Proposal for Closure of Theology Programs School of Religion, Queen s University at Kingston

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1 Proposal for Closure of Theology Programs School of Religion, Queen s University at Kingston DRAFT (February 11, 2015) Key Contacts: Susan Mumm, Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science: 32446; susan.mumm@queensu.ca Gordon Smith, Vice Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science: 32448; gordon.smith@queensu.ca Richard Ascough, Director, School of Religion: 33174; rsa@queensu.ca Programs Under Consideration for Closure: Master of Theological Studies (M.T.S.) a degree program in the academic study of theology, for the purpose of enhancing one s understanding of the Christian life and witness and/or as the first step towards further graduate studies. Master of Divinity (M.Div.) a program designed to prepare persons for leadership responsibilities in designated ministries within congregations and other settings. Applicants must have a three-year baccalaureate degree (B.A.) or equivalent. Bachelor of Theology (B.Th.) The same program of study as the M.Div. degree, but for applicants that do not have B.A. degree or equivalent but have completed one full year (or the equivalent of 5 full-year courses) of an undergraduate degree program. Preamble: A decline in enrolment numbers over the past ten years indicates that the Theology programs at Queen s University are no longer viable. Applications to Theology programs are declining at other schools across North America, although they are falling off more dramatically at Queen s. The School s goals of providing a solid, challenging, fulfilling program to all students and of having a strong cohort of students contributing to the academic culture no longer seems possible. Important Relevant Facts: From 1912 the School of Religion (with its Theology programs) was an independent but affiliated institution at Queen s University, with its own Board of Management and tenured faculty positions. Full integration with Queen s University took place on May 1, All three Theology programs currently sit in limbo, not ever having been approved through the HEQCO or QUQAP processes. While this is true of all such Theology programs provincially, and is linked to their being the historic programs for the founding of many universities (including Queen s), the province is moving towards requiring Theology

2 programs to undergo the HEQCO process for approval of new programs. It was the initial paperwork for this process in 2012 that triggered the conversations about the nonsustainability of Theology programs at Queen s (see further below under Rationale ). Although two of the programs have the title Masters they are not considered graduate programs at Queen s University and thus do not reside in SGS (students in these programs are funded at the undergraduate BIU level, as provincially mandated). No extant tenure or tenure-track faculty positions and no extant staff positions will be lost due to the closure of the Theology programs. The School currently has no continuing adjunct appointments. The School of Religion has a strong undergraduate program in Religious Studies and a growing MA program in Religious Studies. Neither of these programs is under threat and in fact stand to be strengthened once Theology programs are closed and faculty and staff resources are redirected to these ongoing programs. Summary of Relevant Background Data: Theology programs at the School of Religion have experienced chronically low enrolments over the past decade, and a sharp decrease in the past four years; only one part-time student was accepted in 2013 across all the Theology programs, and she chose not to come to Queen s to begin her program for personal reasons. Theology programs FTE student enrolment has for some years been less than half of what is required to make the programs financially sustainable. The School of Religion has spent considerable time and energy over the past decade attempting to recruit students to the Theology programs but continued to experience declining enrolments. Such efforts are presented below under Rationale. Published reports indicate that the market for Theology degrees is declining across North America, especially among programs that are linked with mainline Christian denominations, as is the case with the School of Religion, which is linked historically to The United Church of Canada. A number of published reports suggest that the future of Theology programs, especially the Master of Divinity, is very much in question. In January 2014, the Dean of Arts and Science announced the temporary suspension of admissions to Theology programs at Queen s as of January 1,

