Alliance conferences promote collaboration
By Christy Rowden
Throughout the past year, hundreds of individuals made their way to the Springfield, Missouri, area for specialized conferences hosted by The Alliance for Assemblies of God Higher Education.
“Our Alliance conferences are designed to specifically focus on providing ‘added value’ to all of our schools,” explains Dr. Bob Cook, executive vice president of the Alliance. “We desire to complement what our schools are already doing in leadership training, but also provide the mutual encouragement that comes from interfacing with people working in the same areas in the other colleges.”
During these events, attendees built relationships with individuals from other AG schools and gained valuable insight and resources from the Executive Leadership and Alliance teams.
Student Leaders’ Conference (November 2008)
The Alliance invited four student leaders from each of the 18 residential AG colleges to travel to Springfield, Missouri, for the first-ever Student Leaders’ Conference. The conference was designed to augment the leadership training students already receive from their schools and to connect them to the AG and its leadership. “I feel very privileged to have been able to be a part of the beginning of what I believe could be the greatest investment that the AG could make,” stated Mitch White, 2008-2009 student body president at Southwestern AG University (Waxahachie, Texas). “Investing in the colleges and universities will help strengthen the future leaders of the AG.”
The Student Leaders’ Conference included leadership training sessions, small group brainstorming sessions, a Q&A time with General Superintendent George O. Wood and several opportunities to relax and have some fun. This first event was such a success that the Alliance plans to make it a yearly occurrence.
Enrollment Summit (February 2009)
For the second year in a row, enrollment professionals from many of the endorsed AG higher education institutions met together. This year, the event was held in Branson, Missouri, concurrently with the District Youth Directors’ (DYD) Conference in order to provide the opportunity for strategic interaction between the enrollment officers and DYDs. The three-day summit included a presentation of Alliance student recruitment initiatives, open forum discussions, small group interaction, a worship service, a luncheon with the DYDs and a Q & A session with Wood.
Summit attendee Rose-mary Smith, assistant vice president for enrollment at Northwest University (Kirkland, Washington), commented, “I have been in the enrollment field for 16 years and am excited to feel, for the first time, a connection and camaraderie with admissions professionals from the other AG schools across the country.”
AAGHE hosts faculty (June 2009)
On June 24-26, 2009, The Alliance for AG Higher Education hosted its Faculty Seminar on the campus of Evangel University (Springfield, Missouri). Over 200 faculty members representing 17 of the 19 endorsed AG schools attended this professional development event. This year’s seminar was specifically designed for educators in the fields of Behavioral Sciences, Communications, Fine Arts, Humanities, Math, Science and Social Sciences. The event is intended to bring together like-minded educators from AG schools so that they might build relationships and “talk shop.” “This seminar and the networking established has been an incredible experience,” commented one faculty attendee. During the two-day event, sessions were held dealing with various key topics in Christian higher education including Addressing the Challenges of Adult Learners, Integrated Media for the Classroom, Pentecostal Perspectives on Social Justice, Grant Writing, etc.
Seminarians’ Conference (July 2009)
Many AG students choose to attend seminary at non-AG institutions; however, it is important to the Fellowship to help them maintain their tie to the Assemblies of God. Therefore, the Alliance invited 26 seminarians to earn course credit at the AG Theological Seminary (Springfield, Missouri) through this two-week conference. Along with the two courses, History and Polity of the AG and Pentecostal Theological Perspectives, students had the opportunity to participate in a Branson retreat with three members of the Executive Leadership Team.
College personnel have requested other such opportunities for growth and development; therefore, additional conferences will be added in the near future. The Alliance team is continually looking toward the future for new and effective ways to draw AG colleges together for their like-minded mission of recruiting students and equipping them to fulfill their God-given call.