I attended a professional
conference on the "Future of Baptist Higher Education."
I was expecting to hear about ground breaking and innovative methods and
strategies that schools are using to grow their institutions. Rather, I heard
philosophers and theologians read papers about defining the meanings and purposes of
Christian higher education and the roles of academe in society. A recurring theme of
the meetings was "we have begun a dialog about these important issues, and that is
good." I left the meetings disappointed and rather bewildered. I
went to the meetings expecting something different.
I wanted to hear about the
future of Baptist higher education. I wanted to learn about and see in my mind what
tomorrow's institutions will look like and what they will do to meet the needs of our
future society. I wanted to see how our schools will position themselves to be even
more relevant in the future and discover the plans that will be enacted to position
today's schools for future success.
Instead of waiting to hear
about these concepts from others, I have decided to put my own brain and thoughts to these
topics--as they specifically relate to small, private, liberal arts colleges and
universities. These will be added as they are completed.
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