HIGHER EDUCATION ISSUE - Seventh-day Adventist Church

Two Ministries/One MissionAcademic Freedom onSeventh-day AdventistCampusesThe Academic Advisor:A Key Partner inStudents’ SuccessFreshman MentoringProgram at Walla WallaUniversityBrain Games

Website: http://jae.adventist.org April/May 2010

H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N I S S U E

4 Two Ministries/One Mission By George R. Knight

10 Teaching in the Shadow of Galileo:Academic Freedom on Seventh-dayAdventist CampusesBy Floyd Greenleaf

19 The Academic Advisor: A Key Partner in Students’ Success By Linda Felipez Nelson andBruce J. Toews

25 A Heart for Service: Why WallaWalla University Implemented aMentor ProgramBy Mel Lang

30 Brain Games at Southwestern Adventist University By Hoyet Taylor

38 COVER STORY Practical Skills for21st-Century Students By Raymond Carson

Higher Education Issue ContentsApril/May 2010 Volume 72, No. 4

3 Editorial By John M. Fowler

The text credited to RSV is from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division ofChristian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission.Photo and art credits: Cover, pp. 19-22, 25-28, 38, 40-45, courtesy of the respective authors; pp. 6, 7, Fotosearch; p. 13,courtesy of Ellen G. White Estate; pp. 30-36, Jair Alcon.

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http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education •• April/May 2010 3

EDITORBeverly J. Robinson-Rumble

ASSOCIATE EDITOR(INTERNATIONAL EDITION)

Luis A. Schulz

SENIOR CONSULTANTSC. Garland Dulan

Lisa M. Beardsley, Ella Smith Simmons

CONSULTANTSGENERAL CONFERENCE

John M. Fowler, Luis A. Schulz

EAST-CENTRAL AFRICAHudson Kibuuka

EURO-AFRICARoberto Badenas

EURO-ASIABranislav Mirilov

NORTH AMERICALarry Blackmer

NORTHERN ASIA-PACIFICChek Yat Phoon

SOUTH AMERICACarlos Alberto Mesa

SOUTHERN AFRICA-INDIAN OCEANEllah Kamwendo

SOUTHERN ASIA-PACIFICMike Lekic

TRANS-EUROPEANDaniel Duda

WEST-CENTRAL AFRICAChiemela Ikonne

COPY EDITORRandy Hall

ART DIRECTION/GRAPHIC DESIGNHarry Knox

ADVISORY BOARDC. Garland Dulan (Chair),

Lisa M. Beardsley, Larry Blackmer, Erline Burgess,Hamlet Canosa, John M. Fowler, Dunbar Henri,Linda Mei Lin Koh, Michael Ryan, Luis A. Schulz,

Carole Smith, Charles H. Tidwell, Jr., Bonnie Wilbur

THE JOURNAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION pub-lishes articles concerned with a variety of topics per-tinent to Adventist education. Opinions expressedby our writers do not necessarily represent the viewsof the staff or the official position of the Departmentof Education of the General Conference of Sev-enth-day Adventists.

THE JOURNAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION (ISSN0021-8480) is published bimonthly, Octoberthrough May, plus a single summer issue for June,July, August, and September by the Department ofEducation, General Conference of Seventh-day Ad-ventists, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring,MD 20904-6600, U.S.A. TELEPHONE: (301) 680-5075; FAX: (301) 622-9627; E-mail: rum bleb@ -gc.ad ventist.org. Subscription price: U.S.$18.25. Add$3.00 for postage outside the U.S. Single copy:U.S.$3.75. Periodical postage paid at Silver Spring,Maryland, and additional mailing office. Please sendall changes of address to P.O. Box 5, Keene, TX76059, including both old and new address. Addressall editorial and advertising correspondence to theEditor. Copyright 2010 General Conference of SDA.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE JOUR-NAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION, P.O. Box 5,Keene, TX 76059.

A cademic freedom has to do with the right toteach, research, and publish as part of the ed-ucational process. How it is claimed or exer-cised depends upon who asserts this right. A

college professor seeks in academic freedom the right toteach, research, and publish without fear of discipline or constraints imposedby his or her superiors, employers, colleagues, or even students. Students seeacademic freedom as giving them the right to refute or reject their teachers’positions, even if their actions disrupt the classroom. A university may defineacademic freedom in terms of its institutional purpose and use its financial oradministrative powers to enforce its will. A government or group of con-stituents may cite the collective good as a reason to impose its will, in order toalign the flow of information, teaching, and research with its predeterminedcriteria or ideology.

Thus, while the value of academic freedom is widely recognized, the com-plexities of implementing it have caused a great deal of dispute. How, then,should the Adventist system of education, with its philosophy rooted in itsfaith claims, view and practice academic freedom?

Adventist education must be foremost in advocating the necessity of aca-demic freedom on its campuses, for at least two reasons: First, because we takeseriously the Genesis account of creation that human beings are created in theimage of God (Genesis 1:26), we must affirm that this image bestows upon theChristian teacher and student alike the responsibility for intellectual inquiry.God has shared with us part of His creativity, and has given us dominion overthe earth. This challenges us, on the one hand, to affirm our rational capacityto its fullest level, and on the other, to probe the secrets of the universe, to ex-plore the frontiers of knowledge without hindrance or limitation. To be humanis to think, to question, to search, and to choose.

The image of God concept, however, puts a caveat on our academic quest:We not only share in God’s creativity but also behold His wonder and mystery.To accept God as Creator and humans as reflectors of His image bestows uponus the privilege of thought (as well as freedom to pursue that thought). It alsodemands that we as creatures recognize that our acknowledgement of God,and relationship with Him can be only on the basis of faith.

Thus, the Adventist philosophy of education must recognize the twin pillarsof human existence: reason and faith. Both are the Creator’s gift to us. Hence,the laboratory of reason and science and the altar of faith cannot be antithet-ical in the Adventist quest and belief, as some educators make them appear.Where that wall between them appears, Adventist education should knowwhere to stand, for the ultimate home of the Adventist teacher and studentalike is the unshakable castle of faith.

There is a second reason why Adventists should be foremost in promotingacademic freedom. Although Christianity is founded on faith, it never de-mands a blind and irrational faith. The divine invitation to human beings to“come. . . and reason” (Isaiah 1:18, KJV) insists that our acknowledgmentof God must not be an irrational one. As creatures of faith, we bow beforeGod and marvel at His wonders. As creatures of the intellect, we must probethe unknown and stretch the frontiers of knowledge. To come and reasonrecognizes that we are neither dumb slaves to a meaningless faith nor pur-veyors of intellectual arrogance that relegates faith claims to a mythical

THE JOURNAL OF

ADVENTISTEDUCATION®

Adventist Education and Academic Freedom

E D I T O R I A L

John M. Fowler

Continued on page 46

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2MINISTRIES/ONE MISSION

Ihave suffered from an identity crisis for nearly myentire career. The problem undoubtedly stemsfrom the fact that I lack a clear professional ori-entation. I was trained at the Master’s level to bea pastor, but after two and a half years went into

elementary and secondary teaching and eventuallyschool administration for most of my decade in the field.And my professional record in academia is just asmessed up. I was educated at the doctoral level as aphilosopher of education, but after a decade teaching inthat field at Andrews University, I moved over to theSeminary, where I masqueraded as a church historian formore than two decades. It is little wonder that I am morethan a bit confused as to what I truly am.

I suppose my psychologicaland professional problems wouldnot be quite so acute if the two

This article is adapted from the author’s keynote address at the AtlanticUnion Conference Pastor/ Teacher Convention held in Providence, RhodeIsland, in August 2009. The oral style has been retained.

realms of my professional life had a little more contactwith each other. One of the most remarkable thingsabout the Adventist subculture is that the only two pro-fessional groups that are employed in the local churchfull time in most congregations have little understanding,sympathy, or even contact with each other’s ministries,trials, challenges, and contributions. That fact is morethan remarkable; it is tragic!

With that historic distance in mind, I would like tocongratulate the Atlantic Union pastoral and educa-tional leadership for the understanding that has broughtall of us, both pastoral clergy and educational clergy,under one roof for a shared professional convention. Tomy knowledge, this may be a first at the union confer-ence level in the history of the denomination.

Of course, with a little thought we could have seen thelogic of the combination sooner. Martin Luther, thegreat 16th-century Reformer, did. “If,” he claimed, “Ihad to give up preaching and my other duties, there isno office I would rather have than that of school-teacher.For I know that next to the [pastoral] ministry it is themost useful, greatest, and best; and I am not sure whichof the two is to be preferred. For it is hard to make olddogs docile and old rogues pious, yet that is what theministry works at, and must work at, in great part, invain; but young trees . . . are more easily bent and

trained. Therefore let it be consid-ered one of the highest virtues onearth faithfully to train the chil-

BY GEORGE R. KNIGHT


Ellen White gets more specific on the book’s secondpage. In the passage that undergirds her entire philoso-phy of education, she points out that in order to com-prehend the meaning and goal of education, we must un-derstand four things about people: (1) their originalnature, (2) the purpose of God in creating them, (3) thechange that took place in the human condition at theFall, and (4) God’s plan for yet fulfilling His purpose inthe education of the human race.4

She then goes on to explain those four items. First,humanity was created in the image of God. Second, peo-ple were to reveal ever more fully God’s image by con-tinual development on the earth and throughout eternity.Third, disobedience badly damaged, but did not destroy,the image in its mental, physical, and spiritual aspects.And disobedience also brought death.

But it is the fourth item that is the focal point of themission issue. In spite of the Fall, we read, “the race was

not left without hope. By infinite love and mercy the planof salvation had been devised, and a life of probationwas granted. To restore in man the image of his Maker,to bring him back to the perfection in which he was cre-ated, to promote the development of body, mind, andsoul, that the divine purpose in his creation might be re-alized—this was to be the work of redemption. This is theobject of education, the great object of life.”5

Scripture presents the same picture. Central to aproper understanding of the Bible is the Fall, describedin Genesis 3. Neither Scripture nor daily experiencemakes sense if we explain away as legend the first threechapters of Genesis, which says that God created hu-manity in His image and likeness—an exalted state(Genesis 1:26, 27). Adam and Eve, however, rejectedGod and chose their own way. As a result, they becamealienated and separated from God (chap. 3:8-10), theirfellow beings (vss. 11, 12), their own selves (vs. 13), andthe natural world (vss. 17-19). Separating themselvesfrom the source of life, they became subject to death(Genesis 2:17; 3:19). Humanity had become hopelessand lost in the fullest sense of the word.

The lostness of human beings provides the purpose

dren of others, which duty but very few parents attendto themselves.”1

The apostle Paul had the same vision. That is evidentin his discussion of spiritual gifts. In writing to the Ephe -s ians, Paul used a Greek construction that indicates thatthe office of pastor and teacher was held by the sameperson when he noted that “some should be apostles,some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors andteachers” (Ephesians 4:11, RSV). F. F. Bruce, in com-menting on this passage, notes that “the two terms ‘pas-tors (shepherds) and teachers’ denote one and the sameclass of men.”2 On the other hand, the other gifts arelisted separately.

The significance of this point is that, in order to re-main functional, these two gifts should not be divided.Pastors must not only care for the souls of their flock,but must also be persons who teach (by precept and ex-ample) both individuals and the corporate body of thechurch. Teachers, likewise, are notmerely expounders of truth but alsopersons who have an abiding care forthe individuals under their tutelage.Christian teachers function in a pas-toral role to their students, and Chris-tian pastors function in a teachingrole to their parishioners.

The major difference between theroles of pastors and teachers today hasto do with the current division oflabor. In 21st-century society, theChristian teacher is usually seen assomeone who pastors in a “school”context, while the pastor is defined assomeone who teaches in the “larger religious community.”However, their function is essentially the same, eventhough by today’s definitions they are in charge of differ-ent divisions of the Lord’s vineyard. That is why, with thatbiblical perspective in mind, I have chosen the title “TwoMinistries/One Mission.”

One MissionAnd what is that shared mission? Ellen White sets it

forth nicely in her classic book Education. From its firstpages, it frames Adventist education in galactic, GreatControversy terminology. “Our ideas of education,” weread in the volume’s opening paragraph, “take too nar-row and too low a range. There is need of a broaderscope, a higher aim. True education means more thanthe pursual of a certain course of study. It means morethan a preparation for the life that now is. It has to dowith the whole being, and with the whole period of ex-istence possible to man. It is the harmonious develop-ment of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual pow-ers. It prepares the student for the joy of service in thisworld and for the higher joy of wider service in the worldto come.”3

ne of the most remarkable things about the Adventist subculture is that the only twoprofessional groups that are employed in the local church full time in most congrega-tions have little understanding, sympathy, oreven contact with each other’s ministries,trials, challenges, and contributions.

O

of every type of Christian ministry. Humanity’s greatestneed is to become “unlost.” Thus, Jesus said that Hecame “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke19:10, KJV). The message of the Bible from the Fall tothe restoration of Eden in Revelation 21 is the story ofhow God, through teachers, prophets, patriarchs,preachers, symbolic services, and a host of other means,has been attempting to rescue humans from their lost-ness. We must see Christian education in this context.“In the highest sense,” penned Ellen White, “the work ofeducation and the work of redemption are one” becauseboth build directly upon Jesus Christ. To lead the studentinto a saving relationship with Jesus Christ “should bethe teacher’s first effort and his constant aim.”6 Here iseducation’s highest and primary goal.

Presbyterian Edwin Rian correctly notes that, regard-less of their philosophical and religious perspectives, mosteducation philosophers “agree on considering the problemof ‘sin and death,’ which is the problem of man, accordingto Pauline and Reformed Protestant theology, as irrelevantto the questions of the aims and process of education.”Such a position, he asserts, cannot help producing “mis -education and frustration for the individual and for thecommunity.” From the perspective of fallen humanity’spredicament, Rian uplifts “education as conversion.”7 Her-bert Welch, an early 20th-century president of Ohio Wes-leyan University, made the same point when he claimedthat “to win its students from sin to righteousness is . . .the highest achievement of the Christian college.”8

Only Christian education can meet people’s deepestneed, because only Christian educators understand thecore of the human problem. Its redemptive aim is whatmakes education Christian. The primary goal of Chris-tian education in the school, the home, and the churchis to lead young people into a saving relationship withJesus Christ. The accomplishment of this aim heals theprincipal alienation of Genesis 3—between individualsand God. And this sets the stage for the removal of hu-manity’s other basic alienations. Education is a part ofGod’s great plan of redemption, or at-one-ment. Therole of education is to help bring people back to at-one-ness with God, their fellow beings, their own selves, andthe natural world. The whole message of the Bible pointsforward to the day when the work of restoration will becomplete, and the Edenic condition will be restored inthe realm of nature and in the hearts of human beings(Revelation 21, 22; Isaiah 11:6-9; 35).

The students’ greatest need, then, is for a spiritual re-birth that places God at the center of their existence.Paul described this renewal as a daily experience, andJesus taught that the Holy Spirit accomplishes the trans-formation (1 Corinthians 15:31; John 3:5). The goals ofChristian education can never be achieved without thedynamic power of the Holy Spirit.

Ellen White wrote that the “all-important thing” ineducation “should be the conversion” of the students.9

It is upon the foundation of the new birth experiencethat Christian education can proceed with its other aimsand purposes.

