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A COMPARISON OF THE REGIONAL TUTORIAL SERVICES
OF THE BRITISH OPEN UNIVERSITY
AND THE SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM
OF THE GRAND RAPIDS BAPTIST SEMINARY

IN REGARDS TO REDUCING DROPOUT IN DISTANCE EDUCATION

BY

Norman J. Barnard

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Educational Administration

1992

ABSTRACT
A COMPARISON OF THE REGIONAL TUTORIAL SERVICES
OF THE BRITISH OPEN UNIVERSITY
AND THE SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM

OF THE GRAND RAPIDS BAPTIST SEMINARY
IN REGARDS TO REDUCING DROPOUT IN DISTANCE EDUCATION

BY

Norman J. Barnard

In distance education, students’ learn at a location
removed from the teacher. The rise of distance education
calls for research into how this separation affects
dropout. Questions about quality in distance education
programs, weaknesses in the bond between school and student
due to limited social interaction, and control of subject
matter and pacing of course materials by older students
approaching their study from a problem solving mode--these
characteristics unique to distance education may be
barriers to persistence. Strategies must be found that
will reduce these barriers and help students to persist in
their program.

A literature search aids in describing the distance
education student and institution and in evaluating
possible retention strategies. The British Open
University's Regional Tutorial Services are examined to
discover how the OU coped with the problem of dropout and
why its centers have been credited with this success. The

Southeast Asia Extension Program, a small, international,

theological program limited in focus and resources, is
analyzed and compared to the OU to find areas where
potential barriers to persistence can be removed and
strategies implemented to promote persistence.

Major findings of the study include: First, in
contrast to the OU's open admissions policy, most private
schools limit their offerings and students. Clearly
defining the program and target student, honestly
communicating this information, and instituting an
orientation program to assist students returning to study
or adjusting to distance education can increase student-
program fit.

Second, administrators, staff and faculty must
recognize the need to communicate clearly and carefully in
cross-cultural and second language situations. Prompt,
caring responses aid in social integration.

Third, teaching sites and/or student centers must be
readily available. Qualified country co-ordinators are
important to prompt resolution of student problems.

Finally, bridging materials dealing with language or
study difficulties and good quality course materials are
essential. Audio tapes must use appropriate teaching
styles and be of sufficient quality to be easily

understood. Printed material must be clear and complete.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CHAPTER TWO
DROPOUT IN DISTANCE EDUCATION . . . . . .

1.

III.

1‘7.

The Rise of Distance Education . . .
A. Definition . . . . . . . . . . .
B. Characteristics . . . . . . . .

Factors in Distance Education
That Can Lead to Drop Out . . . . .

A. Traditional vs. New . . . . . .
1 O credibility O O O 0 O O O O
2. Learner needs . . . . . . .

B. Academic vs. Social . . . . . .

1. Interaction in Distance Education

2. Turn Around Time . . . . . .
3. Student Counseling Services
C. Autonomy vs. Dependence . . . .
1. Control . . . . . . . . . .
2. Pacing . . . . . . . . . . .

3. Telephone Tutors . . . . . .

summary..............

iv

11

11

13

16

23

26

31

34

41

41

44

46

47

CHAPTER THREE
A LOOK AT THE OPEN UNIVERSITY . . . . . . .

I.

II.

III.

1".

History of the Open University . . . .
A. Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . .
B. Success . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Regional Tutorial Services . . . . . .
A. Evolution of the Regional Tutorial
1. Phase 1 . . . . . . . . . . .
2. Phase 2 . . . . . . . . . . .
3. Phase 3 - 1976 to today . . .
B. Present Structure . . . . . . . .
1. The Regions . . . . . . . . .
2. The Regional Centers . . . . .
3. Study Centers . . . . . . . .
4. Staff Tutors . . . . . . . .
5. Senior Counselors . . . . . .
6. Tutor-Counselors . . . . . . .
7. Course Tutors . . . . . . . .
Problems Yet To Be Solved . . . . . .
A. Terms and Roles . . . . . . . . .
B. Part-Time Staff . . . . . . . . .
C. Conflicting Interests . . . . . .
D. Inadequate Resources . . . . . . .
Unique Features of the Open University
A. Open Learning . . . . . . . . . .
B. Technology . . . . . . . . . . . .
C. Economics of Distance Education .

summary 0 O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O 0

Services

49

49

51

52

54

54

55

56

57

58

59

6O

6O

6O

61

62

64

65

66

66

67

68

69

69

72

74

75

CHAPTER FOUR
THE SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . 77

I. Program Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
A. History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
B. In-Service M. R. E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

II. Characteristics of the Teaching Sites:
Brief History of Three Sites . . . . . . . . . . . 84

A. Thailand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
B. Philippines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
C. Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
III. Factors Affecting Drop Out in the SAEP . . . . . . 94
A. Credibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
B. Convenience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
1. Time Schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

2. Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

3. Access to Library Facilities . . . . . . 102

4. Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

C. Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

1. Use of English as a Medium
of Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

2. Directed Study Courses . . . . . . . . . 111
D. Human Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

l. Difficulties in the Maintenance of
Country Coordinators . . . . . . . . . . 116

2. Human Contact Through Resident
seminars C O O O O O O I O O O O O O O O 119

IV 0 Summary 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 12 1

vi

CHAPTER FIVE
STRATEGIES TO PREVENT DROPOUT IN DISTANCE EDUCATION . 124

I. Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
A. Admissions Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

B. Publicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

C. Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

II. People. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
A. Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

B. Faculty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

C. Advising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

III. Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
A. Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

B. Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

C. Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

IV. Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
A. Bridging Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

B. Course Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

v. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
A. List of Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . 154

B. Implications for Further Study . . . . . . . 157

APPENDIX ONE
SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM DROPOUT STATISTICS . 159

APPENDIX TWO
SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM HANDBOOK . . . . . . 164

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

In recent years the field of education has expanded to
include new opportunities in the area of adult and
continuing education. This area contains some unique
challenges, since traditional methods of residence study
are not appropriate for a majority of this new student
pool. The efforts of educators to meet this challenge by
providing more extension education have grown into a new
movement known as distance education. Distance education
most often involves non-contiguous communication between
the teacher and the student. Because of this unique
characteristic, the dropout rate in distance education is
higher than institutions are willing to accept. Resulting
studies dealing with the factors that cause dropout have
searched for strategies to make the institution more user-
friendly and to aid the student to persist.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the
literature as it applies specifically to dropout in
distance education. The first area to be explored is the
definition of distance education. Since this is a

relatively new area in education it has some unique parts

to it that need to be identified. Once the definition of
distance education is understood, the focus of the paper is
sharpened to deal with the specific causes of dropout.

There are three main areas that can cause students to
lack confidence in choosing to study in a distance
education program. First there is the problem of
credibility. Students and educators alike have expressed
doubts that distance education can equal the quality of a
residence program where students and teachers are
encouraged to be interactive by being in the same location
for an extended period of time.

Secondly, the social interaction which is a vital part
of the traditional educational experience is lacking in
distance education. This weakens the bond between the
school and the student and means that the student feels
less committed to persisting in the program when any
problem arises.

Third, the traditional students expect the teacher to
direct their study since the students have no experience
and less knowledge than the teacher. The distance
education student is often older and more experienced and
is likely using the educational experience as a problem
solving exercise. This means that the student is seeking a
greater role in determining what areas will be studied.
The student also has outside influences such as family,

work, and community that may have a great impact on the

time and energy available for study. More freedom may be
necessary in the schedule for the distance education
student.

The second step in this study is to investigate
dropout in distance education by reviewing the British Open
University (0U) and the Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary's
Southeast Asia Extension Program (SAEP) against the
backdrop of research into the literature of distance
education.

The British Open University began as a government
sponsored university seeking to emphasize the egalitarian
ideal in education. It was committed to the principal of
open admissions from its inception. This meant that anyone
in Britain had the opportunity to improve themselves
through study in the OU without the credentials normally
required to gain entrance to a university. Foundation
courses were developed to prepare these students for study
on higher levels. The Open University had a large offering
in terms of faculties and was able to provide the resources
necessary to handle this ambitious project.

In spite of the criticism that came because of the
political connections and non-traditional format of the
school, the OU was a success from the beginning. Because
of it’s great success, many have used the OU as a model by
which to build other educational institutions. One of the

main reasons for the success of the OU was the school's

commitment to maintaining contact between the school and
the student by the establishment of the Regional Tutorial
Centers. These centers enable students to have personal
contact with the school even though their learning is
mostly from the printed page or multi-media sources.
However, the OU has not been without problems in the use of
the centers. Schools seeking to duplicate the success of
the Open University will need to study the changes adopted
to make these centers more responsive to the needs of the
students in order to avoid some of the problems the OU
faced. While the present structure is not perfect, it has
functioned quite well in its present form since 1976. The
student services coming out of the Regional Tutorial
Centers helped to maintain the persistence rate at about
60%.

The Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary is a small
theological school focused on the training of church
workers and is seeking to expand its efforts in an
international setting with a very limited budget. Their
Southeast Asia Extension Program was started in 1983 in
Thailand. While offering taped extension courses, the SAEP
also made available residence courses where teachers and
students could have a concentrated period of study together
for two weeks within the student's own country. At the end
of the two weeks each student would then be responsible for

additional study without the aid of the teacher. While the

expectation was that the students would prefer the
extension courses, which provided more flexibility in terms
of study schedule, in actual fact the students preferred
the residence courses. These residence courses provide one
of the main differences in the approach to distance
education between the 00 and the SAEP.

