Indiana Wesleyan University Professional Programs Will Equip Pastors and School Superintendents

Indiana Wesleyan University has received accreditation approval for two new professional programs: one to prepare pastors and the other to prepare school superintendents.

The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools voted in December to extend IWU’s accreditation to include the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) and Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) degrees.

Master of Divinity Degree

The M.Div. Degree prepares people to be ministers and is the foundational degree for a seminary. A task force, consisting of officials from IWU and The Wesleyan Church, has been meeting for two years to consider creating a seminary on the Marion campus.

The Wesleyan Church, which owns Indiana Wesleyan University, does not have a seminary. The IWU administration has not yet made a formal proposal to IWU trustees to establish a seminary.

The M.Div. degree, which is a 75 credit-hour program, will begin accepting students for the fall 2009 semester. About 30 students are expected to enroll for the first classes, but the five-year goal for the program is 250 students.

Students pursuing a M.Div. degree will be able to take all of their classes on the Marion campus. There also will be a hybrid program, in which students would take some classes in Marion and others online.

Current religion professors would teach some of the M.Div. classes, but IWU also has begun a search for two additional faculty members for the program.

Educational Specialist Degree

The Ed.S. Degree is required for principals who want to be licensed as school superintendents. The one-year program, which will begin enrolling students in March or April, was a logical next step for IWU’s graduate education programs.

IWU currently offers a Master of Education program for teachers as well as a Principal Licensure Program for teachers who want to become principals. The Ed.S. will prepare building-level school administrators, primarily principals, to take an additional step to become superintendents of school corporations and districts.

Ed.S. courses will be offered primarily at various sites, although some classes will be offered online. This program is only offered in Indiana.

An institutional accrediting agency, such as the North Central Association, evaluates an entire university in terms of its mission and the agency’s standards or criteria. The Association accredits the university as a whole.

The North Central Association is the largest of six regional accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. The Higher Learning Commission is the post-secondary division of the Association.

Evaluators from the Commission visited the IWU campus in September to review the two new programs.