How does a Christian university change a culture and overcome fear, differences of opinions, and a faculty body comprised of diverse Christian traditions? How does the university guard against implementing an administratively-driven, plug-and-play approach to faith and learning integration that would infringe on the faculty member’s academic freedom? The starting point for us at Samford University was to clarify our priorities in hiring practices and to build trust among existing faculty. It was only then that we were able to offer education and programming that would help faculty do what we were asking them to do—wholeheartedly support and live into the Christian mission of the university. While faith and learning integration was happening in pockets across campus, there was not a concerted strategy that encouraged and supported these efforts campuswide. Samford University set out to prove that you can hire faithful Christian faculty who are also highly qualified academics and that it is possible to support faith and learning integration without infringing on academic freedom.
First Steps
For many years, the integration of faith and learning has taken various forms in Christian higher education. With this in mind, we set out to learn from our fellow institutions as we sought to create a strategy that best fit Samford. Learning from institutions such as Pepperdine, Whitworth, Baylor, Calvin, and the like, Samford needed to establish a clear identity in the faith and learning conversation. The praxis of faith and learning would be our focus during this new chapter.
We began by clarifying and emphasizing our faculty hiring practices. As a private Christian university, we unapologetically stated our goal to seek and prefer academically qualified, Christian faculty for all faculty searches. To help integrate this commitment to faculty hiring and also reinforce it across academic programs, several important practices became part of the faculty hiring process. First, a member of the Provost’s office was assigned to each search committee. In addition to ensuring hiring practices and policies were being uniformly followed, these representatives also enabled the provost’s office to have a front-row seat to matters of faith commitment and missional alignment of faculty candidates. Secondly, each faculty search team included a faculty member from outside the academic department/school conducting the search. The inclusion of these faculty enriched the search process and helped indirectly disseminate commitment to hiring faculty members committed to the Christian mission.
Our existing faculty were hired because of their pursuit of academic excellence and support of mission, however, arriving from graduate programs at Christian and secular institutions or practice in secular settings, not all existing faculty had been afforded the opportunity to integrate their faith into their professional roles. We needed to create a culture where we were able to facilitate authentic conversations around faith with our faculty and encourage them to do the same with their students.
Faculty Support
In the Spring of 2019, Provost, Dr. Mike Hardin, formed the Spiritual Life Leadership Collaborative consisting of faculty and staff across campus. This collaborative examined every aspect of the spiritual makeup of Samford from the curriculum, faculty development and expectations, and cocurricular spiritual development of students. The strategic evaluation produced a list of objectives that would address the areas of opportunity revealed by the audit. One opportunity for faculty development emerged from within the Howard College of Arts and Sciences (HCAS). Led by former Dean, Dr. Tim Hall, and Associate Dean, Dr. Emily Hynds, a college-specific faith and learning initiative (FLI) was launched in the Fall of 2019.
In the Fall of 2021, with momentum from within HCAS, Hardin chose to scale up FLI efforts to the greater campus. A Faith and Learning Taskforce, with Dr. Bryan Gill as the leader, was formed in Academic Affairs. Hardin felt that Gill’s ministerial approach would be the best way forward in developing a campuswide initiative. The directive of this taskforce was to identify ways to equip faculty to support the Christian mission of the university through personal and professional development opportunities.
When Hardin addressed the Faith and Learning Taskforce, the message echoed one of his earliest talks given as Provost. He emphasized his desire to support faculty “by all means possible.” While this new era of emphasizing, investing in, and incentivizing faith and learning integration in academic programs at Samford was easier to define by what we didn’t want it to be, we would recognize it once we saw it. And we would reach it “by all means possible.”
An Elevated Emphasis on Faith and Learning Integration
When President Beck Taylor arrived at Samford in 2021, he, alongside his executive leadership team and the board of trustees, elevated faith and learning as a priority on campus. Fueling the momentum created in Academic Affairs, a fresh wind blew through the campus as faith and learning became a centerpiece of Fidelitas, Samford’s strategic plan. Faith and learning integration became one of the four main goals in the Academic Distinction theme of Fidelitas. In alignment with the strategic plan and directive of the Provost, the faith and learning taskforce had the full support of the administration and was encouraged to move forward with developing a new era of support for faculty seeking to integrate their faith at Samford.