Three Asian teaching sites are analyzed in terms of
credibility for the program, convenience to the students,
communication between the school and the student, and human
contact for students spread through several countries. The
first of these teaching sites is in Thailand, where the
program began, thus providing the longest history from
which to draw statistical analysis. The Philippines, where
the program was introduced a few years later, contains the
largest pool of students and is the only country with more
than one teaching site. One of the newest teaching sites,
Hong Kong is included because of the rapid growth of the
program there and because of the author’s familiarity with
that location. Each of these sites has some unique
characteristics, but taken as a whole are representative of
the work of the SAEP.

The SAEP is different from the OU in size, in its
mixture of cultural and language groups, in the scope of
areas available for study, and in the resources it can draw
upon. It is similar in its need to improve communication

and increase human contact between the student and the

school. The SAEP can learn from the experiences of the OU
without wasting time and resources in going through those
experiences themselves. An investigation into dropout in
distance: education, *with. special emphasis on these two
organizations, might also provide clues to other
institutions seeking to diminish dropout.

The final phase of the study identifies factors drawn
from the research that have seemed to be effective in
reducing dropout and strengthenimg persistence. The
experiences of the Open University and the Southeast Asia
Extension Program are compared and contrasted in an effort
to determine whether the wider experiences of the OU could
be influential in the SAEP milieu. Strategies to increase
the persistence of students will likely be valuable to any
school, regardless of its size and resources. The chapter
concludes with a summary listing those recommendations that
seem to be the most crucial in removing barriers to
students in the distance education mode of study. These
recommendations might be considered as part of the agenda
in starting or improving small, limited resource distance

education institutions like the SAEP.

CHAPTER TWO

DROPOUT IN DISTANCE EDUCATION

The Rise of Distance Education

The first distance education appeared in the late 19th
century in the form of correspondence courses for shorthand
and language learning. Other courses were developed for
learners who were not able to attend formal classes or did
not have access to teachers of the particular subjects they
wanted to study (Holmberg, 1981). Many courses were set
up to prepare students for university entrance and had no
examination as part of the program. Today the field is
expanding beyond the printed page into broadcasting, both
audio and video, teleconferencing, and microcomputers
(Garrison, 1987). Other institutions are expanding in the
direction of fully accredited, degree granting programs

offered in the extension mode.

De 'n' ' n

The struggle for workable definitions continues in the
literature of distance education. One of the leading
writers in this field has stated that "the main

characteristic [of distance education] is non-contiguous

communication" (Holmberg, 1986). Holmberg finds that there
are many forms of study possible within distance education
but all are marked by a separation of the tutor and the
student while the learning is taking place. The student is
still under the planning, guidance, and instruction of a
tutorial organization. Keegan (1986) carries the "non-
contiguous communication" aspect to such an extent that he
leaves no place for any "face-to-face" teaching. "It is
the distance between the teaching acts and the learning
acts that is crucial, not the magnitude of the geographical
separation of teacher and learner" (Keegan, 1986).

Many authors find Keegan's definition too confining.
In reacting against the narrowness of Keegan's definition,
Garrison (1987) calls for a definition that will give
minimum criteria instead of attempting a definitive
description of the field. Even Holmberg (1986) allows for
some personal interaction when he suggests that two-way
communication is possible through writing, telephone, or
"face to face" supplement. While some would come to the
conclusion that there is at present no adequate definition
of distance education (Garrison, 1987; Shale, 1987), most
would accept Keegan and Holmberg's "non-contiguous
communication" as being it's main characteristic. Most also
would agree with Shale (1987) that the "emphasis in

distance education should not be put on distance but on

education. How is it similar or how can we create the same

process to satisfy ourselves it is sufficient?"

Characteristics

Distance education does have characteristics unique to
both the institution and the student. Keegan ( 1986) has
assembled a list of seven characteristics he feels are
distinct to the distance education institution: ( 1) The
absence of classrooms, lecture rooms, seminar rooms, and
tutorial rooms; (2) the presence of, or access to,
comprehensive printing and materials production facilities;
(3) the absence of a library, or of places for student
study, if there is a library; (4) a central location of
the warehouse; (5) the absence of cafeterias, playgrounds,
recreational facilities, drama and music amenities; (6) the
use of buildings which often resemble industrial offices,
warehouses, or factories; and (7) the tendency for

distance education institutions to act as post offices.

ELEQQBL QDQIQQE§I1§E12§

The individual students in distance education also
have ‘very' different ‘traits from "traditional students."
Kaye and Rumble (1981) suggest the following:

1. Age range. Most are already beyond the age of the
traditional student; there are students who are past

retirement age studying for personal fulfillment.

2. Part-time. Most distance education students are
not able to study full-time due to family, financial, or
work related stresses.

3. Male. While the figures may be changing at
present, the majority of the students are men.

4. Study at home. Since distance education is not a
residential program, the students must provide their own
place of study. Even the use of a library is at the
student's discretion and is not provided for by the
institution.