3 Procedure Followed in Temporarily Suspending Admissions to Theology Programs: After consultation with a range of stakeholders, the Dean decided to suspend temporarily new admissions to the Theology programs Master of Divinity, Master of Theological Studies, and Bachelor of Theology at Queen s University as of January 1, In order to arrive at this decision, the Dean undertook the following steps: The Dean ensured that there were opportunities for affected individuals and groups to provide input into the decision; the Director of the School of Religion discussed the possible temporary suspension with students currently enrolled in Theology programs (Oct. 8, 2013) and with Theology program alumni/ae at their annual conference (Oct. 22, 2013) and contacted leaders within The United Church of Canada, executives in the programs accrediting body (The Association of Theological Schools), and major donors to the programs. The Dean ensured that alternatives to temporarily suspending admissions to the programs had been explored by discussing in detail the recruitment efforts undertaken at the School of Religion over the past decade, and especially in the past four years, all of which did not result in any increase in enrolments; in fact, enrolments continued to decline. The Dean explained to the affected individuals and groups, including Arts & Science Faculty Board (Oct. 11 and Nov. 8, 2013) and Senate (Oct. 29, 2013), the lack of feasibility of these alternatives. The Dean ensured that a temporary suspension would have no effect on other academic and non-academic units at Queen s, since no other departments cross-list Theology courses. The Dean analysed the impact a temporary suspension might have on the equity goals of the Academic Unit/Faculty/University and ensured that these goals would continue to be met since no tenured or tenure-track faculty members or staff members in the School of Religion will lose their position; all full-time employees will continue to work in support of the School s growing Religious Studies programs. At the Arts and Science Faculty Board meeting on November 29, 2013, and at Senate on December 2, 2013, Dean Susan Mumm conveyed her decision to suspended temporarily (for up to two years) new admissions to the Theology programs Master of Divinity, Master of Theological Studies, and Bachelor of Theology at Queen s University as of January 1, Work Undertaken During the Temporary Suspension of Admissions to Theology Programs: During the academic year, the School of Religion continued to offer the full complement of Theology courses necessary to meet the program requirements of all currently enrolled full-time students. The School also worked individually with part-time students to forge a plan for the completion of their studies, either at Queen s or elsewhere. Temporarily suspending admissions to Theology programs has given the School the time it needs to explore other ways to foster academic engagement with Theology at Queen s. The Director of the 3

4 School of Religion has continued to consult with a wide range of stakeholders, a process that began in summer With the announcement of the temporary suspension of admissions, the conversations focused on alternative possibilities and the implications of the closure of Theology programs. The following groups have been consulted and conversations will continue up to the submission of the proposal for closure to Senate: Currently Enrolled Students: There are ongoing conversations on the implications of the closure of Theology programs and the School is working with each student individually to ensure program completion before August Faculty: There are ongoing conversations along with discussions at the School s Committee on Religious Studies and Curriculum Committee. Faculty members who regularly teach courses in the Theology programs are developing new courses to be offered in the undergraduate and graduate programs in Religious Studies. Staff: The School employs two Administrative Assistants, one of whom works to support Theology programs as part of her duties. She has been working in conjunction with the Director of the School and the Chair of Theology to ensure that students are aware of the possible closure of Theology programs and that all external stakeholders have been contacted (see below). Once the Theology programs are closed, she will undertake other administrative duties at the School, including those associated with the development of a centre. Other Academic Units: The closure of the Theology programs has opened up conversations with other units/faculties to explore expanding cooperative course offerings at the undergraduate and graduate level (e.g., Nursing). In the past, very few non-theology students have enrolled in Theology courses, and those that do are usually Religious Studies undergraduate majors. Administrative Units at Queen s: The Student Awards Office is aware of the suspension and potential closure of Theology programs at Queen s and the anticipated changes that this will entail. Likewise, the Registrar s Office and Financial Services are aware of the impact the suspension and closure will have on their interaction with the School of Religion. Advancement is fully apprised and has been working closely with the School to ensure that all donors are aware of the changes taking place. Theology Alumni/ae Association: The Director of the School of Religion discussed the implications of possible program closure with Theology alumni/ae at their annual conference at Queen s on Oct. 21, This group was particularly excited about the development of some sort of centre or institute that will promote public engagement with religion and Theology at Queen s without offering degree-granting programs (a priority towards which the School continues to work actively). The United Church of Canada: Theology programs at Queen s have historic connections with The United Church of Canada. Most (albeit not all) former students have been linked to the UCC and until 2010 the UCC provided some funding to the School of Religion and continues to provide partial funding to some UCC students in the M.Div. program. The Director of the School has apprised local and national leaders within the administration of 4