In the spring of 2022, the vision for what faith and learning would look like at Samford began to take shape. Praxis would be the emphasis. The Faith and Learning Taskforce convened regularly and developed the following mission statement, “to equip Samford faculty to thoughtfully integrate a commitment to faith in Jesus Christ with the pursuit of academic excellence.” Taskforce members were then given a survey, and data revealed what they felt faith and learning should and should not be at Samford University. After qualitative analysis of the data, four emphases emerged: Personal Spiritual Growth, Pedagogical Integration, Scholarship Development, and Vocational Exploration.
Goals for each area are:
- Personal Spiritual Growth– to build strong community among Samford colleagues through dedicated time and resources for spiritual reflection and personal growth.
- Pedagogical Integration– to make faculty aware of the freedom to integrate their faith into their pedagogy and equip them to do so.
- Scholarship Development– to encourage faculty to develop and disseminate scholarship and research on the integration of faith and learning.
- Vocational Exploration– to create opportunities that will foster meaningful vocational conversations among faculty and students.
After the goals were developed, measurable outcomes were added, and the taskforce developed programming supporting each outcome. Then, those activities were incorporated into the university faculty development calendar and made ready for implementation during the Fall of 2022.
From Initiative to Office
In the Spring of 2024, the FLI became the Office of Faith, Learning, and Vocation (FLV). Gill was named director of the office under the Faculty Success Center within Academic Affairs. The formation of this office once again elevated the university’s commitment to faith and learning integration and enabled a more focused approach on campus.
Faculty involved in faith and learning programming expressed a desire to continue faith and learning conversations beyond the offerings of the FLI, so we developed the Christian Teacher Scholar Program (CTSP). The CTSP is a three-year interdisciplinary cohort-based program where faculty explore their faith and vocation, faith, and their role as teacher, and how faith can influence their scholarship. CTSP faculty explore their own calling and vocation through storytelling workshops in year one. In year two, they engage in group discussions on scripture and how their disciplines intersect with Christian themes of truth, beauty, goodness, justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Year three focuses on developing scholarship around the intersection of their disciplines and faith and learning.
All faculty participating in the CTSP must have completed at least their first year at Samford. The CTSP currently has two staggered cohorts of faculty participating: one in year one and one in year two. This program has proven to be beneficial to both new and senior faculty. One tenured professor said that year one of the CTSP, “was the most personally enriching faculty development activity I have done at Samford.”
Over the past year, Samford has also invited leading voices in faith and learning to campus – many from CCCU campuses – to lead discussion and expose our faculty to different perspectives of faith and learning. These included Dr. Richard Beck, Dr. Perry Glanzer, Rev. Lisa Cole Smith, Dr. Todd Ream, and Dr. Andrea Scott. Additionally, we held a one-day faith and learning summit in 2023, and our first faith and learning conference in the spring of 2024 where twenty faculty members presented on the praxis of faith and learning in their respective disciplines.
Momentum for the Future
As evidenced by the diverse presentations at our 2024 conference, faith and learning integration is not a one-size-fits-all solution. There is a spectrum of interpretations. Some faculty pray or read scripture to begin their classes. Some incorporate biblical justice for marginalized people groups in internships and practicums. And there are faculty who challenge students to think deeply about the intersection of their faith and their discipline. Faculty also utilize the convocation system at Samford to lead cocurricular cadres where the integration of faith and learning is explored with students. We support faculty wherever they find themselves on this spectrum of approaches, and in some instances, challenge them to expand their view of faith and learning integration. We are establishing a culture that encourages and equips faculty to bring their whole selves as faculty at Samford University.
Over the next few days, several faculty who presented at the 2024 Faith and Learning Conference at Samford will share their thoughts on faith and learning integration on the Christian Scholars Review blog. Faculty from Accounting, Health Sciences, Nursing, and Education will explain how faith and learning is practically and authentically approached in their classrooms. While there is still much to learn, Samford has found that praxis will be the focus of faith and learning integration.
I enjoyed reading about the process Samford University went through as it engaged the topic of faith and learning integration. It is a good model of intentional faith and learning integration.