by jowens | Oct 28, 2016
Welch College received notification that it ranks 31st among “Best Regional Colleges” (South Region) in U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 edition of America’s Best Colleges guidebook according to President Matt Pinson.
“We are so pleased that Welch College is not only ranked among America’s best colleges but is moving up in the rankings,” President Pinson said. “This respected national study confirms that the college’s academic programs are recognized by the broader academic community as well as our supporters. It’s also another reminder to prospective students and their parents that Welch College remains a top-quality institution of higher learning that delivers its educational promise.”
The “Best Regional Colleges” category where Welch College is ranked includes 334 institutions that focus on undergraduate education and offer a range of degree programs in the liberal arts, and in professional fields such as business, nursing, and education. Colleges in this category are ranked within four geographic regions: North, South, Midwest, and West.
U.S. News rankings offer opportunity to judge the relative quality of institutions based on widely accepted indicators of excellence: peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving, and more.
Welch College received especially high marks in three strategic areas—percent of classes under 20 students (89%), average first-year retention rate (69%), and freshmen in top 25% of high school class (52%).
Provost Greg Ketteman said, “This marks the tenth time that Welch College has been included in U.S. News’ list of best colleges. This is a testimony to the hard work our faculty and staff pour into our students. Their commitment to excellence is paying off in national recognition among professional educators that Welch provides a rigorous collegiate academic setting for serious students. Our goal is to create a stimulating learning environment where education is more than books and classes. We are truly a community of faith and learning.”
Please go to this link if you would like to read more about Welch’s ranking. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/free-will-college-30018
by jowens | Oct 6, 2016
Welch College has hired AnnaGee Harris as Office Manager for Enrollment Services, according to Derek Altom, Acting Director of Enrollment Services.
“AnnaGee is going to play a vital role in strengthening and advancing our enrollment efforts at Welch,” said Altom. “Not only is she qualified to do the job, but her personality, her love for students and the college, and her zeal for excellence will serve as a great asset to Welch College in fulfilling its mission to educate leaders to serve Christ.”
AnnaGee is a 2005 graduate of Welch College and received the M.A.T. with an emphasis in Theater at Trevecca Nazarene University. She has served in a part-time capacity as director of the Evangels since 2009. For the last three years, she has served as Site Administrator for Trevecca Nazarene University at Volunteer State Community College.
“I am very excited to work with such a great team of people,” Miss Harris remarked. “I believe strongly in the mission of Welch College and have seen firsthand the impact Welch has on her students and then the impact those students have on the world. I am thrilled to do my part to help the enrollment office as they work with prospective students.”
David Williford, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, who oversees the Enrollment Services office, stated, “We are thrilled to welcome AnnaGee Harris to the enrollment services team. During her years as a student and in subsequent years, she has worked with the Evangels drama team traveling, representing Welch College, and encouraging students to consider Welch as their college. I’m delighted that she has chosen to become part of our team in a full-time capacity.”
by jowens | Sep 28, 2016
NASHVILLE, TN—Welch College enrolled 348 students from 23 states, one U.S. territory, and three other countries for the 2016 fall semester, according to Provost Greg Ketteman. Enrollment statistics indicate a diverse student body with a wide range of academic interests.
Ketteman said, “We are pleased to see a healthy fall enrollment that includes a very promising freshman class. Enrollment in our graduate, online, and Lifetime Learning programs will continue through the semester and we anticipate final semester enrollment to approach 375 students.”
At press time the college reported 173 dormitory students, 28 commuter students, 19 graduate students, 5 Adult Degree Program students, 66 Online/Lifetime Learning students, and 57 dual enrollment students. Officials set the fall semester 2016 full-time student equivalency (FTE) at 262.
By classification they include 63 Freshmen, 58 Sophomores, 66 Juniors, and 51 Seniors, as well as graduate, non-degree part-time, and dual enrollment students.