5. High motivation. With the pressure of family,
finances, and work responsibilities, it is necessary for
the student to feel that the expenditure of his resources
are worth it. He is not being driven by parents or peers
but by his own desire. Since it costs much in resources,
the student will normally take full advantage of what is
offered.

6. Poorer. With only tuition costs to pay, this form
of education becomes available to a group of people who
don’t have the resources to attend a residential
institution. Many distance education institutions also
have a policy of open learning: there are no qualification
standards that must be met before studying. This in turn
attracts students who bring with them poor study skills and

habits which will necessitate more tutorial help.

10

7. Geographical distribution. While the traditional
college may have students from a wide geographical area,
they do gather in one place for the duration of their
educational experience. In distance education, the
students remain within their own communities and may be
either helped or hindered by this.

8. Heterogeneous group. Distance education students
tend to have a wider age span, range of purposes for

studying, and levels of ability than those in a residence

institution.

Factors in Distance Education that can Lead to Drop Out

Traditional vs. flew

The growth of higher education in the United States
continued for the most part on an upward swing until the
1960's. During this time schools could expect increased
enrollment every year and set their budgets accordingly.
About this time there was a leveling off of new students,
which introduced a period of retrenchment. The first
course of action was to tighten up their budgets. The
second strategy was to bolster their student population in
order to retain the funds necessary to meet the budget
demands. Research was started to discover which students
were dropping out, why they chose to drop out, and what

would influence them to stay (Ramist, 1981) .

11

Another course of action was to add new kinds of
programs to the institution's offerings which would attract
students partially because of their "newness." The rapid
growth of distance education can be traced, at least
partly, to the need of schools to increase their student
body. While the newness did motivate some to try distance
education, it was soon discovered that special programs
were necessary to help the students cope with the new form
of study. Attention to the quality of the program was
essential to preventing the dropout that so often occurred
when the student came face to face with the realities of
the situation. Although the programs began for reasons
other than their proven abilities as good teaching
processes, their continued growth remains dependent on
quality education.

The champions of distance education are agreed that it
will improve and expand educational opportunities.
However, they are not blind to the possibilities of misuse.
Garrison ( 1987) warns distance educators, "Beware that it
doesn't copy the problems of conventional education and
spread them." Traditional education has its place and
distance education has its place. Dewey (1938) wrote many
years ago that in thinking about educational progress the
"either/or" way of thinking must be avoided. In the case
of traditional vs. new forms of education, each must be

allowed to reach the target for which it is best suited.

12

Credibility
Education critics are quick to identify distance
education as a non-traditional form of education with a
lack of credibility (Keegan, 1986). Part of this criticism
comes from skepticism regarding the motives of many
traditional institutions which added distance programs
primarily for financial reasons. A second major problem
arises from what is perceived as a lack of teacher-student
interaction. Within the traditional school structure,
emphasis is placed on face-to-face instruction. Any
deviation from this norm is bound to meet with resistance.
Distance education, with its separation of student and
teacher, student and campus, and a unique way of learning,
has been viewed by some as being inadequate educationally.
Because the form of education is relatively new,
distance education often employs a variety of untested
techniques.
Typically, depending on what is available to an
institution and on what it can afford, institutions
will use a bit of this and a bit of that (including
seminars, meetings, and perhaps even tele-
conferencing), presumably in the spirit of doing
everything possible to close the communication loop
between teacher and student in an acceptable fashion
(Shale, 1987).
While Shale is very much at the forefront of the distance
education movement, he is recognizing that within the
distance education institutions there is a tendency for

expediency on occasion rather than good, sound planning.

Research in distance education is gradually producing

13

evaluations of the various techniques, but the new and
experimental nature of the program gives critics of
distance education opportunity to point out the
inadequacies that may be found in the new system and call
for a return to the traditional method.

One of the additional problems faced by the distance
educational institutions is that many of them have an open
learning policy. The institution is willing to accept
people as students no matter what educational background
they have. They are not screened before admission (Taylor,
1986), but are allowed to take part in the distance
education institution’ 8 program until such time as it is
determined they are not able to reach the academic standard
of that institution. This puts an onus on the institution
to change its way of doing things or its standards to help
these students along rather than finding proper students
(Taylor, 1986).

The question of credibility is not limited to the
critics of distance education who favor a traditional
approach. Even those people actively involved in the
programs are sometimes not convinced that distance
education is equal in quality to traditional programs. In
cases where open learning institutions have been set up for
only off-campus students, there seems to be a self-
consciousness about operating on the periphery of the

educational mainstream (Keegan, 1986) . This is compounded

14

by the fact that the ones promoting the non-traditional
programs were in all likelihood educated within the
traditional model and have a certain uneasiness when
changing the system under which they were raised.

