Innovation—advanced versities.2 Adventist higher education has reached communication technology incorporated into • AVLN – The Adventist Virtual Learning a critical time of its history. Dick Osborn’s teaching and learning spaces. Globalization— Network developed and offered eight online paper “Facing Our Challenges” is a “must- providing a virtual presence to support inter- courses multiple times. More than 650 edu- read” for anyone interested in the future of national outreach.”16 cators have taken these courses, earning Adventist education.9 I believe the challenge We’re just getting started! Where do we go credit from Pacific Union College and La Si- for Adventist education for the next 10 years from here? 0 erra, Andrews, and Griggs universities.3 is to learn “co-opetition”! This is a concept ______• Desire to Learn (D2L) – A distance- whereby schools combine cooperation and learning management system was selected competition to achieve their mission.10 Shirley Freed is an AVLN board member and Chair of the Department of Leadership and Educational and is being used by the majority of the NAD So far, this column has looked mostly at Administration in the School of Education at An- colleges and universities. Adventist education. It may be helpful to see drews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Dr. • Enrollment managers from all NAD ter- what we can learn from the ways some large Freed teaches all of her classes online. tiary institutions began to collaborate and public universities are utilizing the World Wide ______agreed to market Adventist higher education Web. with a single Web page.4 In 1999 (the same year as the first AVLN NOTES AND REFERENCES • AVLN held annual conferences—some meeting), the Massachusetts Institute of 1. http://www.avln.org/resources/articles/jaeavll01.html. face-to-face and some online—which in- Technology (MIT) faculty developed the idea 2. http://www.adventistedu.org/. volved more than 500 educators.5 of OpenCourseWare. They decided to share 3. http://www.avln.org/article.php?id=4. • In early 2008, four NAD tertiary institu- all of their syllabi online in keeping with the 4. http://www.adventistcolleges.org/. 5. http://www.avln.org/article.php?id=3. tions agreed to participate in a pilot program institution’s mission “to advance knowledge 6. http://www.adventistedu.org/. that allows students to take a course online and educate students in science, technology, 7. Shirley Freed, “An Interview With Pam Cress and and have it included in their financial pack- and other areas of scholarship to best serve Susan Smith,” AVLN Column, Journal of Adventist Educa- age.6 the world.” Currently, they have more than tion 69:5 (Summer 2007), pp. 42-45. 8. E-mail Bob Paulson at [email protected] for more • The Association of Adventist Colleges one million hits a month, virtually all of their information about his literature review. and Universities (AACU) was formed to facili- courses are online, and they are developing 9. http://www.avln.org/site/1/docs/FacingOurChal- tate collaboration and conversation among materials for secondary education.11 Educa- lenges.pdf. NAD college and university presidents. tors, students, and self-learners are using 10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coopetition. 11. http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/about/history/ 12 • The deans and chairpersons of the NAD their materials for a wide range of purposes. index.htm. college and university schools/departments What does this mean for Adventist edu- 12. http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/about/stats/ of education organized in the fall of 2007 to cators? We have a unique niche—the inte- index.htm. encourage greater collaboration. gration of faith in our courses! What would 13. http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/ news-by-subject/higher-education/?i=51181. • Dissertations by Pam Cress and Susan happen if we shared syllabi, activities, and 14. Ibid. Smith found that mid-level administrators experiences on the World Wide Web? 15. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_native. tended to support distance education in the Recently, Berkeley’s Leadership Develop- 16. http://www.llu.edu/centennial/complex/.