By states, students number:
Alabama – 18
Arkansas – 13
California – 1
Connecticut – 1
Florida – 13
Georgia – 11
Illinois – 14
Indiana – 2
Kansas – 2
Kentucky – 4
Michigan – 4
Mississippi – 6
Missouri – 8
North Carolina – 26
Ohio – 6
Oklahoma – 4
Pennsylvania – 2
Rhode Island – 3
South Carolina – 11
Tennessee – 145
Texas – 5
Virginia – 12
West Virginia – 1
Virgin Islands – 4
International – 32 (Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba)
President Matt Pinson said, “With 348 enrolled students at Welch College, this fall represents the highest headcount we’ve seen in ten years. Our FTE is up nearly 5%, and dorm, online, and dual enrollment also continue to grow. Last spring Welch launched its graduate program, and already we have nearly 20 students enrolled in graduate courses. These developments are positive and encouraging, and we are thankful to God for His provisions during this momentous time of excitement and transition.”
To contact Welch College for more information, email recruit@welch.edu or visit the college’s website at welch.edu.
by jowens | Sep 28, 2016
Nashville, TN—Welch College has entered a partnership with three other Free Will Baptist ministries to purchase approximately 64 acres of land on Big Station Camp Boulevard in Gallatin, Tennessee, according to President Matt Pinson. The partnership will consist of the Free Will Baptist Foundation, Free Will Baptist North American Ministries, both of Antioch, Tennessee, and Free Will Baptist Family Ministries of Greenville, Tennessee.
“We are so grateful to these Free Will Baptist entities for helping us to obtain this valuable property next door to our current 66-acre campus in Gallatin,” Pinson said. “We’ve entered into an agreement whereby we have the ability to purchase all but ten acres back from these ministries after we have sold a portion of the land to a real estate developer.
The growth in this area of Sumner County will enable us to sell some of this land to recoup the investment of the other Free Will Baptist agencies in the partnership. At the time this transaction occurs, the National Association of Free Will Baptists, Inc., will receive 4 acres of land, and Free Will Baptist Family Ministries will receive 6 acres of land. I’m so excited about the possibilities this gives Free Will Baptists for the future.”
The sale price for the approximately 64-acre parcel, owned by Fifth-Third Bank, is $2.7 million. Welch’s current 66-acre-campus recently appraised at approximately $5.8 million. “This is an excellent investment. Our property, which has a good bit of flood plain intended for use as athletic fields and parking, appraises at twice-per-acre what we’re paying for this new parcel, which has no flood-plain acreage and has commercial zoning and prime road frontage,” Pinson said.
“We owe so much to Bob Bass, our relocation project consultant, who was the visionary behind this transaction,” Pinson continued. “He has been working with the college off and on for more than two decades to make relocation a possibility. He donated the earnest money to make the contract on this land possible and has been in talks with real estate developers about its future development. Bob is such an asset to Welch, and I can’t express enough how important his vision is to our college and denomination.”
“It’s is a win, win, win situation,” Free Will Baptist Foundation director David Brown, said. “This partnership for acquisition of land is a good investment for the Free Will Baptist Foundation, will allow Welch College to expand their footprint all the way out to Big Station Camp Boulevard and it will provide a potential future site for a new Free Will Baptist National Offices Building.”
Dr. H. David Crowe, executive director of Free Will Baptist North American Ministries said, “What an exciting time it is for Free Will Baptists. I am thrilled to partner with Welch, Family Ministries, and the Free Will Baptist Foundation to see this purchase come to fruition. It’s a win for everyone! This is an unprecedented event in the history of the National Association and I’m looking forward to seeing great things accomplished as a result of this partnership.”
Tim York, Chairman of the Board of Family Ministries said, “Free Will Baptist Family Ministries is thrilled to be a part of expanding our ministry to Middle Tennessee, plus the opportunity to be working with Welch College and other Free Will Baptist ministries. This exciting partnership will provide much needed resources to accomplish the objectives and mission statements of our different ministries.”
by jowens | Sep 23, 2016
Phillip Morgan will begin duties as a full-time faculty member in history starting in January, according to Dr. Greg Ketteman, provost at Welch College.
