Welch College enrolled the highest number of students in 36 years for the Fall 2019 semester, according to Provost Matthew McAffee. Total enrollment statistics indicate 426 students from 24 states, one territory, and five foreign countries, a 5.4 percent increase over last fall’s headcount. The fall of 1983 was the last fall semester that the enrollment was higher, with a headcount of 467.
“We are thankful for the modest increase in enrollment numbers this year,” McAffee said. “The Lord continues to bless our efforts in equipping leaders for Christ’s kingdom work.”
The increase in new students this year occurred with both freshmen and transfer students. This fall 84 new students enrolled in traditional on-campus programs at Welch. A total of 116 new students joined the student body for the new school year, including graduate, online, and adult studies enrollments.
At press time the college reported 185 dormitory students, 36 commuter students, 33 graduate students, 31 Adult Studies students, 50 Online/Lifetime Learning students, and 91 dual enrollment students. The fall’s full-time equivalency (FTE) is 307 students.
“We’re thankful to God for another increase in headcount and FTE enrollment,” President Matt Pinson said. “We’re excited that we have the third highest number of new traditional, college-age students since 2006, one of the top incoming classes in the last twenty years. This is good, especially given the fact that enrollment at many colleges and universities in the U.S. is at a standstill or declining.”
“The composition of the enrollment at private colleges and universities has shifted since the turn of the century, and we’ve seen this at Welch,” Pinson said. “When I was a student in the mid-1980s, we had a large number of married students in their late twenties and thirties who had pulled up stakes and moved across the country to attend college. Those days are gone. That kind of student is now engaging in non-traditional delivery systems, including online and evening classes. It’s exciting, though, to see an upward trend in enrollment occurring across all sectors at Welch.”
Welch College Press released a new publication this summer, The Apologetics of Leroy Forlines, by F. Leroy Forlines and J. Matthew Pinson, according to managing editor Matthew Bracey.
“The book debuted at the National Association of Free Will Baptists with much enthusiasm and praise,” Bracey said. “We’re proud of this book and believe it honors the legacy that Mr. Forlines has left to us on the topics of apologetics and worldview thinking.”
As detailed on the book’s dust jacket, “In The Apologetics of Leroy Forlines, J. Matthew Pinson brings together select writings of F. Leroy Forlines on apologetics and the knowledge of God. He begins the volume with a lengthy essay on the apologetics of the foremost systematic theologian of the modern Free Will Baptist Church and the contemporary Reformed Arminian movement.”
“The ideas in this book are timely,” Forlines said. “My prayer is that God will add His blessing to this book, using it to extend His kingdom and give Him the glory that is due His name alone.”
Apologetics is the fourth publication from Welch College Press. Previous publications include:
J. Matthew Pinson, Matthew Steven Bracey, Matthew McAffee, and Michael Oliver, Sexuality, Gender, and the Church: A Christian Response to the New Cultural Landscape
Christopher Talbot, Remodeling Youth Ministry: A Biblical Blueprint for Ministering to Students
Phillip T. Morgan and J. Matthew Pinson, Light and Truth: A Seventy-fifth Anniversary Pictorial History of Welch College
Welch College has initiated a leadership transition in the Department of Teacher Education, according to Provost Dr. Matthew McAffee. Stephen Beck has been named Associate Undergraduate Dean and will assume more responsibility overseeing students in teacher education, effective immediately.
In this role Mr. Beck will work alongside Undergraduate Dean Dr. Etta Patterson. He will be responsible for mentoring secondary and middle school teacher candidates, managing student teacher placements, and overseeing student admissions into the program. Dr. Patterson will continue to work with education faculty and staff and provide overall leadership for the department during a year-long transition period, after which Mr. Beck will become Undergraduate Dean.
“We are excited to have Mr. Beck take on a more prominent role in leading teacher education at Welch College,” said Matthew McAffee. “His experience as principal in a cross-cultural setting uniquely qualifies him for the task. Our intent when we hired him was for him to assume the position of Undergraduate Dean when he completed his Ed.D. Now that he is nearing the completion of that degree, the time is right for Mr. Beck to assume greater responsibility in departmental leadership.”
Mr. Beck recently earned an Ed.S. from Union University and is set to complete the Ed.D. there in the spring of 2020. Mr. Beck came to Welch in 2016 after serving nine years as Principal of Free Will Christian School in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Since coming to Welch, Mr. Beck has been teaching both education and math courses and has led the department in gaining state approval for a new bachelor’s degree in mathematics education.
“As enrollment in the Teacher Education Department increases, we must adapt to the needs of teacher candidates and respond to Tennessee Department of Education mandates,” says Dr. Patterson. “I welcome Mr. Stephen Beck to this role. He has continued to grow as an educational leader and will assume additional departmental responsibilities such as Math Program Coordinator, edTPA Coordinator, as well as other administrative duties.”
For more information about teacher education at Welch, please contact Etta Patterson at 615-675-5310 or epatterson@welch.edu.