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 43 Christian belief and secular knowledge? Because cognitive dissonance often creates intense discomfort, we often are tempted to solve it prematurely, either and by rejecting the contrary knowledge or When Faith by over-simplifying the issues so that our preferred view “wins.” Neither of these solutions works in the end, especially for thoughtful, inquisitive students. At Knowledge Clash: appropriate grade levels (certainly in college, and probably earlier), we must help our students work through challenging Leveraging the Tension to Advance topics in an honest, straightforward way—even when our traditional beliefs offer no clear solution to the problem at Christian Education hand. Directly and honestly engaging such topics carries unavoidable risks, yet of- By H. Thomas Goodwin fers powerful educational opportunities. The primary risk is that some students umans have remarkable ca- the Adventist emphasis on pacities to gain knowledge, healthful living as part of How should we, as Advent- develop understanding, God’s intent for human- ist educators, relate to and apply new knowledge kind, and how our im- such dissonance between to address long-standing proved knowledge of physi- Christian belief and secular questions or problems. Use ology, nutrition, and related knowledge? Hof these God-given capacities is expo- fields affirms this emphasis.1 nentially increasing human knowledge of However, as every Adventist the universe—from the grand scale of as- scholar knows, increased knowledge will reject their Christian convictions tronomy to the intricacies of the human may also generate tension with Christian when faced with unresolved tension genome and even subatomic physics— faith. Many Christians, for example, feel between core beliefs and well-attested and the information is also being used to keenly the tension between biblical cre- secular knowledge. This risk can be develop more and more powerful tech- ation narratives and modern scientific minimized by how we teach and live as nologies. theories about Earth history. teachers,2 but it cannot be avoided. The Increasing knowledge often supports How should we, as Adventist educa- opportunities accrue because cognitive Christian faith and witness. Consider tors, relate to such dissonance between dissonance provides both occasion and motivation for learning and growth. In the remainder of this article, I will explore four such opportunities based on my experience in teaching a college biology class, Historical and Philosophical Biology, which focuses on the interface between the sciences of biology and geology and Adventist faith. The course explores philosophical, biblical, theological, and scientific dimensions of this interface and seeks to create learning opportunities from the tensions that emerge. While my illustrations arise from the science-faith arena, the principles can be applied across all disciplines.

Opportunity 1: Foster Careful Thinking A primary goal of Christian education must be to help students develop careful habits of independent thought. As Ellen White noted, Christian education

44 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae seeks “to train the youth to be thinkers, theories are mental constructs or ideas beliefs. Most importantly, they have de- and not mere reflectors of other men’s formed in order to make sense of the veloped habits of thought that will serve thought.”3 Becoming a careful thinker, data; and shaping principles correspond them well throughout their lives. however, does not just happen; students to the cognitive, cultural, biblical, and must repeatedly practice good thinking other factors that shape how and what Opportunity 2: Illustrate and skills and see them modeled by Christian one thinks. This relatively simple con- Motivate Creative Discovery teachers. This process comes alive when cept provides focus to the difficult in- Maverick physicist Thomas Gold students and teacher together engage tellectual work of understanding and made his reputation by delving into challenging topics. evaluating conflicting ideas, locating the fields as diverse as auditory physiology, What intellectual skills must students source of conflict, and identifying pos- astrophysics, and petroleum geology and master in order to address areas of con- sible pathways to resolution. generating novel hypotheses to account flict? Two stand out. Students must learn Let’s take an example. To truly engage for unexplained phenomena. He once the controversy over creation and evolu- wrote, “There is nothing more interesting tion, students should firstunderstand or more important in science than the the various positions taken by thought- observations we cannot explain.”5 Why? ful Christians—the major theories of Such features serve as pointers to knowl- creation (e.g., young-earth creation, edge waiting to be discovered. progressive creation, theistic evolution), Gold’s words provide a valuable in- how each engages biblical and scientific sight for Christian educators. Rather than data, and the different presuppositions avoiding or dismissing problematic top- about science and Bible study that un- ics, why don’t we treat them as opportu- derlie each model. Students can then nities for fundamental discovery? Perhaps be expected (and coached) to evaluate this would liven dull lectures! Fortu- the competing ideas, asking how well nately, the history of Adventist engage- each accounts for relevant biblical and ment with geology and paleontology scientific data, how well each theory fits offers a number of examples of such together internally, and how valid are the conflict-generated discovery, which I principles that underlie each. incorporate in my teaching. For several years, I have encouraged The best-known example is probably students to personalize this process by Harold Coffin’s work with the stacked requiring a major essay due near the end fossil “forests” in Yellowstone National of the term. Students are expected to Park. In the 1960s, these deposits were clearly state their position and to offer viewed as a major problem for Advent- reasoned justification for it, in light of ist creationists because it seemed that competing theories of creation, a wide significant time was needed for them range of biblical and scientific evidence, to form (each forest would have had to The author, Tom Goodwin, teaching and shaping principles that they