Many people miss Ellen White’s emphasis on the re-demptive role of education. But it elevates the teacher’srole beyond the humdrum of teaching spelling or math,and places it in the line of gospel ministry. I would suggestthat the primary function of a Christian teacher is to bean agent of salvation in the great controversy betweenChrist and Satan that is occurring in both the world atlarge and in the lives of every individual student. The goodnews is that the denomination has officially recognized theministerial role of church school teachers.

The function of a Christian teacher is to lead youngpeople into a trans-forming, saving rela-tionship with JesusChrist. It is in the con-text of that relationshipthat such sec ondaryfunctions as academicachievement, characterdevelopment, the for-mation of a Christianmind, and educationfor social responsibilityand the world of workmust of necessity takeplace. It is crucial to re-alize that all but one ofthose secondary goalscan take place in a non-Christian school. Thus,when Christian educators aim only to achieve the goalsthat fall within the realm of all education, they havefailed before they begin. As a result, when Christian ed-ucators neglect to emphasize the redemptive role of theirschools, they make the schools both unimportant andunnecessary.

Thus it is that Adventist clergy in the church and Ad-ventist clergy in the school have the same salvific func-tion. They need to move beyond the dichotomy thattends to divide them and realize that they have a sharedministry, even if they function daily in different spheres.

BUT—(and this is absolutely crucial)—if Adventistteachers and pastors limit themselves only to the evan-gelical function of leading souls to Christ, they havefailed in their responsibilities.

How is that? you may be asking. The answer is that Ad-ventism is not merely another denomination with a fewdifferent doctrines and some countercultural dietary prac-tices. From its inception, the church has viewed itself as amovement of prophecy, a church with a special messageto proclaim to all the world, a call centered in the apoca-lypse of John. And rightly so: Revelation 12:17 proclaimsthat at the end of time, God will have a people who keep

6 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2010 http://jae.adventist.org

all His commandments, and their commandment keepingwill eventually stimulate a reaction from the last-daydragon power. “And the dragon,” we read, “was wrothwith the woman, and went to make war with the remnantof her seed, which keep the commandments of God”(KJV). Chapters 13 and 14 pick up that theme—Revela-tion 13 expands upon the dynamics of the last-day dragonpower, while chapter 14 presents the message of the last-day woman or church, climaxing with the second adventof Christ. In that context, the three angels’ messages ofRevelation 14:6-12 preach the everlasting gospel to all theworld, a judgment-hour emphasis as earth’s history movestoward its close, a call to worship the Creator God in con-trast to honoring the beast, and a declaration regarding

the fall of oppressiveBabylon that has substi-tuted human words forthe Word of God.

The third angel con-cludes its message inverse 12: “Here is thepatience of the saints:here are they that keepthe commandments ofGod, and the faith ofJesus” (KJV). And Ad-ventists have noted thatRevelation 14 high-lights one of thosecommandments. At theend of time, everybodywill be worshippingsomebody: either the

Creator God of the Sabbath who made heaven and earthand sea (Revelation 14:7; Exodus 20:8-11; Genesis 2:1-13) or the beast (Revelation 14:9). Furthermore, Advent -ists have been quick to note that immediately after thegiving of the three angels’ messages, Christ comes in theclouds to harvest the earth (Revelation 14:14-20).

For one reason or another, the command to preachthose Christ-given messages has been neglected by otherreligious bodies. It is in that context that Seventh-dayAdventists have viewed themselves as a called-out peoplewith a unique message that must be preached to all theearth before Jesus returns again.

And it is that understanding that has literally driventhem to the ends of the earth and the islands of the seauntil Seventh-day Adventism has become the most wide-spread unified Protestant body in the history of Christi-anity. Adventists have been willing to sacrifice their livesand their money to achieve that end. And in the process,they developed a church organization to spearhead thatthrust, and an educational system and a publishing min-istry to enlighten and convict its membership and preparethem for either going to all the world themselves or spon-soring others to fulfill the denomination’s unique mission.

We dare not become bashful about that mission. It isthe only reason for the existence of Seventh-day Adven-tism. If that vision is lost, Adventism will become merelyanother somewhat toothless denomination that seeks toentertain its members and do good in its community.The possibility of losing its apocalyptic vision and Ad-ventism’s place in prophetic history is the greatest threatthat the church and its educational system face as theyenter the 21st century. That threat is the topic of my re-cently published The Apocalyptic Vision and the Neuter-ing of Adventism.10

And that threat brings me to my next point. An Ad-ventist pastoral ministry and an Adventist educationalministry that has lost its hold on the apocalyptic vision hasfailed—not just partially, but totally. We are in this to-gether. Both our churches and our schools are driftingfrom their moorings.

Let me illustrate. A few weeks ago, I had a call froman academy principal who had been inspired by mykeynote speech at the 2006 division-wide educationalconvention on “Seventh-day Adventist Education andthe Apocalyptic Vision”11 in Nashville, Tennessee. As aresult, he determined to hire teachers who truly under-stood the uniqueness of Adventism and its mission tothe world. Last spring, he went to the local Adventistcollege and interviewed the graduating education majors.His question to each was the same: What is different be-tween Adventist education and evangelical Christian ed-ucation? Not one student could tell him. Somehow thatcollege had failed in passing on our unique identity andmission, even in an institution established to train edu-cational professionals.

That brings me to the bottom line—a school that nolonger understands its reason for being, that has forgot-ten its message and mission, will eventually lose its sup-port. And it should. To be absolutely straightforward, aSeventh-day Adventist school that is not both Christianand Adventist is an unneeded institution. All of its func-tions can be achieved by schools in the evangelical andeven the public sector. Pastor Shane Anderson is ab-solutely right in his recently published How to Kill Ad-ventist Education when he points out that “Adventist par-ents increasingly aren’t willing to pay the price to sendtheir kids” to institutions that have lost their purpose.“After all,” he writes, “why pay thousands of dollars tosend your child to a school that is now no longer substan-tially different from the average Christian school—or thelocal public school—down the street?”12

Now I hear some of you preachers out there saying“Amen!” to that analysis. But don’t get too smug. A lot ofyou are infected by the same disease. I hear your talk aboutfancy cars and nice houses, about the role of the pastor incommunity affairs and social action, about a counselingfocus in ministry, and about the ministerial methods andmessages of T. D. Jakes, Willow Creek, and so on. Thosethings may be good, but if that is all you have, you have

7http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education •• April/May 2010

missed the point of whyyou are an Adventist pas-tor. To put it bluntly, toomany of your churchmembers “are ‘in thechurch,’ attend services,and may even pay tithe,but [they] too often don’tknow who [they] are asAdventists anymore.”13 Too many pastors have becomegood at preaching good white evangelical sermons, goodblack evangelical sermons, and good Hispanic or Asianevangelical sermons, but they have all too often neglectedand avoided the truths and mission that have made us Ad-ventists. In the end, that will lead to self-neutering. Afterall, why go to the Adventist church when the preaching isjust as good (if not better) down the street?

To be blunt: If Adventism has an important messageand mission, let’s hear it in both our schools andchurches, or let’s get out and do something useful andmeaningful with our lives.

The Adventist Church may have two ministries, butwe have one message. And it’s high time we started em-phasizing it in our preaching and teaching with both en-thusiasm and conviction. Preachers and teachers whoare passionate about Adventism will have a contagiousinfluence. But, on the other hand, bored preachers andteachers will pass on their boredness to their congrega-tions and students and thereby accelerate the transitionto Adventist meaninglessness.

By now, we should be clear on our shared evangelicaland Adventist message and mission. But do Adventistteachers and preachers really have the same mission?

The Shared Evangelistic Imperative of Schools and Churches

That question is one increasingly asked by pastors incongregations of all sizes. Some see Ad ventist educationas just one more thing that sucks both energy and cashaway from the important business of the local church.From their perspective, those resources need to be freedup for “more important tasks.” I have heard more thanonce the allegation that Adventist education “is stealingmoney from evangelism.”

A concerned church member wrote that “the pastor ofmy church has decided that Christian education is irrele-vant and not soul winning and therefore our local SDAschool should be closed so as not to waste any more of themoney that he could be putting into his evangelism to winsouls. He has previously sent out e-mails stating that it ishis intention to see the school closed. Last school year theschool presented a church service at each of the con-stituent churches, except ours, because the pastor felt itwas irrelevant to the members and a waste of time, andtold them they were not welcome.” This pastor evenpreached against supporting church schools since this had

no immediate results.14

While that frame ofmind has probably alwaysbeen around to some ex-tent, demographic shiftsin the pastoral workforcehave increased its popu-larity. Let me illustrate.Back in 1965, about

four-fifths of the 45 individuals graduating as theologymajors in my class at Pacific Union College had been ed-ucated in Adventist schools up through academy, withsome 13 of them being Preachers’ Kids (PKs). But forthe past three decades, fewer and fewer PKs are enteringministry, as their own parents have downplayed theunique aspects of the message. Also, an increasing num-ber of adult converts entering the pastoral workforcehave never spent a day in an Adventist church school oracademy. If public school was good enough for them, sothe logic runs, it’s good enough for their church mem-bers’ children. That mentality undoubtedly contributesto the ongoing proportional shrinkage of the denomina-tion’s educational system. In 1945, the ratio of studentsin Adventist schools to church membership was 25 per100. That figure remained somewhat constant until 1965.But since that time, the ratio has dropped off precipi-tously, to 15 per 100 in 1985 and 9 per 100 in 2000. Atthe same time, more non-Adventist students are en-rolling in our schools, which makes the actual ratio ofAdventist students to members closer to 5 per 100.

Some pastors who see the educational system as anti-evangelistic seem to have logical arguments: Since theschool subsidy is often the largest item in the church’sbudget, couldn’t the money from the subsidy and from tu-ition be redirected to “better” purposes? In addition, theresults of education are often not immediately apparent.

But we need to ask whether these assumptions arevalid. One pastor who has never worked for a school vi-olently disagrees. “In my experience,” he writes, “Advent-ist education is one of the most effective ways to prepareyoung people for the second coming of Christ. Further-more, I believe that our schools—rightly run—are moresuccessful at doing this than any other single evangelisticmethod, including Revelation seminars, church planting,felt-needs evangelism, or contemporary worship services.Also I believe that Adventist education has been the keyto propagating our unique Adventist mission in theworld.” He also argues “that our schools are the legs thatultimately keep the Advent movement running.”15

The big question at this point is this: Which of thetwo arguments has the force of truth behind it? For theshort answer to that question, we only need to turn toworld history. It is no accident that both nations andchurches have sought to control education. It has beenevident to all that whoever shapes educational policyalso shapes the future. Thus, it is not too difficult to see


t is no accident that historically,bursts in spiritual revival and mission outreach in Adventism havebeen accompanied by educational expansion.

I

the logic in early Adventism’s establishing an educationalsystem that would prepare both future members and fu-ture leaders.

Moving beyond the social function of the system, weneed to grasp the power of teacher influence. Most pastorsdo well to see their people one or two hours a week, andcommunicate mostly in large impersonal gatherings toadults who have already formed their characters and havemade most of life’s important decisions. In contrast, theaverage elementary school teacher has face-to-face contactwith impressionable students 30 hours per week.

Let me ask you in utmost seriousness: What kind ofperson do you want to have that kind of influence onyour child? Who do you want to define his or her atti-tudes and values? A nonbeliever, a Christian with a dif-ferent understanding of the Bible, or a like-minded, ded-icated, believing Adventist? Never forget that teachersare powerful links between your children and God anda Christian Adventist way of thinking and lifestyle.Teachers will in one way or another influence your chil-dren’s understanding of truth and values.

At this point, I need to drop in a personal illustration.As a young pastor in Galveston, Texas, I had a very ded-icated professional family who desired with all theirhearts to educate their only child in the best way possible.They agreed that the public system was not the answer.But there was no Adventist school. They finally decidedthat a Catholic school was better than secularism. Theywere somewhat shocked when their daughter elected tobecome a nun. That may have been acceptable for aRoman Catholic family, but not for that Adventist cou-ple. They had discovered the power of education as alife-shaping event.

There is no doubt as to the evangelistic potential ofAdventist education. But now we need to ask if its de-mands really do suck the finances and life out of achurch. The only longitudinal study on the topic that Iam aware of is a five-year study that revealed thatchurches that were not related to a school experiencedon average a loss of both membership and tithe eachyear of the study, while those supporting a church schoolexperienced increases in both tithe and membership eachyear.16 Along that line, it is no accident that historically,bursts in spiritual revival and mission outreach in Ad-ventism have been accompanied by educational expan-sion.17 The two go hand in hand.

It should be obvious by now that Adventists in thepastoral ministry and Adventists in the educational min-istry have one message and one mission. They both workto reach a lost world for whom salvation in Christ andbelief in His glorious appearing are the only real hope.

Both ministries are educational, both are pastoral, andthe health of each of them is linked to that of the other.Both are frontline operations in the war against sin andevil. And both prosper most when supported by the other.It is therefore absolutely crucial for educational clergy to

privately and publicly support their pastoral brothers andsisters; and for pastoral clergy to energetically supporttheir educational counterparts. Healthy schools have agood relationship with their sponsoring churches; and oneof a school’s best supporters, in terms of both studentsand finances, is a supportive pastor.

Only on resurrection morning will those of us whohave been in the ministry of teaching and the ministryof pastoring fully realize the results of our work. MayGod keep each of us working together until that day. ✐


NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. Martin Luther, “Sermon on the Duty of Sending Children toSchool,” in Luther on Education, by F. V. N. Painter (Philadelphia:Lutheran Publication Society, 1889), p. 264.

2. F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Ephesians (Westwood, N.J.: Flem-ing H. Revell, 1961), p. 86. For more on the ministry of teaching, seeGeorge R. Knight, Philosophy and Education: An Introduction in Chris-tian Perspective, 4th ed. (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrews UniversityPress, 2006), pp. 204-221.

3. Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific PressPubl. Assn., 1952), p. 13.

4. Ibid., pp. 14, 15.5. Ibid., pp. 15, 16.6. Ibid., p. 30.7. Edwin H. Rian, “The Need: A World View,” in John Paul von

Grueningen, ed., Toward a Christian Philosophy of Higher Education(Philadelphia: Westminster, 1957), pp. 30, 31.

8. Herbert Welch, The Christian College (New York: MethodistBook Concern, 1916), p. 21.

9. Ellen G. White, Fundamentals of Christian Education (Nashville:Southern Publ. Assn., 1923), p. 436. For more on the aims of Christianeducation, see George R. Knight: Myths in Adventism: An InterpretiveStudy of Ellen White, Education, and Related Issues (Washington, D.C.:Review and Herald Publ. Assn., 1985, 2010), pp. 47-57.

10. George R. Knight, The Apocalyptic Vision and the Neutering ofAdventism (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Publ. Assn., 2008;rev. ed. 2009).

11. George R. Knight, “Seventh-day Adventist Education and theApocalyptic Vision,” parts 1 and 2, The Journal of Adventist Education69:4 (April/May 2007), pp. 4-10; 69:5 (Summer 2007), pp. 4-9.

12. Shane Anderson, How to Kill Adventist Education (and How toGive It a Fighting Chance!) (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and HeraldPubl. Assn., 2009), pp. 22, 56.

13. Ibid., p. 30.14. See George R. Knight, “Why Have Adventist Education?” The

Journal of Adventist Education 67:5 (Summer 2005), p. 6.15. Anderson, How to Kill Adventist Education, op cit., pp. 12, 144.16. Editors, interviewing Larry Blackmer, “Gathering Greatness,”

Adventist Review (July 27, 2006), pp. 8-13.17. See George R. Knight, “The Dynamics of Educational Expan-

sion: A Lesson From Adventist History,” The Journal of Adventist Ed-ucation 52:4 (April/May 1990), pp. 13-19, 44, 45.