5 the UCC of the implications of program suspension and closure of Theology programs. In addition, the Director discussed the possible closure of Queen s Theology programs at the annual meeting of the Deans and Principals of all ten academic institutions affiliated with the UCC, which took place on Dec. 6, 2013, in Montreal. Although sympathy was expressed, no encouragement to remain open was offered, in all likelihood due to the recognition that ten schools in the UCC network is not sustainable and Queen s loss is another institution s gain. The Association of Theological Schools, the School s external accrediting body for Theology programs: Following the cyclical review conducted by the ATS in , the ATS Board of Commissioners expressed considerable concern about low enrolments in Theology programs and required the School to demonstrate the means of maintaining a sufficient community of learning. The School responded by letter on December 16, 2013, by noting plans to suspend temporarily admissions to Theology programs, and indicated the possibility that these programs may be closed. In response, and in further s throughout 2014, the ATS has expressed their understanding of the situation, given the institutional data they are tracking for Theology programs throughout North America. Institutional Donors: Some churches and religious foundations contribute regularly to operations and/or Theology student bursary funds, and all have been contacted by letter (and sometimes a follow-up phone call) to apprise them of the situation and strategize for alternative ways they can support the School in the event of the termination of Theology programs. In addition, the School did hold a large grant ($1M) from the Lilly Endowment Inc. for a program at the School of Religion aimed at long-term recruitment of high school youth into Theology programs, which ended in In Fall of that year, the Director of the School met in Indianapolis with executives from the Endowment to explain the current state of student enrolment at the School and highlight the failure of many initiatives, including that funded by Lilly, to increase overall enrolments at the School. Major individual donors: The Director of QSR has met individually with many major donors to the School, and contacted others via letter (sometimes with a follow-up phone call) to apprise them of the situation and strategize for alternative ways they can support the School in the event of the termination of Theology programs. Other donors: All other donors (mostly Theology alumni/ae and friends) have been receiving regular communications from the School that note the current situation (including the temporary suspension of admissions) and the priority plans for moving forward, particularly alternative offerings that do not involve degree granting programs (a centre ). Such communication has taken place through a general letter sent to all alumni/ae and friends (June 2014), and in every thank you letter sent to individual donors when a contribution is received. Among donors there is a general acceptance of the situation that has led the School to the position of Theology program suspension and possible program cessation, yet there is also widespread support for alternative means of engaging Theology at Queen s. Many small donations have continued to flow to the School, despite the challenges faced. 5

6 Direct Responses to Senate s Policy and Procedures Document: A. Rationale for the Closure Having noted a trend towards declining enrolments in Theology programs over a decade ago, the School of Religion undertook extensive recruitment efforts, including: Hiring a Recruitment & Development Officer from Sending staff to recruitment workshops and seminars Redesigning the School s website Deploying targeted advertisements, brochures, and s Holding bi-annual Open Houses Undertaking extensive conversations with leaders in The United Church of Canada s Head Office and with members of local UCC education committees Attending school fairs and UCC annual conferences. Despite these efforts, student enrolments remained at around 23 full-time equivalent (FTE) through In , The United Church of Canada cut its funding to Queen s Theology programs, and while the financial impact was minimal, incorrect rumors spread that the programs were closing and the School s FTE dropped to 16. In response, in 2010 the School re-formatted its Theology programs so that the M.Div./B.Th. could be completed in 24 months and the M.T.S. in 16 months, significantly reducing the time students would be in school. Three-hour seminar courses were clustered into 3 or 4 consecutive weekdays to reduce the time needed for students to be on campus, and some courses were offered in intensive formats. Finally, generous bursaries were offered to potential students. Despite these efforts, the FTE continued to hover around As a requirement of the reintegration of the School of Religion with Queen s University in May 2012, Theology programs were to go through the Queen s University Quality Assurance Process (QUQAP) as new programs. The initial report for the Theology programs was drafted in Fall That process demonstrated concretely that the Theology programs were not financially sustainable at their current enrolment levels and needed to attract more students; using the budget template it was clear that 30 FTE students are required in the Theology programs. The Dean and Associate Deans of SGS agreed with the School s recommendation that the QUQAP process for Theology programs not move forward at that time and that more work on the financial sustainability of the programs be undertaken. In Winter 2012, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed by the then Principal of the School of Religion, the Dean of Arts and Science, and the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, granting the School another two years to review their Theology programs and increase their enrolments. Despite the School s best efforts to recruit students, enrolments in Theology programs continued to decline and the faculty and staff involved in the Theology programs held many meetings in the academic year to discuss the viability of the programs and the implication of various modifications. The Dean of SGS and the Associate Dean and Dean of FAS were apprised along the way. Despite three intake opportunities (January, May, September) 6