believe form, grow to maturity, and be buried his Historical and Philosophical Biol- to be important. They must show that by volcanic debris, a process that would ogy class at Andrews University. they understand both the strengths and be repeated many times if the forests limitations of their model in relation to were real). This tension stimulated many to (1) clarify and fairly describe the range other theories of creation. years of research by Harold Coffin, his of conflicting ideas, taking care to avoid students, and associates, and produced simplistic and false dichotomies; and (2) hat happens to stu- an emerging body of evidence suggesting develop and carefully evaluate ideas that dent faith and learn- that at least some of these “forests” may aim to resolve conflict, using reliable evi- ing as they do this? have actually been transported logs and dence and methods of interpretation. Most begin, and stumps, thus reducing the time needed W 6 Students developing these skills are (thankfully) end, the course affirming to create the deposit. While this problem often helped by the teacher’s provision the biblical teaching of creation, but probably has not been fully solved, the of a framework to guide their thinking. I they typically move from a dogmatic and example illustrates how a problem or find that a simple, three-element model often uninformed certainty to a more set- conflict can generate creative and suc- works especially well. Following Chris- tled personal understanding that is aware cessful research and discovery. tian philosopher Del Ratzsch, I encour- of their position’s strengths and limits. Another good example involves age students to approach each idea as an Over the years, numerous students have Leonard Brand’s research on the Co- interacting system of data, theories, and reflected on this experience as one of conino Sandstone of Arizona. Based on shaping principles.4 Data represent the their college highlights—they genuinely geological evidence, scientists believed observations, measurements, and experi- appreciate being challenged to think that this had been deposited in a giant, ences that the thinker seeks to organize; carefully and to personally “own” their ancient desert as sand dunes migrated

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 45 across the landscape. However, Brand found this interpreta- dom and accept new ideas, as so often has happened in its tion puzzling because the Coconino occurs in a portion of the history? Raup again provides a clue: Science is saved from per- rock sequence that he attributed to the Flood, so he decided to petual stagnancy by “the presence of mavericks in every gener- study the problem. After years of research, he assembled a set ation—people who keep challenging convention and thinking of evidence, focused on strange animal trackways, that strongly up new ideas.”10 The undeniable long-term success of science supports an underwater origin for these sand deposits. For has thus required a community with both types of thinkers. example, some trackways start and stop abruptly, and others This dynamic has important implications for Christian edu- display a mismatch between the way the animal is attempting to cation because the church is also a truth-seeking community walk (uphill, based on the orientation of the toe marks) and the that needs, I believe, the gifts of both thoughtful conservatives way it is actually moving (sideways, based on the placement of and faithful mavericks. As we work through areas of tension the tracks). Both of these suggest an animal buoyant in water, between faith and knowledge, we thus have the opportunity, and the latter suggests a gentle sideways current.7 and the obligation, to affirm and challenge both groups in our classrooms. We will affirm the religious conservatives—the ma- hese examples not only illustrate the power of jority of Adventist college students in my experience—who will conflict-generated discovery, but also demonstrate ably defend what the church has acquired through long-term the appropriate role of tenacity in the process of Bible study, yet challenge them to honestly engage all evidence, Tdiscovery. Scientists do not (and probably should including that which doesn’t fit. We need to likewise affirm the not) abandon core ideas at the first hint of conflict but often mavericks—usually fewer in number but often articulate—who hold tightly to these ideas as they wrestle with contrary data.8 feel the weight of the challenges and are willing to consider Teachers should thus help struggling students understand that novel solutions, while challenging them to think carefully they can to explore difficult topics without abandoning core about the broader implications of their ideas. Both groups in- Christian beliefs at first hint of conflict. clude bright, capable young people who desire to follow Christ and serve the church; let’s teach in ways that preserve both for Opportunity 3: Affirm Different Thought Styles in the God’s work! Search for Truth With this goal in mind, I’ve developed a practical rule: Al- As the preceding discussion implies, scientists often display most never tell a student, “You can’t believe that.” Let me illus- conservative tendencies. Paleontologist David Raup described trate. Well-meaning mavericks may tell a young person, “You this well when he wrote, “Given a choice, the scientific com- can’t believe that life was created a few thousand years ago if munity invariably sticks with the conventional wisdom.”9 This you are honest with the scientific data.” Similarly, well-meaning tendency plays an important role in science because it helps conservatives may instruct a student with non-conformist ten- preserve what has already been learned and protects the scien- dencies, “You can’t believe in long-age creation and be faithful tific community from intellectual anarchy. However, the ten- to Adventist doctrine.” Each of these assertions expresses a dency can also slow scientific advance because new ideas will valid concern—Adventist young people must be called to hon- usually be viewed with suspicion. estly engage the available evidence, and to carefully consider How, then, does science break out from conventional wis- how their conclusions relate to well-founded Christian doctrine. However, when such concerns are formulated as a stark, black-and-white choice, some students may take these arguments seriously and abandon Christian faith.