Now retired in Oregon, Dr. George R.Knight taught educational philosophyand church history at Andrews Univer-sity in Berrien Springs, Michigan, for30 years.

This article has been peer reviewed.


GALILEO

BY FLOYD GREENLEAF

ACADEMIC FREEDOM ON SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST

CAMPUSES

T E A C H I N G I N T H E S H A D O W O F

“No teacher in our schools,” Ellen White wrote in 1891, “should sug-gest the idea that, in order to have the right discipline, it is essentialto study text-books expressing pagan and infidel sentiments.”1 Nine-teen years earlier, in her first statement about education, she declaredthat young people should not read novels and love stories becausethey were injurious to mental health.2 By 1884, she had extended herwarning to “infidel authors,” specifically naming Thomas Paine andRobert Ingersoll.3 When writing The Ministry of Healing, publishedin 1905, she added the Greek tragedies to her list of dangerous literature,quoting an undocumented source that they were filled with “‘incest,murder and human sacrifices to lustful and revengeful gods.’”4

characteristics of higher education.Adventist teachers have experienced many of the same

issues of academic freedom as their peers in public andprivate education. However, belief in the primacy ofScripture has been the central issue of academic freedomin Adventist education. Also of importance has been thequestion of how concepts of morality should shape cur-riculum. This article will address two problems of aca-demic freedom affecting Adventist schools: (1) doctrinalorthodoxy and (2) the conflict between revealed truthand empirical data, which forms the basis of the debatebetween evolution and creation.

Historical Background of Academic FreedomAlthough some scholars trace the notion of academic

freedom to medieval times, it was during the 19th cen-tury in Europe that the concept began to acquire its

modern form. During that revolu-tion-racked period, the Germanprofessoriate exerted new effortsto guard against interference bypolitically intrusive princes. Themany American students attend-ing German universities duringthis era returned home with newlyformed convictions about aca-demic freedom. Motivated bythese concepts, U.S. teachers or-ganized the American Associationof University Professors (AAUP)in 1915 for the express purpose ofpreserving their “right” to re-search and teach both conven-tional and controversial ideasunder the mantra of the pursuit

of truth. AAUP’s 1915 Declaration of Principles dubbedthe religious school an “instrument of propaganda.”6

Twenty-five years later, AAUP and the Association ofAmerican Colleges (AAC) jointly issued the “1940 State-ment of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure,”which declared that institutions had the right to deter-mine what they would teach and who should teach it,and that teachers were free to investigate and disseminateinformation in published form and in the classroom.Thus, academic freedom consisted of two parts, freedomfor institutions and freedom for teachers.

The 1940 statement allowed only minimal restraints onacademic freedom. Professors were to be decent and hon-est when they questioned conventional wisdom andknowledge. They were to restrict themselves to their pro-fessional expertise. Academic freedom did not allow themto violate the law or treat their colleagues with incivilitywhen defending their ideas. Their publications and class-room discussions were to be serious, not flippantly con-troversial. For example, professors could not advocate thatthe moon is a poached egg. AAUP conceded that religious


In 1987, the General Conference approved an officialstatement about academic freedom that described theChristian professor as “responsible” and “mature” witha responsibility “to investigate, teach, and publish withinthe area of his academic competence, without externalrestraint, but with a due regard for the character andaims of the institution which provides him with creden-tials, and with concern for the spiritual and the intellec-tual needs of his students.”5 Referring to the Fun da mentalBeliefs of Seventh-day Adventists, the statement addedthat “[i]t is expected that a teacher in one of the Church’seducational institutions will not teach as truth what iscontrary to those fundamental truths.”

How did Seventh-day Adventists arrive at the currentofficial denominational stance on academic freedom,given Ellen White’s advice, which some would now re-gard as censorship? What does the official statementmean to Adventist educators in the21st century?

We need to keep in mind thatMrs. White’s statements fell shortof a mandate. She seldom issuedan ultimatum. She characterizedherself as a messenger, and inkeeping with that role, she typi-cally proffered her advice as mes-sages from God but left her hear-ers to decide how to respond. Alsoworth remembering is that EllenWhite wrote her advice aboutreading habits and curriculumcontent at a time when the conceptof academic freedom as educatorslater defined it had not yetemerged in American education.She intended her statements to maintain the authorityof Scripture and to uphold its spiritual power. Probablywithout realizing it, she had staked out the central themein debates about academic freedom that later broke outin Adventist schools.

The primary purpose of academic freedom hasbeen to protect teachers when they handle controversialtopics in their attempts to expand the boundaries ofknowledge, but it also touches aspects of education be-yond research, publication, and curriculum. Educatorscommonly view rank and tenure, job security, and insti-tutional autonomy as issues of academic freedom. Alsowithin the purview of academic freedom are institutionalexpectations for part-time or contract teachers as op-posed to full-time tenured faculty, and the role of facultyin proprietary schools. Academicians and administratorsaround the world understand and practice academicfreedom differently, depending on their educational, po-litical, and social traditions. In certain places it may notexist, while in some Western countries, especially theUnited States, academic freedom is one of the defining

ow did Seventh-day Adventists arrive at the current official denominational stance on academic freedom? . . . .What does the officialstatement mean to Advent-ist educators in the 21stcentury?

H

institutions could place additional caveats on instructionalpersonnel, but administrators had to make the restrictionsclear before employing teachers.7

Three decades later, AAUP withdrew its endorsementof exceptions for religious schools, and in 1988, soughtto brand Christian campuses as unauthentic seats oflearning. The attempt failed, but AAUP continued to re-gard religious schools as intellectually unfree environ-ments. However, by 1996, the subcommittee on academicfreedom acknowledged that such institutions “con-tribute to the pluralistic richness of the American intel-lectual landscape.”8 AAUP also initiated conferencesspecifically for faculties of Christian schools to discussand, if possible, resolve issues of academic freedom pe-culiar to their campuses.9

Unforeseen obstacles had probably prompted AAUPto reduce its pressure on religious schools. Some havesuggested that AAUP has ceased to be an effective en-forcer of academic freedom, that it has become more ofa labor union than a professional organization, and thatboth individuals and institutions ignore its censures ofspecific schools for alleged violations.10

AAUP also felt pressure from religious schools. In1990, Pope John Paul II issued Ex Corde Ecclesiae, astatement that required all professors of Catholic theol-ogy to be members of the church and to receive a man-date from the local bishop in order to teach. Further, ExCorde said that while professors were entitled to freedomof inquiry, not all inquiry was legitimate. Reaction fromthe Catholic academic community was both positive andnegative,11 but it was apparent that the church’s manyreputable institutions, such as the University of NotreDame, were in no real danger of censure by AAUP.

It was also significant that religious education contin-ued to thrive. During the 1990s, enrollments on evangelicalcampuses rose sharply.12 Regional accrediting as sociationshad recognized many of these schools, so it came as nosurprise that AAUP stated in 1996 that it would usuallynot be “appropriate” to censure them for limitations onacademic freedom.13 Although the wording in accredita-tion standards differs among the regional accrediting as-sociations, all support the concept that academic free-dom should be appropriate to the mission of individualinstitutions.14

AAUP’s quarrel with religious schools hinged on con-flicting philosophies of truth. Academia in general hascommitted itself to a search for truth through investiga-tion, testing, and questioning in the context of neutralityand uninhibited dialogue. This kind of truth is empirical,measurable, and amoral. It is discoverable through in-ductive processes. Information so acquired is descriptive.It is true because it describes measurable reality as accu-rately as testing permits.

Teachers in religious schools accept and use inductiveprocesses. Christians may research and discover descrip-tive truth in the same manner as atheists. Both could arrive

at the same conclusions when devel-oping pharmaceuticals, fire retar-dants, and efficient fuels. This kindof search is not theological, eventhough committed Christians mayseek to improve the well being of hu-manity for theological reasons. Theirconvictions do not presuppose a biasin the data they gather from research.

But Christians and atheists maystudy geology or paleontology andreach opposing conclusions eventhough they use est ab lished researchmethods and compile credi ble data.They have parted com pany withAAUP on the philosophy of truth.

Religious institutions teach thatthe search for truth extends beyondneutrality and descriptive truth be-cause all reality leads to God, whohas a moral presence in the universe.Christians recognize that knowledgeof biblical matters may sometimesdepend on evidence resulting frominductive search, but final under-standing of such evidence dependson revealed truth because it derives from God’s self-dis-closure in Scripture. Understanding ultimate truth thus in-evitably leads to the theological and moral, which by def-inition is prescriptive.

Despite the idealistic claims of secular academics thatthey engaged in the logical and neutral pursuit of truth,and years of collaborative promotion by AAUP and AAC,the assertion that academic freedom is a right remainedan open question. In 1940, the New York Supreme Courtblocked the appointment of Bertrand Russell to the fac-ulty of City College, declaring in Kay v. Board of HigherEducation of New York City that he was morally unfit toteach college students and that academic freedom was nota convincing argument to hire him.15

This ruling did not cause AAUP to fold its tents andretreat. For six years it had been holding joint discus-sions with AAC about academic freedom, and before theend of 1940 the two organizations issued the statementthat became the gold standard for American education.In time, the courts issued a different ruling.

After hearing the case of Sweezy v. New Hampshire, theU.S. Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision in1957 that defended unorthodoxy and dissent in an aca-demic setting. The net effect of the ruling was to protectteachers whose lectures treated controversial topics, in thiscase activities alleged to be subversive. Ten years later, inKeyishian v. Board of Regents, the Court stated that thecountry was “deeply committed to safeguarding academicfreedom, which is of transcendent value to all of us.”16

Although the notion of academic freedom in the


United States derives from the constitutional principle offree speech, it is not a provision of the Constitution itself,nor does it appear in law. Its status as a right in the U.S. isthe outcome of judicial precedents, and the debate aboutits philosophical nature goes on. As recently as 2008, Stan-ley Fish, a law professor at Florida International Univer-sity, called it a concept comparable to the traditions of themedieval guild system rather than a right.17

Academic Freedom and Theology in Adventist SchoolsUntil the 1960s, Seventh-day Adventist campuses were

comparatively untouched by the debate over academicfreedom. Given the rumors that AAUP was on the vergeof rescinding its support for exceptions to religiousschools, leading lights in Adventist education began toponder the role of academic freedom on denominationalcampuses. Their activity coincided with the years immedi-ately after Emmanuel Missionary College and the Collegeof Medical Evangelists achieved new status as Andrewsand Loma Linda universities. On both campuses, issuesrelating to scholarly activities were part of the atmosphere.

Acting on a proposal from the General Conference(GC) officers and the union presidents, who also chairedthe college boards, the 1964 Autumn Council affirmedthe primacy of Scripture in Adventist scholarship. Thefollowing year, Adventist college and university admin-istrators in North America appointed a committee offive institutional presidents to submit, within two years,a more comprehensive statement about academic free-dom. These discussions sparked debate and produced a

spate of articles in the Journal of True Education.18 In1987, after approximately two decades of discussion andtrial balloons, the denomination issued “A Statement onTheological and Academic Freedom.”

Although Adventist educators did not debate academicfreedom per se until about 90 years after the first denom-inational college opened its doors, Ellen White’s state-ments indicate that the issue existed from the days of Bat-tle Creek College. One of the first cases erupted in 1889when President W. W. Prescott hired E. J. Waggoner to lec-ture on justification by faith, the topic that had split theMinneapolis General Conference session the previous No-vember. Prescott also asked Uriah Smith, who had im-placably opposed Waggoner’s views at Minneapolis, toconduct some classes. But Smith and his sympathizers didnot appreciate Prescott’s evenhandedness. Their incendi-ary reaction led to a meeting of the theological adversariesin an effort to settle the disagreement peaceably. Waggonerleft the campus, but Prescott himself taught some of Wag-goner’s classes and followed his theology.19

Although academic freedom as we understand it wasunknown at the time, the incident had all the ingredientsto instigate a debate over the right of honest dissent. Bothsides of the argument—Smith and his circle opposed byWaggoner and Prescott, supported by denominationalleaders, including Ellen White—saw the issue as the pro-tection of theological truth as Adventists should teach it.It was a case of traditional orthodoxy vis-a-vis an attemptto modify orthodoxy.

Orthodoxy was also the issue seven years later whenabout a dozen teachers left Battle Creek because the col-lege president believed that they had imbibed ideas incom-patible with Adventism while obtaining professional train-ing at secular institutions. As irony would have it, most of


Left to right: Battle Creek College, Battle Creek, Michigan; Uriah Smith; E. J. Waggoner

them found employment at localchurch schools. Frederick Griggs,the best known of the group, be-came principal of South LancasterAcademy (South Lancaster, Massa-chusetts) and later one of the mostpowerful voices in Adventist educa-tion.20

Once again, orthodoxy was thequestion at Walla Walla College(College Place, Washington) in1938 when the college board dis-missed three religion teachers, al-leging that they held deviant viewsabout the sanctuary, one of Adven-tism’s defining doctrines. William Landeen, the collegepresident, also resigned. According to Walla Walla his-torian Terrie Aamodt, the board opposed him on gen-eral principles.21

Other incidents relating to academic freedom occurredduring the last half of the 20th century. One of the mostwidely known unfolded in the 1970s when many ministersbegan preaching what many loosely called “new theology.”Critics accused them of teaching, among other things,cheap grace that undermined the law of God. AustralianDesmond Ford came to symbolize the movement, espe-cially after 1979, when he challenged the denomination’slong-standing teaching on the sanctuary and the theolog-ical meaning of 1844. At a hearing a year later, the denom-ination upheld its traditional view, but in the wake of thenew theology movement, some dismissals occurred.Among them was Ford himself.22

A different angle on the issue of academic freedom andtheological orthodoxy in an academic setting appeared dur-ing the 1990s in a series of events related to ministerial ed-ucation. Actions in 1994 in effect affirmed that the churchhad the right to determine how its ministers would betrained, and placed ministerial education under the purviewof the General Conference as it functioned through the di-visions. A 1998 measure established the International Boardof Ministerial and Theological Education (IBMTE) to con-trol theological training, using the world divisions as seatsof authority.23 In spirit it resembled Ex Corde Ecclesiaethough it differed in functional details.

While the world divisions in general conformed to thenew measures, tertiary institutions in the North AmericanDivision resisted IBMTE. The crux of the issue was a pro-vision that required each teacher of religion to sign whatamounted to a loyalty oath and to undergo periodicscrutiny according to criteria established by the IBMTE.This procedure determined whether religion teacherswould continue to be certified to teach. NAD universitiesand colleges argued that IBMTE established an externalbody that usurped the authority of their institutionalboards by controlling employment, which violated theterms of their secular accreditation. In like manner, they

asserted, the new authority in-fringed on institutional academicfreedom. North American tertiaryadministrators also believed that theproposed loyalty oaths were unnec-essary because institutional policystatements already contained con-trols that spelled out expectations re-lating to loyalty and due process.24

After more than a decade, many is-sues in the relationship between theIBMTE and the North AmericanDivision union-operated schools re-main unresolved.

Academic Freedom and Science in Adventist SchoolsIssues of academic freedom involved many fields of

study, but the most significant ones related to science andScripture. Through the 1920s, Adventist schools treatedevolution as a theological problem. Although GeorgeMcCready Price, a self-taught geologist, had long advo-cated that Adventists should confront evolutionists ontheir own scientific ground, denominational scienceteachers did little to follow his advice.