The problem of credibility is especially crucial to
accredited, degree granting programs. It is important to
most students in these programs that their degree be
accepted by employers and graduate schools as being on a
par with a traditional degree. It seems to this writer
that time will be a big factor in overcoming some of the
suspicion toward the distance education institutions. If
graduates of distance education programs enter and move up
in the work force and demonstrate the value of their
training, the critics will be forced to acknowledge that
distance education can be a good training approach.

Keegan (1986) suggests that using the same staff to
teach and assess both categories of students, i.e.
conventional and distance, can aid in the process of
achieving parity of degrees. While this is a common
practice, it can sometimes lead to difficulties, since
traditional forms of education are usually largely
hypothetical while distance education usually emphasizes
problem solving and caters to more experienced students.
Many distance education programs were especially created to

appeal to these more experienced students. They will not

15

be successful unless faculty members learn to adapt their

courses to meet the needs of these students.

Learner Leda

While traditional educational institutions and
distance education institutions share many of the same
problems in retention of students, they are often in
different forms. The traditional school is somewhat of a
closed community in which the relatively young students are
in close proximity to the teachers and administrators.
Distance education is characterized by a much less
traditional situation.

The adult students normally attracted by distance
education programs fall into categories which may be
different from the traditional student. First there are
the degree seekers. These are people who may be looking
for career advancement or are unhappy with their present
occupation and are looking for a career change. Second are
the problem solvers who are looking for a program which
will help them resolve a difficult situation in either
their work or their personal lives. These adults are not
primarily interested in degree completion. Third, there is
a group who seek cultural enrichment. Some enjoy the
interaction with other students, some may have been
deprived of the opportunities in earlier life by work

responsibilities, or finances. Others are retired and

16

seeking personal satisfaction in this new phase of their
life (Pappas, 1985).

These students bring with them some life experience
other than educational experience. Normally they have
already established priorities and aspirations. Their
study milieu is limited by their living conditions or the
size of the town library. The cost of their involvement is
not only financial, which will be paid out of their own
pockets, but also time and energy that will be sacrificed
from their family or work situation (Keegan, 1986). There
are also dispositional barriers that arise from the prior
experiences and self-perceptions of the learner. Past
learning difficulties, poor teacher-student relationships,
and poor study skills and habits make this barrier a strong
one. Both the student and the institution need to be
involved in any attempt to overcome these barriers.
"Rather than thinking of factors for retention with adults
we must consider how to reduce barriers that facilitate
attrition" (Pappas, 1985).

The distance education institution must carefully
consider the following factors when designing programs that
fit the students' needs.

mg 9_f_ ting (Miller, 1978; Robinson, 1981). Part-
time study is the norm for distance education students.
They are engaged in a huge juggling act to balance the

demands of their work, their families and their study

17

program. They are inevitably plagued by insufficient time
to complete course work. For this reason, flexibility in
scheduling is important to distance education.

Difficulties in concentration (Robinson, 1981). This
flows out of the real life conditions in which the student
lives. The student is not removed from his environment to
a cloistered setting that encourages study. He remains in
the middle of his family, work, social obligations, and
religious affiliations. The creation of a good study
milieu is difficult.

Lamiiy gomitmentg (Robinson, 1981). This commitment
involves not only the nuclear family but the extended
family as well, since the normal distance student is at a
point in his life when parents are older and are beginning
to experience health difficulties. Emergency situations
within the family--new births, sick children, hospitalized
parents--cannot be ignored and may divert time, energy or
finances from the study program.

Life Phase (Miller, 1978). While the kind of family
situation and home environment discussed above is typical
of the distance education student, it should also be
remembered that distance education students generally cover
a wide span of ages. Unlike the traditional students in a
residence institution, who are generally passing through
the same life phase together, the students in any given

course in distance education at any given time can be quite

18

diverse and the tutor must make allowances for this
diversity.

Learning m (Miller, 1978). At the same time,
differences in learning styles do not end at high school or
college graduation. They continue throughout the life of
the students. Students with different learning styles will
react differently to a course module consisting of printed
materials. It would be helpful to have as wide a range of
media materials as possible.

Organization 9; tine and planning (Robinson, 1981).
Underestimating the demands of a study program in the
middle of the many demands on the student's time is not
uncommon. Dealing with a new way of learning and perhaps
with the wide range of media being used can bring about
unexpected problems.

Motivatign (Robinson, 1981). As a general rule, the
distance student is highly motivated in regards to
completing the study program. Some studies show that older
students do have better completion rates (Kaye and Rumble,
1981) . However, the reality of coming home from work and
facing assignments that compete with the family for the
student's time makes individual assignments less attractive
than thinking about the completion of the overall program.
With personal factors mitigating against completion, it is

important that institutional factors that might lead to

19

frustration and lowered motivation be diminished as much as
possible.