Opportunity 4: Cultivate Intellectual Virtues As Christian educators, we desire to instill more than skillful thinking in our students. We seek to help them develop intellectual virtues that will channel their thinking toward the true and the good. As a form of character development, the formation of intellectual virtues involves sustained practice, especially in adversity. Teachers may thus model and invite practice of these virtues as they lead students through challenging intellectual terrain. What are the virtues that we seek to teach? Christian philosopher W. Jay Wood examines intellectual virtues as a framework to think about epistemology (the branch of philosophy concerned with how we know).11 He treats a number of such Photograph of trackways studied by Leonard Brand. Trackway going side to side across the top of the virtues and contrasts them with corresponding vices. These picture represents animals seeking to move forward include studiousness (versus vicious curiosity), intellectual (up on the picture, indicated by direction of toe honesty (versus dishonesty), and wisdom (versus folly). We marks) but actually moving to the side, strongly im- want our students to studiously apply themselves as they gain plying that the animal was buoyant in water. knowledge, even when that knowledge is uncomfortable or

46 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae challenging, but we don’t want them to gain that knowledge for vicious purposes (e.g., to harm the environment or cast doubt on the integrity of others). We want them to engage knowledge honestly and to avoid conscious (or subconscious) self-deception, especially when acquired knowledge fails to agree with their presuppositions. And we want our students to display wisdom—to show that they understand the proper place of their learning in a broader life of faith, hope, and love grounded in the “fear of the Lord.”12 A fi nal virtue that deserves particular attention may be termed conﬁ dence-with-humility, which contrasts with the vices of spine- lessness and intellectual pride. We seek to arrive at truth by faithful study of God’s revelation in nature and the Bible, and believe that we have made progress toward it. Yet we realize that our present knowledge—both biblical and secular—is tainted by our limitations, is certainly incomplete, and in some respects must be wrong. This provides a wonderful opportunity to model personal confi dence in God and His revelation to us—even when we have unanswered questions—along with genuine humility in the face of our humanity. As contemporary pastor Rob Bell has written, “Questions bring freedom. Freedom that I don’t have to be God and I don’t have to pretend that I have it all fi gured out. I can let God be God.”13 As Christian educators, we will continue to face challenging topics as we engage an increasingly connected and complex world. Let’s take the challenges head-on, and leverage them to help accomplish the goals of Christian education! Our students deserve no less. 0 ______Dr. H. Thomas (Tom) Goodwin is Professor of Paleobiol- ogy in the Biology Department at Andrews University in Ber- rien Springs, Michigan. He expresses his appreciation to the reviewers of this article, Leonard Brand and Joe Galusha. ______

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. See, for example, Gary E. Fraser, “Associations Between Diet and Cancer, Ischemic Heart Disease, and All-Cause Mortality in Non-Hispanic White Califor- nian Seventh-day Adventists,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 70 (1999), pp. 532S-538S. 2. H. Thomas Goodwin, “Teaching the Tough Topics,” Journal of Adventist Edu- cation 64:5 (Summer 2002), pp. 32-36. 3. Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View, Calif. Pacifi c Press Publ. Assn., 1952), p. 17. 4. See especially Del Ratzsch, The Battle of Beginnings: Why Neither Side Is Win- ning the Creation-Evolution Debate (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996), pp. 120-128. 5. Thomas Gold, The Deep Hot Biosphere (New York: Copernicus, 1999), p. 128. 6. This research is summarized in Harold G. Coffi n, “The Yellowstone Petrifi ed ‘Forests,’” Origins 24 (1997), pp. 2-44. 7. Leonard R. Brand and Thu Tang, “Fossil Vertebrate Footprints in the Coco- nino Sandstone (Permian) of Northern Arizona: Evidence for Underwater Origin,” Geology 19 (1991), pp. 1,201-1,204. 8. Ratzsch, The Battle of Beginnings, op cit., pp. 128, 129. 9. David M. Raup, The Nemesis Affair: A Story of the Death of Dinosaurs and the Ways of Science (New York: Norton, 1986), p. 195. 10. Ibid., p. 196. 11. W. Jay Wood, Epistemology: Becoming Intellectually Virtuous (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998). 12. Proverbs 9:10. 13. Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2005), p. 30.

