The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 89, No. 55, Ed. 1, Friday, April 27, 2001 Page: 2 of 8
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2 Friday April 27 2001 Optimist
Faculty
Continued from Page 1
'for Study Abroad Programs
But in certain of ACUi depart-
ments students may only have a
handful of courses to choose
from and only a handful of pro-
fessors who teach those courses
This could be a problem par-
ticularly If this small group of
professors happens to agree on
every fiercely argued question in
their field According to conven-
tional wisdom students should-
n't be locked into one professors
theory on their discipline
whether it is economics or sociol-
jfcgj; or even golf
! ; '. And this critique is often taken
.Juhher and applied to Christian
'jKhication in general How can
;J9tudents learn to objectively
;3examine their Christianity - or
;jari)jhing else - when all of their
-professors are Christians and
"hnstians from a single tradition
.ajxljocrt?
lAlan Wlfe wnting for the
ijflpitic Monthly attacks schools
3jK? ACU that impose religious
requirements on their faculty In
his article "The Opening of the
Evangelical Mind" Wolfe writes
that two major approaches - both
harmful - have been used by
institutions that want to maintain
their orthodoxy One is to require
that professors belong to a certain
denomination The other is to
require that professors sign cer-
tain confessional creeds Both of
these options hurt universities
Wolfe says and for a number of
reasons
Administrators he writes
could use these requirements as
excuses to punish professors
whose offenses haw nothing to'
do with their faith Or they might
restnet the resources professors
could use in teaching or the theo-
ries they could teach a particu-
larly painful problem for those
trying to teach theology
But Dr Donald Isenhower
chair of the Physics Department
disagrees At ACU Isenhower
says he is actually more free to
teach than he would be at a state
school Here he can teach both
the Big Bang theory and creation-
ism but at a state school
Isenhower says he would only be
able to teach the Big Bang theory
And so the argument goes as
Christian and secular scholars
fight ocr who has the most aca-
demic freedom But there is a
third group of scholars that takes
a different position no matter
where you teach they say there
will be restnctlons At Christian
schools the general bias is against
ideas seen as antagonistic or
harmful to the Christian faith But
at a secular school says ACU
Provost Dwaync VanRhetnen
restnetion comes from the other
direction
"Having spent half of my career
in public universities" Van-
Rhccncn says "I would argue that
state and pnvatc universities can
constrain intellectual inquiry by
not encouraging the spiritual not
fully exploring religious values
not asking ultimate questions "
But Wolfes question remains
and those involved in Christian
higher education work to answer
it trying to show that Christian
universities can place restrictions
on their faculty and still in
Wolfes words "become the kind
of Intellectually exciting institu-
tions they hope to be "
Hiring problems
One major problem that ACU
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must regularly handle Is the
problem of finding faculty who
arc highly skilled and who fit the
Church of Christ requirement
Finding faculty lsn a problem
for every department the chairs
of the Graduate School of
Theology the Department of
Bible Missions and Ministry and
the Department of Comm-
unication all say they have plenty
of applicants for faculty positions
But Dr Terry Pope associate
dean of the College of Business
Administration says things aren't
so easy in his field Part of the
problem he says is that the sup-
ply of business professors is low
all over the nation and adding
the Church of Chnst requirement
further restricts the pool of quali-
fied applicants
"Maybe there are 20 of them
in the whole country and they're
already employed somewhere
else" Pope said
Twenty? Maybe seven Is a bel-
ter guess say faculty in the
Department of Mathematics and
Computer Science Dr David
Hughes chair of the department
can count on two hands the
number of people in the United
States whom he knows are mem-
bers of the Church of Chnst and
have doctorates In computer sci-
ence In this game whom you know
Is important Although faculty
search committees advertise in
national publications of higher
education they say these ads
don't attract many applicants
Instead committees rely pnmari-
ly on two other methods adver-
tising m Christian publications
such as the Christian Chronicle
and using word of mouth
Sometimes departments even try
to grow their own professors
keeping a close eye on any grad-
uate who seems interested in
acquiring a terminal degree