Even after public outcry made a martyr-hero out ofa high school biology teacher in Tennessee whom thecourt convicted in 1925 for teaching evolution, the de-nomination continued to react slowly to the threat thatevolution represented to creationism and Adventist ed-ucation. Five years passed before the General Confer-ence officially affirmed the traditional Adventist beliefin creation as contained in Genesis.25 When a revised setof Fundamental Beliefs appeared in the 1931 edition ofthe SDA Yearbook, creation was not included.26

In 1938, denominational math and science teachersbegan meeting periodically to discuss professional issues,among them the problem of teaching creation in the faceof the mounting strength of evolution among both sci-entists and the general population. In 1957, after radio-carbon dating posed additional challenges to Adventistviews about the age of the earth, the General Conferencefounded a permanent body, the Geoscience Research In-stitute, to investigate questions of origins, the age of theearth, and the biblical flood.27

As early as 1929, there was some pluralism among Ad-ventist teachers on these topics,28 but those early questionsdid not threaten denominational belief in a divinely cre-ated universe. However, as the work of the GRI continued,Adventist scientists discovered more questions that weredifficult to answer, which magnified the pluralism of thedenomination’s scientific community. Adventist scientistssupported the divine origin of the earth and the universe,but increasing variations appeared in their explanations ofthe creative process, which further challenged the denom-ination’s long-standing view of the age of the earth.

By 2001, the situation reached such proportions that


lthough some scholars trace the notionof academic freedom to medieval times, it wasduring the 19th centuryin Europe that the con-cept began to acquire itsmodern form.

A

the General Conference organized a three-year sequenceof faith and science conferences. Because these questionshad spread around the globe, the world divisions wereinvited to conduct regional conferences and participatein two plenary sessions. The basic topic was not thetruthfulness of creation but the “interplay of faith, sci-ence, and philosophy” as it affected Adventist under-standing of the Genesis account.29 The discussions, then,sought to develop better understanding about how to in-tegrate a belief that had become a subject of scientificinquiry into a confessional faith.

The product of the conferences was “An Affirmationof Creation,” which upheld the doctrine of the literal, six-day creation and a young earth. The statement also recog-nized the legitimacy of scientific methodology, com mendedAdventist scientists for their contributions to the church,and recognized the “growing” nature of Ad ventist under-standing of biblical matters. The document recommendeda revision of Fun damental Belief Six in order to rectifywhat some thought was “a lack of clarity” in the officialstatement of belief in creation. The Annual Counciladopted the document but declined to re-vise the Fundamental Belief.30

The 2004 Annual Council culminatedthe faith and science conferences but didnot end the debate. Before the decade wasover, La Sierra University (Riverside, Cal-ifornia) became the epicenter of a stormof allegations about teachers promotingevolution in their classrooms, which drewan appeal from General Conference Pres-ident Jan Paulsen to Adventist collegeand university professors, as well as otherchurch employees, to “reflect our stand asa community on Creation.” Paulsen recognized the legiti-macy of informing students about the “concepts of evo-lution,” but stated that the home of Adventist students wasin the world of faith.31

Observations About Academic Freedom Within Adventism

A decade into the 21st century, Seventh-day Adventisteducation finds itself precariously balanced between thedenomination’s long-standing belief in biblical creationand variations of belief that test that position. Several el-ements of academic freedom are important to remember.

Despite AAUP’s campaign to portray religiousschools as unable to engage in the genuine pursuit oftruth, it is unlikely that limitations on academic freedomwill disappear. Calvin College philosopher Lee Hardyhas observed that AAUP took its original stand on aca-demic freedom in 1915, during an era when the prevail-ing opinion expected that science would replace religionand remake the world. AAUP asserted that only neutral-ity by the schools would achieve success in the pursuitof truth and allow this transformation to occur.32

But Gary A. Olson, provost at Idaho State University,has argued persuasively that limits are necessary, given theproclivity of many academics to unprofessional behav-ior.33 His words offer a pessimistic commentary on the ex-pectations of a prior generation that untrammeled intel-lectual activity would change the world.

As for neutrality, it has proved to be not only an elu-sive but also a dubious goal, especially in view of thegrowing need to teach students to make choices in acomplex and changing world. In 2006, the board of di-rectors of the American Association of Colleges andUniversities, AAUP’s comrade in arms in the battle foracademic freedom, published an official statement whichsays that merely teaching both sides of an issue is notenough; teachers in higher education must also help stu-dents learn to weigh information and make value judg-ments.34 This view does not presuppose a specific set ofbeliefs, but members of the academy find it difficult toteach values in an intellectual vacuum.

With a 33-year career at Calvin College, Duke Uni-versity, and Notre Dame behind him, George Marsden

denied that science and the scientific method furnish thegreatest hope for humanity. Religious education, despiteits constraints on the spirit of inquiry, offers meaningand more realistic explanations of human limits.35

Lee Hardy adds that people do not participate in aca-demic activity with blank minds. All intellectual searchingbegins with assumptions, he states, and using religious be-lief as the beginning point for intellectual exploration doesnot inhibit the pursuit of truth, but rather enhances it byproviding a framework of meaning and purpose.36

Educators almost uniformly agree that caveats underwhich religious higher education function are unquestion-ably constraints on the traditional interpretation of aca-demic freedom. However, both the academic communityand the public are less prone than they were a century agoto accept the claim that science will transform the world.

Arguments in favor of responsible limitations foundedon creedal beliefs have become more sophisticated andphilosophical, and educators operating within these con-straints declare that they experience as much if not moreintellectual satisfaction as those who claim to be neutral(if, indeed, neutrality is even possible). We can only spec-


egional accrediting associations had recognized many [evangelical] schools, so it came as no surprise that AAUP stated in 1996 that it would usually not be “appropriate” to censure them for limitations on academic freedom.

R

ulate about the impact of thesetrends on AAUP, but its recent his-tory suggests that it recognizes itcannot completely rule out reli-gious influences in educationwithout violating its own com-mitment to free discussion.

All of this has affectedAdventist education. Fol-lowing the adoption of “AnAffirmation of Creation”in 2004, some denomina-tional pub li ca tions in-creased the rate and thepenetrating quality ofarticles about the de-bate over evo lution.Representative of thosein Ministry was a submission byRonald L. Carter, at the time dean of LomaLinda University’s School of Science and Technology,who discussed the strengths and weaknesses in explana-tions employed by both creationists and evolutionists tosupport their beliefs. While rejecting evolution as an ex-planation of origins, he confessed his intellectual respectfor it and urged his readers to obtain more reliable infor-mation about evolution in order to avoid expressing mis-taken opinions about its claims. Some elements that manyconsider to be evolutionist, he stated, are compatible withthe biblical account of creation.37

In 2007, Dialogue, a publication housed in the GeneralConference Department of Education, printed an articleby Geoscience Research Institute Director James Gibsondiscussing the tension between faith and reason as illus-trated by the conflict between creation and evolution. Gib-son suggested modifications in the interpretation of theGenesis story that, in his view, would not violate Adventistbelief. He also reminded his readers that all proofs derivefrom assumptions and that assumptions determine proofs.While neither creation nor evolution is conclusively prov-able in the inductive sense, each rests its appeal to authen-ticity on a priori assumptions. Adventists should expect tobase their belief in the biblical account of creation onfaith, not on scientific proof.38

Gibson’s article states that people dealing with thesame data reach different conclusions because of con-trasting epistemologies. But Andrews University mathe-matician Shandelle Henson points out that quarrels arisebecause thinkers in pursuit of truth do not understandthe nature of epistemologies.39 Beginning her explanationof the pursuit of truth with the pure deductive processesof mathematics, she moves to inductive procedures of sci-ence—where math becomes the measuring tool to testtruth. To define truth, deductive and inductive reasoningmust work together. Henson places the arts and human-ities where human wisdom, judgment, and expression set

the norm, as beyondthe domains of deduc-

tive and inductive rea-soning. She observes that

as one moves from thepure logic of mathematics

to humanities in the searchfor truth, one sacrifices pre-

cision of knowledge formeaning and values, but ironi-

cally, mathematics itself derivesfrom axiomatic truths, which are

actually unproven assumptionsthat appear to be self-evident. In

the end, she concludes, each episte-mology is valid in its own way and

deserves respect. Henson’s model suggests that in the

pursuit of truth, truth itself has becomea moving object on the epistemological

horizon and that even math ematics, theultimate standard of objective measure-

ment, rests upon unproven assumptionsdeemed to be truth. Truth has come full circle.

Nineteenth-century Adventists founded the church’seducation system on a commitment to revealed truth,but nearly 130 years later, the creation-evolution debatehas moved the pursuit of truth to the scrutiny of induc-tive research tested by deductive mathematical processes.Truth is not always a fixed position; sometimes it is anadvancing point in the continuum of understanding.

A comparison of the 1872, 1931, and 1980 statementsof Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Beliefs rein-forces this idea. While we claim a historical continuity inbeliefs, the many differences among the statementsdemonstrate that what we regard as fundamental andhow we phrase our articles of beliefs have obviouslychanged over time.

George Knight has aptly reminded Adventists that“pres ent truth” conveys the notion of dynamic rather thanfixed beliefs. Referring to three Fundamental Beliefs, he ex-plains that the actual content has changed from what thefounders of Adventism and many 19th-century denomina-tional leaders taught.40 The reasons for these changes vary,but they all pivot on the church’s understanding of Truth,which shifts from generation to generation. Clearly, in rela-tion to academic freedom, changes that we visualize as im-provements could never have occurred without the freedomof theologians and academicians to challenge either an ex-isting belief or the way we express it.

The 2004 Annual Council did not reject the recom-mendation to revise Fundamental Belief Six because thechurch cannot change its Fundamental Beliefs. That Be-lief does not say anything about the age of the earth be-cause the Bible itself is silent about it. It would be con-tradictory for Adventism to adopt a Fundamental Belief


Scripture.42 And the Bible is unequivocal about the roleof faith in one’s confession of belief. It is not a sign ofspiritual weakness to admit that human limitations ofboth knowledge and understanding exist.

Another biblical example illustrates the point. AfterJob and his comforters strenuously debated about God’scharacter and His response to human frailties, JehovahHimself interrupted their conversation with a few ques-tions of His own. “Where were you,” He asked, “when Ilaid the earth’s foundations? Tell me, if you know andunderstand.” What follows is a lengthy sequence of ques-tions about the natural world that neither Job nor hisfriends could answer. “Doubtless you know all this; foryou were born already,” God says at one point, almosttaunting human pretension, “so long is the span of yourlife!”43 No one can miss the point. Neither God nor Hiscreation is completely reducible to human understand-ing, much less to formula and theory.

This is a truth from wisdom that scientists have longaccepted. In 1629, while proclaiming the reality of theCopernican explanation of the universe in opposition tothe long-held Ptolemaic system, the Italian mathemati-cian and scientist Galileo complained that those “whowere totally unskilled at astronomical observationsought not to clip the wings of reflective intellects bymeans of rash prohibitions.”44 But he also confessed hisbelief in the ultimate source of knowledge and admittedthe responsibility that accompanied free investigationand publication. Claiming that God gave humans the“right to argue about the constitution of the universe,”he added that “we cannot discover the work of His hands.Let us, then, exercise these activities permitted to us andordained by God, that we may recognize and thereby somuch the more admire His greatness, however much lessfit we may find ourselves to penetrate the profound depthsof His infinite wisdom.”45

About four centuries of investigation, reflection anddiscussion have enabled us to add exponentially to whatGalileo knew about the universe, but this knowledge hasnot enabled us to improve on his advice. ✐

about the age of the earth founded on extra-biblicalsources, including Ellen White, and maintain its claim tosola scriptura. This situation leaves the question of theage of the earth open to discussion.

In the 19th century, Ellen White inadvertently beganthe Adventist discussion about academic freedom by up-holding God’s Word. Although she advocated total ab-stinence from some of the things on which people fedtheir minds, she also recognized that acquainting oneselfabout an issue is not the same thing as accepting it astruth. In 1889, she called for a more educated ministryto counteract the growing intellectual skill of those whopromote unbelief. “Study should never cease,” she ad-vised. “[I]t must be continued all through the period ofhis [the minister’s] labor, no matter how well qualifiedfor the labor he may think himself to be.”41

Guidelines for TeachersAre there any guidelines for Adventist teachers to fol-

low when handling controversial issues under the um-brella of academic freedom? Some rules of thumb arehelpful, but teachers must establish their own modusoperandi according to their disciplines and personal style.With respect to the freedom that Adventist scientistshave to study relationships linking origins, the age of theearth, and the biblical flood, it is wise to remember thatcontroversy is inherent in these topics. We can expectnew ideas to arise, but in the classroom, it is importantto heed Shandelle Henson’s advice to honor the validityof differing epistemologies when weighing the meaningof knowledge and concepts.

Jesus once told a story about a man burning in hellwho simultaneously held a conversation with Abraham.Although actual people and places are named in thestory, the parable was not intended to teach anythingabout the proximity of heaven and hell or the existenceof an eternal hell, but rather conveyed a truth about theprinciples of eternal justice. We accept this lesson, notbecause it is the product of inductive search but becauseit is revealed truth. In a similar manner, an old fable thatproposes a truth based on wisdom and insights intohuman nature conceivably could declare that the moonis a poached egg, but teachers cannot utter such a pre-posterous claim in science classes. New ideas requirescrutiny; they destroy religious belief only if we allowthem to do so. In this context, it is also good to remindourselves that new ideas are often challenges to our un-derstanding of Scripture and how inspiration worksrather than attacks upon scriptural integrity. Epistemo-logical integrity is important.

Cindy Tutsch of the Ellen G. White Estate andLeonard Brand of Loma Linda University point to an-other critical guideline when they advise teachers thatthe basic tenor of the Adventist classroom should besupportive of Scripture. Students should not remain indoubt about teachers’ commitment to the authority of


Floyd Greenleaf, Ph.D., is a retiredprofessor of history and vice-presidentfor academic administration at South-ern Adventist University and the au-thor of In Passion for the World: AHistory of Seventh-day AdventistEducation (Pacific Press, 2005).

He co-authored Light Bearers: A History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (Pacific Press, 2000), which hasbeen published in Spanish (2002) and Portuguese (2009),and The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Latin Americaand the Caribbean (Andrews University Press, 1992).




1. Ellen G. White, “Books in Our Schools,” Review and Herald (No-vember 10, 1891), p. 99.

2. __________, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View, Calif.:Pacific Press Publ. Assn., 1948), vol. 3, p. 152.

3. __________, “Danger of Reading Fictitious and Infidel Books,”Youth’s Instructor (September 10, 1884).

4. __________, The Ministry of Healing (Mountain View: PacificPress Publ. Assn., 1942), p. 443.

5. General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, “A Statementon Theological and Academic Freedom and Accountability” (1987):http://www.adventist.org.

6. For brief historical summaries of academic freedom, see Keld J.Reynolds, “Some Observations on Academic Freedom,” The Journalof True Education (March/April 1965), pp. 16-19; and Earle Hilgert,“Academic Freedom,” ibid. (February/March 1967), pp. 16-19. See alsoLee Hardy, “The Value of Limitations,” Academe (January/February2006). Academe is the official report of the AAUP. Materials fromAAUP cited in these endnotes can be found in the online edition:http://www.aaup.org.

7. AAUP, “1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedomand Tenure.”

8. Ibid. See also comments by George M. Marsden, “LiberatingAcademic Freedom,” Leadership University: http://www.leaderu.com.