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 47 Guiding Students Through the World Wide Web By Lauren Matacio and Bruce Closser

n our roles as director of An- confidence they feel, even though drews University’s writing center they cannot distinguish between and reference librarian, we deal paid and unpaid Websites.4 with a variety of requests from Furthermore, students resist students seeking assistance with training in using the Internet. “The their writing projects. Recently, typical freshman,” observes Stanley we met with a student who had Wilder in a 2005 article in The Icome for help in smoothing the transi- Chronicle of Higher Education, “as- tions in one of his thesis chapters. As sumes that she is already an expert we worked with him, we discovered user of the Internet, and her daily that some of his sources were incor- experience leads her to believe that rectly cited. When we pointed this she can get what she wants online out, trying to be helpful, the student without having to undergo a train- replied, “Oh, that’s from Wikipedia. I ing program.”5 was going to ask you how to document Nicholson calls upon librarians to Wikipedia entries because I’ve got several of them.” find ways to contribute constructively to “new information seek- Not wanting to pass up a teachable moment, we asked the stu- ing and usage behaviours [sic] of students and faculty alike.”6 In dent if he knew how Wikipedia, the so-called “people’s encyclope- the remainder of this article, we will make some suggestions for dia,” was created. He said he supposed that the Wikipedia people accomplishing this goal. hired experts to write the entries. He listened politely while we explained that anyone, regardless of experience or professional Promises and Problems on the Internet expertise, can create, expand, or revise an entry.1 We suggested Those of us who pre-date the Internet remember answering that the student might want to find sources other than Wikipe- questions like “How many animals have become extinct since dia to support his conclusions, but we’re reasonably sure that he 1900?” might require a lengthy visit to the library and many submitted his project with the numerous Wikipedia references in hours’ reading. Today, a few computer key strokes can produce place. immediate answers to virtually any question. Say you need a Clearly, this student was more interested in finding sources quick summary of the plot of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex for a dis- than evaluating them. And he is not unusual. Many, if not most, cussion you’re planning about the Oedipus complex. You type of our students take the majority of their sources from the first Oedipus and Sophocles into your favorite search engine, and in a screen or two that an Internet search engine produces, satisfied matter of seconds, you’ve got 583,000 Oedipus-related entries. at finding the requisite number of sources as quickly as possible. The first of these is Ed Friedlander’s “Enjoying ‘Oedipus the King,’ A study of students’ use of the Internet at Wellesley College by by Sophocles.”7 Scanning the article, you find the section labeled Panagiotis Metaxas and Leah Graham noted that without training “The Folk Tale,” and you have the plot. In the same way, one can and encouragement, students typically failed to verify information access nearly unlimited online databases, locate electronic books they found on the Internet, ceasing their research when they felt or relevant journal articles and read them online, or order them they had a credible answer.2 via interlibrary loan. Herein lies perhaps the most significant problem with com- However, the quality of sources available online is often sus- puter-based research. Peter J. Nicholson, president of the Council pect. In the days when students got their resource information of Canadian Academies, recently argued that people have tradi- primarily from a library, teachers could assume that those sources tionally assumed a direct relationship between intellectual author- had been vetted through a peer review. The Internet has demol- ity and expertise moderated by the “tried and true . . . processes ished those gates. Anyone who owns a computer, possesses basic of peer review and of the forms of elite consensus building.”3 knowledge about Web page design, and has access to an Internet Regarding the Web, this assumption is no longer true. connection can publish his or her ideas without submitting them A recent Pew study conducted by Deborah Fallows found that to any sort of review process. Consequently, teachers can’t take for most young adult computer users are confident that they possess granted that the information students find on the Internet and use adequate Internet search skills. The younger they are, the more in their research is accurate, relevant, or reliable.