My m (Robinson, 1981) . Some students may have
failed to develop good study skills, especially if their
past educational experience has not been positive. Others
may have been out of school for a long period of time and
have not been using these skills. Some of these students
approach the program on a trial basis; they are checking
to see if the program is appropriate for them and will be
quick to withdraw if they feel inadequate. This area may
call for initial courses dealing with study skills or
increased counseling efforts to help these students
overcome their difficulties.

git M (Miller, 1978). Bad experiences in
previous learning situations can also leave adults with
profound doubts as to their ability to be involved in a
study program. A policy of open admissions may encourage
students with a faulty self perception to enroll in the
program, but will not automatically provide them with the
self confidence they need to complete the program. If a
support system is possible, learning the strengths and
weaknesses of the student can be helpful to both the
student and the tutor. The tutor may be called on to spend
more time on students with lower self confidence. However,

the tutor faces the complex task of determining whether

20

difficulties within the student’s study program arise from
the material or from the student's ego development.

minty (Robinson, 1981). The sort of educational
background discussed above can cause a certain amount of
apprehension for students entering a new study program.
However, anxiety can also arise from a number of other
factors. Pressure from family, friends, or bosses can also
lead to a rethinking of the priorities in the student's
life. Anxiety increases as more time and effort is
invested in the program, since dropping out would tend to
make students feel they have "wasted" all their effort, at
the same time that the emotional grind of studying becomes
increasingly difficult. Students who lack support from
their family or work place will need extra support from
their tutors. At the very least, factors within the
program should be designed to produce as little additional
frustration and anxiety as possible.

Resoutcgs (Miller, 1978; Robinson, 1981). The
distance education student is usually characterized as
lacking in financial resources; he may also be lacking in
access to study materials outside those materials included
in a course packet. Town libraries, school libraries, and
professionals' libraries can be helpful if they are
available. However, it is conceivable that none of these

resources will be available to the student. This is

21

particularly true when the student is iJian1 outlying
geographical area.

Isgiatign (Miller, 1978; Robinson, 1981). .A student
who studies alone, without any opportunity to interact with
other students, can sometimes feel quite isolated. This
feeling is accentuated if the student perceives the distant
institution as being impersonal or unreachable. Some
programs do provide occasional opportunities for students
who need interaction to get together in discussion or study
groups. Readily available counselors are also helpful.

Etggtnn_.igngtn_ (Miller, 1978; Robinson, 1981).
Studying part-time may be the only way many students can be
involved in education. It also can be discouraging due to
the length of time it takes to complete a program. Family
and work competition can increase in intensity at the same
time the course material is becoming more complex.

Beigvance (Miller, 1978). For the older student,
learning must be part of the problem solving process or
geared to personal development. While younger students may
be willing to learn whatever the teacher feels is
important, since they do not have the background to know
for themselves what is relevant to their future and what is
not, practitioners returning for further training will want
programs flexible and practical enough to meet their needs.

Ctediting ntior iearning (Miller, 1978; Robinson,

1981). This can take two forms. The first involves giving

22

credit for any study taken at another institution.
Transferring credits from another institution is often
viewed with suspicion as though the student is trying to
get away with something. Secondly, giving credit for life
experiences other than educational experiences can help the
student to see that the program is possible and break down
the number of courses or hours to a more manageable number.
This practice is especially helpful to students who
struggle with self-confidence, since they can see that
their work experiences are a valued part of the program. A
few programs which are strongly practical in their
orientation require a certain amount of work experience for

graduation.

Acadenic vs, Sgciai

Models of factors influencing dropout from traditional
institutions have shown the value of social as well as
academic interaction in retaining students (Tinto, 1975;
Spady, 1971; Bean, 1980). However, the matter of social
interaction is a much more difficult problem in distance
education. By definition, distance education has a very
different social structure than the residence institution.
Because of this difference in setting and also because of
the unique character of the distance education student,
social integration does not play the same role in distance

that it does in residence education. Within a residence

23

institution offering a special program open only to
commuting students (Pascarella, Duby & Miller, 1981), it
was found that the commuting students were quite distinct
from the resident students in at least three areas: ( 1)
They were less disposed to engage in educationally or
developmentally influential activities and experiences, (2)
less likely to be involved in non-required social,
cultural, or intellectual offerings, and (3) less likely to
be influenced developmentally by their college experience.
"...for the urban non-residential institution, academic
performance is a particularly salient dimension of
institutional integration" (Pascarella et al., 1981). The
commuter, and by extension, typical distance student tends
to limit his/her involvement with the institution to
required degree-oriented activities.

On the other hand, some have suggested that effective
interaction on both social and academic levels is
especially important in distance education in creating an
institutional integration (Sweet, 1986).

There's that old Oxbridge theory that education is

something that you get off the walls along with the

ivy that grows on them, and that story about the talks
into the small hours over cups of coffee as the
central part of the university experience. There is
an appalling amount of inherent snobbery in the idea,
but there is also a germ of truth in it. The germ of
truth is that we look for some kind of supporting
network within which we learn things (Perraton, 1974).
The separation of the teaching acts and the learning

acts that is characteristic of distance education
brings about a weak integration of the student into

24

the life of the institution and this has been linked
to dropout (Keegan, 1986).