7 and a few offers of admission that included significant bursary support, only one offer of admission was accepted by one part-time student in calendar year 2013, and subsequently she chose not to attend for personal reasons. In June 2013, there was agreement among the faculty and staff involved in the Theology programs that the programs could not continue in their current state due to the lack of enrolments, nor could any program changes be made to the current programs to attract more students. It was unanimously decided to approach the Dean with a recommendation to consider suspending admissions into the Theology programs offered through the School of Religion. In early August 2013 this recommendation was brought to the Dean of Arts and Science, and to the Principal and Provost of Queen s in early September At all levels the rationale for the recommendation was affirmed. In late January 2014 the Dean of Arts and Science announced the temporary suspension of admissions to Theology programs as of January 1, In the interim, the School has continued to have conversations about the Theology programs and can see no avenue for attracting significantly more students into Theology programs at Queen s. Thus, in providing her first year interim report to FAS Faculty Board (Jan. 23, 2015) and Senate (Jan. 27, 2015), as per the Senate Procedures Following a Decision to Temporarily Suspend Admissions, the Dean announced her intention To consider closure of Programs in accordance with the Senate approved Policy and Procedures for the closure of Academic Programs (Undergraduate or Graduate). B. Impacts on, and plans for accommodation of, any students currently enrolled in the Program With the decision to suspend temporarily Theology program admissions, the School of Religion committed to offer a full complement of Theology courses until August 2015 in order to ensure that full-time students currently enrolled in the programs would fulfill the requirements of their degrees as planned. The School has also worked individually with part-time students to forge a plan for their studies. There are currently 13 active students and 6 very part-time or inactive students enrolled in Theology programs. Of the 13 remaining active students, 5 will graduate in April and 4 will graduate in Fall There are 2 students currently finishing their Research Essays and 1 that is completing a language requirement in order to graduate. These students are being encouraged to finish their degree requirements as soon as possible. None of them need to take more courses at the School of Religion itself. There is very part-time student who takes courses irregularly and has completed less than 50% of her program requirements. She has been contacted and encouraged to transfer to another institution or withdraw from the program. This leaves only 1 student who may not complete his degree requirements at Queen s. This particular student was admitted to the program on a full-time basis and a year ago was apprised of his need to continue to take a full-time load in order to finish his degree should the School no longer offer courses after August