9. AAUP, “Conference Looks at Religion and Academic Freedom,”Academe (July/August 2000); Martin D. Snyder, “State of the Profes-sion: Academic Freedom and Religion,” ibid. (May/June 2003).

10. See Jerry Gaff, “Academic Freedom and Accreditation”:http://www.chea.org/Research. Gaff delivered this speech at the annualCouncil for Higher Education Accreditation, January 25-27, 2010.

11. Academe opened its columns to the debate among Catholic the-ologians. Arguing against the papal statement was Daniel C. Maguire,“Academic Freedom and the Vatican’s Ex Corde Ecclesiae,” Academe(May/June 2002). At the time of his article, Maguire was professor of re-ligious ethics at Marquette University, a Catholic institution. Declaringhis support of John Paul II was Bernard Olszewski, “Critical IntellectualInquiry at Catholic Colleges,” ibid. (January/February 2006). Olszewskiwas vice president for academic affairs at Hilbert College.

12. Kenneth Wagner, “Faith Statements Do Restrict AcademicFreedom,” ibid. Wagner teaches in the Department of Criminal Justiceat Radford University.

13. Marsden, “Liberating Academic Freedom,” op cit. 14. AAUP, “Regional Accreditation Standards Concerning Aca-

demic Freedom and the Faculty Role in Governance.” 15. John S. Brubacher, The Law and Higher Education: A Casebook

(Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, 1971), vol. 1, pp. 219-226.

16. Ibid., pp. 265-343; AAUP, “1940 Statement of Principles onAcademic Freedom and Tenure.”

17. Stanley Fish, “Academic Freedom Is Not a Divine Right,” TheChronicle of Higher Education (September 5, 2008).

18. General Conference Minutes, October 25, 1964; Minutes, Col-lege and University Administrators’ Meeting, August 2-5, 1965, Gen-eral Conference Archives and Statistics, Record Group 51. See SydneyAllen, “Academic Freedom,” Journal of True Education (April 1963),pp. 8, 9; Keld J. Reynolds, “Some Observations on Academic Free-dom,” ibid. (March/April 1965), pp. 16-19; Earle Hilgert, “AcademicFreedom,” ibid. (February/March 1967), pp. 16-19; Reuben Hilde, “ALook at Academic Freedom,” ibid. (Summer 1969), pp. 14, 15.

19. Gilbert Valentine, The Shaping of Adventism: the Case of W.W. Prescott (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrews University Press, 1992),pp. 49-51.

20. Emmet K. Vande Vere, The Wisdom Seekers (Nashville, Tenn.:Southern Publ. Assn., 1972), p. 81.

21. Terrie Aamodt, “The Walla Walla Witch Hunt of 1938,” Spec-

trum (September 1997), pp. 11-26.22. For a summary of these events, see Floyd Greenleaf, Light

Bearers: A History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (Nampa,Idaho: Pacific Press Publ. Assn., 2000), pp. 633, 634.

23. General Conference Minutes, October 6 and 7, 1994.24. Interview, Humberto Rasi with Floyd Greenleaf, February 27,

2002; Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Ministerial and TheologicalEducation (Silver Spring, Md.: International Board of Ministerial andTheological Education, 2001); Bonnie Dwyer, “G. C. Approves Pro-posal to Control Theological Education and Theologians with ‘En-dorsement’ Policy,” Spectrum (Winter 1999), pp. 70-76; Douglas Mor-gan, “Targeting Higher Education,” ibid. (Autumn 2001); FloydGreenleaf, In Passion for the World (Nampa: Pacific Press Publ. Assn.,2005), pp. 502-506.

25. General Conference Bulletin, 1930, p. 239.26. SDA Yearbook, 1931, pp. 377-380.27. See reports of the meetings of math and science teachers in

1942, 1947, 1952 and 1956, General Conference Archives and Statis-tics, Record Group 51; Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, 2nd rev.ed. (1996), s.v. “Geoscience Research Institute,” vol. 1, p. 599.

28. Gary Land, “God’s Second Book: Adventist Education and theSciences,” The Journal of Adventist Education (Summer 2002), pp. 4-8.

29. Jonathan Gallagher, “Church Addresses Vital Issues at Year’sTop Meeting,” Adventist Review (October 25, 2001), pp. 18-20.

30. “An Affirmation of Creation,” ibid. (November 11, 2004), pp.12-15; Bill Knott and Sandra Blackmer, “Denver ‘Faith and Science’Meeting Reaffirms Six-Day Creation, Calls for Humility and Dia-logue,” ibid. (October 7, 2004), pp. 40, 41.

31. Spectrum editors, “Unraveling a Witch Hunt: La Sierra UnderSeige,” Spectrum blog, May 29, 2009: http://www.spectrummagazine.org;“Paulsen Speaks on Issue of Origins,” Adventist News Network (June19, 2009): http://news.adventist.org; “An Appeal,” ibid.

32. Hardy, “Value of Limitations,” op cit.33. Gary A. Olson, “The Limits of Academic Freedom,” The

Chronicle of Higher Education (December 11, 2009), pp. A31-A32.34. AAUP, “Academic Freedom and Educational Responsibility,”

online edition: http://www.aacu.org. In 1995, the American Associa-tion of Colleges (AAC) changed its name to include universities.

35. Marsden, “Liberating Academic Freedom,” op cit. Also seeMarsden’s books The Soul of the American University (New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1994) and The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship(New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), both of which defend the in-tegrity of religious institutions as legitimate academic enterprises.

36. Hardy, “Value of Limitations,” op cit.37. Ronald L. Carter, “Should Adventists Consider Evolution?”

Ministry (September 2005), pp. 12-15.38. L. James Gibson, “When Faith and Reason Are in Tension,”

Dialogue 19:2 (2007), pp. 5-8, 33.39. Shandelle Henson, “Why Mathematics, Science, and Humani-

ties (Including Religion) Don’t Have a Quarrel,” Spectrum (Summer2009), pp. 44-49.

40. George Knight, A Search for Identity (Hagerstown, Md.: Re-view and Herald Publ. Assn., 2000), pp. 17, 18.

41. Ellen G. White, “An Educated Ministry,” Testimonies for theChurch, vol. 5, pp. 528, 529.

42. Leonard Brand and Cindy Tutsch, “Presenting Evolution andCreation: How? (Part 1)” Ministry (February 2005), pp. 20, 21, 30.

43. See Job 38:1-39:30. Texts credited to NEB are from The NewEnglish Bible © The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and theSyndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1961, 1970. Reprinted bypermission.

44. Galileo Galilei, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Sys-tems–Ptolemaic & Copernican, Stillman Drake, trans. (Berkeley, Calif.:University of California Press, 1967), p. 5.

45. Ibid., p. 464. Italics supplied.


Brittany1 is about to call it quits. A few days ago, her parents dropped

her off at the university in anticipation of a wonderful freshman year.

But she knows almost no one in this strange, big place and is already

starting to feel homesick. She almost bursts into tears as she looks at

the daunting list of tasks: choose a major, figure out a class schedule,

buy textbooks, find a job, etc. Where can she turn for help? She calls

her parents frequently on her cell phone, but other than a sympathetic

ear, they can’t offer much help. Enter the academic advisor.

BY LINDA FELIPEZ NELSON AND BRUCE J. TOEWS


What Is Academic Advising?“Academic advising is a developmental process which

assists students in the clarification of their life/careergoals and in the development of educational plans forthe realization of these goals. . . .The advisor serves as afacilitator of communication, a coordinator of learningexperiences through course and career planning and ac-ademic progress review, and an agent of referral to othercampus agencies as necessary.”2

The responsibilities of academic advisors include:• building a relationship with students so that they feel

comfortable sharing their dreams and challenges andseeking advice;

• helping students develop realistic goals and aligningtheir educational plans accordingly;

• ensuring that students understand their degree re-quirements and enroll in the appropriate courses;

• monitoring student progress and providing interven-tion and encouragement when problems arise;

• making students aware of the institutional servicesavailable3;

• facilitating connections with employers and gradu-ate schools.

Building RelationshipsTransparent, knowledgeable, available, and compas-

sionate—these are key attributes of successful academicadvisors.

Christian academic advisors must consider the welfareof the whole individual. The intertwining personal, spiri-tual, and social lives of students are within their reach asadvisors in Seventh-day Adventist schools. Getting toknow each student, expressing concern about their per-sonal and academic lives, and listening carefully to theirconcerns can make a significant difference in students’ col-lege success. Above all, a smiling face will help to dispelthe stereotype of the unapproachable professor, as advi-sors are professors, too! Smiles should be shared freely andabundantly. Inside and outside of the academic setting,recognition and acknowledgement will help facilitate stu-dents’ adjustments to new surroundings.

As academic advisors, when we share stories from ourown lives with our advisees, they begin to understandthat we are, in fact, just like them. Building relationshipsis especially critical to the survival of new students. In-vitations to share meals with a small group of studentsat the advisor’s home can make a lasting impression, par-ticularly on freshmen and students enrolling from for-eign countries or transferring from a different school.

Advisors can freely share hugs, smiles, and kindwords. Still, boundaries must be maintained for thesafety of both the student and the advisor. An academicadvisor must take special care when meeting alone witha distraught or angry student. Although confidentialitymust be respected, it is helpful to leave office doors andblinds open. In a potentially delicate situation, an inde-

pendent third person could be invited to sit in on themeeting, to serve as a passive observer and witness.

The parents of our students have entrusted their lovedones to our school for more than sound academic andcareer advice. Often, a young student, possibly awayfrom home for the first time, needs much more than asimple class schedule and a checklist to succeed in col-lege. He or she may be struggling with feelings of home-sickness, difficulties with roommates, financial trouble,family problems back home, challenges with the localfood service, mental and/or physical health issues, andfeeling inadequate or overwhelmed.

The advisor must learn the details of each advisee’sprogram. Knowing where one’s students come from,

Linda Nelson, co-author of the article, sharesher umbrella with an advisee as they walkacross campus.


where they are headed, and what kind of help they needto get there are the basics of becoming an expert advisor.The advisor should learn as much as possible about eachadvisee. Perhaps the industrial design major is also a carenthusiast and a creative cook. Maybe the graphic designmajor spends her free time teaching English as a SecondLanguage and is part of the praise and worship team.The advisor should ask questions and make notes abouthis or her advisees’ personal interests and backgroundinformation. Students will respond positively once theylearn that the advisor is really interested in them, and therelationship will be strengthened and enhanced throughinformal conversation and time spent together.

Dealing With Emotional and Learning ChallengesWe would like to share a couple of illustrations from

our lives as academic advisors. The first example demon-strates that advisees often have no one else to turn to intimes of trouble.

(Bruce): One day I had the opportunity to help jump-start the car of a young advisee who was far away fromhome and seemed lost and lonely. As I witnessed the tearsin her eyes, I was reminded that young students facetremendous pressures trying to balance study and workwith their social lives, all against a backdrop of needing tomake big decisions as they enter adulthood. As an advisor,I am constantly vigilant to identify advisees struggling ac-

ademically or emotionally. Advisors can have a big impactsimply by having listening ears and caring hearts.

The following illustration points out the significanceof being alert to indicators of problems that commonlyaffect students.

(Linda): Zach came to my office for the first time on abright, sunny afternoon. Smiling sheepishly, he admittedthat he had left one of our sister institutions because heflunked out. He had been admitted to our school on a pro-bationary basis. One of the entrance requirements was tomeet with his academic advisor on a regular basis. As wechatted, Zach described some of his interests, which in-cluded video and computer games. When I asked how muchtime per day he spent gaming, Zach laughed and lookedaway. He said he’d sometimes go for days, barely eatingor sleeping, playing Internet games with people he’d nevermet. He laughed again when I asked if the gaming inter-fered with his studies and said, “Probably.” When I askedif he felt he was addicted to gaming, he laughed very hardand replied with a resounding “No!”

Throughout the quarter, Zach came to my office foronly two of our five regularly scheduled meetings. Reportsfrom his teachers indicated his class attendance waned dra-matically after the first week. Zach did not respond to mye-mail or voicemail inquiries. When I finally bumped intohim in the hallway, he tried to dodge me. I asked where hehad been and why he hadn’t attended classes or met with

Bruce Toews, co-author of the article, explores several degree options with an undecided student.


me, He answered that he chronically overslept. I asked himif he stayed up late at night playing computer games, andhe replied, “Most of the time, yes.”

Earlier that quarter, I reported to both the men’s deanand the counseling center that I thought Zach was de-pressed and addicted to gaming. Zach failed all of hisclasses that quarter and did not return to our school.

I learned from this encounter that the gaming addictionand subsequent depression in Zach’s life were seriously outof control. Although everything was handled according topolicy, we should have tried an aggressive and earlier in-tervention. Had we intervened sooner, perhaps makingcounseling a requirement of admission, Zach might havebeen able to overcome his addiction and depression. Hadhe received help to deal with these issues, he might haveachieved academic success.

As relationships strengthen, advisors will have ampleopportunity to observe behavior and time-managementpatterns that may be counter-productive to their ad-visees’ success. People react in different ways to changeand stress. The demands of college life can be over-whelming to new students.4 Poor hygiene, skippingclasses or missing appointments, avoiding e-mail or tele-phone contact, and a general non-committal attitude canindicate depression, relationship problems, gaming ad-diction, and other behavioral issues.5

Formal early-warning systems must be in place sothat advisors can report their suspicions to experts whocan intervene promptly. At our school, we require aca-demic progress reports, three or more per term, for at-risk students. Electronic copies go to the residence halldean, athletics director, advisor, academic administrator,

and other appropriate support personnel. When red flagsare raised, this helps us ensure that the student gets as-sistance before a situation spirals out of control.

On some occasions, advisors will need to refer stu-dents to various service centers on campus or in the com-munity. For instance, students who struggle with de -pression must be encouraged to obtain profes sional help.At times, the academic advisor may need to make the ini-tial contact, and even walk with the student to the firstappointment.

Developing Realistic GoalsSooner or later, the proverbial question: “What do you

want to be when you grow up?” takes on a sense of ur-gency. Although some college students know exactly wherethey are going and how to get there, many others are stillin discovery mode, finding their way as they go. Undecidedor undeclared students are often embarrassed about theiruncertainty. Furthermore, their indecision can lead to feel-ings of despondency and lack of motivation. We haveoften observed that when undeclared students finally de-cide on a major, they experience a sense of relief and anuptick in energy and determination.

When visiting with undecided students, we encouragethem to relax a little, to follow their hearts, to take abroad spectrum of general study courses, and to use theschool’s career and testing services. We point out thatmany successful people didn’t know at first what theywanted to do in life. Indeed, many older adults still don’tknow what they want to do, as evidenced by multiple ca-reer changes. Besides, a bachelor degree isn’t necessarilypreparation for just one career track, but rather provides

In a relaxed setting, Bruce Toews shares some of life’s lessons with a student.


groundwork for life itself as well as a way of thinkingand of seeing the world. In cases where undecided stu-dents have narrowed down the choice of a major to twoor three, we can help them schedule classes that willapply to all their choices, which will buy them some timeto make the right decisions.

Students need to know right up front that advisorshave their best interests at heart. We are not going topush them in a certain direction simply because it’s whattheir parents want. Nor are we going to impose on themour own biases (e.g., everyone should major in my disci-pline). Advisors must be patient and listen carefully,since students may have trouble articulating their goals.It can take time for this process to evolve naturally.

