Description

In a time of rapid cultural, technological, and societal change, theological schools are being called to reimagine faculty formation for present challenges and emerging futures. This convening is designed to support executive officers in thinking collaboratively and strategically about the shape and character of their faculties—especially around teaching, pedagogical innovation, and adaptation to societal shifts.

This discovery meeting invites Chief Executive Officers in seminaries and theology schools to join a leadership conversation among peers who value being imaginatively and critically reflective about faculty formation and leadership among change. The workshop will gather participants who demonstrate a commitment to convening a conversation within their own context and subsequently joining a virtual conversation with Wabash Center staff. We hope our conversations surface institutional wisdom, foster strategic reflection, encourage informed leadership, explore emerging trends, strengthen cross-institutional learning and inspire future initiative.

Goals

• Gather insights from across institutions about how faculty are being formed, supported, and challenged in their teaching roles, especially amid cultural, societal, and technological change.
• Provide space for Chief Executive Officers to reflect on their institutions’ current faculty development practices and pedagogical values, especially in light of mission alignment and changing landscape of theological education.
• Equip institutional leaders with a better understanding of their own faculties’ experiences, perspectives, and needs—based on structured internal conversations—so that leadership decisions can be more responsive and generative.
• Identify promising, troubling, or provocative trends related to pedagogy, technology (including AI), inclusive teaching, adjunct/contingent labor, and classroom dynamics.
• Create a collegial environment for Chief Executive Officers to learn from one another’s experiments, challenges, and commitments around faculty formation and teaching excellence.
• Use the conversation to help shape future Wabash Center programming, grants, or educational resources that respond to real institutional concerns and faculty development needs.