The distance education students who fail to achieve
integration with the institution exhibit characteristics
that are not conducive to study. Brady (1976) lists the
negative ones:

1. Negative attitudes. They doubt the integrity of
the university or the institution's interest in them as
individuals.

2. Dropping out of present courses. Perhaps they are
unable to find the solution to a problem blocking their
completion of the present stage of the study.

3. Failure to achieve the goals and objectives. This
failure holds true for both the student and the
institution. For the student it is a significant loss in
terms of finances, time, energy, and perhaps self-
confidence.

4. Experiencing learning trauma. Any bad experience
in education becomes a barrier to further learning. If
this is a second experience, it may cause the student to
"give up" on himself/herself or education in general.

On the positive side, integration results in a feeling
of satisfaction. When a meaningful dialogue is taking
place the student is achieving a good learning experience.
Brady (1976) lists the following positive results:

1. Development of favorable attitudes to independent

study. Many learners prefer independent study because it

25

occurs within the framework of everyday real life. This
encourages the integration of the new learning experience
with previous knowledge.

2. Completion of the course. To the institution this
is important because it shows the student has clear
direction in how to accomplish the study. in: the student
it is important to maintain confidence in his/her ability
to comprehend more difficult material.

3. Achievement of goals and objectives. This is good
for both the institution and the individual. For the
school it is important to know that the process is
resulting in products. For the individual, growth of
knowledge and skills adds to increased self-confidence.

4. Intention to enroll in other independent courses.
This is equal to the well known phrase "success breeds
success". The satisfaction of completing a useful course
will increase the desire to undertake the next course of

study.

Interaction in aim Education

In the past there have been a number of proponents of
the "teapot to teacup" method of teaching. In recent years
there has been a move toward more give and take in the
educational experience. In every kind of educational
environment, however, the teacher/tutor/counselor has a

profound effect. "The behavior of the teacher probably

26

influences the character of the learning climate more than
any other single factor" (Knowles, 1970).

Of all the factors that stand out in the study of
dropout literature both in traditional and distance
education, the teacher-student interaction is often viewed
as the most critical one (Spady, 1971; Pascarella &
Terenzini, 1977; Ramist, 1981; Astin, 1977). In 1980,
Lenning, Beal and Sauer reported that two thirds of the
dropouts in their study were dissatisfied with their
contact with faculty members. In a study of traditional
institutions, Terenzini and Pascarella (1978) concluded
that "the frequency of students' interaction with faculty
outside the classroom made the largest unique contribution
to the prediction of attrition status."

Within distance education this interaction has some
unique characteristics. Keegan (1986) and Holmberg (1986)
have suggested that while traditional institutions have
automatically viewed interaction as teacher-student
contact, within distance education interaction can be
viewed as the students interacting with their own
knowledge, the material they are studying, other students
gathered in tutorial centers or involved in some type of
electronic group hookup, and also with teachers or tutors
in various structures. The most normal scenario in
distance education today is that the students spend most of

their time interacting with the printed study materials and

27

then have some interaction with the tutor who goes over the
assignments and class projects. Although some schools have
regional centers where students can also form study groups
to interact. among 'themselves, distance study is mostly
self-study. However, the student is not alone; he/ she
receives benefit from the course he/she is studying, from
the support of the institution, and from the interaction
with a tutor.

W with tn; goutse. Holmberg (1986) is
especially emphatic on the point that conversation is
necessary to education even if it is defined as
conversation with yourself or thinking. In the case of
distance education, it becomes especially important to
design materials that will engage the student in real
educational interaction. Since the bulk of the student’s
time 'will be spent. in interacting’ with the course
materials, they must be largely self-contained, extremely
clear, and mostly self-explanatory. However, regular
contact with the institution should also be built into the
course design.

Lntegatztign 11th tne Institntion. Finding as many
means of communication as possible for the student with the
institution should aid in strengthening the integration of
the student. Brady (1976) suggests that any communication
from the institution, such as publicity mailings, be

considered interaction. A variety of regular mailings is

28

possible, in addition to answers to student queries or
reminders of approaching deadlines. Once students feel
that intercommunication is lacking, they are no longer
assured that their educational needs and interests will be
served (Brady, 1976). This could develop into an
impersonal or hostile situation which would reduce the
benefit of study and likely lead to dropout.

The quality of the communication is also a critical
factor. Materials should be attractive and clear.
Questions regarding institutional policies, course

offerings, or student records should be answered promptly

and clearly. Course materials should be corrected
carefully and kindly. "Impersonal correction and comment
is not a facilitator and misses opportunities" (Holmberg,
1986).