8 Nevertheless, he chose to take a part-time load. The School is working with him to devise a plan for completing the missing credits at other institutions. Thus, the School is confident that almost all Theology students will complete their degree requirements by August 2015 (assuming they take the courses offered in Summer 2015) and thus almost all students will be able to graduate at Fall 2015 convocation, at the latest. The exceptions are the very part-time, virtually inactive, student (for whom see C, below) and the single individual student that chose to go against the advice of the Chair of Theology and reduce his load to part-time. C. Impacts on program(s) students may transfer into in order to complete their degree Historically, Theology students cannot transfer into other programs within Queen s due to the nature of Theology programs focus of study and its ambiguous status as neither an undergraduate or a graduate program (as noted above). In terms of transfer to other institutions, there is only one very part-time student enrolled in Theology programs (taking one course every couple of years or so, thus almost inactive) that have been contacted about the closure of Theology programs and encouraged to seek transfer to other institutions or withdraw from their program. Such transfer will have no negative impact on these other institutions and will help their tuition revenue, should such students transfer. D. Impacts on time-to-completion No students have been slowed in their progress towards degree completion by the decisions made by the School, and a few part-time students have accelerated their course completion rate in order to graduate by Fall E. Impacts on staff and faculty members involved in the delivery of the Program No tenure-track or tenured faculty members or staff will lose their position as a result of the closure of Theology programs at Queen s. The School of Religion has a strong undergraduate program in Religious Studies and a growing MA program in Religious Studies, so faculty and staff resources will be redirected to these ongoing programs. This will, however, mean that some duties of one staff position will change somewhat. It also means that some faculty members who previously taught in both the Theology and the Religious Studies programs will now undertake all their teaching in the Religious Studies programs. F. Impacts on the nature and quality of the Unit s programs of study The recent report (2014) of the external reviewers for the School s Cyclical Program Review of the undergraduate and graduate programs in Religious Studies was extremely positive, offering only a few recommendations for improvement and especially noting the many strengths of these programs. They particularly commented that they were impressed this could be sustained so well with shrinking resources and such a small faculty complement. The closing of the Theology programs means that there will be the equivalent of about 2.5 FTE faculty resources 8

9 available to contribute to the Religious Studies programs. This can only serve to strengthen and grow already viable and vibrant undergraduate and graduate programs at Queen s. G. Impacts on other cognate units and inter-institutional agreements/contracts (if applicable) N/A H. Impacts on shared services and/or resources There will be negligible impact on shared services and resources. The library acquisitions for the Theology programs were predominantly resources for the academic study of Christianity, which will continue to serve faculty and students in the Religious Studies programs. I. Impact on the equity goals of the Academic Unit/Faculty/University Since no faculty or staff positions will be lost, there will be no impact on the equity goals at Queen s. Of the eight tenured faculty members, four are women and four are men (there are no non-tenured regular faculty members at the School). Both administrative assistants are women. The School has no faculty members or staff that self-identify as Aboriginal, persons with disabilities, or as a visible minority. J. Impacts on the overall academic mission of Queen's University The School of Religion s undergraduate and graduate programs in Religious Studies continue to be in full alignment with the four pillars of the University s Academic Plan, as outlined in the School s recent CPR documentation, and affirmed by the responses of the Dean of Arts and Science, the Dean of SGS, and the external reviewers. The closure of the Theology program does, however, have some implications for Queen s historic identity, since the University was founded in 1841 by Presbyterians in Canada primarily to educate men for Christian ministry. Larger educational visions did, of course, expand its horizons, including more programs and the admission of women, and, in 1912, the creation of Queen s University. Nevertheless, the loss of Theology programs represents the loss of one of the foundational programs at Queen s. The School itself is actively addressing this issue. We are progressing in our development of a centre that will promote public engagement with religion and Theology, in part as a means to preserve the heritage of Theology at Queen s. The centre will broaden the School s educational mission through public events open to the wider community, including clergy and students. A key part of this vision is the regular delivery of lectures, one of which took place towards the end of September when we hosted Pope Tawadros II, the leader of the Egyptian Coptic Church, who spoke to a packed audience of 900 persons in Grant Hall. More recently, the School cosponsored a well-attended symposium on Rembrandt and Religion: Jews, Christians, and the Bible in the Art of Rembrandt and his Circle, which was linked to the exhibition of recent acquisitions of paintings from Rembrandt s Circle at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. 9

10 In Winter 2015 the School hosed Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference on Unravelling Religion: Projecting the Secular (March 7) and a. Panel Presentation called Our Stolen Sisters: Listening to the Voices from our Community (March 19), which feature Dr. Dawn Harvard, President of the Native Women s Association of Canada, and Sophie Kiwala, the member of the Provincial Parliament for Kingston. The School also hosted an international conference on Islamism and Post-Islamism: Religious and Political Transformations in Muslim Societies (March 13-14). As the School navigates its shift in identity through the loss of Theology programs it continues to fundraise for this priority, and currently has considerable funds in place to move forward with offering more non-degree opportunities for engaging with Theology and Religious Studies to students, scholars, and the general public. K. Combined or Joint Programs N/A 10