But even with this array of tac-
tics finding new faculty Is not
easy The Department of
Journalism and Mass Comm-
unication has been searching for
a new faculty member for two
years said department chair Dr
Cheryl Bacon The Department of
Mathematics and Computer
Science likewise has had a full-
lime faculty position open for
two years Thcres no denying
that the Church of Chnst require-
ment restricts the hinng pool
department chairs say
"Sometimes" Hughes said
"we think the pool Is almost dry"
Solutions
And there seems to be no easy
way to solve these departments'
hinng difficulties because any
changes to the current policy
could bring about bigger prob-
lems Even loosening the restriction
to include other evangelical
Christian groups might cause dif-
ficulties Bacon said among them
being a two-llered faculty In
which Church of Christ profes-
sors might receive preferential
treatment
Even if there really were no
prejudice non-Church of Christ
professors might perceive one
the Trustee Policy Manual docs
already say that In hinng for posi-
tions that do not require Church
of Chnst membership (such as
certain staff positions) "the uni-
versity will give preference to
members of the Churches of
Chnst if they arc qualified for the
position "
Some professors though sug-
gest that ACUs hinng problems
arcnt results of the Church of
Chnst prerequisite Instead they
say other factors - such as the
perception that ACU professors
work longer hours and arc paid
less than their counterparts at
secular Institutions - may be the
real Issues
"lm not sure that wc suffer
from that requirement as much as
we might think wc do" said Dr
Jeff Hascltinc chair of the
Department of Foreign Lang-
uages There arc definitely benefits to
the policy Hascltinc said the pro-
fessors who come out of these job
searches generally fit well with
their departments
And lhats to be expected says
physics chair Donald Isenhower
If professors don support the
Ideas on which the university is
founded he asks why would
they want to work at ACU in the
first place? There are surely bigger
cities in which to work and many
secular universities offer more
research opportunities lighter
teaching loads and better pay
"I worked here 10cars before
my salary matched what 1 could
hae gotten right out of grad
school" Isenhower said
Whether professors arc drawn
by a divine calling or by the
much touted "ACU difference"
department chairs say that gien
enough time they are able to
gather the professors they need
So ACUs apparent ability to
fill its teaching positions when
combined with the fear that
changing the Church of Chnst
policy might pose a threat to
ACUs Christian character seems
to be enough to squelch any sug-
gestions that the requirement be
removed or broadened ccn to
include other evangelical groups
Besides professors say its a
change that would be nearl)
impossible to reersc
All of these factors' combine to
suggest that for a while at least.
Page 47 of the Board of Trustees
Policy Manual will stayjust as it is
DATES TO KNOW
Social clubs conduct Noah ProJ' Members are also plan- Department to present
..rUnrtU:r..nnl. ning on playing a 25 hour baskciball
rushes this week ganfc t0 44 word recoid free lecture
Ko Jo Kai will conducl a lunch rush je Department of Professional
Wednesday at 12 pm on Lincoln International Coffee Continuing Education presents a free
Drlve . . lecture Friday The lecture entitled
GATA will conducl lunch rushes at MOUT Set TOr Thursday Bnnging out the Best In Non Proht
Sonic Friday and next Wednesday International Codec Hour will be Boards and Volunteers will be held from
Knights will conducl a "sailboat held on Thursday in ihe Campus 11 45 a m -1 p m il the Mabcc Library
rush" at Lake Ton Phantom from 5 - 7 Center Living Room and will start at 5 Auditorium
pm Tuesday pm
Delta Chi Rho will hold Its spring Church tO have
mshMay lslaningal6pm atWill .... .. :.l. Iilnknn
Hair Park subway sandwiches wnii be WACU to present singles luncheon
served Qoninr CanH nff A singles luncheon will take place
Senior 3ena-OTT al the Briarstone Manor this Salurda)
AltS and Sciences AU women 8radu:lllnS 'n May Mlru)a Strecl church of Chnsi is hosl-
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The College of Ans and Sciences noon W 6 p m al the Jennings House M.nda Si have their 3rd annual
will conducl its Awards Dinner Fnday Museum Singing Extravaganza Saturday
at Briarstone Manor at 6 30 p m S ' .
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Survival kits available
Pepsi and Gamma Sigs jn Campus center CAT to have meeting
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 89, No. 55, Ed. 1, Friday, April 27, 2001, newspaper, April 27, 2001; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101715/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.