48 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae Teachers can’t take Things Students—and Teachers—Need not suggest he’s an authority on classical to Know for granted that the literature. Teachers and researchers need to under- information students Do his other credentials lend authority stand how the Internet works so that they can find on the Internet and to his comments on Oedipus the King? The help their students use it responsibly. Here .edu extension on his e-mail address, erf@ are some important areas to consider: use in their research is kcumb.edu, tells us that he is associated The nature of the Web. The Internet re- accurate, relevant, or with a university. Knowing that most educa- sembles a conversation between friends. We tional institutions have a Web address that is have all joined ongoing conversations, added reliable. similar to their e-mail address, we can learn an opinion or observation, or kept silent if we more about Friedlander by searching the didn’t really know much about the topic. And we have politely ig- Website http://www.kcumb.edu. A quick search of the university’s nored comments from people who clearly didn’t know what they Website reveals that Friedlander is chairman of the Department were talking about. of Pathology at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosci- Similarly, the Internet is a conversation that anyone can join re- ences. In his personal Website, http://www.pathguy.com, we find gardless of training, authority, or experience. As teachers, we must a literature section with links to his self-published articles on help students recognize that not everyone who creates a Web page various classic works of literature. The majority of Friedlander’s is necessarily an authority on the topic of that page, and that they professional publications have appeared in medical journals. His need to evaluate the quality of each source they encounter, dis- one article with a literary bent is “Using Poetry in the Classroom,” carding those of questionable or inferior quality. published in Academic Medicine. The kinds of conversations that can be found on the Web. The World Wide Web offers opportunities for many kinds of conversa- s Friedlander an authority on Oedipal literature? Perhaps; tions, some more useful than others. In the same way one would however, his occupation, education, and professional pub- ask advice about diet from a nutritionist rather than a health-food lications suggest that he is not. That doesn’t mean that the store clerk or use information from certain books and journals information on his Website is worthless, but students should but not others, so students must consider the type of Internet site Icompare this source carefully with others of greater authority. when drawing conclusions about the validity of the information Identify the Website’s institutional support. Just as books published it contains. Material from online chat groups or usernets, where by reputable publishing houses command more respect than amateurs meet to talk about their various interests will not be as those published by vanity presses, so Internet sites sponsored reliable as material from electronic journals or books, or Websites by professional organizations carry more weight than personal hosted by professional organizations. Websites or sites whose primary objective is to promote or sell a The presence of bias. Because they’ve had so many calls from product. The second Website from our initial search for Oedipus, telemarketers trying to sell some product or service, visits from “Study Guide for Sophocles’ Oedipus the King” (http://temple.edu/ friends who call only when they want something and excuses classics/oedipus.html) is authored by Robin Mitchell-Boyask.8 from students regarding their missing homework, most teachers While the information available at this Website may not repre- have developed a healthy cynicism about what other people tell sent scholarly research, the author’s credentials suggest that he is them. Often, people are trying to convince us of something we an authority on classical literature. From the Website, we learn that may not want to believe or are promoting an idea with which we Mitchell-Boyask teaches Classical Mythology at Temple University, may not be comfortable. Teachers know that even scholarly print a large public research institution located in Philadelphia, Penn- sources that have undergone a careful review process will have a sylvania. Mitchell-Boyask’s association with Temple University bias, and part of their duty as researchers and scholars is to help and his various acknowledgements suggest that this is probably a students identify and account for a writer’s perspective when us- source students can trust. ing his or her material in their work. Determine the Website’s URL (Uniform Resource Locator or Web address). A Website’s domain extension (.gov, .edu, .net, .com) Tips for Students suggests something about the purpose of the information in that The free and open nature of the Internet and the fact that any- site. The Literature Network (http://www.onlineliterature.com/ one can post anything points to the urgency of teaching our stu- sophocles/oedipus/), another of the top 10 results in our Oedipus dents how to evaluate Internet sources responsibly. Here are seven search, is a .com site.9 These commercial sites are almost always helpful tips: trying to sell something—in this case, brief summaries and links Assess each Website’s authority. Every Website has one or more to the text of classic works of literature, quotations, Shakespeare, authors. Look for their names. If no author name(s) appears, look and the Bible. This site also offers a forum where users can post for the name of a sponsoring university or professional organiza- questions and discuss books. This might lead students to feel con- tion. This information will help students identify whether the site fident about the source; however, the fact that this site advertises is likely to contain reliable information. essay and term paper writing services suggests that it is not to be As an example, let’s return to the Website, “Enjoying ‘Oedipus trusted. the King,’ by Sophocles,” mentioned earlier. We know the name By using a search engine’s advanced search mode capabilities, of the author—Ed Friedlander—but who is he? The M.D. after his students can limit a search to a particular type of URL—for ex- name indicates that Friedlander is a medical doctor, which does ample, only .edu (educational institutions), .org (professional or-

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 49 ganizations or groups), or .gov (government) sites. Similarly, cer- should know that every Website citation must include, in addition tain types of URL can be eliminated from a search, such as .coms. to the title of the site, the URL or Web address correctly repro- Knowing the range of extensions on URLs can increase students’ duced and the date the site was accessed. confi dence in the material they fi nd on a Website.10 Assess the currency of information in a Website. In areas of study A Source Evaluation Rubric where ideas may change dramatically over time, the date of pub- Sabrina Riley, now at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, devel- lication may be signifi cant. Dieticians and nutritionists have re- oped the following matrix while she was a librarian at the James cently redefi ned the food pyramid, for instance, so the date on White Library at Andrews University. We use the matrix to help the page is important. If students are researching topics where students evaluate a Website’s reliability: information changes rapidly—the status of weapons development • Who is the author of the document? in Iran or the latest research on cancer treatments—they should • Is the author the original creator of the document? look for the date when the Website was created or last updated. • Does the author list his or her occupation, years of experi- Although Friedlander and Mitchell-Boyask both provide the dates ence, position, and education? If so, what are they? of their most recent revisions, these dates probably aren’t impor- • What are the author’s qualifi cations to write on the topic? tant, since the plot summary of the Oedipus story won’t change • What institution (company, government, university, etc.) or over time. Internet Provider (IP) supports this information? Determine a Website’s bias. Every writer has a “point of view” • If the site is a commercial Internet Provider, does the author that is shaped by past experiences, education, philosophical be- appear to have any affi liation with a larger institution or national liefs, and/or personality. Bias becomes a problem when it skews organization? objectivity or deliberately misleads the reader to prove a precon- • Does the institution appear to fi lter the information appearing ceived point. Some authors plainly state their biases; others do under its own name? not. Friedlander states on his Website that he is a Modernist and • Does the author’s affi liation with this particular institution or a Christian. These biases may not invalidate his information, but organization appear to bias the information? If so, how? they do suggest the lens through which he interprets the story. • When was the information created or last updated? For any topic, but even more importantly for controversial top- • What appears to be the purpose of this information? To in- ics like abortion or gun control, students should be aware that form? Explain? Persuade? Sell? sponsoring organizations like the National Right to Life or the • Based on the information you collected above, is this docu- National Rifl e Association can be expected to advance their own ment a reliable source of information? Why or why not? agendas. Determine a Website’s relevance. Even if a site passes all of the Conclusions above criteria with fl ying colors, it must pass another important While the Internet saves research time and effort, it also shifts test: It must meet the student’s research needs. Regardless of the much of the responsibility for assessing the quality of sources author’s credentials, institutional support, currency, lack of bias, away from publishers, librarians, and teachers to students, who and writing expertise, if students don’t discover useful informa- are faced with an overwhelming number of sources of uncertain tion at the site, they shouldn’t include the source just to obtain a reliability. “An information-literate person,” observes Topsy Smal- required number of references. ley, a Cabrillo Community College librarian, “has built up layers Assess the Website’s attention to style and detail. Finally, students of knowledge about how information is organized and accessed should be sensitive to