Welch College Vice Provost Matthew McAffee has been selected as a Fellow in the Executive Leadership Institute of the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association (TICUA), according to President Matt Pinson. The Executive Leadership Institute is a new initiative of TICUA president Dr. Claude Presnell to provide specialized training for up-and-coming leaders in Tennessee independent colleges and universities.
“I am excited that Dr. McAffee will be taking part in this new institute,” President Pinson said. “As a promising young leader at Welch and our new Vice Provost, he will benefit greatly from the interaction with some of the finest higher education leaders in the industry and will be able to bring these experiences to bear in his leadership at Welch College.”
Speaking of the first session of the institute, which was held at Rhodes College in Memphis, Presnell said, “It was an incredible success! The Fellows were hosted by Rhodes College president Bill Troutt for the two-day event. During this first Session we provided the Fellows with their personalized leadership assessment profile, explored the ‘thriving leaders’ framework, and dug deep into the Institute’s first topic of institutional governance and board development.”
Faculty for the Institute have included distinguished higher education leaders such as Dr. Rich Morrill (chancellor of the University of Richmond), Dr. Bill Troutt (president of Rhodes College), and Tim Fuller (senior VP/owner, CREDO). The Institute will gather at nine different independent college and university campuses across Tennessee, once a month, over the 2016-17 academic year. The last meeting and graduation from the Institute will be in May of 2017.
A native of New Brunswick, Canada, McAffee is a 1999 graduate of Welch College. An M.Div. graduate of Southern Seminary, he received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from University of Chicago. He has served full-time at Welch since 2010, teaching as well as serving as Campus Pastor, a role he gave up in August to serve as Vice Provost.
McAffee has written numerous articles in popular and scholarly periodicals such as ONE Magazine, the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, and the Journal of Biblical Literature. He recently jointly authored the Welch College Press book, Sexuality, Gender, and the Church: A Christian Response in the New Cultural Landscape. He and his wife, Anna, who serves as women’s resident director at Welch, live on-campus with their four children, Abigail, Lydia, Samuel, and Marianne.
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.”
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.
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.
Dr. James M. Stevens, chairman of the Music Department at Welch College, recently received the New Year’s Selling Contest Award at Sheet Music Plus for his bestselling Prelude to a Wedding book in the piano solo category. This collection contains 28 original songs drawn from his highly successful Relaxing and Romantic Piano books, Volumes I – IV.
Sheet Music Plus is the world’s largest sheet music dealer representing over one million print and digital titles and over one thousand music publishers. This is Stevens’s third award in the last year at Sheet Music Plus. He also won the Steinway Music Composition Contest in December 2015.
Stevens is one of the most prolific composers for Sheet Music Plus. He currently has more piano solo compositions published there than any living composer and is only surpassed in numbers by Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Chopin, and Liszt.
His The Sacred Flute book for solo flute and piano is currently the number-one bestselling flute solo book in both the print and digital categories. His compositions can be found at Sheet Music Plus under his publishing company, James M. Stevens Music ASCAP.
Dr. Stevens is a graduate of Samford University and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and has a doctorate in Music Composition from the University of Kentucky. He is beginning his thirteenth year as the Music Department chairman at Welch College.
The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies will hold a mini-conference from 10-11:30 a.m., April 20 in room 303 of the Legacy Center.
Dr. Matthew Pinson, president of Welch College in Nashville, Tennessee, will present a paper, “What Has Nicaea Got to Do With Norwich? Thomas Grantham & the Ancient Church.”
Event Details:
DATE & TIME: April 20 from 10 – 11:30 a.m. LOCATION: Southern Seminary | Legacy Hotel and Comferences, Room 303 AndrewFullerCenter.org
