NAZARENE THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE
CONFIDENTIAL ASSESSMENT SURVEY
Executive Summary
In 2008, the Nazarene Theological College (NTC) conducted a confidential assessment survey amongst members of the Church of the Nazarene in Australia. 65 people completed the survey which set out propositions regarding which respondents could agree or disagree on a rating scale. Opportunity was also provided for general comments to be expressed by respondents. Whilst the survey is completely confidential, results for certain questions suggest that approximately 70% of respondents have been to the College and 60% of respondents are/were students of NTC.
The survey was divided into six thematic sections as follows:
1. NTC Vision and Direction;
2. Leadership;
3. Communication;
4. Promotion and Recruitment;
5. College Ethos, Campus and Facilities; and
6. Concluding Comments.
The results for each of the sections are summarized below. Where a statement is made that a majority agreed or disagreed with a proposition followed by a numerical percentage, this is a reference to the total percentage of respondents who completely agreed or partially agreed (agreed) with the proposition or strongly disagreed or disagreed (disagreed) with the proposition.
NTC Vision and Direction
The majority of respondents agreed that they both understood and felt happy about the vision and direction of NTC (73% for both).
A majority of respondents expressed disagreement with the proposition that living on campus was essential to pastoral ministry training (64%), but a majority did agree that a residential campus is an essential part of NTC’s future (59%).
Overall people were happy with the flexible learning options (64%) and relevance of course to community ministry (61%).
One area for the NTC Board and management to consider is that a majority of respondents believe that Nazarene pastors can receive training of an equal quality from other institutions (51%).
Leadership
The responses in this section were somewhat mixed. For instance, a majority of respondents stated that college leadership inspired confidence in the college experience (66%) and college faculty are available for personal interviews (54%, with 39% unsure). Most respondents, however, were of the view that NTC recruitment activities did not produce interest and excitement in their churches (63%) and that the NTC faculty did not enthuse their churches to support the NTC program (64%).
Encouragingly, though, nearly three-quarters of respondent felt a personal responsibility to support NTC in its educational mission (74%).
Communication
This was arguably the section in which respondents’ views of NTC were the least positive. Whilst an overwhelming majority of respondents looked forward to receiving information about current courses (76%), a significant number of respondents felt that NTC’s communication did not keep their churches well informed regarding student ministry activities (54%) nor were they able to participate in NTC’s strategic planning process (50%).
Promotion and Recruitment
On a positive note, a majority of respondents felt that NTC had a good reputation for academic achievement (63%). Also, a large number of respondents said they would be happy to encourage someone to enrol as an external student (75%), though 43% would have some hesitation in encouraging someone to enrol as a residential student.
Reminiscent of results in previous sections, only 35% of respondents were satisfied with the way that NTC is promoted in their churches and 54% of respondents believed prospective students could get equally good preparation for ministry at another institution.
An interesting statistic for the NTC Board and management to consider is that 66% of respondents feel that past graduates of NTC are its best form of publicity.
College Ethos, Campus and Facilities
This section is the most difficult from which to gain any clear information as approximately 30% of respondents have not been to the NTC campus and approximately 40% of respondents have not studied with NTC.
After disregarding the ‘unsure’ and ‘not applicable’ responses, the results were fairly evenly divided between agreement and disagreement for most propositions.
Areas of positive opinion were staff greeting visitors in a friendly manner (86% agreement), the library being well stocked and up-to-date (75%) and the college as a close-knit family (48% with 23% not sure; 26% disagreed).
There was a significant number of respondents, however, that felt unhappiness at the level of pastoral care received by students (23%) and that the dormitory units were not well-maintained (27%).
Concluding comments
It is not within the scope of this summary to attempt to summarise the comments section in detail. Many of the comments are in direct conflict with each other on various issues and some are quite obviously written regarding the state of NTC some years ago, which is often of limited assistance to addressing NTC’s current situation.
Overall the comments were quite positive and most criticism was constructive and supportive. In particular, many supportive comments were made about members of the current staff. Issues that concerned respondents were the same as those reflected in other sections of the survey: promotion, communication and pastoral care.
The Board and Faculty of the Nazarene Theological College gratefully thank everyone who took the time to complete the survey. The analysis of the results will be of invaluable assistance to the Church of the Nazarene and NTC as they move forward together to make Christlike disciples in the nations.
Prepared by Simon Matters
(Chairman, Board of Directors, NTC)