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CHAPTER FIVE
CRITERION FOUR:
ACQUISITION, DISCOVERY, AND
APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE
Introduction
Component 4A with summary
Component 4B with summary
Component 4C with summary
Component 4D with summary
Summary of Criterion Four
CRITERION FOUR: Acquisition, Discovery, and
Application of Knowledge
The organization promotes a life of learning for its
faculty, administration, staff, and students by fostering
and supporting inquiry, creativity, practice, and social
responsibility in ways consistent with its mission.
Introduction
Although North Central is not considered a research institution, there are many ways in
which is promotes life-long learning for its students and other constituencies. As the self-
study was pulled together, it became apparent that North Central University had a real
strength in its global and service learning. Sometimes an institution does not realize how
much is actually happening across the board in certain areas, and a self-study experience
brings about some self-realization. That is the case as NCU worked on both Criteria Four
and Five. For a school of its size, NCU has developed a wide range of opportunities for
its students to take international trips, interrelate with diverse populations, and be
involved in service learning and internships. In fact, 90% of the NCU student body are
involved in volunteer service. These opportunities prepare students to work in a global
and increasingly urbanized society with diverse populations. Once considered insular,
NCU has rounded the corner on this issue. Students and faculty are relating in a myriad
of ways to its community, to varied people groups, and with different global
constituencies.
Additionally, NCU has established on-campus learning experiences through its Faculty
Teaching Commons, has supported sabbaticals, and has provided numerous opportunities
for travel for its faculty as it works on continued growth and development. NCU Press
had been active in its first year as five books were published as well.
Students are involved in major specific professional organizations, often having
opportunities to present their papers. Every major also has a senior project related to the
specifics of that major, allowing students to have research and performance opportunities
which prepare them in pertinent ways for solid graduate school performance.
Component 4A – The organization demonstrates through the
actions of its board, administrators, students, faculty, and staff,
that it values a life of learning.
North Central University makes a great attempt to hire qualified faculty with terminal
degrees and also encourages those faculty without them to pursue terminal degrees in
their fields. This is part of an on-going program to promote faculty development and
ensure students receive the best quality instruction from highly qualified instructors. By
achieving terminal degrees the faculty are demonstrating by example a value in life long
learning to their students. As the following chart indicates, terminal degrees for full-time
faculty have increased by over 50% since the last HLC team visit. This percentage
increase from 39% to 60% is particularly significant given the increase in the size of the
Full-Time Teaching Faculty, which grew from 31 to 40 members over the past ten years
Faculty Terminal Degrees
1995-1997 with terminal degrees without total
Full-Time Teaching Faculty1 12 (39%) 19 (61%) 31
Full-Time Administrative Faculty2 9 (64%) 5 (36%) 14
Adjunct/Part-Time Faculty3 5 (21%) 19 (79%) 24
2006-2007
Full-Time Teaching Faculty 24 (60%) 16 (40%) 40
Full-Time Administrative Faculty 6 (67%) 3 (33%) 9
Adjunct/Part-Time Faculty 7 (10%) 62 (90%) 69
F-T T Faculty in TD Programs4 4 (10%)
The University supports those faculty working on terminal degrees to assist in their
schedules so they can attend classes and be allowed to miss certain activities that are
generally part of the contract requirement (e.g., chapel). There is flexibility and support
in many ways so faculty can successfully complete their graduate work including a
liberal sabbatical policy.
Other Faculty Development
NCU also supports ongoing faculty development through the following policies and
benefits. More information on most of these opportunities can be found in the NCU
Faculty Manual.
1
An earned doctorate or a terminal professional degree (e.g. an M.F.A.).
2
Administrative Faculty members (such as certain student life personnel) at North Central sometimes
require “less” than a Teaching-Faculty “terminal degree” for their position. An M.A. is, for the purposes of
this survey, arbitrarily considered to be the typical appropriate terminal degree for a member of the
Administrative Faculty.
3
The required qualifications for Adjunct Faculty vary dramatically by position. Many (e.g. among the
studio music faculty) are not required to hold a terminal degree but rather to demonstrate skill in their
instrument, etc. Cumulative figures in this category thus are difficult to assign a clear comparative
meaning. As a result, this category rather arbitrarily records and compares only those holding, or not
holding, terminal Teaching Faculty degrees.
Also, although the percentage of adjunct faculty with terminal degrees has declined by a small amount,
the number of adjunct faculty has increased from 24 to 69. Adjunct are greatly used in music and other
specialized areas where NCU is looking for experiential expertise.
4
F-T T Faculty in TD Programs = Full-Time Teaching Faculty in Terminal Degree Programs, reported as
of above date.
In the past 10 years, 22 faculty have been published over 80 times. In fact, this number
may be low because some faculty report having “several articles” in a single source.
In addition, 18 faculty report having spoken over 100 times. Again this number is quite
low in that many faculty listed items such as “SALT and other Chi Alpha events,”
National and state youth conferences,” “numerous seminars of Islam, the Kurds, and the
Middle East,” “pastoral conferences,” and so forth, indicating multiple speaking
engagements. These numbers also do not include faculty preaching.
● Faculty presentations at conferences Faculty frequently attend conferences
and often present at them. Samples of faculty presentations include:
“Factors contributing to the Retention of Christian Identity at Church-
Related Colleges and Universities”
“From Deutschland: Vaterland and Son” Sigma Tau Delta Conference,
Kansas City, MO, March 2005
“G.K. Chesterton, Ireland, and the Good-Friday Peace Accord of 1998”
“Holocaust Poems: A Creative Reading”
“How to Cope with the Violent Suicide of a Parishioner.”
“The Night Visit in Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy”
“The Path of Preparation for a Career in the Helping Professions.”
Association of Christian Schools International, Oct. Nov. 2006
Association of Christian Schools International, October 2005
Bringing picture books into school writing programs
Characteristics of Psychological Health in Individuals.”
Differentiating Instruction
Masterclass – East Metro Music Academy, St. Paul
Ministers’ Seminar on Christology and Hermeneutics in Freetown, Sierra
Leone, West Africa
Numerous seminars on Islam, the Kurds, and the Middle East
The Etiology, Symptomotology and Treatment of Eating Disorders
The politics of writing assessment.
Using altered text to unearth student prejudice.
Writing effective dissertation research proposals.
● Involvement in Professional Organizations Faculty are involved in
professional organizations such as SPS and SBL, etc. and often serve on committees for
various groups. There is also quite a lot of service by various faculty on state and
national committees for the Assemblies of God. This is listed in the faculty development
survey available in the Resource Room.
● Sabbatical Leaves Following each sixth year of full-time teaching, faculty
members may request a sabbatical for the purpose of educational research, degree
completion work, or some other activity that can be related directly to the benefit of the
host institution. The various formats that sabbatical leaves can take are delineated in the
Faculty Manual.
● In-Service Stipends Faculty in-service stipends of $200 per year may be
utilized to purchase related books, assist in tuition, provide for a professional
membership, or assist in sending an individual to a professional meeting. Equipment
may not be purchased with in-service stipends.
● John Phillipps Scholarship Grant for Faculty Development The income
from the John Phillipps endowment is specifically designated for faculty development
purposes. John Phillipps was an esteemed faculty member at NCU for many years, and
his family put together this special endowment specifically to support faculty
development. This provides money to faculty members who apply and can be utilized for
attending conferences, learning trips, or other creative faculty development endeavors.
● Campus-Based Faculty Development The campus-based Faculty
Development Program is designed to provide on-campus in-service education, training
and enrichment opportunities for faculty such as seminars, guest lectureship, and faculty-
in-services. Besides a two-day retreat prior to each fall semester, the faculty also has
three in-service days throughout the year. In addition, a new “Teaching Commons” has
been developed recently, offering monthly faculty development opportunities. These are
taught by various NCU faculty and feature an array of topics pertinent to teaching and
learning.
● Employee Tuition Benefit Discount Full-time faculty and adjunct with at
least a .75 load faculty contract may take up to three North Central credits in each of the
fall and spring semesters, including audits.
● Tuition Benefit Discount for the AGTS/NCU Master's Program The
Assemblies of God Theological Seminary offers a variety of tuition discounts for
participants enrolled in the Master of Arts in Christian Ministries degree program.
Recipients must be in good financial standing with AGTS.
● Faculty Discount All faculty receive a 20% discount on items purchased at the
bookstore (except pre-recorded music), and are encouraged to use the bookstore to
special order materials for personal reference.
● Foreign travel NCU supports faculty development through many travel
opportunities. The University allows and encourages faculty to do foreign travel and
service, even during the college year for a limited time. In such cases it provides funds
for guest speakers and other such substitute teaching options. Most faculty have been
overseas in the last decade, generally multiple times. As a matter of fact, in that time
twenty-five faculty report having gone to 137 countries. If repeated countries are
eliminated, the faculty have traveled to over 70 different countries, and the average
number of countries per faculty member is seven. This provides a richness to the
curriculum. A complete list of travel may be found in the resource room.
● Holy Land Award A supporter of NCU has for a long time paid for a trip to
the Holy Land for one faculty member and two graduating seniors each year. If the Holy
Land is not so safe, alternate trips are allowed to biblical places such as Greece or Egypt.
These have been wonderful opportunities for learning, growth, and interaction for all
involved.