With that said, however, given the cost of higher edu-cation, it is certainly prudent for students to clarify theirgoals as soon as possible. Especially in some technical dis-ciplines (such as nursing, accounting, engineering, and in-dustrial design), course sequences and tight scheduling re-quire students to get on track veryearly. It is not uncommon in these tech-nical majors for students who chose amajor belatedly to require five or evensix years to complete their require-ments.

If students express an inclination to-ward the advisor’s specialty, he or shecan help them gain a clear picture ofwhat their careers will entail and thesteps needed for success. If they areleaning in a different direction, the ad-visor can help them connect withknowledgeable faculty and community professionals whocan mentor and arrange job-shadowing. With judiciousguidance, students should have selected a major by theirjunior year, and have had a chance to intern in that areato help confirm that they are pursuing the right goals.

Course Planning and SchedulingOnce students’ goals are established, the advisor’s

next job is to assist them with curriculum planning andscheduling. Some advisors do not think it is their job tohelp with detailed planning. After all, long ago whenthey were in college, little if any assistance was provided,and they made it through just fine. But modern degreerequirements have become surprisingly detailed andcomplex, and it is unrealistic to expect students toquickly master all their information in college bulletinsor catalogs. Indeed, it even takes a diligent effort for ad-visors to stay on top of the requirements, but this is animportant part of the job. There isn’t room for manymistakes. When bad or inadequate advice is given, stu-dents and their families will remember it for a long time,especially if this delays graduation.

To maximize the chance of smooth sailing, a systemshould be in place that prevents students from registering

without the approval of their advisor. At our university,advisees are told that the advisor needs to review theircourse schedules before he or she will grant electronicauthorization for them to register.

It is important early on to establish a proper mix ofgeneral study and major-specific classes. Many studentswill avoid enrolling in foundational courses, such as mathand English, but since these are usually required prereq-uisites, they must be taken as soon as possible. At thesame time, it is appropriate to leave some general studycourses for the junior and senior years in order to pro-vide more course variety and flexibility in scheduling.Prerequisites should be clearly explained to students sothat they enroll in the proper sequence of classes. Specialattention to scheduling is also needed when courses arenot offered every term or year.

In course planning and scheduling, some of thebiggest challenges occur with transfer students: evaluat-ing courses for adequate content (especially if they were

taught in a different language), upper- and lower-divi-sion differences, semester-to-quarter conversions (andvice versa), and residency requirements. In order to cre-ate a course schedule for transfer students, advisors willoften need to make an educated guess about which cred-its will transfer before they receive the official transcriptevaluation from the registrar’s office. If articulationagreements already exist between schools, advisorsshould request access to these documents.

In many ways, good advising is really a form of teach-ing. The advisor helps students use their information-gathering and decision-making skills to prepare a fairlyintricate plan. A number of tools can be used to facilitatethis process. It is helpful to have degree comparisons thatshow clearly how the objectives and requirements of de-grees differ.

Once the student has selected a degree, it is essentialto create some type of user-friendly outline that allowshim or her to check off completed courses and see read-ily which ones must still be completed. At our university,we are fortunate to have an online, automated degreeaudit system, which indicates exactly how students’ cred-its have been applied and what requirements remain.Using this information, students are encouraged to cre-

he responsibilities of academic advisors involve much more than just class schedulingand signing registration forms. Advisors alsoserve as career mentors, academic coaches, relationship counselors, prayer partners, referralcoordinators, and confidantes.

T


ate their own class schedules, term by term, which canquickly be reviewed by the advisor. This not only savestime for the advisor, but more important, it encouragesadvisees to take ownership of their own program.

Toward the end of their junior year, students typicallymeet with advisors to plan their senior year courses. Atour institution, we require that seniors pre-register forall remaining classes so advisors can ensure that no timeconflicts or scheduling problems exist. At this point, asenior outline is printed, which is signed by the advisee,advisor, and the registrar. An approved senior outlineminimizes the chance of last-minute surprises, which candelay graduation and cause significant resentment bystudents and their families.

The Advisor as AdvocateAt some colleges and universities, an ombudsperson

serves as an advocate for students who have a disputewith a university policy or decision. However, many uni-versities do not offer this service, and even where it exists,there are times when the academic advisor is the naturalperson to advocate for a student. Such situations includedisagreements about transfer credits, policies that impacthousing or food service, conflicts between chapel re-quirements and work schedules, and complications re-lating to prerequisites for upper-division classes. In manycases, the academic advisor can help the student navigatethe tangle of university bureaucracy. The academic ad-visor has thus moved beyond the role of advising intoone of advocacy.

To illustrate, here is a real example. One advisee, whostarting studying digital design at our university, trans-ferred to another school. When she returned to our in-stitution, she discovered that the other school was notaccredited, and some key courses would not transfer.Her advisor was able to arrange for some challengeexams, a solution of which the student wasn’t evenaware. She successfully completed the challenge examsand obtained credit toward her degree.

Connecting With Employers and Graduate SchoolsA final responsibility of advisors is to help place stu-

dents in jobs or graduate schools. Many times, advisorswill have connections that can facilitate this process. Atthe very least, advisors will be asked to serve as refer-ences. Since there are many legal pitfalls in giving refer-ences, advisors should carefully review the do’s anddon’ts of providing a reference.6 For example, in theUnited States, it may constitute a violation of federal lawto share information about students’ GPAs or gradeswithout their written consent.7

ConclusionThe responsibilities of academic advisors involve much

more than just class scheduling and signing registrationforms. Advisors also serve as career mentors, academic

coaches, relationship counselors, prayer partners, referralcoordinators, and confidantes. Providing a listening earand knowing when to call in expert advice are essential.

There are few things in life more rewarding thanwatching students’ careful planning and hard work turndreams into reality. Academic advisors are privileged towitness and contribute to numerous success stories, asyoung people find their wings and take off. Years aftergraduation, former advisees will express appreciation forthe role their advisors played in their lives. It is trulyhumbling to consider the responsibilities and the rewardsof serving as an academic advisor. ✐

Linda Felipez Nelson, Ed.D., is Profes-sor and Chair of the Technology De-partment at Walla Walla University(WWU), College Place, Washington.Her teaching expertise is in the area ofGraphic Communications. Dr. Nelsonhas served as an academic advisor for

22 years. She currently serves 60 academic advisees and as-sists/coaches five full-time teachers in their own academicadvisement. She has been awarded the National AcademicAdvising Association (NACADA) Outstanding FacultyAdvisement Award, 2009; and the WWU Excellence inAcademic Advisement Award, 2008.

Bruce J. Toews, M.B.A, C.P.A., is anAssociate Professor of Accounting/Fi-nance in the School of Business atWalla Walla University. Mr. Toews hasserved as an academic advisor for 18years and currently has 40 academicadvisees. He has been awarded the Na-tional Academic Advising Association

(NACADA) Outstanding Advising Certificate of Merit forFaculty Academic Advising, 2007; and the WWU Excel-lence in Academic Advisement Award, 2006.



1. The names of students mentioned in the article have beenchanged to protect their privacy.

2. David S. Crockett, ed., Advising Skills, Techniques, and Re-sources: A Compilation of Materials Related to the Organization andDelivery of Advising Services (Iowa City, Iowa: ACT Corporation,1987).

3. Career services, counseling and testing center, teaching andlearning center, disability services, etc.

4. For more information on game addiction, see http://sub - liminaltherapy.com/conditions/gameaddiction.html.

5. For more information on depression among college-age students,see http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1874327/college_student_depression.html.

6. For helpful guidelines on references, see http://www.naceweb.org/ -public/reference1.htm.

7. For more information about the Family Rights and Privacy Actand references, see http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/ -AdvisingIssues/legal.htm.


Like many fresh-men entering thenew world of college, Joe1 started theyear with challenges that were too big tomanage on his own. His academic workbegan to deteriorate, and the person who

had been assigned to mentor him noticed that at times,Joe had a swollen jaw.

As the school year progressed, Joe’s grades continuedto deteriorate. He finally confided to his mentor that sev-eral of his wisdom teeth were long overdue to be re-moved. His father had lost his job, and no one in Joe’sfamily had the resources to pay for the surgery.

Seeing Joe’s suffering and the challenges it posed to hisacademic experience, a group of Walla Walla University’smentors decided to raise money to haveJoe’s wisdom teeth removed. To verify the

seriousness of the case, theyarranged for a local dentist to take

X-rays at no charge. Sure enough, the teeth needed tocome out. Within a few months, during a school break,the surgery was successfully completed, giving Joe a newlease on life.

What would have happened to Joe if he had not hadthis support? The chances are high that he would havewithdrawn from the university. His case is a reminderthat many students starting their educational programat a university are overcome by problems they are unableto solve on their own.

Stories like this are what led the officials of WallaWalla University in College Place, Washington, to see ifmore could be done to help students making the difficult

transition to their first year of college.Despite the strong support of caring

Why Walla Walla University Implemented a

Mentor Program

BY MEL LANG


faculty, staff, and advisors, some students were leavingschool because of problems they couldn’t resolve ontheir own.

Closer analysis revealed that it was not only studentswith low GPAs who were leaving the university beforecompleting their degrees; some with high GPAs did soas well. The reasons for withdrawing from school vary:Some students have financial problems, others struggleacademically. Some leave for reasons that are beyond theuniversity’s control, while others simply fall through thecracks. It is not uncommon for Seventh-day Adventistinstitutions to lose 30 percent or more of their freshmanclass before their second yearof college.2

For many young adults,the first year of college can becompared to having to drivea car alone on a busy freewaythe same day one receives adriving permit. Students needa sympathetic, experiencedperson to help them navigatetheir collegiate journey. Agood start in higher educa-tion affects not only their firstyear, but also their entire col-lege experience.

Universities and collegesare increasingly recognizing

that offering various types of assistance during this tran-sitional year will enhance students’ satisfaction and ac-ademic success, and in turn, improve the institutions’ re-tention rates. Retention is not only a problem forAmerican institutions of higher education, but for theUnited States Government as well, which invests millionsin student grants and loans, with institutions serving asguardians of these funds.

In the professional academic literature, much hasbeen written about the necessity of improving retention,which, in turn, also has a positive impact on graduationrates. For example, Mangold, Bean, Schwab, and Lynch

wrote: “One of the mostpressing issues facing Ameri-can universities is the numberof students who fail to grad-uate. Low graduation ratescost universities scarce re-sources, weaken the ability tomeet educational objectives,and are perceived to reflectthe university’s inability tomeet the educational, social,and emotional needs of stu-dents.”3

Researcher Tinto suggeststhat the transition to univer-sity causes extreme stress,making it probably the most

niversities and colleges are increasingly recognizingthat offering various types ofassistance during this transi-tional year will enhance students’ satisfaction and academic success, and in turn,improve the institutions’ retention rates.

U

Page 25: A Walla Walla University mentor (left) prays with her mentee. Above: Walla Walla University’s Freshman Success Program administrators conduct a planning session with a mentor. Left to right: Carolyn Denney (program administrator); Mel Lang (program director); and TriciaMcCoy (mentor).


challenging time during adolescence. He admonishes in-stitutions to reach out to students outside the formal ac-ademic setting to ensure that they achieve positive socialand intellectual integration into the campus.4

Although institutions are trying various ways to im-prove their freshman retention rates, mentor programsare one proven response to this problem. These programsare increasing across the U.S., including among Seventh-day Adventist institutions of higher learning.

In addition to enhancing retention rates, a more im-portant outcome of a mentoring program is ensuringthat students receive adequate institutional support tosucceed academically, socially,and spiritually. The institutionhas a moral responsibility to doall it can to help every student itadmits to succeed. A variety ofprograms can contribute to thisgoal, including student advisors,testing/counseling centers, tu-toring services, and studenthealth offices.

Walla Walla UniversityLaunches Mentoring PilotProgram

After looking at the data onmentor programs, Walla WallaUniversity decided to conduct apilot program during the 2007-2008 academic year.

The new initiative, whose for-mal name was the Student Suc-cess Program, included:

• 150 randomly selected stu-dents, divided into two equal-sized groups: an experimentalgroup and a control group.

• Provisions for the universityto cover the cost of the program.

• A part-time director and sixmentors. The mentors were cho-sen based on predefined qualifications that included hav-ing a heart for students. In fact, several alumni applied be-cause they wanted to give back to the university. Eachmentor candidate went through a screening process, whichincluded a review of his or her résumé and recommenda-tions, and an interview.

• An extensive mentor orientation program.The mentors were required to meet weekly with their

mentees either in person or by phone. Personal visitswere expected at least biweekly, although some studentsrequested weekly face-to-face meetings.

The director of the program also met weekly with thementors to discuss successes, areas of concern, and sched-uled seminars to improve participants’ mentoring skills.

In addition to providing academic assistance, mentorswere also expected to provide spiritual and social sup-port, since the university administrators believed thatprogress in all three areas was necessary for a successfulcollege experience. Mentors referred students to institu-tional support centers as needed.

Retention of the experimental group and the controlgroup was carefully monitored at the end of each quarterand each school year. We retained a larger percentage ofthe 2007 mentored freshmen students each quarter dur-ing the 2007-2008 school year and in the winter quarterof the 2008-2009 school year, than freshmen who had

been in the unmentored control group.5

At the end of the 2007-2008 academic year, we sur-veyed our freshmen in the experimental group regardingtheir perceptions of the experience. They rated their ex-perience very high. Nearly all the responses were a fouror a five on a five-point scale. Mentors’ ratings virtuallymatched the student ratings.

The University Expands the Mentor ProgramThese results were sufficiently encouraging that

Walla Walla University expanded the mentor programduring the 2008-2009 academic year. By sharing thecost with the students, the university was able to assigna mentor for each student in the freshman class. The

Mentor Janet Wilkinson (center) shares a laugh with two freshmen ata mentor/student event.


program design was similar to thatof the previous year but much ex-panded, as the university arrangedfor the mentoring of 309 students.During the previous year, the insti-tution had learned the importanceof quality in mentoring, so admin-istrators again looked for mentorswho had a heart for students andwould connect well with them.This required a more extensive ad-vertising, interviewing, and train-ing process.

Of the 28 mentors in the initialstudy, half had Master’s degrees.Most of the mentors were gradu-ates of the university, and thereforewell-versed in its resources. Somementors were recruited by invita-tion or through the university’s em-ployment services. We also selectedfive outstanding seniors to serve asmentors. In addition to completingseveral days of preparation beforethe school year began, mentorswere required to attend several sem-inars during the year.

The mentors’ responsibilities in-cluded providing encouragement,helping students surmount hurdles,directing them to support services,assisting and communicating with professors and advi-sors, and assisting students with problem-solving. Whilethe program director and university administrators em-phasized the importance of providing academic support,they also stressed the importance of the mentors provid-ing social and spiritual support—in keeping with theschool’s mission.

During Jump Start, the week when freshmen are ori-ented to campus life, the first-year students were givenan opportunity to select five mentors from a list that in-cluded biographies for each of the mentors. The schoolthen assigned a mentor from their selections. If a mentorfelt that he or she did not connect well with the student,the student was reassigned.

The director met with the mentors weekly, in smallgroups or individually. Each mentor was required tokeep a log, which he or she submitted weekly to the di-rector. Reading the log provided the director with a re-port on each of the students being mentored, and al-lowed him to monitor the program’s effectiveness.

