Concern regarding the secularization of Christian higher education has prompted researchers to investigate the extent that faith and learning is integrated at a faculty level and what factors might predict faculty integration (Lyon, Beaty, Parker, & Mencken, 2005). This research attempted to replicate Lyon et al.'s (2005) logistic regression…

Integrating faith with academics possesses significant benefits for students, because it connects major disciplines to students' personal values and goals, prepares students to be effective and faithful professionals in their discipline and vocation, and develops students' understanding of the nature of their discipline. However, to…

Decades of student persistence and retention literature has brought to light factors of social, academic, and religious fit that influence a student's decision to remain at or depart from an institution. At Christian institutions, increasing student pluralism raises the likelihood that students will not fit religiously. This qualitative study of…

Using a constructivist grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2006), this qualitative study examined how eight female senior-level professionals employed at faith-based colleges and universities processed and navigated the experience of involuntary job loss and successfully transitioned to another position. The theoretical framework of psychological…

In an era of rapid societal change, institutions of higher education are grappling with how to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals are safe and supported on campus. Many challenges remain as LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff are subject to continued acts of discrimination and subtle microaggressions on a…

Civic and political engagement may encourage individuals to make positive societal contributions and thus act as responsible and productive citizens. A positive relationship between civic/political engagement and the extent of one's faith-based beliefs and behaviors has been the basis for a growing field of research (e.g., Becker & Dhingra, 2001;…

As part of a larger investigation into the spiritual climate at one Lutheran college, we interviewed Protestant Christian students in order to compare their conceptualizations of spirituality, religion, and faith with biblical notions of those concepts. We found that the students' understandings of those concepts only loosely reflected general…

The secularization of higher education has created a complicated context for discourse about religion and spirituality in most public and some private universities. Yet the growing orientation toward spirituality and faith among undergraduates calls for a renewed openness to matters of beliefs and values in college classrooms, a topic addressed by…

In an era in which part-time faculty are becoming a higher proportion of the teaching faculty on most campuses, this study addressed the question of whether student learning outcomes in religious education courses are significantly influenced by whether the instructor teaches in a full- or part-time capacity in the Department of Religion. We…

This study examined how eight adult education practitioners understand spirituality. The investigation defined and grounded the notion of spirituality within a specific religious/theological tradition, Christianity broadly defined. Data were collected via informal, conversational, taped interviews, and several themes emerged. The study used these…

Spiritual maturation processes of internalization and questing were assessed at a Christian university to determine their relationship to year in school and certain religious behaviors. This was a first step toward the development of a new model of Christian higher education that will intentionally facilitate spiritual maturation. A group of 179…

The study reported in this paper reviewed the themes of the journal, "Theological Education," from the beginning of its publication in 1964 through 2006, as a means of gaining an historical perspective on the educational emphases that have shaped graduate theological education over the last 40 years. Theological education in the United…

This essay, utilizing the "kaleidoscope" image of historian Timothy Smith, reflects on issues affecting evangelical identity and boundaries in the major professional association for Christian higher education, the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU). Since the CCCU was birthed by a smaller organization, the Christian College…