● Assemblies of God Faculty Symposiums The Assemblies of God sponsors
summer symposiums for A/G faculty in all of its schools. One third of the faculty is
invited to Springfield, MO every three years to participate with other faculty from their
subject area in specialized training. All presidents and academic deans are encouraged to
attend each year. Various NCU faculty have presented workshops at these conferences.
● Assemblies of God General Council This occurs every two years in a
different city and NCU generally sends between five-seven people to Council. This year
one faculty member will be presenting in the Leadership Track prior to the General
Council business meetings.
● Assemblies of God Educator’s Award The Assemblies of God also has
developed two awards: one is the Educator’s Award which was given to Larry Bach in
2006 and the other is the Distinguished Educator’s Award. Each A/G institution of
higher education may nominate people for each category every other year and winners
are selected by an impartial committee with awards presents at the Educators Luncheon
at General Council.
● Faculty speaking in chapel Multiple faculty have opportunities to speak in
chapel. Additionally the senior class recommends a faculty member they would like to
have give the faculty response at their Baccalaureate.
● Staley Seminar NCU participates in the Staley Seminar which provides a
grant for bringing in special scholars. These speakers often participate in faculty
development days, meet with faculty, work with student leaders, and teach in classes as
well as provide a special chapel series.
● Department Chair Conference Between 1998 and 2003, the various
department chairs, through a rotation process, attended the Department Chair Conference
in Florida, paid by faculty development funds.
●HLC Annual Meeting Generally two to four people have been sent to the
Higher Learning Commission Annual Meeting. Some have given presentations.
Staff Development
Data was gathered on various training seminars attended by the University staff from 1-1-
98 through 12-12-05. Ninety-four (94) members of the staff (including administrative
staff) representing nineteen departments attended 273 different conferences. With
multiple people attending the same conference, that total is 481 or an average of five
conferences per person. The total spent on these conferences was almost $100,000. These
numbers are, in fact, only a representation of the training of the staff. For example, all
staff attend an all-day staff in-service a minimum of twice a year and as many as four
times a year. This evidence clearly shows that the staff at North Central University values
a life of learning.
Data are available in the resource room to document these findings. A Table Summary of
Employment Training Opportunities is sorted by date, conference, last name of
employee, and department.
These data indicate that there is strong funding for staff development. A wide variety of
personnel is sent to conferences. Additionally, the staff meet consistently for staff
development.
The staff also may take one free NCU class each semester and attend during their work
day under the Employee Discount Benefit. This continued learning is considered a very
positive perk by the staff.
More information on staff development is included in the “Addressing Concerns” section
of this self-study.
Development of Administration
Each University officer and administrative faculty member is expected to regularly seek
opportunities for professional development and growth. These opportunities may come
in the form of annual conferences, seminars, and/or workshops offered by professional
organizations related to the administrator’s portfolio of University responsibility. Other
possibilities of professional development may be in the form of purchasing materials
related to the University leadership responsibility such as books and other media, trade
journals, and curricular materials. Each University officer is expected regularly to read
contemporary literature related to the areas of University responsibility beyond the
external professional development venues.
The Board of Regents has authorized the administration to set a line item under the direct
budget for each administrative faculty member or University officer for the purpose of
professional development. This allows for the allocation of funds for professional
conferences, seminars, and workshops and related expenses. Also, the University
officers and administrative faculty are eligible for the University faculty development
funds as allowed in the NCU Faculty Manual. Under special circumstances the
University will allow its officers to take a leave of absence for the purpose of
professional development and growth.
Assessment for professional development for University officers and administrative
faculty may include an annual list of books, articles, and related materials read. A list of
conferences, seminars, and/or workshops is to be placed in the personnel file for each
administrative faculty member and University officer. The University currently asks
each University officer to list all goals for the academic year related to areas of
responsibilities and professional as well as personal growth.
Board of Regents Supports Development of University Personnel Life of Learning
● Granting Sabbaticals One of the many ways that the Board of Regents for
North Central University shows that it values a life of learning is in its support of faculty
development. The Board of Regents grants sabbatical requests for faculty who have six
years or more of teaching. The sabbatical is used “for the purpose of educational
research, degree completion work, or some other activity that can be directly related to
the benefit of the host institution” (Faculty Manual 4.3). The University does require that
faculty return to NCU for at least six full-time semesters or else the sabbatical pay must
be reimbursed to the University (Faculty Manual 4.3). From the 1997-1998 school year
through the 2006-2007 school year, the Board has granted 20 sabbatical requests. The
following persons were approved for sabbaticals during these school years:
1997 – 1998 Ron Jewett
Larry Bach
1998 – 1999 Tim Jenney
Gary Johnstone
1999 – 2000 Buzz Brookman
Roger Sorbo
2000 – 2001 Dan Rector
2001 – 2002 Margo Lloyd
Leslie Crabtree
2002 – 2003 Sharon Connor
Dan Nelson (approved but did not take due to shortage in dept…an
additional faculty member has since been added…)
2003 – 2004 Richard Shaka
Caroline Knight
2004 – 2005 None
2005 – 2006 Bob Brenneman
Dave Pedde
Kari Nelson (approved but did not take)
2006 – 2007 Approved: Bill Barnes
Glen Menzies
Buzz Brookman
Joanne Kersten
● Approving Promotions The Board of Regents also grants promotion for faculty
members who have completed additional education. The academic ranks are as
follows (Faculty Manual 3.4.12.1):
Specialist: Hired at the discretion of the President and the Vice President, Academic
Affairs, because of exceptional experience and/or expertise in a given field. A Specialist
can hold any rank (Instructor to Professor). In certain cases, the University might
purposely not utilize the faculty salary schedule in order to attract certain high-profile
individuals to fill a particular leadership role/scholarly niche on the faculty
Instructor: Does not have a Master’s degree but posses exceptional skills based on
experiences or special aptitude or has a Master’s degree but not yet one year of full-time
college level teaching experience.
Assistant Professor: Has a Master’s degree and a minimum of two years of full-time
experience. Half of this (one year) must be full-time college level teaching experience.
The rest may be composed of related full-time equivalent work experience (which is
counted at a 2:1 ratio).
Associate Professor: Has completed at least 30 semester graduate credits in a related field
above the Master’s degree. (For those without a master’s degree, there must be a total of
at least 90 semester graduate credits.) Has a total of at least six years of full-time
experience. At least half of the six years must be full-time college level teaching, i.e., a
minimum of three years. The rest may be composed of related full-time equivalent work
experience (which is counted at a 2:1 ratio).
Professor: Has an earned Doctoral degree and at least twelve years of full-time
experience. At least seven of the twelve years must be composed of full-time college
level teaching experience. The rest may be composed of related full-time equivalent
work experience (which is counted at a 2:1 ratio).
Faculty must submit substantial portfolios to document that they have met the criteria for
promotion. This includes scholarship, service, committee work, character, demonstration
of excellent teaching, and other such qualifications. There are various procedures in place
for the promotions process and these are also indicated in the Faculty Manual. A healthy
raise is given after the promotion is awarded. From September 1997 through September
2006, the Board has approved 19 promotions as follows:
From To Total
Specialist Assistant Professor 1
Assistant Professor Associate Professor 8
Associate Professor Professor 9
Missionary-in-Residence Associate 1
19
● Approving new majors Another way the Board of Regents shows that it
supports a life of learning is that they approve new majors. In 1997, NCU offered 19
majors in its Bachelor Degree programs. In the spring of 2006 that number had increased
to 31. Some of these majors have multiple tracks. English majors, for example, may
choose between a literature and writing emphasis. Intercultural Studies majors may
choose among Bible Translation, International Development, Islamic Studies, Modern
Languages, TEFL, and World Missions. Since the previous visit from the Higher
Learning Commission, the Board has also approved the addition of supporting programs.
Supporting programs are entail 21-28 credits, more than a minor (which is 18 credits).
They “allow students to build a program that places special emphasis on their specific
callings” (NCU Catalog, p. 52). The University Catalog, available in the resource room,
shows evidence of the addition of majors and supporting programs.
● Learning by Board of Regents Over the years there have been speakers for
the Board of Regents such as Robert Cooley, former President of Gordon-Conwell
Theological Seminary who is well known in the area of Board development. Recently, in
the summer of 2006, the executive committee of the Board hosted a retreat at Lake
Okojobi. Additionally, new Board members are provided with a half-day orientation.
In the self-study surveys the Board responded to a number of questions related to lifelong
learning as follows: “My own life demonstrates a commitment to a life of learning” (4.7
on a 5.0 scale), “I support a life of learning at NCU in tangible ways” (4.5), and “Being a
member of the Board of Regents has assisted my own personal growth and development”
(4.2).
Alumni and a Life of Learning
Alumni are encouraged to participate in on-going learning opportunities offered by NCU.
Many return for the various conferences and specialized workshops and learning
opportunities that NCU sponsors. These include a children’s ministries conference,
youth ministries workshops and seminars, missions programs, the Emerging Church
Conference, the Women in Ministry Conference, and numerous other such learning
opportunities.
North Central also honors alumni by selecting an Alumnus/a of the Year to be awarded in
chapel. This and involvement in chapel highlights alumni learning and achievements.
The NCU Magazine also provides information about alumni awards, career
advancements, degrees, and other special life events.
