This week I want to call this blog’s readers’ attention to two of Covenant’s many programs, one because it is unique among Covenant’s program offerings and the other because it is a relatively new initiative that is off to a wonderful start.

Covenant has one graduate program, the Master of Education program, now in its eighteenth year. The program, offering two tracks (Educational Leadership and Integrated Curriculum and Instruction), combines three-week summer campus residencies with pre- and post-campus coursework so that working teachers and administrators can continue in their educational roles during the school year and also benefit from a dynamic learning community on Lookout Mountain each summer.

In mid-July, I had the privilege of hosting a luncheon for those M.Ed. students in their final year. The luncheon provides an annual opportunity for me to hear from them about the program – strengths, areas for improvement, personal experiences, humorous stories. Each year I come away from this gathering hugely encouraged – by the quality and purposefulness of the students, by their diligence in pursuing a graduate degree while holding down full-time jobs, and by their delight over what’s happened in their minds and hearts through the work of our fine faculty.

Included in the students’ comments this year were the following:

• Covenant’s professors are “living examples of their principles;” they “practice what they teach.”
• Relationships formed with professors and one another are powerful blessings, both professionally and personally.
• The coursework is challenging and also directly relevant to their daily work as teachers and administrators.
• Covenant’s faculty and staff demonstrate genuine interest, respond quickly to students’ needs, and “go above and beyond” normal expectations.

One of this past year’s graduates, Bill Alexander, Chair of the Bible Department at Davidson Academy in Nashville, TN, wrote in April to Dr. Jim Drexler, Dean of the Master of Education Program, to express his appreciation for the program:

I chose Covenant because of the set-up of the program (3 weeks of classes in the summer) and because of its academic reputation. I did not want to pay for a degree from a degree mill; I wanted to earn a degree from a quality program. The academic rigor at Covenant never disappointed, and I will always be proud to call myself a graduate of the M.Ed. program at Covenant. I feel as though I have earned a quality degree that represents the reputation of a great academic institution.

In my three years at Covenant I have grown in ways that I could not have imagined, both personally and professionally. I have grown in my understanding of God’s Kingdom. I have grown in my understanding of how to lead and be a part of a quality Christ-centered educational endeavor. I have learned what it means to create a vibrant, Christ-centered learning community, and I have met friends that I will keep for a lifetime. Covenant College challenged me and has, in my opinion, made me a much better person. For that I say thank you to the entire faculty. The experience has been one that I will treasure for the remainder of my days. (quoted with Bill’s permission)

The Master of Education program is just one example of the multiplier effect of a Covenant education, in this case as teachers and administrators from all over the country and even around the world put to work, with thousands and thousands of students, the principles and practices they’ve learned during their three-year graduate experience at Covenant College. The effects gloriously extend everywhere and across the years.

Second, I want to mention Covenant’s Economics program with its relatively recent academic major. Professors Brian Fikkert and Lance Wescher combine depth and breadth of academic competence with outstanding teaching ability and keen interest in students, and our first cohort of economics graduates this past May demonstrates the quality of the program even in its early years. Results from the Economics Major Field Test show our students performing in the 85th to the 99th percentile in the four sub-areas of microeconomics, macroeconomics, quantitative analysis, and international issues. This excellent performance against national standards bears witness to the high caliber of both instruction and learning.

Beyond test scores, these graduates have come to understand economics in the context of biblical convictions and categories, so that the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Scripture’s call to faithful obedience and stewardship will shape their work in the future. Here is the department’s description of this larger, Kingdom purpose, no matter what the context in which our graduates will work:

…human stewardship is not autonomous but takes place within God’s sovereign plan as expressed through His unfolding story of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation. This framework shapes the manner in which the department analyzes and critiques the ways in which individuals, communities, and nations have responded to their stewardship responsibilities.

Students pursuing the economics major or minor are well prepared for graduate study in a range of disciplines and for careers in government, international agencies, non-government organizations, and the corporate sector.

With the entire world enduring economic convulsions and dramatic restructuring, it is very exciting to anticipate the contributions that Covenant’s economics graduates will be able to make, pursuing God’s calling by putting sound economic theory into practice within the framework of biblical truth and for the glory of Jesus Christ.

(A personal note: Our youngest son David is a rising senior economics major, and I can attest not only to the academic quality of the program but also to the encouragement he receives from his professors. In particular, Dr. Wescher has drawn David into the complex world of healthcare economics, and Kathleen and I delight in watching our son, whose aspirations at this point are for a business career, enthusiastically exploring possible pathways for the years beyond college.)

The Master of Education program and the Economics major are just two of the multitude of ways that we seek to fulfill Covenant’s overall mission to equip students to speak and lead and serve biblically and proficiently in all the spheres of human culture. What a joy to see it happening!