Welch College and Sumner County Schools have established a collaborative agreement to make the Welch English Language (EL) endorsement available to Sumner County teachers. According to Dr. Greg Ketteman, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Graduate Dean of Education, “the agreement includes a special application for licensed Sumner County teachers paired with a scholarship underwritten by donations from the annual, Welch-sponsored Strong and Courageous event.” Applications for the endorsement are already available for teachers employed by Sumner County Schools.
Based on Welch’s existing, state-approved English Language learner endorsement, the English Language (EL or ESL) endorsement better equips licensed teachers who work with multilingual student groups and English language learners. Welch Teacher Education graduates already earn this endorsement as part of their teaching licensure programs at Welch.
Ketteman reports significant enthusiasm about the Welch EL endorsement. “As local school districts experience growth in enrollment of EL students, they need to increase numbers of credentialed EL teachers. A number of Sumner County teachers have already inquired, and we expect to open additional course sections for these teachers this fall. We are discussing similar agreements with leaders of Wilson and Robertson County Schools.”
The endorsement will also be a new track in Welch College’s Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) program. “We have notified our accreditors and anticipate December approval, thus making the M.A.T. with an emphasis in EL available for teachers,” Ketteman said. Welch has also notified accreditors of its newly developed M.A.T. track in Instructional Leadership (IL), which will lead to licensure for school leaders. Applications for these graduate tracks are available this fall.
Welch College has recently been named in a story that has been published by various media outlets. Please see the statement below from President Pinson regarding this issue. If someone asks for a statement or interview, please direct them to the Office of the President at 615-675-5264 or president@welch.edu.
We appreciate your prayers as we work through this situation.
Statement from Welch College President Matt Pinson
Welch College believes that all persons are created in God’s image and thus have inherent dignity and should be treated with respect, compassion, and love. The College holds that God created humanity in two distinct and complementary sexes: male and female. The College acknowledges that the Fall of humanity into sin has introduced brokenness into God’s good creation, including in the realm of human sexuality. For example, some individuals experience a distressing confusion about their gender identity, perceiving a conflict between their biological reality and their psychological self-understanding.
Welch College believes that individuals experiencing such confusion—and the distress that usually accompanies it—should be treated with love and compassion. The College also believes that attempting to alter one’s bodily identity constitutes a rejection of God’s design for humanity. The College is also aware that such attempts all too rarely deliver on their promises to alleviate psychological and emotional suffering. The College thus invites all transgender individuals to trust fully in Christ and experience renewal in the gospel.
On Friday, August 2, Welch College learned that one of its students had undergone surgery in an effort to conform her body to her belief that she is male. Given the incompatibility of such an action with the College’s beliefs and expectations for members of its community, the College informed the student that while she could not continue living in a dormitory, the College would provide hotel accommodations and funds for food during her recovery period. The College later offered to provide in-home health care for the student, which the student declined, stating she did not need it. Reports that the College responded inappropriately or unlovingly to the student’s situation are inaccurate.
Welch College President Matt Pinson said, “Welch’s community standards hold that students are to obey God’s revealed will in Holy Scripture and avoid behaviors that constitute a rejection of the divine design for human sexuality. Our desire is to show individuals experiencing gender confusion the love and compassion of Christ while bearing witness to God’s design as revealed in Holy Scripture for his human creatures as male and female. We believe that a commitment to historic Christian teaching on human gender and sexuality must ever be melded with love, compassion, and sensitivity to people who are made in the image of God. Welch informs all members of its community of these beliefs, on which its decisions regarding admissions, hiring, housing, etc., are based. We will continue to pray for all people experiencing gender confusion while also honoring the values of this institution and its sponsoring denomination, which are shared by the Christian tradition over two millennia.”
Pinson continued, “Throughout Yanna’s time at Welch, we have treated her with love, respect, compassion, sensitivity, and privacy, though we always clearly communicated our community standards regarding gender identity. We at Welch love Yanna and have shown her that love in a way that accords with our deeply held religious beliefs.”
The Welch College Nursing Education Collaborative will move into an important new phase in the fall of 2019, according to Dr. Charles Lea, Special Assistant to the President at Welch and originator of the collaborative design. Welch College graduates will enter the Union University Hendersonville School of Nursing bachelor’s program as a new cohort.
“As a part of the original design, students who desire a bachelor’s degree in Nursing may enter Welch College, complete an associate’s degree and be assured acceptance to the School of Nursing at Union Hendersonville,” Lea said. “Welch College pre-nursing students can take advantage of the Tennessee Promise scholarship and utilize on-campus housing during both their associate’s and bachelor’s studies at Welch.”
Dr. Ian Hawkins, Chairman of Arts and Sciences at Welch, hails the collaborative as unique, giving students a seamless path to a Nursing career. Welch graduates also have opportunities under the Collaborative to attend either Belmont University or Cumberland University. Welch graduates have taken advantage of these options as well.
Sumner Regional Medical Center and the HighPoint Healthcare system have been strategic partners to advance the Collaborative efforts. A graduate from Welch Nursing Collaborative recently began her nursing career at Sumner Regional.
New and transfer students may still apply and be admitted at Welch for the fall 2019 term. Opportunities for traditional and working adults are available. For more information, contact Dr. Ian Hawkins at 615-675-5255 or email him at Ihawkins@welch.edu