Students and a Life of Learning
North Central students are involved in activities within the community demonstrating
their commitment to a life of learning and service. Skills developed while attending
NCU will provide the students with the necessary attitudes and motivation to continue
serving their communities and a desire to develop their skills and abilities through their
lifetime. Evidence supporting this institution’s influence in supporting life long learning
in our students is as follows:
● Ministry credits Based on research from Michael White, Ministry and
Volunteer Coordinator, the following number of students petitioned for and met the
requirements for Ministry Credits. Students must have four semesters of ministry service
credits for graduation. These credits show consistent involvement on campus, in the
community, and in the local church:
Fall 2003 Spring Fall 2004 Spring Total
2004 2005
On 32 16 75 61 184
Campus
Off 136 119 149 244 648
Campus
Total 168 135 224 305 832
Total for 2003 – 2004 = 303 Total for 2004 – 2005 = 529
● Other community involvement These numbers do not fully represent our
students’ involvement, as each student is only required to be involved 4 of the 8 (or
more) semesters that they are at NCU. It would follow that at least 100% of our
graduating student body has been involved in activities outside of North Central
University at least four semesters, but probably have more that is not documented. We
also know that more than 95% of our freshmen are involved in community activities as a
result of requirements for GS 180 Foundations of leadership – a required course. There
are also majors that have specific requirements for outside involvement. The Student
Ministries Department, for example, requires each of their Youth Majors to be involved
in local youth work every semester they are at North Central. The following are the
number of youth majors involved this way over the past several years.
Youth Majors Involved in Service
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Fall 14 17 193 228 243
141 170
Spring N/ 14 164 192 224
n/a 145
Total 141 315 357 420 467
The TEFL program also requires community service involvement teaching at the
local Somalian Ubah School. Various other majors have similar requirements for
community involvement and service. In fact 60% of our students report that they have
performed community service as part of a class. Others of these will be delineated in
Criterion Five.
● Other student engagement in lifelong learning Other interesting data from the
2005 College Student Survey show NCU students to be involved and engaged outside of
NCU, thus preparing them for lifelong learning are as follows:
88.7% of graduating seniors said they participated in volunteer work as
opposed to the norm of 81.1%
100% of graduating seniors said that they participated in a local church
community
98.3% of the general population of NCU students attended a religious
service
60% of the general population of students participated in an organized
demonstration
90% of the general population of NCU students performed volunteer work
8.3% of the general population worked on a local, state, or national
political campaign
With NCU students, a third more than the norm expected to be
participating in a community service organization upon graduation, 50%
more than the norm expected to be traveling, hostelling or backpacking,
and 56% more than the norm expect to be doing volunteer work.
● Graduate School and Career Preparation
According to the 2005 College Student Survey, more NCU students intend
to go on for a graduate degree than is the norm. Unfortunately, though we
know numerous students have entered prestigious graduate programs, a
clear record of numbers and places is not available.
Various capstone courses prepare students for graduate school, giving
assignments to do research on programs and discussing entrance
requirements.
Various capstone courses also assist in resumé preparation, as does the
Academic Success Center.
Faculty members are very involved in writing recommendations and
counseling students regarding graduate school and career selection.
The Pastoral Department works with the Minnesota District Council of the
Assemblies of God to bring on campus representatives from the District to
describe the process for ministerial credentialing. The test is scheduled
and dozens of students are traditionally given ministerial credentials in the
late April MN District Council meetings in the evening service.
● Creative engagement
70% of graduating seniors visited an art gallery or museum (more than the
norm)
24.7% of our NCU seniors rated the writing of original works (poems,
novels, short stories, etc.) as very important or essential as opposed to the
norm of 18.7%---a third higher.
Additionally 22.7% of our students rated creating artic work (painting,
sculpture, decorating, etc.) as very important or essential as opposed to the
norm of 18.8%.
NCU’s Fine Arts Department is strong, developing in all of our students
an appreciation for different types of music. Faculty and student recitals,
concerts, and many other venues are available to the campus community.
Theater majors sponsor various performances. Several faculty members
are active playwrights.
● Internships North Central promotes the development of an attitude and
appreciation for life long learning in our students by requiring most students to
participate in a supervised internship within their academic departments.
Most majors at NCU have an internship component. The focus of this component is to
serve a bridge between academic learning and real-life experience.
Most of the graduating seniors participate in this practical field experience.
Objectives to be met during internships include, but are not limited to the following:
1. The student will gain practical experience in the field
2. The student will apply concepts learned from class and readings to the
internship site
3. The student will engage in self-reflection and evaluation regarding
abilities, interests, vocational goals, and educational goals
4. The student will have a clearer understanding of what working in the field
entails
5. The student will develop relationships with other professionals and
paraprofessionals in the field
Internships include a range of 120 to 400 hours of field work, along with a journaling,
readings, and reporting component to better assess the learning process. Each internship
syllabus describes how the department handles internships, and why they are important
for preparing the student for a life of learning (Core Component 4b). Internship manuals
have also been developed.
● Leadership and mentoring involvement Leadership mentoring is an integral
component of the educational experience. Our mission includes the development of
Pentecostal leaders who will be ready and willing to take on the challenges of this new
century and to be a catalyst for continued growth and positive change within their
communities.
Leadership and Mentoring are two very strong foci at NCU.
NCU offers over 230 formal leadership positions on campus. Over 17%
of the student body was involved in a student leadership position in 2005-
06. All of these positions are designed to have some type of mentoring
involved, although not every position has a one-on-one mentor assigned.
NCU offers a minor in Leadership Studies, with a strong emphasis on
leadership mentoring in GS 380 Leadership Development II.
NCU offers male and female Mentor Communities where each resident on
a residence floor is paired with a formal mentor. These are smaller floors
of 15-20 residents in each community.
27-30% of students responded that they have been mentored while at NCU
(data taken from two different surveys)
60-96% said that mentoring was important (data taken from two different
surveys)
Having the opportunity to serve in leadership positions throughout college allows our
students to see how leaders cope with change in real world situations. Being involved
with student leadership also provides the students access to many organizational leaders
off campus. This access gives them the chance to see the role that learning plays in
organizational success. Additionally many faculty and staff are very involved in
mentoring students.
SIFE information provided by the national SIFE office (a leadership program designed
for business majors) shows that CEOs feel students are not prepared to take on leadership
roles upon graduation. The evidence provided by Student Life shows that our students are
involved in leadership positions throughout their college careers. The SIFE survey also
points out that the number one challenge CEOs will face in the future is creating change
for their organizations. Our students are beginning to understand this by being involved
in leadership positions.
● Faculty-Student Collaboration and Research At certain times students may
participate with faculty in doing research. As one example, one writing major was
interested in expanding her understanding of doing research for writing a book or for
fiction. Since Dr. Carolyn Tennant was writing a play, this student did a special research
internship, assisting in a variety of research material needed for the professor’s writing.
Some have worked on Senior Projects or other assignments related to professor’s work,
assisting faculty who are doing research for various reasons.
From 2003 to 2005, several students met weekly (twice weekly during the
summer) with Dr. Amy Anderson for lessons in German as preparation for graduate
studies in theology. In exchange, two of the students assisted Dr. Anderson with the
publication of her book, doing web searches, proof-reading, and writing an index. In
addition, one of the students also did substantial collation of ancient Greek manuscripts
as a foundation for further research in Dr. Anderson’s field of expertise.
● Ethnographic Research Students in the Cross Cultural Studies Department do
original ethnographic research on countries. Other institutions have been amazed at what
the students have produced.
● Campus publications and media indicating a life of learning The NCU
student newspaper Northern Light and very occasional “alternative” student newspapers
collectively featured 73 articles in the period 1982-2005 that could be construed as
supporting a “life of learning.”
The quarterly alumni publications Friends (1985-1996) and NCU Magazine (1999- )
have published 20 and 23 articles respectively that could be construed as supporting a
“life of learning” (See the Resource Room for copies.)
Students often write for campus publications like NCU Magazine. Students also
participated in interviewing people and doing research and writing for the NCU Press
publication in spring 2006 of the NCU history book A Faithful Past; A Shining Future,
published in honor of North Central’s 75th year anniversary. Another student worked
with a missionary in Greece to begin a new women’s magazine.
Students also produce videos for their Video II courses and for other purposes which are
often used to show in chapel or public events. Many have also done projects for websites
(such as a recent student who developed a website from scratch for a missionary utilizing
html format from scratch). Such stories as these are numerous and exciting.
Intercultural Studies Department Summer Trips Students in the ICS
Department must participate in a summer trip involved in ministry projects in a cross-
cultural setting. The following is a listing of trips sponsored by the ICS Department for
the years 2001 to 2006.
ICS International Trips 2001-2006
No. of
Year Location Participants
2001 China 10
Morocco 8
South Africa 4
Uganda 9
2002 China 9
El Salvador 6
England 8
Germany 10
Mexico 13
2003 England 4
Romania 7
Turkey 3
Uganda 12
2004 China 6
Turkey 9
Uganda 9
2005 India 15
Turkey 6
Uganda 11
2006 Uganda 10
Lebanon 8
Armenia 6
China 6
Total 189
As is described in other parts of this self-study, numerous other departments also sponsor
overseas trips. The Nine Days trips also provide important global experiences to such
places as Egypt, Guatemala, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Thailand (2007
listing).