the quality of an author’s writing. Scholarly and is able to devise information research strategies.”11 material that has been subjected to rigorous review has been care- Our job as teachers and librarians is to help students achieve fully revised and edited. Observe whether the material is easy to this objective. While we’re teaching them to select and narrow read, whether the ideas are clearly organized and well developed. topics, read sources and take notes, and clearly introduce and Notice as well whether the author of a site has been careful to document sources, we must also urge them to take the extra time proofread its contents. Writers who are careful with their ideas to evaluate sources and introduce them to strategies for perform- tend to be careful with their writing as well; sloppy writing and ing this important aspect of research in a Web en- documentation should be considered suspect. vironment. 0 Conversely, students should not allow themselves to be dazzled ______by fancy graphics and a “professional look”; just because the Web- This article has been peer reviewed. ______site “looks good” is no indication of the quality of the material it contains. Lauren Matacio is a reference librarian in the James Document the Web source correctly. The infi nite variety of Web White Library on the campus of Andrews University in Ber- pages makes creating citations tricky. Any good research writing rien Springs, Michigan. She provides training to students manual will provide direction for constructing a citation in the learning to use the library’s electronic catalogue and the In- ternet. Bruce Closser is a faculty member in Andrews preferred styles. Many Web pages now provide links to citations University’s English Department, where he directs the in the Modern Language, American Psychological Association, or university’s Writing Center and teaches a variety of writing other major formats. Students may also download software for courses. Matacio and Closser have team-taught several sec- creating citations. Firefox, for instance, now offers a free down- tions of the required general-education sophomore research load to help students manage their research materials. Students writing course at the university.

50 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae ______NOTES AND REFERENCES’ 1. An article appearing on the BBC News Website for December 15, 2005 (http:// news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4530930.stm, accessed November 28, 2007) notes that Wikipedia, which allows anyone to add to or revise entries, relies on 13,000 volunteer experts in various fields to edit previously submitted entries. The article cites a study conducted by Nature magazine, which found few differences in accuracy between Wikipedia and the well-known and respected Encyclopedia Britannica on selected scientific entries. (See “Internet Encyclopaedias Go Head to Head,”Nature [December 15, 2005], pages 900 and 901.) Wikipedia, responding to criticisms of its accuracy, has tightened procedures for submitting entries. This incident raises the more serious question of students citing Wikipedia in their research projects. Neil Waters, a history professor at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Connecticut, notes that while Wikipedia entries in the sciences are relatively reliable, in the area of history they are much less so. (See “Why You Can’t Cite Wikipedia in My Class,” Communications of the ACM 50.9 [September 2007], pages 15-17.) 2. Panagiotis Metaxas and Leah Graham, “Of Course It’s True; I Saw It on the In- ternet: Critical Thinking in the Internet Era,” Communications of the ACM 46.5 (May 2003), pp. 70-75. 3. Peter J. Nicholson, “The Changing Role of Intellectual Authority.” ARL: A Bi- monthly Report on Research Library Issues and Actions from ARL, CNI, and SPARC 247 (August 2006), pp. 1-5. 4. Deborah Fallows, Search Engine Users (Washington, D.C.: Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2005), pp. ii-iv, Accessed September 3, 2007, at http://www. pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Searchengine_users.pdf. 5. Quoted in Doug Achterman, “Surviving Wikipedia: Improving Student Search Habits Through Information Literacy and Teacher Collaboration,” Knowledge Quest 33.5 (May/June 2005), p. 38. 6. Nicholson, op cit., pp. 3, 4. 7. Ed Friedlander, “Enjoying ‘Oedipus the King,’ by Sophocles” (1999). Accessed June 12, 2007, at http://www.pathguy.com/oedipus.htm. 8. Robin Mitchell-Boyask, “Study Guide for Sophocles’ Oedipus the King” (Temple University, 1999). Accessed June 12, 2007, at http://www.temple.edu/classics/ oedipus.html. 9. “Oedipus Trilogy,” The Literature Network. Accessed September 3, 2007, at http://www.online-literature.com/sophocles/oedipus/. 10. Josetta McLaughlin, Deborah Pavelka, and Gerald McLaughlin offer useful advice for assessing the legitimacy of a Website, the integrity of data and information listed therein, and issues surrounding the use of data and information in an article entitled “Assessing the Integrity of Web Sites Providing Data and Information on Corporate Behavior” (Journal of Education for Business 80:6 [July/August 2005], pp. 333-337). 11. Topsy N. Smalley, “College Success: High School Librarians Make the Differ- ence,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 30:3 (May 2004), p. 197.

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