The Pilgrim’s Protest

By Elizabeth Castellow

What’s the Deal?
CIU students should prepare themselves for a new buzzword on campus: Quality Enhancement Program, or QEP. Perhaps this wasn’t as exciting of a phrase as you were hoping for, but the implications for our school are important.
The facts you need to know are that, as a part of the school’s accreditation (what makes your degree mean something), CIU has to submit a QEP. The CIU faculty and staff have been working for over two years to prepare for visits from the accrediting agencies: SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools), ATS (Association of Theological Schools), and ABHE (Association for Biblical Higher Education). Dean Swift told TPP that, “A significant amount of this time is spent preparing a self-study so that we are well prepared for the criteria and scrutiny of the agencies.” Every school goes through a process where they choose an aspect of their school to look at and to improve upon or change. Spiritual formation is the area being studied by CIU. As stated in the Student Handbook, spiritual formation is “the divinely ordained transformational process by which the Holy Spirit leads believers to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ through the Word of God, and by that relationship become progressively more free from sin and more like Christ. The Spirit’s formative work occurs in the context of a vital engagement with a community of believers.” Whether or not you agree with this definition, this is what drives the school’s view of spiritual formation and the activities and programs that come out of this view.
So what?
If what has just been said sounds like big words that don’t mean much, you are sadly mistaken. If you’ve ever wondered about standards, chapel, why we have chaplains or what Student Life is all about, the root lies in the school’s view of spiritual formation. As a part of evaluating this area of CIU and submitting the QEP information to SACS, CIU is required to get student input and ideas. This means you have a chance to impact how this school functions and change things for future students. TPP asked Dean Rick Swift, for his take on the QEP and what it means for students. He said,
“CIU will be taking a look at how we can better nurture the spiritual transformation of our students. This does not necessarily mean more programs, in fact it may mean less specific programs with a greater emphasis on creating a community environment in which relationships (personal and spiritual) can develop. CIU has a spiritual formation statement in its handbook that refers to this process as a work of the Spirit, fed by the Word, but often realized through dynamic relationships. As a result we realize that there is no “five steps to a spiritually transformed life” program that we can develop. What we can do is create opportunity for relationships to thrive on campus—relationships that utilize various means of grace to create an environment that causes students (as well as faculty and staff) to grow in their dependence on, obedience to, and hope in, God and His Word. This is a five-year project and so everything will not be ready to go right away. We need to think, try, assess, adjust, ask, listen, etc. in order to be where we think we should be. We are in no way trying to replace the role of the church, but CIU presents a fairly unique opportunity for relationships and we need to be stewards of that opportunity.”
Spiritual formation in an institutional context is an issue full of benefits, problems, and potentially problematic situations. There is a balance of how much influence and control a Christian institution should have on the lives of its students. This balance greatly impacts the everyday lives of CIU students. The school’s study of how it does spiritual formation can ultimately have a positive impact for the CIU community as whole.
Now what?
So now you know. The question is, ‘What should you do with what you know?’ As the school pursues the QEP process, don’t slip into a state of apathy. If there is something you believe to be important for spiritual formation or that you would like to see on campus, send an email or have a conversation with your chaplain or dean. As students we have an opportunity to impact the future of the school and how it operates. Input is vital; not only for spiritual formation but also for campus atmosphere and community. In regards to student input, Dean Swift said, “Where do the students fit in? Everywhere! We want and need your ideas. Many have requested the return of small groups. We’re working on them, but you probably have some great ideas that we may not have yet considered. We’ll be revisiting many areas: small groups, chapel, lifestyle standards, accountability, the advising process, and so on. We would love to see the implementation phase drenched with the input of students. This experience is for you and you probably have a good idea as to what is working and what is not. We’ll be recruiting more help with the QEP, but if you are interested, please let me (rswift@ciu.edu) know as soon as possible.” It is clear that without students becoming involved this process may lack what it needs to ultimately be of benefit to students. Fortunately, these opportunities are being given, if only we will take part in this community.