Self-study Survey Data Indicates Support of Lifelong Learning at NCU The mean of
the groups self-study survey for questions related to lifelong learning was generally in the
“agree” category. To the question “NCU develops students who will become lifelong
learners,” the mean response was 3.7 (on a 5.0 scale), and the response was 3.9 to this
question: “A life of learning is supported at various levels of the organization.” Another
related question is “Academic programs at NCU prepare students well for later
professional work and/or advanced study” (3.8).
Summary
It is apparent from the significant amount of evidence provided that North Central
supports a life of learning for its various groups, thus meeting Component 4A.
Strengths that were identified include the following:
1. The University is committed to building a full-time teaching faculty in which all
members hold terminal degrees and has made significant progress in this regard
over the past ten years, moving from 41% ten years ago to 60% today. NCU
supports its faculty through flexible scheduling and a supportive sabbatical policy.
2. The data indicate that there is strong funding for development of the staff. A wide
variety of personnel are sent to conferences. Additionally the staff meet
consistently for staff development.
3. NCU has many requirements and opportunities for community involvement of
which our students are taking advantage. Survey results show our students above
the norm in their present service involvement as well as their expectations of their
involvement in the future.
4. Basically 100% of our students are regularly involved in church services.
5. At any given point in the year, over 50% of our students are involved in
community activities (per ministry involvement) – a very conservative estimate.
6. Both alumni and student publications of the University regularly feature articles
reflecting the importance of a “life of learning.”
7. The faculty is involved in a great deal of global travel, enriching their cross-
cultural understanding.
8. The faculty enjoys a liberal sabbatical policy and takes advantage of these
opportunities for professional growth and development.
9. The Board has approved nineteen promotions over the last decade.
Areas that could be areas of improvement include the following:
1. There are some tracking issues that were discovered as follows:
NCU does not have a formal means of tracking faculty development so it
is easily accessible.
We do not have one all-inclusive measuring tool for overall community
involvement. It is pervasive and includes many different area and courses.
Although we know that numerous students enter and successfully
complete graduate programs, North Central does not adequately track
students attending graduate school. The percentage of students continuing
their education beyond the bachelor’s degree cannot be reliably
determined.
Faculty have raised concerns over the hiring of “specialists” in that it
brings into question pay equity; these are unusual and rare, however.
2. NCU needs to increase funding and opportunities for faculty professional
development
3. Both alumni and student publications have relatively infrequent publication
schedules. This reality, plus frequent changes in staff, have insured that the
emphasis in these publications on a “life of learning” has varied, sometimes
significantly, from year-to-year. Perhaps this concern will be handled in the
recent restructuring of the Public Relations Department and of the school
newspaper.
Core Component 4B. The organization demonstrates that
acquisition of a breadth of knowledge and skills and the
exercise of intellectual inquiry are integral to its educational
programs.
Curricular Support for Breadth of Knowledge and Intellectual Inquiry
● General Education The General Education Core at NCU has been designed to
include 45 credits of courses which develop students in a wide variety of areas including
History, Math, Science, English (writing/research and literature), Communications
(public speaking), Fine Arts, Physical Education, Critical Thought, Biblical Studies,
Social Relations, and Global Awareness. These required courses provide a support base
for additional college and lifelong learning. They are considered essential to the success
and understanding of students in their learning processes.
One area of curriculum change in the last decade has been the development of the
Supporting Program which is between 21-28 credits. There were various reasons that
each department worked together to develop their supporting programs. First of all,
students come in with multiple skills which they often aren’t able to develop with normal
programming. Secondly, it is well known that one of the major shifts in society is that
people no longer choose a career and stay with it for a lifetime. It is normal and almost
expected that career shifts will occur, thus making it better is a person has a broader
training. Third, students had a wide range of interests and desired to put together very
different kinds of educational packages. Their dreams were big and varied. The
supporting program allows them to satisfy their curiosity in these various areas. Fourth,
the supporting program makes the students more marketable since they have more
training in a variety of areas. Finally, the supporting program assists in developing a
breadth of knowledge and intellectual inquiry which is even greater than incorporating a
major and a minor.
NCU kept all its minors, but it also added numerous supporting programs and this has
become an exceedingly popular option for the students. Large numbers of students take a
supporting program and very often stay longer so they can finish. This has been
financially viable for the University, of course, but it also provides multiple benefits for
the students as they move ahead into their careers and graduate school.
● Pre-requisites There are many course pre-requisites built into the curricular
registration system, assuring that students have gained the basic breadth of knowledge
required to successfully complete the work in their majors.
● Scores on Academic Profile One evidence of the development of breadth of
knowledge and individual inquiry is the Academic Profile by ETS. Our students move
from the 42nd percentile in critical thinking at the beginning of their Freshman year to the
62nd percentile at the end of their sophomore. Other percentile scores in each area also go
up. See the assessment data provided in Criterion Three for more information.
● Requirement of ENG 124 One example of the above is that all students are
required to take English 124 (Rhetoric and Research) during their freshman year. Every
section of the class has the following objectives:
learn strategies for critical reading
learn the stages of the writing process and apply them to their own writing
learn to use a variety of sources including databases and the internet
research a specific topic and write original, documented, persuasive papers
in MLA (Modern Language Association) format
continue to develop fluency in Standard Written English
learn the tools for developing well-reasoned responses to others’ ideas,
and give and receive positive, useful feedback about writing during class
discussion and peer conferencing
This class clearly supports core component 4b in that the students are learning skills that
will help them in their processes of intellectual inquiry. We believe this course is so
important that on the first page of the student’s registration for classes, ENG 124 is
printed right on the page.
● Other General Education Requirements Each course in the 45 credit
General Education Core could be discussed to show its importance to broadening
students’ understanding of the world of knowledge. Our commitment to developing
globally comfortable students, for example, has affected our Global Awareness course
options (with the curriculum being revamped in the last decade). Our history options
have also increased since we have since added a full-time history professor. NCU has
also just voted to increase its math course options and added a Spanish minor. New
languages have also been added to the curriculum for B.A. candidates, resulting in our
regular courses in Mandarin, Arabic, Spanish, and four years of Ancient Hebrew and
Ancient Greek (one of the few undergraduate programs offering fours years).
● Senior Project The required senior project demonstrates NCU’s support for
Criterion 4b. The NCU Catalog states the following:
Senior project is a requirement for most majors but the type of project differs. For
music majors it is a recital, elementary education students complete their student
teaching, psychology students do a research paper which has an oral defense.
Many majors require synthesizing papers, and those majors with a global focus
emphasize particular countries. This challenging capstone course is a wonderful
opportunity to utilize the many skills students have gained during their college
career to produce a culminating project (44).
The fact that NCU has a senior project as part of its curriculum is one of the
demonstrations that intellectual inquiry is integral to its educational programs. Students
have been developing inquiry skills through their program, and although Senior Project is
defined as “culminating,” it actually prepares students for a life of learning. Depending
on the major, the students develop research, writing, performance, speaking, and teaching
skills that they will use throughout their lives. In addition, some majors such as English
and Psychology require oral presentations of their findings and a defense in front of other
faculty and students. The research paper, oral presentation (usually utilizing media), and
then the oral defense prepare the students for future graduate work.
After the committee reviewed the Senior Project syllabi for this report, concerns were
raised. It appears that not all Senior Projects are comparable. While it is difficult to
compare student teaching to a music recital to conducting research, each senior project is
worth 3 credits. As of this writing, each department (and sometimes each faculty
member) decides what constitutes a senior project.
Most written senior projects, nonetheless, are designed to provide for analysis and
synthesis of their discipline-specific content and application to their field/discipline.
Bible/Theology Core
The Bible/Theology Core is designed to provide a basis for further study throughout a
student’s career and life. It requires courses that are of a biblical survey nature as well as
the study of individual books. Various questions of theology and interpretation are part
and parcel of this core.
Intellectual Inquiry There are numerous other examples besides senior projects,
internships, etc. where the curriculum is integrating intellectual inquiry into its
programming. These include student research projects, faculty-student cooperative
projects (e.g., the Fine Arts Department producing Dr. Tennant’s play, St. Patrick’s Vita,
and simultaneously assisting in its rewriting), Socratic teaching methods, and
assignments that require inquiry such as interviews and field work. To the question,
“Freedom of inquiry is supported on campus” in the self-study surveys, the mean score
(on a 5.0 scale) was 3.7---agree. Furthermore, to the question, “Creativity is supported
on campus,” the mean was 3.9.
Information Resources
The IRC has a comprehensive integrated program of library instruction that meets the
needs of any student interested in library research.
● Bibliographic Instruction Sessions. Members of the IRC staff teach sessions of
various regular-curriculum courses (usually one class period, sometimes more) with
members of the teaching faculty, focusing both on research methods and on particular
IRC resources. Most often these regard online databases available either through
MINITEX-MINLINK—the regional library automation, ILL lending, and training
network—or as “stand-alones,” leased by the IRC. Bibliographic Instruction sessions can
take place in the IRC, in the Student Computer Lab, or in the Computer Classroom
(Phillips Hall, Room 115).
● Reference Questions. Students present research problems to members of the
IRC staff who assist them in formulating research strategies. This often involves
instruction in the use of particular resources, e.g. the IRC automated “card catalog,” an
automated database, a certain reference book, a website, a particular periodical.