John Carter, long-time history professor at Welch, announced his planned retirement recently. In December, he will end a 35-year tenure as a faculty member at Welch. He has agreed to continue teaching in an adjunct capacity after retirement.
Morgan currently serves as Associate Pastor for Youth and Music at Heads Free Will Baptist Church in Cedar Hill, Tennessee, where he has served for 5 years. He intends to continue serving in local church ministry on a part-time basis. A 2008 Welch graduate with a B.S. in music, Morgan owned a restaurant for four years before his ordination to the ministry. He is finishing his M.A. in history from Middle Tennessee State University, which will be completed in December. He will then begin work on his Ph.D. at MTSU in the field of public history.
“We are looking forward to welcoming Phillip on board the faculty at Welch,” Ketteman said. “He is an impressive young man with a varied background who will bring to the campus a combination of academic rigor, a love for teaching and leading young people, and a heart for ministry.”
Mr. Carter states, “I am so excited that Phillip Morgan will be taking my place in the history program at Welch College. He is an excellent historian with a solid Christian worldview, and he cares deeply about bringing together a conservative, Christian worldview with historical understanding. This is so important to our curriculum at Welch, and I think Phillip is just the man we need to do this.”
Morgan has been active in denominational affairs, serving on the Tennessee Christian Education Board, Cumberland Association Christian Education Board, chairing the Northern Quarterly Christian Education Board, leading summer youth camps at Cumberland Camp, and giving seminars at Free Will Baptist national conventions on his innovative approach to teaching church history and theology to teens. His writing has been published in Integrity: A Journal of Christian Thought and in a recent collection of essays on the theology of Welch professor emeritus Leroy Forlines. He also serves as a contributor and editor for the Helwys Society Forum (thehsf.com).
Morgan has also served for the past few years as the Assistant Curator of the Free Will Baptist Historical Collection under the supervision of Dr. Robert Picirilli, as well as the Archivist for Welch College. He and his wife Megan, and their children, Isaiah (3) and Julia (4m), live on a small farm in Robertson County, Tennessee.
by jowens | Sep 13, 2016
Dr. Charles Lea has been appointed as Special Assistant to the President for Adult Education and Professor of Educational Leadership, according to Welch College president Matt Pinson. Lea will assume his responsibilities on a part-time basis.
Lea recently stepped down from a position as executive director of the Hendersonville, Tennessee, campus of Union University. As founding director, he launched nine campus-based degree programs on both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Before his work with Union, Lea served 16 years as Academic Vice President at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tennessee.
“Dr. Lea was one of the first Sumner County leaders I met when we started looking at our new campus site in Gallatin a decade ago,” said Pinson. “Since then he has become a dear friend who really believes in the mission and vision of Welch College. He’s a stellar example of Christian leadership in higher education. We’re so happy to have him help us launch a whole new adult studies program, through which adult learners in Sumner County can finish their degree in a Christian community of faith and learning. Dr. Lea loves Sumner County, and he loves Welch. What a great combination for us going forward!”
Lea, who received his Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership from Vanderbilt University, has spent more than forty years in higher education and community leadership, most of that in Sumner County.
“I am honored to begin a new work in Sumner County with Welch College. It has been my legacy to work with the Sumner County community to expand higher educational opportunities,” Lea said. “The work at Welch will be a culminating event as I am blessed to introduce a residential graduate and undergraduate college with a strong Christian heritage to Sumner County.”
“I look forward to working with the highly successful administration, faculty, and staff at Welch to fill unique educational gaps and strengthen existing offerings for adults,” Lea continued. “I am especially fortunate to have the opportunity to work closely with one of the region’s most respected Christian leaders, Dr. Matt Pinson. I look forward to joining the Welch team and offering my best insight to advance the mission of Welch and meet the needs of the greater Sumner County community. Welch students will impact our community in many positive ways, and the presence of a residential college with a vision to grow will be an exciting new addition to the existing higher education landscape.”
Lea will begin his work with Welch starting this month. The college, which is completing construction of its new campus on its 66-acre site in the Station Camp area, is slated to start classes there in February of next year.