The Mentor Program Overcomes ChallengesEvery program faces challenges, and Walla Walla

University’s mentor program is no exception. As chal-lenges arose, however, the mentoring team worked to-

gether to resolve them. This included: • Identifying and hiring high-quality mentors.• Getting the student and the mentor connected early

during the year so mentors could build the necessaryrapport with their mentees and achieve open communi-cation.

• Keeping students (especially those having difficul-ties) from withdrawing from their mentors.

• Ensuring that students believe they are getting anacceptable return on their investment of time and money.

• Complying with federal privacy rules. • Defining the different roles of faculty and mentors.• Dealing with students who have difficulty staying on

schedule, despite their mentor appointments. • Ensuring that mentors understand students’ needs

and engage with them in a positive way.

Data Indicates Increase in Retention and Overall Student Satisfaction

Seventy-six percent of the freshmen returned to the uni-versity in the fall of 2009 for their sophomore year, a sixpercent higher rate than the average for several precedingyears. In addition to this increase in retention, surveys con-ducted at the end of the academic year suggested that bothstudents and mentors were satisfied with the program.

Karrlayn Beck (left), mentor, enjoys a mentor/student event with hermentee, music education major Brenna Nakamura.


Student Survey Spring 2009Frequency of meetings with your mentor. Eighty-nine

percent said they met weekly or biweekly.On a five-point scale, rate your overall satisfaction.

Eighty-four percent rated it a four or a five.The comments were very positive, with many students

complimenting their mentors. A few expressed concernthat the program was mandatory.

Mentor Survey Spring 2009On a five-point scale, rate your overall experience as a

mentor. Ninety-six percent gave it a four or a five. Again,the comments were very positive. A common response was“thanks for the opportunity to be in the mentor program.”

Mentors Go Above and Beyond the Call of DutyMany heart-warming stories emerged from the 2008-

2009 school year. In fact, the mentors’ enthusiasm for theprogram grew due to interacting with their students andlearning about the experiences of other mentors. Through-out the year, mentors and mentees discussed personal mat-ters, relationships, deadlines, and academic issues. Manyforged relationships of a deeper nature, which providedstudents with a sense of belonging. In addition to offeringacademic coaching, mentors went the extra mile to showa personal interest in their students:

Some mentors were asked by their mentees for trans-portation to various places—shopping, airports, and ap-pointments. One mentor recalls a late-night call from hermentee asking the mentor to take her to the emergencyroom. The student asked the mentor to stay with her dur-ing the four-hour examination, which the mentor did.

Some mentors brought gifts to the dorms for theirmentees every Friday. One couple regularly brought freshhomemade bread to every one of their mentees.

Some mentors directed or even walked a student tosupport services offices, or to job shadowing.

Many mentors invited their mentees to their homes—especially on Sabbath.

Praying for and with students was expected. For ex-ample, one student could not make an appointment be-cause she needed to study for her chemistry examination.That night, the mentor prayed for that student, then feltimpressed to meet the student at the door of the chem-istry class the next morning for a special prayer. The stu-dent was overwhelmed, describing the experience as alifetime memory.

Some students who were mentored in the previousyear’s pilot group chose to stay in touch with their men-tors even after the program was completed.

A mentor recalls a visit with a student who desper-ately wanted to take piano lessons but lacked the finan-cial resources; the mentor was able to provide fundingfor lessons for the rest of the year.

It was discovered that one student who was not doingwell academically suffered from a severe case of ADD

and did not have the resources to purchase the appropri-ate medication. The mentor found a donor to cover thecost of the medicine for the year.

Conclusion The mentor program has been a blessing to the Walla

Walla University students, faculty, and staff. It has en-hanced students’ sense of their value to the universityand made life-changing differences for many students.Yet, we still wonder: “Are we doing enough for our fresh-men at the university?” The answer is “No.” There willalways be more that we can do, but at least we are doingmore than in the past.

With the Lord’s help, we will continue to improve thementor program to ensure that our freshmen experienceeven greater success. We hope that sharing our experi-ence will be helpful to other Adventist colleges and uni-versities. ✐

Mel Lang, Ph.D., Director of theFresh man Success Program at WallaWalla University in College Place,Wash ington, has devoted his life toChris tian education in a variety of ca-pacities. He has served as Associate

Vice President for Academic Administration and chair ofand professor in the mathematics department at WWU; andas fund raiser and project manager for the new $6 mil lionRogers Elementary School in College Place, Washington.


1. Not his real name.2. The U.S. Government’s Integrated Postsecondary Education

Data Systems (IPED) program gathers and distributes data on schoolsin the U.S. that receive government aid, including Adventist institu-tions. See http://NCEF.Ed.Gov/IPED/.

3. William D. Mangold, Luann G. Bean, Douglas J. Adams,William A. Schwab, and Scott M. Lynch, “Who Goes, Who Stays: AnAssessment of the Effects of a Freshman Mentoring and Unit Regis-tration Program on College Persistence,” Journal of College StudentRetention 4:2 (2002/2003), pp. 95-122.

4. Vincent Tinto, “Student Success and the Building of InvolvingEducational Communities” (2006): http://www.mcli.dist.mari copa.edu/ -fsd/c2006/docs/promotingstudentsuccess.pdf.

5. Here is precise information on the enhanced retention of the ex-perimental (mentored) group in contrast with the control (non-mentored)group (entering freshmen, Fall Quarter 2007): Retained 7% more of thementored group returning for the Winter Quarter 2008; 14% more of thementored group returning for the Spring Quarter 2008; and 12% moreof the mentored group returning for the Fall Quarter 2008, compared tothe control group. (Retention is defined as students who remained atWalla Walla University; the school did not obtain information onwhether the students in the two groups who withdrew from the schooldropped out of college entirely or transferred to another institution.Through requests for transcripts, the school is able to determine thatquite a number of students who withdraw from WWU do enroll in Ad-ventist colleges or other higher education institutions.)



BRAIN GAMES at Southwestern

Adventist UniversityBY HOYET TAYLOR


even years ago, the science faculty at Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, Texas,met to discuss new ways of recruiting “top notch” science- and math-oriented studentsto the school. Southwestern has historically produced quality Christian scientists, teach-ers, and health-care professionals, but the committee hoped, with the creation of BrainGames, to create a tool by which we could better recruit the most academically mindedacademy students to our campus by giving them a vision of what a Christian scientist’scareer might look like.

At the same time, the project would involve the students in educational and laboratory proj-ects that they were unlikely to experience in a typical high school setting. The goals were tohave SWAU’s science faculty members create programming for attendees that would focus onpresenting excellent quality scientists who model an active Christian faith, having visiting stu-dents and faculty participate in an academically challenging and spiritual environment, and

engaging students in hands-on technical labora-tory experience. The planners sought to give to

these students a real glimpse of the educa-tional and spiritual product that South-

western has to offer.

Goals of the ProgramAs Brain Games continued to

develop, the planners incorpo-rated several key ideas that havesince become the goals of eachyear’s programming:

• Make the educational experi-ence challenging and as representa-tive of our university as pos sible.Entertainment is not the goal.

• Shape the spiritual program-ming to fit the educational expe-rience, and portray Christians inhigh tech, challenging careers.

• Give the students hands-on ex-perience with technology, guidedby professional educators.

• Help the students to drawconclusions based upon real datacollected.

• Teach the students to workcooperatively in as near a real-

world situation as we can simulate.• Keep groups small. Each participat-

ing school is encouraged to bring no morethan three to five of their top students.

• Provide monies (to be awarded to the parti ci -pating academies by our Recruiting Department) for use in their science and math departments.

• Create an opportunity for academy and college faculty members to fellowship and shareideas.

Administrative and Academic SupportDeveloping a program like this requires that the university staff and faculty all buy into its

purpose and vision. It’s impossible to put together a recruiting program of this magnitude with-out support from administration, recruiting, various departmental resources, and church andcommunity volunteers. Food, lodging, speakers, awards, physical and spatial resources all haveto be considered. Cooperation, collaboration, and leadership are the keys to making BrainGames a success.

S

During the 2007 Southwestern Adventist University BrainGames, which immersed participants in forensic science,students extracted evidence from under the fingernails ofpotential perpetrators. Samples were later compared with those taken at the “crime scene.”


Choosing the ThemeAt the beginning of each year’s

planning session, the Brain Gamescommittee members choose an excit-ing, technical theme related to a real-world occupation. Previous topics in-clude marine biology, computerscience, robotics, emergency medi-cine, and criminal science investiga-tion. Using the theme, programmingis developed to meet the academicand spiritual goals. Often the themewill revolve around a dynamic Chris-tian speaker who is available in thelocal area or through our networkwithin the church, and then the pro-gramming will be planned around thetheme.

The Weekend ScheduleTypically, the program begins on a Thursday evening

after supper. Participants are welcomed, told what to ex-pect, and then immersed into a hands-on activity relatedto the theme. For example, the 2007 theme was criminal

science investigation; therefore, stu-dents were asked to participate in thecollection of evidence left after amock crime was committed (TheGreat Donut Theft of 2007). This wasfollowed by a video presentation oncriminal science investigation.

On the following day, students par-ticipated in bite, fingerprint, ink, sub-stance, and blood analysis to de t er minewho the perpetrator(s) may have been.This analysis included the making ofbite casts, lifting and comparing fin-gerprint characteristics, paper chro-matography, organic chem istry, bloodtyping, Barr-body examination (todetermine the sex of the perpetrator),and PCR amplification and elec-

trophoresis (to determine the identityof the perpetrator from the DNA col-

lected at the crime scene). This took quite a bit of plan-ning and coordination between staff and faculty mem-bers, who also taught their normal class loads. By lateFriday afternoon, the academy students were ready to

Brain Games Topics

2004 - Marine Biology

2005 - Robotics and Church/Science Conflicts

2006 - Robotics and Astronomy

2007 - Forensic Science

2008 - Emergency Response

2009 - No games held

2010 - Epidemiology

•

•••••


Top: The 2007 top “Mathletic” competitors work outtheir answers.Right: Criminal investigators show students how tocollect fingerprint evidence; student crime-scene in-vestigators (CSIs) process the evidence they found.Bottom: Participants learn to use proper microbio-logical lab techniques in growing bacterial samples.


discuss potential scenarios, and make charges againstpossible perpetrators.

Sabbath EventsFriday evening programming consisted of a special

presentation from former SWAU student Donnie Finley,a criminalist from Contra Costa, California. Previousspeakers include Steve Arrington (former Cousteaudiver), Erwin Sicher (history professor, SWAU), andLarry Turner (physics professor, SWAU). The speakerswere carefully selected for their dynamic presentationskills and ability to incorporate faith and Christian serv-ice into their chosen career (honorariums and travel ex-penses are paid through the academic dean’s office).These presentations also give opportunity for the collegeclubs (biology, physical sciences and mathematics) toparticipate in developing the programming for our acad-emy guests.

On Sabbath, participants are encouraged to attendthe university church and Sabbath school. After lunchthere is a break, followed by an afternoon presentationby our invited speaker, which is usually more career- ortopic-oriented. For example, the 2007 Brain Games Sab-


bath afternoon presentation featured the activities of aprofessional criminalist. Previous afternoon programsdealt with mission service, cosmology, and church/sci-ence issues.

Saturday evening events typically include a short ves-pers program and a wrapping up of Friday’s activities,followed by the much-anticipated Mathletic Competitionbetween the best math participants from each participat-ing school. This competition is a double eliminationcompetition, made up of three- to four-member teams.Questions range from algebra to pre-calculus, with asprinkling of science and math history items. Winningteams take back to their schools a cash prize of $2,250,to be used for the purchase of new math and scienceequipment. The competition is both fun and exciting.This event usually concludes the weekend’s activities.

Creating a Ripple EffectBrain Games seeks to do more than simply attract ac-

ademically motivated Christian students to technically

Pages 34 and 35, clockwise from bottom left: stu-dents learn how to process a crime scene and col-lect evidence; criminal investigators lift fingerprintsat the “crime scene”; the “accused” are read theirrights; evidence is collected from the “crimescene”; an alleged perpetrator has her “mug shot”taken.


oriented fields of study. The planning committee endeav-ors to create in young people a vision of themselves asprofessional applied scientists solving problems and re-vealing truths that glorify Christ in the workplace. Wewant young people to know that if they can imagine sucha future for themselves and work hard academically, theycan enter very rewarding careers, and that SouthwesternAdventist Uni versity is ready and able to help themachieve these academic goals.

Another goal of the committee is to induce other de-partments to follow their lead in developing similar re-cruitment programs whose goals are not merely to en-tertain, but to send academy students back to theirschools with a taste of Christian university life. It is ourobjective to give potential students a positive and moti-vating spiritual, social, and academic campus experienceso they will have something to talk about when they gethome. We want to create a ripple effect.

The 2010 Brain Games was held January 21-23. The

theme was Outbreak Keene: A Study in Epidemiology.Brain Games is open to all North American Division

Adventist academies (regardless of union affiliation) andto any local high schools wanting to participate. Reser-vations are limited: only one sponsor and three to fivestudents (grades 10-12) per school. For information,please contact Tina Bottsford at [email protected] orcall (800) 433-2240. ✐

Hoyet Taylor, M.S., the Co-Origi-nator of Brain Games, is an Assis-tant Professor of Biology at South-western Adventist University inKeene, Texas.


Clockwise from top left: Duringthe 2010 Brain Games, “victims”are interviewed to determineboth the cause and the source oftheir infections; samples aretaken from individual students toidentify potential carriers of the“deadly pathogen”; Dr. SuzannePhillips (left), SWAU Biology De-partment chair, helps a studentinterpret his bacterial culture.


“The instructors and the staff of the La Sierra University Digital Learning Program are its strengths.” —ANDRE DENHAM, LSU DIGITAL LEARNING GRADUATE

“Distance learning allows you to learn at your own pace and somewhat personalize the class to your needs as a learner,” says Amdre. “Schedule flexibil-ity is another advantage. If I wanted to complete a class on Sunday, that was fine. And while some other schools’ programs require you to be on campus sever-al times a year, La Sierra allowed me to complete my degree completly online.

“I was able to develop relationships with my instruc-tors through our email correspondence and online discussions during the courses. As a matter of fact I am still in communication with several of my teachers to this day. Though I did not meet any of my instruc-tors prior to coming to La Sierra for graduation, I already felt like a member of the La Sierra family.”

Andre Denham earned his Master’s Degree while working as a math teacher at Oakwood Adventist Academy. He’s currently a doctoral student at Arizona State University.

At La Sierra University’s Digital Learning Program, we offer: • Master of Arts in Teaching.• Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Educational Technology. • Fifth Year Program.• California State single and multiple subject credential.• North American Division credentials for teaching elementary and secondary including endorsements for special education and educational technology.

All of these programs are online with no required time on campus. No more than 10 students per class. And you can finish in two years or less!

We invite you to learn more—contact us today.

www.lasierra.edu/digitallearning | 866.219.0671 | [email protected]

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PRACTICALSKILLS

Students in the SouthernAdventist University (SAU)Construction Management

program survey the lay- out for the house the class

is building in 2010.


ously, being based on statements like the following fromthe book Fundamentals of Christian Education:

“When the child is old enough to be sent to school,the teacher should co-operate with the parents, and man-ual training should be continued as a part of his schoolduties. There are many students who object to this kindof work in the schools. They think useful employments,like learning a trade, degrading; but such persons havean incorrect idea of what constitutes true dignity. OurLord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is one with the Fa-ther, the Commander in the heavenly courts, was the per-sonal instructor and guide of the children of Israel; andamong them it was required that every youth shouldlearn how to work. All were to be educated in some busi-ness line, that they might possess a knowledge of practi-cal life, and be not only self-sustaining, but useful. Thiswas the instruction which God gave to His people.”2

Among educators, there are numerous opin-ions about the essentials of a good educationand how they should be taught. In that dis-cussion, the idea of “practical skills” oftencomes up, although it’s often not clear just

what that means. For Seventh-day Adventist educators, thestarting point of the discussion must be the purpose ofChristian education. We have been counseled that “Thepurpose of education is to qualify them [students] for use-fulness in this life and for the future life in the kingdom ofGod.”1 This idea of usefulness in this life implies somesense of practicality. This article will discuss the traditionalconcept of “practical skills” and how this applies to Ad-ventist education in the 21st century.