Reference sessions can range from momentary responses to simple questions to extended
one-on-one instruction involving hours of work.
● Printed Guides to IRC Resources Prepared by the IRC Staff. The IRC staff
regularly prepares and revises written guides to IRC resources. These range from the
multi-page pamphlet, “T.J. Jones User Handbook,” to single-page guides on a
multiplicity of topics (e.g. how to read call numbers, how to use the automated card
catalog, identifying and using the online resources of other libraries).
● Training and Continuing Education for IRC Student Workers. Student workers,
who often are identified as freshmen and retained for the four years of their
undergraduate education, are trained first in the workings of their particular IRC
department---usually Public Services or Technical Services. Later most are instructed in
the use of popular Reference resources, so that they can answer basic questions. The IRC
staff has developed a number of Power Point presentations for student employees on
various aspects of librarianship as practiced at NCU.
● Assisting Students with Extended Assignments. Certain faculty members from
time-to-time develop assignments with specific “library research” components. IRC staff
(both “regular” and student workers) are prepared in advance for these assignments and
assist students in the completion of these projects throughout a given semester. These are
often projects which are related to writing a specific term paper.
● IRC Tours. Tours or the IRC, highlighting its various resources, are offered as
part of Freshman Orientation and at other times during the year, as required.
● Continuing Education for the IRC Professional and Paraprofessional Staff. At
least one member or the IRC staff (sometimes several) attends the annual meeting of the
Association of Christian Librarians and other meetings of regional library associations
involving representatives of the entire library community, e.g. the Minnesota Library
Association. The training received at these professional meetings then is passed on to
other IRC staff, to student workers, and eventually to NCU student patrons.
● IRC Service Statistics According to our services statistics, when these are
compared to 25 other schools in our CCCU Affiliate comparison group, we are sixth in
rank out of 25 in information services to groups. The total attendance at these
presentations puts us well above the mean and into the 80th quartile.
● Student Utilization of Books and Reference Materials Students are also
utilizing their intellectual inquiry by checking out many books. The circulation of
materials at NCU is 35.74 per FTE, which ranks us at eight among the same 25 school
mentioned above. It also places us in the 83rd quartile for reference transactions, nearly
twice the average for the CCCU schools in our comparison groups.
Honors, Awards, and Learning Options
North Central has designed many co-curricular activities which are related to our
curriculum and which significantly broaden the learning opportunities for our students.
Although there are many such activities, some of them are listed below:
● SIFE is a nonprofit organization that gives students the tools to learn the free
enterprise system in a real working situation. SIFE challenges students on more than 800
college campuses nationwide to take what they are learning in the classroom and use their
knowledge to better their communities.
Guided by faculty advisors who are named Sam M. Walton Free Enterprise
Fellows in honor of the late Wal-Mart founder, SIFE Teams establish a variety of
community outreach programs that teach free enterprise. For example, they teach
concepts such as budgeting, accounting and supply and demand. They help budding
entrepreneurs get their plans off the ground and mentor at-risk students, inspiring them to
reach for their dreams.
The challenge to SIFE teams is not simply to inform, but also to empower–to help
their targeted audiences reach their full potential through a better understanding of the
principles of free enterprise. Individually, SIFE teams are improving the quality of life
and standard of living for members of their communities. Collectively, the focused effort
of hundreds of SIFE teams and the thousands of faculty, students and supporting
community leaders driving these teams, has created a positive and sweeping force for
change that impacts the lives of millions and is literally changing the world.
Being involved in the SIFE program teaches students the importance of teaching
others while in school but also the importance of empowering others throughout a
person’s life. Students have opportunities to be involved with SIFE as alumni, Board
members, and advisory board members. To do so means that the student is committed to
a life of learning.
NCU students developed an award-winning co-op in Croatia through SIFE,
among other activities.
● Focus on the Family option Psychology students may take a program from
Focus on the Family in their last semester at NCU, taking them to Colorado for intense
study.
● Faculty-student travel NCU students often travel with their faculty to
participate in ministry or service. The faculty is very involved in outside activities,
including preaching and teaching around the state, the nation, and overseas. Faculty
often take a student or two along with them to assist the students in their growth and
development and to provide them with a broadened experiential learning base.
● Student attendance at professional meetings Students present at or attend
professional meetings. These include various opportunities such as the following
examples: The pastoral studies departments from several local Christian colleges
including Bethel, Northwestern and NCU recently held a symposium where students
presented research papers and various topics. The Deaf Department requires its students
to attend professional interpreting meeting. The Children’s Ministries Department takes
students to children’s conferences. Some students also traveled with their faculty advisor
to the International Evangelism Conference in Europe.
Every year 2-5 students accompany NCU Bible and theology professors to the
annual convention of the Society of Biblical Literature. This is not officially part of any
course, but it greatly enhances the students’ exposure to the scholarly world. They are
able to attend sessions on a great variety of specialized topics, and in many cases are able
to personally meet world-renowned experts in fields that they are considering pursuing.
There are always networking opportunities – meals eaten together, late night talks – with
the NCU faculty and their own extended contacts. This has frequently led to invitations
by faculty of post-graduate institutions to our students to apply to their programs.
Faculty and students often present at this conference. In 2007, for example, one of the
pastoral ministries seniors was selected to present the paper, “Living and Active: The
Uneasy Road Between Strict Inerrancy and Pentecostalism.”
● Participation in District Council Within the last few years the Pastoral
Studies Department has coordinated with the Minnesota District of the Assemblies of
God for our upperclassmen to be required to attend District Council. This is a great
professional opportunity as the students see the inner working of the District and get to
meet other pastors. They have to sign in like other pastors and even have an opportunity
to vote and deliberate, though their votes are counted separately.
● Teaching Assistants Many faculty select Teaching Assistants who help with a
particular class. These teaching assistants often are considering teaching careers and may
be given portions of classes to teach with the professor critiquing. They are involved in
many ways in learning the professor’s role in teaching and growing in their own skills.
They also often assist the professor with media, Power Point development, grading of
objective tests and quizzes, taking of attendance, paper distribution, test study nights, and
other such support.
● National Honor Societies Many majors have set up chapters of national and
international professional organizations in their field including Psi Chi in Psychology and
Sigma Tau Delta in English. Recently all six of the applicants from NCU were selected
to present their writing at the spring 2007 international Sigma Tau Delta Conference and
traveled with their advisor, Gary Dop, to participate.
● Silver and Gold North Central University sponsors its own honor society
which is involved in various activities, often working to solve a problem or sponsoring
symposium topics.
● Dean’s List Students with high grade point averages are honored by being
placed on the Dean’s List each semester.
● Awards Day Each April an honors day is developed which provides awards in
each department for the outstanding senior in each major. Faculty present certificates and
often presents to these special students who are selected by the faculty. Also at this time
scholarship awards are announced, selected by the Scholarship Committee (which is also
the Academic Affairs Committee). Donors often attend this chapel and stay for a special
lunch with the those who were honored.
● Leadership Honors Day Also in April a Leadership Honors Day is scheduled
to honor those who have been involved in student leadership throughout the year.
● Academic Convocation during Welcome Week Recently, in order to
encourage academic excellence from our new students, the dean instituted a new
Academic Convocation during Welcome Week. Faculty wear their academic attire, and
the academic setting of the University is highlighted during this special Sunday morning
service when the parents are generally still present. The December graduates have
always been honored in chapel, but this has been changed to include academic garb for
faculty, programs, etc.
● Fine Arts and Honors Essays The Assemblies of God sponsors a Fine Arts
Festival for the district. It is held at NCU with the winner going to the national
competition at General Council. NCU faculty often participate in selecting the winners
of this high school competition with some scholarships available. Categories include
music, human video, poetry and essay writing, to name a few. Also during Honors Visit
Days, high school seniors who send in advance essays on the integration of faith and
learning are selected for scholarships. These high school connections begin the process
of lifelong learning, hopefully tracking through the halls of North Central.
● Class Poet In 2006 for the first time a tradition was initiated to name a senior
class poet. This person must present a poetry portfolio and is selected by the English
faculty. They will remain the class poet throughout their lifetime, and they read at
various important events.
●Who’s Who Students are honored by selection for the International Who’s
Who, and this is listed on the graduation program along with other honors.
Summary
The following areas indicate the areas where NCU shows strength:
1. The IRC staff has a comprehensive seven-part strategy for meeting student
research needs (see supporting document).
2. NCU has developed numerous activities, trips, co-curricular programs, and
academic learning programs to foster intellectual inquiry and provide a broad base
of knowledge and experience.
3. The general education program is supported by everyone as an essential base for
learning in the majors. Requirements such as the completion of ENG 124 early in
a student’s career as well as other pre-requisites assure that this base is strong.
4. The IRC evidences strong services when considered with its comparison group,
and circulation is high.
These are areas that NCU could work on:
1. It might be helpful for the Academic Affairs Committee to look over the Senior
Project syllabi to determine if there is equitably in its handling across
departments/faculty.
Core Component 4C---The organization assesses the usefulness
of its curricula to students who will live and work in a global,
diverse, and technological society.
Self-study Survey Data Related to the Areas in Component 4C The mean of the
constituency groups was in the “agree” category for the following question: “NCU
prepares students to function in a global and diverse society” (3.8 on a 5.0 scale). The
mean for the following question was a little lower (3.3): “NCU programs prepare students
to function in a technological society.” To the question “NCU programs prepare students
to function in a changing society,” the mean was 3.8 (agree).
Curriculum Advisory Boards Advisory boards have been established during the last
several years at NCU. Dr. Burkman has been strongly encouraging this development for
three to four years, and the boards have been slowly forming and discovering the best
ways to be effective.
A survey was sent to each department in December 2005 and again in September 2006.
Please note: Some departments, such as Deaf Ministries, combine all their majors into
one advisory board. The survey results are summarized as follows:
Most of the majors have an active board. Only three have not yet started.
Most boards meet once a year; several meet every semester.
Though the boards vary in their make-up (which is logical since the
majors would in part have different related goals and related persons), they
all tend to have current students, graduates, full-time faculty, and local
practitioners. Some pull extensively from unrelated practitioners in the
community while others make use mostly of people who are connected to
NCU in some way.
Most of the boards meet to discuss the curriculum and how it relates to the
perceived success of the graduates as they enter the field. Most also seem
to use an informal framework for their meeting and allow for a large
amount of free discussion. This seems to be a positive characteristic
because it would allow all those present to share opinions and ideas, as
opposed to a more formal meeting in which people would sit and listen to
a report.
All of the respondents had strongly positive things to say about their
boards. Most of them commented on the improvements to curriculum and
the networking that is enhanced by these meetings. Of course this is of
great benefit to the students, both in preparation and as they enter their
vocation.
In summary, the use of an advisory board for each major at NCU is a
positive development and serves as a strong support of the goal expressed
by Criterion Four, namely that “the organization promotes a life of
learning for its faculty, administration, staff, and students by fostering and
supporting inquiry, creativity, practice, and social responsibility in ways
consistent with its mission.” It is to be expected that these boards will be
even more helpful in future years.
● Curriculum Audit A few years ago the curriculum underwent a full
assessment, including the integration of technological and global/diversity learning into
the curriculum. A curriculum audit was conducted which showed that these areas were
indeed covered in the curriculum. However, it was also determined at that time that even
more should be done. As a result, many departments looked at their curriculum and
made changes in these and other areas. Examples of technology enhancement for student
learning include a language lab for the deaf, a business computer lab, a new series of
courses in video for worship arts, a new recording component in music, and new
computer courses recently approved by Academic Affairs Committee for Youth majors.
Many other examples are available, but these are just a few of them.
● PSAS The University assesses departmental effectiveness and usefulness of its
curricula in a variety of ways. One of these is by surveying alumni using the Program
Self Assessment Survey (PSAS). This information is helpful for each department to sort
its strengths and areas of weakness. The PSAS results will be available in the Resource
Room.
● Assessment Student assessment has led to a wide variety of curricular reform.
A list of such examples is available in Appendix ??????????.
Curriculum Related to a Global Society
● Curriculum Modification The curriculum was modified a few years ago to
include many more foreign trips. Prior to this revision, it was primarily only the
Intercultural Studies and Languages Department which went overseas, though once in a
while another department would do foreign travel.
Now the majority of the NCU students graduate with at least one international trip that
they have experienced, and many have two or three. Just about every major sponsors
trips which relate directly to their learning in some way but which are designed to
broaden the students beyond their present experiences. These include such recent trips as
the following:
An English trip to work with author Stephen Lawhead at Schloss Mittersill
in Austria where an NCU professor taught her Celtic class to both North
Central students and 20 others from Asia, Europe and Canada.
Another trip was related to the Revivals class and took students to
Argentina to participate in the revival there. Students had an opportunity
to meet with the prime Spanish pastors and evangelists leading the revival
there and also attended services and helped in ministry.
Music students have gone on many trips to places like Italy.
Children’s ministries majors take both U.S. trips and also go to places like
England, South Africa, Scotland, Spain, Paraguay and Brazil. Recently
they worked in Seward, Alaska, and in an inner city church in Anchorage
where the children play outside until midnight in the summer and are open
to children’s programming. They raise money for children’s supplies
(puppets and puppet theater, etc.) and leave these at the site when they
come back to NCU.
Communications students recently went to India and studied mission and
Christian publication issues.
Psychology students have gone several times to China to work with an
orphanage.
Evangelism students have headed to Africa to work with an evangelist on
the faculty who was the former Superintendent of Sierra Leone.
Deaf students recently went to the Pentecostal Centennial celebrations in
California. They have also done ministry trips in Chicago and in the
Ukraine.
Education students have had opportunities to do their student teaching in
Saipan, Africa, and the Ukraine.
Another group of students in language acquisition went to China and
reinforced their lessons in Mandarin offered at NCU. Numerous other
countries have been utilized to reinforceme language acquisition.
One group of students worked with the Center for Street Kids in northern
Uganda.
Every two years, Dr Amy Anderson takes a group of about 10 advanced
Greek students to the Birmingham Colloquium on New Testament Textual
Criticism in Birmingham, England. The students are hosted by British
families and thereby receive exposure to the culture. The colloquium
itself is a gathering of the relatively small number of leaders in the
discipline, so that the students receive personal attention from them and
encouragement to pursue further studies. Two NCU students moved
directly from their undergraduate program into the Ph.D. program in
Birmingham as a result of attending this conference and interacting with
the professors.
● New exhange program developed with Chinese college In response to the
nearly insatiable global interests of NCU students, NCU has recently developed an
exchange program with a school in China, Chuxiong Normal University (CNU) of China.
North Central established a relationship with this university in February of 2006 when
President Gordon Anderson and Dr. Buzz Brookman, Chair of the Intercultural Studies
and Languages Department, traveled to Chuxiong. The partnership came about through
Margaret Yu, Director of Foreign Affairs at CNU. Yu attended NCU during the 2002-
2003 school year.
This partnership is part of accomplishing NCU’s vision to prepare students for leadership
in international environments. North Central is looking forward to in-country
opportunities which will help students develop critical language skills and give hands-on
opportunities for those studying relief and development.
In the spring of 2007 North Central hosted its first delegation of four Chinese from the
school, and in return, NCU sent a delegation of professors to CNU in May.
● Intercultural Studies and Languages Department trips As mentioned in
component 4a there are many overseas trips planned for the Intercultural Studies and
Languages Department. Between 2001 and 2006, 23 teams took trips and involved
almost 200 students. As already mentioned, many other departments also sponsor trips.
The increasing number of our overseas trips are part of our curricular modifications to
produce “cosmopolitan” graduates.
● More international music The Music Department recently updated its
curriculum to include a great deal more international music. It is not at all unusual, for
example, to hear the chorale sing in an African language with appropriate instruments
and choreography or to sing a worship song in chapel in Spanish. Ethnic music and
dance competitions are open to NCU students. A new black gospel group was formed
several years ago.
● Curriculum changed to include more diversity Various departments have
also revamped their curriculum to include more diversity. For example, the English
Department in purposely incorporating more international authors into all the courses
where this will work. Most students cannot get out of their literature general education
requirements without having dealt with diversity issues in their literature classes. A
course on World Literature in taught, along with a Multicultural Literature course.
Additionally Shusaku Endo, Victor Hugo, Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, Linda
Hogan, and Alice Walker are just a few of the authors who are read in other literature
classes. Curriculum revision also led to English literature majors being required to take
two multicultural literature courses focusing on different continents. These sorts of
curricular distinctives could be repeated for numerous majors.
● Requirement in General Education Core Either Cultural Anthropology or
Global Perspectives is required in the General Education core for all students. The
Global Perspectives course was recently revamped to be less missions oriented and more
globally oriented.
● TEFL Program added A new major that was developed since the last HLC
team was here is the TEFL program, Teaching English as a Foreign Language. This is a
highly competitive program with strict requirements for continued enrollment, producing
the best qualified individuals to meet a growing international need. The program prepares
highly qualified students to go overseas with a workable skill. Students are required to
work with different people groups in their courses.
● Curriculum revamp to include justice issues The Intercultural Studies and
Languages Department has revamped it curriculum to include a great deal on justice
issues. This raises global and cultural issues of magnitude for students’ awareness and
involvement. These issues include topics such as trafficking, AIDS, hunger, and many
other concerns.
● Nine Days Trips The Nine Days trips that take place over Spring Break will be
described in greater detail under Criterion Five, but these trips expand the lifelong
learning and understanding of students regarding global and diversity issues. This is a
new student initiated program that has become very popular with students, and as part of
our co-curricular offerings, the trips are successful in developing students cross-culturally
since hundreds participate.
● Missions Chapels Chapel includes bi-weekly missions speakers who generally
are missionaries from all over the world. There is also a fall missions emphasis called
Worldgate. Their discussions of their areas of service work well in developing in the
students a global interest, knowledge and concern.
●Global Courses Taught Numerous courses are taught with global and diversity
interests in mind. Languages include not only four years of ancient Greek and Hebrew
(we believe we may be the only undergraduate Christian school with so much ancient
Greek and Hebrew available) but also Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, sometimes French and
German, and Language Acquisition. The latter teaches students how to go about learning
any language and gives them an immersion experience where they must practice their
skills. Introduction to Linguistics is also taught, as well as a full set of courses leading to
a TEFL certificate.
Global Perspectives or Cultural Anthropology is a required course in the General
Education Core for all students.