In the early years of Adventist education, this idea ofpractical skills or “useful employments” was taken seri-

This makes it clear that children are to be taught tobe responsible, to participate in the necessities of dailyliving, and learn useful employment skills. Let’s not letthe terminology of an era gone by confuse the issue. Forexample, the term manual training was commonly usedin the past to refer to training in trades such as black-smithing, carpentry, bricklaying, and the like. This termlater changed to industrial training or industrial arts. Inmore recent times, it has been referred to as vocationaleducation which has evolved to technology educationand/or career and technical education. In essence, it iswhat people often refer to as “blue collar” work and isdifferent from managerial or “white collar” employment.These distinctions were present even in Christ’s day, withthe priests and rulers being in a separate class from thecommon workers.

The Value of Practical Skills

Many educators andparents argue that stu-dents who do not plan topursue a vocational careerdo not need any experi-ence in the practical skills.This line of thinking over-looks the important ben-efits that this type oftraining provides. The ev -eryday duties of prepar-ing food, cleaning thefloors, and taking out thetrash are necessary foreveryone, regardless ofsocial status. Our job ineducation is to convey thevalue and dignity of suchwork to our students. Itwas not beneath Christ to

become a man, and a lowly carpenter in His ministryto humankind. We need to follow His example and un-derstand that any of these humble duties are not be-neath us.

But humility and self-discipline are not the only les-sons that are to be learned from participating in practicalskills. Learning a trade is useful regardless of the careerdirection of the individual.

“The benefit of manual training is needed also by pro-fessional men. A man may have a brilliant mind; he maybe quick to catch ideas; his knowledge and skill may se-cure for him admission to his chosen calling; yet he maystill be far from possessing a fitness for its duties. An ed-ucation derived chiefly from books leads to superficialthinking. Practical work encourages close observationand independent thought. Rightly performed, it tends todevelop that practical wisdom which we call ‘common

FOR 21ST-CENTURYSTUDENTS

BY RAYMOND CARSON


sense.’ It develops ability to plan and execute, strengthenscourage and perseverance, and calls for the exercise oftact and skill.”3

Here we see a clear rationale for the advice given tothe Israelites in Old Testament times about the value ofgiving students vocational training even though theymay intend to obtain academic or professional training.Practical training balances the thinking, enabling an in-dividual to be much more realistic and creative. A me-chanic once told me about a car that was designed sothat it required several hours of work to remove partsand accessories in order to change the spark plugs.Changing spark plugs is a nor-mal maintenance operation thatshould take no more than 30 to45 minutes. Clearly, the engi-neers who designed that partic-ular car had no considerationfor nor experience with the reg-ular maintenance needs of cars.Most likely the engineers wereoblivious to the extra work theyhad created for the mechanics,and the cost to the owners.

Another benefit of this typeof training, especially at thehigh school or academy level, isthat it will provide the recipientswith some means of support ifthey pursue higher education.Many students need to workwhile in college, so havinglearned a trade will allow themto earn more and find a jobmore readily than someone withno skills. This back-up plan forearning capacity also comes inhandy for people who graduatefrom college and find it difficultto immediately find employ-ment in their chosen occupa-tion. It would be helpful forthem to have a trade to producesome income in the interim.

Fringe BenefitsProviding vocational training for students has numer-

ous fringe benefits. These skills can provide great leisureactivities. Woodshop students not only acquire skills thatcan be used in the trades of carpentry or cabinetmaking,but many find this to be a rewarding hobby. The abilityto make or fix things can be tremendously fulfilling anda significant asset to the family budget. Being able to fixa car or make minor repairs is especially helpful in diffi-cult financial times. An additional bonus: People takingvocational training always receive safety training, which

is beneficial throughout their lifetime.Although the manual training referred to in Ellen G.

White’s time included some outdated trades like black-smithing and barrel making, the philosophical rationaleis still valid. However, we do need to keep current withtechnological advances. Providing students practical ex-periences with honest work that will help them developcommon sense is still very important.

Over the past 50 years, Adventist academies have beendismantling vocational programs and school-based in-dustries at a steady rate. Parents and school administra-tors envision most of their young people going to col-

lege, but the reality is that not all students continue onto higher education. These students need career training.But not only students on the non-college track needpractical skills. The reality is that vocational programs,or career and technical programs, as they are now called,form an important component of God’s plan for educa-tion, regardless of the student’s ultimate career goal.

At one time, our denomination placed a high valueon practical skills and vocational training. We had ashowplace of vocational education at Madison Collegenear Nashville, Tennessee, that included a farm, dairy,numerous industries, and a sanitarium. It was establishedon the principles of providing students with practical

SAU civil engineer/drafting instructor Rocky Chambers reviews a 3-Dcomputer-aided design and drafting (CADD) drawing with studentSteve Olson.


skills and a means for them to work their way throughcollege and finish without any outside contributions orincurred debt.4 Academies across North America emu-lated the Madison model for many years, providing somevarious on-campus industries where students could earntheir way through school and gain skills in a variety ofpractical or vocational areas.

Increased Interest in Vocational TrainingIt appears that the interest in vocational training in

our academies may be reviving. A 2004 survey of 42academies in North America by Southern AdventistUniversity’s Technology Department revealed that 86

percent of the academy administrators felt it would beworthwhile to add technical programs to their offerings.At the same time, however, many of the administratorsreported eliminating such programs as agriculture, weld-ing, auto mechanics, and drafting.5 With many acade-mies struggling to stay afloat financially, funding oftenis cited as a major issue.

In fact, with a little effort and some fund raising, prac-tical experiences can be implemented at all levels of edu-cation. The essential ingred ients are creativity and adesire to provide the students with meaningful age-ap-propriate experiences.

• Younger students can grow plants in pots or in aschool garden (see the Nature issue of the JOURNAL,February/March 2009). This type of activity would eas-ily fit into a science curriculum.

• The upper elementary curriculum can include con-sumer activities such as cooking, sewing, and balancinga checkbook, which are needed now more than ever.

• Secondary students are more physically mature andcan acquire skills in many occupational areas. Manyacademy and public high schools offer programs in automechanics, carpentry, welding, graphic design, businessmanagement, and many other areas.

• Students at the postsecondary level can benefit fromintensive programs, which can give them a tremendousedge in the job market. Many colleges and universitieshave two-year Associate Degree programs in nursing, automechanics, and construction management. These pro-grams are comparatively short in duration, but still enabletheir graduates to obtain jobs that often pay better than

SAU Construction Management students learn tobuild houses from the ground up.

SAU Construction Management student Ryan Brunnel installs siding on a student-built house.


the salaries of four-year graduates. These careers alsoallow people to earn money to pay for an advanced degree(i.e., B.S. in nursing) or training for an entirely differentcareer.

Benefits Convey to the Academic ProgramAt the elementary and early secondary levels, educa-

tors need to focus on instilling a good work ethic andteaching problem-solving skills in all students. The aca-demic rigor of the program need not change just becausepractical skills are included in the curriculum. In fact,

these practical courses often provide real-life illustrationsthat help students see the applications of the theory inmathematics and science classes.

The best thing about these hands-on experiences is thatthe consequences of the student’s efforts, or lack thereof,are immediate and measurable. A woodworking studentwho is lazy about sanding will see the results when a var-nish is applied and all the scratches show. A cooking stu-dent will have an inch-tall cake if she fails to read therecipe carefully and leaves out the baking powder.

Vocational training and practical skills provide bene-

fits even for those planning to study for professional ca-reers. The members of our church in rural Arizona werequite surprised when one of the regular church visitors,a medical doctor, offered to do the drywall finishing ona church building project. When asked how he becamesuch an expert in this area, he said that he had financedcollege and medical school by working in that trade.

If an academy does not have any or very few choicesfor practical programs, what can be done to providethem? There are many misconceptions about obstaclesin the way of implementing these programs, including

the cost of facilities and equipment,availability of qualified instructors, andstudent and parental interest if theywere provided. Facilities are expensive tobuild, especially for industrial courses.Auto repair, welding, and woodworkingprograms need a host of specializedequipment, but so do computing andscience.

Obstacles can be overcome with suf-ficient commitment and vision. For ex-ample, growing plants in elementaryschool will cost very little to implement.A retired academy teacher recently toldme that when a nearby school did nothave the budget for an automotive pro-gram, he taught a course in small enginerepair. Small engines are fundamentallythe same as large engines except theyare less sophisticated, require fewertools and facilities, and are less expen-sive to work on. Schools can use inno-vative approaches to offer any programthat the community and school desire toimplement. A carpentry program doesnot necessarily need sophisticated facil-ities. Weather permitting, most of thework can be done outdoors and theequipment stored in a medium-sizedshed. The school can ask the commu-nity to donate tools.

The practical arts class may even payits own way—junior high students at aschool in rural Arizona built numerous

storage sheds each year. The modest profits providedfunds for materials and tools.

Finding InstructorsFinding qualified teachers may appear to be an in-

surmountable obstacle, but there are solutions. In theU.S., this shortage of qualified trades instructors hasbeen addressed by most of the states by providing a spe-cial vocational certification. The requirements differslightly from state to state, but generally, a person withseveral years’ experience in a trade is granted a Provi-

SAU student Kirk Shoemaker lays block for a house foundation.


sional Vocational Teaching Certificate to teach in thatarea. He or she must then earn a certain number of col-lege credits in areas such as Methods of Instruction,Evaluation Techniques, etc., within two years.6 One au-tomotive instructor in Arizona obtained his teachingcertificate this way, taught several years in the publicschool system, and later taught courses for an Adventistacademy. Often, a skilled individual or a retired personin the church or community can be hired on an adjunct

Above: A SAU student in the Graphic Produc-tions class works on an offset press.

Left: Jessica Meeks installs plumbing in a SAUstudent-built house.


basis to teach one or more ofthese courses. Also, there is apopular movement with publicand private schools to workout dual enrollment arrange-ments with local communitycolleges and Adventist univer-sities.

A Wide Range of OptionsVocational programs are

very diverse. In the public sec-tor, programs are being offeredin agriculture, business management, marketing, healthoccupations, computer-aided drafting, computer pro-gramming, and family and consumer sciences along withthe traditional trades courses like auto mechanics andcarpentry. An interesting phenomenon currently occur-

ring in the difficult job marketin developed countries is thatunemployed professionals withBachelor’s and Master’s de-grees are enrolling in commu-nity colleges to learn a trade sothat they can find work.7

Recent research on enroll-ment and retention suggeststhat about 50 percent of collegestudents drop out the first yearor do not obtain a degree.8

Many Adventist colleges alsostruggle with retention. Coupled with the fact that weknow not all academy and high school graduates go tocollege, we need to consider what happens to the largenumber of students who do not earn a degree. Survivalskills for the interim—or long term—will be invaluable

areer and technical programs, as they are nowcalled, form an importantcomponent of God’s plan for education regardless ofthe student’s ultimate career goal.

C


for these young people. Clearly, there are good reasons to include practical

and vocational offerings in our educational system. Wehave done it before and done it well. With the downturnin the economy of the United States and other countries,there has been a resurgence of interest in vocationaltraining because these careers usually offer good salariesand benefits. A recent article in The Chronicle of HigherEducation championed the idea of colleges getting backinto teaching agriculture.9

Most important of all, practical arts training prepares

Pages 44 and 45, clockwise from left: SAU wood-working student Elizabeth Johnson cuts slots for awooden xylophone; on “Car Care Day,” SAU au-tomotive students offer free automobile inspec-tions for members of the community; and a SAUwelding student uses an oxy-acetylene torch.Skills learned in practical arts classes can be usedin a career, to finance advance education, or forpersonal enjoyment.

it does not permit them to destroy the other essentialhuman freedom: the freedom to believe. At the conclu-sion of all search and research, the teacher and the stu-dent must return to their ultimate home: faith.

Adventist educators must recog-nize that clasping the freedom toreason and explore must not lead toa rejection of the worldview offaith that forms the underlyingfoundation of Adventist education.Once that is acknowledged, aca-demic freedom no longer regards afaith commitment as stifling in-quiry but rather welcomes its guid-ance in achieving humility and re-sponsibility.

Thus, Adventist education’sstand vis a vis academic freedom isboth a challenge and a reminder. Itis a challenge to pursue researchand learning with rigor and disci-pline, but do so responsibly, recog-nizing that faith is the bedrock ofChristian life and existence. To bereminded of that, and to call uponthe teacher and the taught, the uni-versity and its community, never toabandon or wander away from therejuvenating embrace of faith isperhaps the most urgent need ofAdventist education today.

—John M. Fowler.


students for the realities of life and develops criticalthinking (what used to be called “common sense”). De-spite the challenges, it is possible to implement, and willprovide tremendous benefits for our students. ✐


Raymond Carson is an AssociateProfessor in the Technology De-partment at Southern AdventistUniversity, Collegedale, Tennessee,where he teaches computer-aideddrafting, welding, and woodwork-ing. Previously, he taught draftingand welding for eight years in a

public high school in Arizona, and spent 16 years as a self-employed consultant to rural schools on vocational educationissues. Mr. Carson is presently pursuing graduate course-work for his Ph.D. in Career and Technical Education at OldDominion University in Virginia.

world, unworthy of intellectual respect. While the Ad-ventist concept of academic freedom protects the re-searcher and the philosopher in their search for truth,

Find and share teaching materialsaffirming a biblical worldview

REFERENCES

1. Ellen G. White, Manuscript Release No. 143: “Counsel on Food,Manual Labor, and Voice Culture in Seventh-day Adventist Schools,”p. 218.

2. __________, Fundamentals of Christian Education (Nashville,Tenn.: Southern Publ. Assn., 1923), p. 417.

3. __________, Education (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific PressPubl. Assn., 1903), p. 220.

4. Ira Gish and Harry Christman, Madison, God’s Beautiful Farm:The E.A. Southerland Story (Brushton, N.Y.: Teach Services Inc.,2005).

5. Raymond Carson, “Career Choices in SDA Education.” Unpub-lished manuscript, 2004.

6. Arizona Department of Education, “Teacher Certification.” Re-trieved September 16, 2009, from http://www.ade.state.az.us/certification/requirements/vocational/.

7. Steven Greenhouse, “More White-Collar Workers Turn to Com-munity Colleges,” New York Times (August 19, 2009), Education section.Retrieved on August 21, 2009, from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/education/20COMMUN.html?_4=l&scp=1&sq=%2bLow*technogy&st=nyt.

8. ACT National Dropout Rates, 1993-2003. American CollegeTesting program (2003); retrieved February 12, 2009, from http:// -www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/retain_2003.pdf.

9. Scott Carlson, “News Analysis: Students May Need a Ground-ing in Agriculture as Much as in the Liberal Arts,” The Chronicle ofHigher Education 54:29 (March 28, 2008), p. A4.

Editorial continued from page 3

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