Additionally there are the following courses: Ministry to International Students,
Cross Cultural Communications, Understanding the Spirit World (related to world
religions), Holistic Relief and Development, Summer Trip I and II, Interpersonal
Relations, Introduction to Cross Cultural Education, Topics in Biblical Justice,
Introduction to Islamic Culture and Society, Cross Cultural Preaching and Teaching,
International Student Ministry, Missionary Preparation, Church Planting and Growth,
Area Studies (Africa, Middle East, Asia, Latin America), Islamic Ministry Practics,
Introduction to Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy, Cross Cultural Ethics and
Leadership, Current Issues in Islam, Multicultural Arts and Communication, International
Development Practicum, International Internship, and International Development
Integrative Seminar.
●More listed elsewhere in the report Many more interactions globally are listed
in Criterion Five.
Curriculum Related to a Diverse Society
● David Irwin Chair of Islamic Studies NCU is quite involved with the
Muslim community. It strives to train its students in Islamic beliefs and relationships
through a variety of programs. One is the annual David Irwin Chair of Islamic Studies
which brings in speakers, sometimes Muslims and other times people who work with
them. Along with a daily chapel emphasis over three days, there is also a strong program
of workshops for any interested students. There are also ethnic dinners or other cultural
events. The global courses listed above also often relate to Islamic Studies, as does the
offering of Arabic.
● Ubah School Tutoring Minneapolis has the greatest population of Somalis
outside of their country. The Somalian Ubah School was developed separately by Somali
leaders to help their immigrants learn English. At the same time we started our TEFL
Program and wanted places for our students to practice and learn skills, the Ubah School
personnel approached us and asked if we would be willing to partner with them if they
moved into our neighborhood. This occurred, and this has been a mutually beneficial
relationship with our students and faculty giving hundreds of hours of service to the
school, but also allowing for first hand learning experiences. Various of our students
work with the Somali children while the lessons are in session, and this is so popular that
even though adult classes stop during Ramadan, the Somali ask that the children could
still meet with our students. Literally thousands of hours of volunteer time has been
provided by our students and faculty to the Ubah School.
● WOVEN This music program where NCU students tutor neighborhood
children provide much opportunity for cross-cultural interaction. This program is
described more in Criterion Five.
● Co-curricular Programming On a co-curricular basis there is a great deal of
programming related to diversity. The NCU diversity group, Antioch, sponsors much of
this, but the programming is always fresh, based upon felt needs.
● Chapel Speakers NCU brings in speakers who preach in the black tradition or
with other cultural and ethnic forms. Also both women and men preach in chapel.
● Student Teaching Another curricular modification is the opportunity for
education students to be involved in diverse environments. Education students generally
do at least part of their student teaching and other classroom service in an inner city
setting with culturally diverse students, as well as going overseas.
● Urban Ministries Majors The Urban Ministries Major and annual Urban
Ministries Emphasis in Chapel have assisted in making NCU a truly urban university.
This was further enhanced with a $650,000 Pew Charitable Trust grant for urban
ministries which NCU received in the ‘90s. In the early ‘80s the number of North
Central graduates who entered ministry and social work in the urban centers could about
be counted on one’s hand. In recent decades this has swelled exponentially so now
ministers, social workers, youth and children’s workers, teachers in the public schools,
workers in urban para church organizations such as Teen Challenge, and many other
positions have been roles filled by literally hundreds of our graduates. They have learned
how to be comfortable in diverse settings and are eager to serve in some of the most
difficult areas.
As part of the curriculum, the urban ministries majors annually visit other urban centers
to be involved in the various ministries in that city. The Urban Ministries Major was
recently moved out of the Pastoral Studies Department and into the Intercultural Studies
Department to more logically identify with the diversity that ICS represents.
● Carlstrom Institute The Carlstrom Institute is one of the only programs in the
country providing Bible training entirely in American Sign Language, serving the Deaf
population. The interpreting program continues to grow in registrants, and they learn
how to work within Deaf culture. This is true of most everyone on campus who has
numerous opportunities to interact with the Deaf students in chapel and co-curricular and
living situations. This program has been going on for about 30 years and is an
entrenched part of the NCU community.
● More listed in other criteria Many more activities related to diverse cultural
involvement are listed in Criterion Five. The global courses listed above also most often
relate to diversity including such courses as Interpersonal Relations and Cross Cultural
Communications.
Curriculum Related to Technology
● Student development of computer skills Many courses at NCU require that
the students use and develop their computer skills. This includes the requirements of
proper formatting for papers, technology helps from the faculty, demonstrations in the
computer classroom and the computer lab, the use of Power Point presentations, use of
other media in classroom presentations by students, web research learning, etc.
● Specialized technologies Students in communications majors are required to
learn how to use all the software in the Macromedia package including such programs as
Flash, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop. They also must learn the following technical
languages/technologies: html, xhtml, xml, css, javascript, php asp. They also learn the
following skills: RSS Feeds, Standards based design, encoding video and audio for web.
For a detailed look at this, visit http://comm396.wavestatic.com.
The students also learn the skills that are required for taking and editing digital
photographs and videos.
Our music majors learn Finale, a music notation and publishing program, Practica
Musica, a theory and sight reading program, Pro Tools, a sound recording program
(which our studio operates with), and Final Cut, a video editing program.
We use Macintosh computers in our fine arts computer lab, both G5 desktop models,
midi's with notation keyboards, and G4 laptops, which are connected to the Yamaha
electronic keyboards in the piano lab. Our younger students, with little or no piano
experience take a piano class which is in our piano lab. Electronic pianos they play on
are connected to a teacher's module so the teacher can use headphones and monitor what
any student is playing at any time during the class.
● Although various majors have implemented major-specific technology courses,
currently North Central University does not have any technology courses required in the
general education core. This may need to be considered, though the Computer Literacy
Questionnaire (see below) indicated that our students were quite computer literate.
● NCU Computer Lab The North Central Computer Lab is staffed by students
and a director who are always available to assist students who are having technological
challenges in their assignments. See additional information provided in Criterion Three.
Computers have been placed in multiple places across the campus to provide ready
access to students.
● Assessment of technological proficiency The Computer Literacy
Questionnaire has been administered several times to different classes of students (i.e., all
freshmen in 2001 and all graduating seniors in 2002). It addressed students’ perceptions
of their ability to use different computing skills, and other questions regarding computer
usage. Seniors rate themselves most high skilled in the following areas: Using email,
typing/keyboarding, word processing, and using the Internet. Seniors report feeling
relatively comfortable and experiencing little anxiety when using computers. When
asked if they had access to a computer in their living area, 83% answered in the
affirmative.
Summary
Based upon the evidence, North Central does meet Criterion 4C.
Areas of strength include the following:
1. Within the last decade there was a curriculum audit which determined how much
areas such as technology and global/diversity issues were woven into the
curriculum. This showed that it was there, but more was desired. The results
initiated a great deal of curriculum revision regarding these issues.
2. The curriculum has been revised to include numerous opportunities throughout
the curriculum for providing students with experiences to be involved in a global
and diverse society. This is definitely one of the strong suits of an education at
NCU.
3. Definite advances have occurred in weaving various cross cultural elements into
everything we do at North Central, including chapel, music, and programming.
Areas where more work needs to be done include the following:
1. Consider ways of assessing students’ technological proficiencies and then
providing assistance and support in systematically addressing their areas of need.
Component 4D - The organization provides support to ensure
that faculty, students, and staff acquire, discover, and apply
knowledge responsibly.
● NCU is a teaching institution rather than a research institution NCU is
primarily a teaching institution and not a research institution as such. Therefore in some
ways this question does not apply as it would to a research institution. However, there
are some places where it definitely does apply, and these will be discussed.
● Policies NCU has various policies which encourage the responsible acquisition
and use of knowledge throughout the institution by all groups. These include the
following:
The academic freedom policy See the Faculty Manual.
Intellectual property rights policy See the Faculty Manual.
NCU Way The NCU Way was developed by students and administration
to define expectations for students. This is available in the Student Life Guide
The plagiarism policy A clear plagiarism policy has been developed and
rewritten. It is required to be in all University syllabi.
● Plagiarism Intervention
A coordinated approach to plagiarism with defined procedures has been
delineated.
An academic article on plagiarism was discussed in a recent issue (spring
2007) of the Dean’s newsletter.
Turnitin.com A number of faculty require that students use
Turnitin.com, a specialized service for catching plagiarism. A faculty
development session was carried out by Dr. Leslie Crabtree on this service in
the fall of 2006.
● Challenges in Acquiring Knowledge: Faculty Development Survey A short
survey was sent to all full time faculty, asking the following questions:
* In what ways has NCU supported you in the area of continuing education and
research?
* Do you feel this support has been helpful?
* Do you feel this support has been adequate?
* Do you have suggestions for how NCU could improve in this area?
* Do you have any further comments?
Twenty-four faculty members responded – approximately half of the 51 total fulltime
teaching and administrative faculty. Of these, 23 were teaching faculty, and one was
administrative faculty.
When asked how the University has supported them in continuing education and
research, the faculty basically divided into two groups---those still working on a terminal
degree, who were very concerned about time and money needed to reach their goal, and
those with a terminal degree who wish to further their research and academic growth.
Respondents almost always mentioned the $200 faculty development assistance, as well
as the end-of-year left-over funds that could be applied for. Most of the longer term
faculty referred as well to additional assistance in years past.
Typical examples given of past support included the following:
One semester sabbaticals in exchange for a further three years at NCU
Reduced teaching loads with reduced pay
Stipends of up to $1000
Permission to attend courses, seminars, and conferences
Use of library, computers, and other facilities
Stimulating environment
Some encouragement through public recognition
The tone of the answers tended to be somewhat critical. Many mentioned that for the
2004-05 school year, the school used the end-of-year leftover funds for other needs, so
that faculty received a maximum of $200 that year. Others remarked that they are
investing thousands of dollars of their own money into their personal development
because so little assistance is available.
There were a few appreciative comments in response to the question about whether the
support was helpful, but comments became more negative in response to whether the
support was adequate. Two responses were mildly positive and all the rest were mildly
to extremely negative. The faculty in general do not feel that they are adequately
supported in their development. This survey is available in the Resource Room.
It is interesting to note that in response to the question on the self-study surveys, “NCU
supports the professional development of faculty, administrators and staff,” there was a
variance in perception. Administrators answered at a mean of 3.6 (on a 5.0 scale)--agree,
while staff answered at 3.1—neutral, and faculty answered at 2.2---disagree.
● Faculty presentations at conferences Faculty frequently attend conferences
and often present at them. This allows faculty research interests to be disseminated.
Samples of faculty presentations were included above in Component 4a.
● Possible areas for future support of faculty in acquiring knowledge When
asked for suggestions on how NCU could improve in the area of faculty development, the
faculty responded with a number of their ideas which bear repeating here:
* A minimum of $1000 development funds per person per year.
* One year of service required after sabbatical (rather than three).
* More provision made for release time at strategic points in studies, research, or
publication.
* Assistance in finding and applying for grants
* Lower course load to 3 per semester or 7 per year (See note below.)
* Solicit more endowments for faculty development.
* Bring in more speakers on academic topics.
* Pay for or heavily subsidize doctoral studies.
* Show more interest in faculty achievements. Give awards for teaching, service,
and scholarship.
* Require faculty involvement in academic communities outside of NCU as a way
of stimulating NCU’s academic environment and preventing insularity.
*Faculty also suggested lessening or removing requirements that are presently a
part of the faculty job description such as advising or committee assignments.
● New grantwriter hired Since the above was written, a person was put on part-
time in the Development Office for grant-writing. Simon Trautman is a law student who
will assist NCU in this important area. It should also be noted that a grantwriting course
was available at NCU to all faculty about five years ago, and several faculty took
advantage of this opportunity.
● In-house Academic Academy In addition, since the above was written, Dr.
Burkman began the in-house academic academy called “The Teaching Commons.” This
provides for monthly faculty in-service opportunities beginning in the school year 2006-
2007.
● Reduced Teaching Loads Although teaching faculty seem to be interested in
reducing their teaching loads, it should be noted that presently 22 of our 40 full-time
faculty members are on a reduced teaching load. That means that over one half of our
faculty members teach less than 12 credits per semester. Generally, these reduced loads
are for administrative duties, though sometimes they are for creative endeavors or a
variety of other reasons.
● NCU PRESS Additionally the NCU Press has now been solidified with quite a
lot of vigor.
The first publication was in December, 2005 with a devotional guide by Dr. Carolyn
Tennant called Frontline. In December, 2006 a publication came out by Dr. Buzz
Brookman which was a justice reader. In the spring of 2006 two more publications came
forth. One was a book by an NCU alumnus with many relationships to NCU and the
Minneapolis area, Arvid Kingsriter. It was called Move and I Will Move. Another
publication in the spring of 2006 was compiled by several NCU writers, including
faculty, staff, alumni, and students. It was designed to come out simultaneously with the
celebration of NCU’s 75th birthday and was called A Faithful Past; A Shining Future. An
additional publication came out in fall 2006. Sponsored by the Intercultural Studies and
Languages Department, it incorporated various NCU faculty as well as some external
contributors for writing different chapters. It is called Java and Justice. We are rather
proud of how many publications we have managed to publish in a short period of time.
An NCU Press Committee, chaired by Dr. Buzz Brookman, oversees the publications to
assure they are appropriate. The Public Relations Department is also a part of their
production.
●Faculty publications NCU faculty also do various writing in publications.
According to a survey in fall, 2006, 76% of our faculty have published recently. To
assist in encouraging even more writing, the NCU Press Committee has served as editors
and a place where authors can receive helpful feedback on their pieces. The group has
lovingly called themselves “The Shredders.”
To give an idea of the sort of writing the faculty is producing, several examples are given
here: Dr. Dan Nelson has published in Psychology—Learning and Teaching; Christian
Higher Education; Assessment Update and a book published by Jossey-Bass on
innovative teaching practices. Dr. JoAnn Smith wrote an article on manual glossilalia for
the Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatics. Dr. Leslie Crabtree has published three
poems for three publications. Dr. Bob Brenneman wrote The Kurds Have No Friends,
but the Mountains: A Cultural Journey from Noah’s Ark to Post-Saddam Hussein
(Waveland Press). Rebecca Norberg wrote It’s All in Your Head, a published voice
training manual and CD. Another faculty member, Rueben David, has published often in
newspapers in the U.S. and in India including the Star Tribune and the World Peace
Herald (an affiliate of the Washington Times). Various faculty have been published in
A/G publications such as Evangel magazine (Dr. Dave Watson and Dr. Carolyn Tennant)
and the A/G Music Magazine (Dave Collins). Dr. Phil Mayo just published a book Those
Who Call Themselves Jesus: The Church and Judaism in the Apocalypse of John
published by Princeton Theological Monograph Series (Pickwick, 2006) and wrote the
article “The Role of the ‘Birkath Hanunim’ in Jewish Christian Relations: A
Reexamination of the Evidence” published in the Bulletin for Biblical Research (fall
2006). Dr. Carolyn Tennant has written articles published in the national Assemblies of
God journal Leadership as well as a devotional book called Frontline. She has also
written a play called St. Patrick’s Vita. The drama has undergone a reading three times
(one in Borders Bookstore in downtown Minneapolis and another in Austria) and is to be
produced in the spring of 2008 at NCU. Gary Dop has written a television pilot
scheduled for filming in 2007. He has also written a screenplay, two full-length plays,
and six one acts (some of which have had readings and productions), and he has
published eight poems in Reynold’s Review and another, along with a fiction piece, in
Carillon. Some of his poetry and fiction have won awards, and he is presently studying
with the poet laureate of the United States. Many faculty have been busy researching and
writing their dissertations. Dr. Amy Anderson wrote The Textual Tradition of the
Gospels: Family 1 in Matthew; New Testament Tools and Studies, vol. xxxii; Leiden,
The Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers, 2004; reviews in Journal for the Study of
the New Testament, volume 27.5 (2005); Theologische Literaturzeitung, 131.1 (2006);
and Journal of Theological Studies, volume 57.1 (2006).
● Student and faculty songwriting and recitals North Central is very
productive when it comes to the writing of new music. Both students and music faculty
consistently produce new songs which are taught in chapel and often are produced on an
annual CD, “Worship Live,” in the NCU Recording Studio. These songs are so popular
that it is not unusual to hear them in various churches as one travels around. The faculty
also often perform recitals at NCU and in other places. Dr. Herb Johnson, for example,
has given piano recitals in the Bloomington Center for the Arts, the L’Abri chamber
performance in Rochester, a tour of the Ukraine with performances and masterclasses,
and many other venues.
● Faculty travel NCU faculty does a great deal of travel which is supported by
the University in providing time and substitute personnel, and in encouraging them in
their creative endeavors and service in foreign countries. When they travel with students,
their costs are covered in the overall costs of the trip which is raised by the students
through donations, etc. There is a manual which contains organizational procedures and
policies for overseas travel.
.
●Chapel Chapel is actually an on-going part of everyone’s development at NCU.
The programming is carefully designed to assist in spiritual development. It includes a
special program involving the Pentecostal Preachers’ Chair as well as a missions
convention, an Islamic emphasis, an urban emphasis, and various other conferences.
Also there are special days for spiritual emphasis several times a year with specialized
programming. Various policies and committee oversight assure that the experience is
positive.
Summary.
The evidence provided indicates that Criterion 4D has been met.
Areas of strength include the following:
1. The new NCU Press has recently published numerous books of quality in a short
period of time.
2. Although faculty development funds are limited, the personnel have managed to
attend various faculty development opportunities and participate in speaking,
research, and writing.
3. Various policies are in place to ensure responsible use of information.
Areas that need improvement include the following:
1. The perception of the faculty is that NCU does not adequately provide support for
faculty development. Although various opportunities are available, there is a
sensed need for more.
SUMMARY
It is apparent from these evidences that NCU has met Criterion Four: Acquisition,
Discovery and Application of Knowledge. It is committed to a strong General Education
Core as the basis for learning in the major. NCU is also proud of its Bible minor,
continuing a strong heritage of Bible education which is considered to be critical for the
fulfillment of its mission statement and for the future of each of its students and their
effective contributions. This is also true of the numerous opportunities and requirements
that NCU students have to learn about various people groups and other countries. These
also develop skills essential to the success of students in our “global village.” Various
guidelines are in place to assure proper acquisition and application of knowledge.