Intetnctign 11th t_h_e_ Tut . While it seems likely
that the mainstay of distance education will continue to be
printed media because of its economy and convenience
(Pittman, 1987), it is also recognized that there is a need
for tutors to make distance education work. Conversation
with a tutor can be through letters, telephone, face-to-
face meetings, or computer teleconferencing.

The live tutor can enter into a dialogue which is
something that can never be mechanized. Tutors are not
only helpful to students, but the reverse is true as well.

Dialogue is a two-way process; the tutor is learning from

29

the students as well as teaching them. This helps to avoid
the problem of "ivory tower" people even in distance
education. If the teachers can be learning as well as
teaching, they can adapt their teaching material to real
life situations (Perraton, 1974).

There is some feeling that the tutor-student
relationship in distance education can achieve a high level
of satisfaction in spite of the unique problems it faces.
Keegan (1986) writes that the dedicated tutor-counselor can
forge such a creative link with the distance student that
it can become a form of "privileged one-on-one" study.
This kind of one-on-one bonding can be very difficult to
achieve in the lecture or the traditional classroom.

If we accept the findings of the many studies which
list teacher-student interaction as a significant influence
on distance learner behaviors, the reaction in terms of
institutional policy becomes apparent. Brady (1976)
suggests at least three areas that deserve attention.
First, the adoption of better methods to facilitate teacher
(tutor)-student interaction. This may mean quicker
response to correspondence assignments, telephone
availability, or computer linkages. Second, teacher
training must be improved to fit the distance education
situation. Third, learning trauma needs to be reduced
through better orientation procedures and increased

counseling facilities.

30

According to many researchers (Petrie, 1981; Keegan,
1986; Sewart, Keegan, & Holmberg, 1983), learners need
mediation in at least two areas. First, they need to be
assured by someone who knows the system that they have the
prerequisite learning to succeed in the course they are
undertaking. Secondly, they also need to have input from
an external source to point out what misconceptions they
may have about the material under study. For entering
students to undertake either one of these on their own

would certainly be a barrier to remaining in the program.

Turn 2:911:19. t'

In 1972, Rekkedal (1983) conducted an experiment in
correspondence education. The premise was that long turn-
around time would slow the pace of study and would decrease
the motivation of the student. This would then lead to a
higher dropout rate. When assignments were received by the
tutors, they were corrected immediately. The assignments
were then given to the one running the experiment who had
divided the students into two groups, one having their
assignments returned immediately upon correction and the
second having their assignments held for three days.

When Rekkedal compiled the data from those who were
involved in the experiment, he found that 91.3% of the
quick turn-around time students completed the course. Only
69% of the delayed turn-around time students completed the

course. This led Rekkedal to the conclusion that his

31

premise was correct. Turn-around time has a strong
influence on completion rates.

In analyzing Rekkedal's experiment it is necessary
to point out once again that the factors being changed
were those that involved the institution. The students
were not asked to make any changes in their timing for
mailing in of assignments. What was changed was the
response time by the tutor. In this experiment the tutor
was asked to handle the correcting of assignments on the
same day in which the assignment was received. The one
controlling the experiment was the one who held the mail
for three days for the delay group.

In actual practice, we must remember that the pressure
on teachers (tutors) is so great that they cannot treat all
students equally. This does not happen in the traditional
setting and should not be expected in the distance setting
either. The students, all being different, will use the
system differently. Some wish to be more independent while
others prefer some dependency. It is likely that teachers
in the institution would all be in favor of a philosophy
that gives all students equal treatment. The realities of
academic life, the unsureness of the mail systems, and the
geographical distances involved make it nearly impossible.

Although he does not wish to discredit Rekkedal’s
study, Taylor (1986) does point out several weaknesses in

the experiment. His analysis of the study is that the

32

course was aimed at those who had very poor training or
were so unsure of their knowledge that they wanted to
repeat some basic material. How much this study can be
generalized to other distance situations is problematic.
In addition, he points out that within the study attention
was given only to the length of time between interaction,
not to its quality. Taylor also wonders about the effects
of the mail service on the experiment.

Despite this inequitable distance education experience

of students, there does not appear to be any effort to

sort assignments by geographical region so that turn-
around time might be optimized for students
disadvantaged by living long distances from the
institution.
He goes on to suggest that one of the alternative
approaches to improving the mail system is to provide
markers in regional centers so that the turn-around time
could be minimized for all students.

Tinto (1975, 1982) would agree that students exposed
to rapid and regular contacts during their distance
education experience could be expected to do well and
exhibit high rates of persistence compared to those whose
contact with the institution was sporadic. What is not
clear is whether a three day delay, which would not detract
from the "regular" nature of the contact, could be
considered any less rapid. The rapid feedback may have

influence on the academic integration of the student while

the regularness may assure the student of the institution's

33

care for his welfare, leading to a better social

integration.
Stndgnt Cgunseiing Setvices

While the student services departments in traditional
institutions may offer a wide range of services to the
students, the service most often mentioned in the dropout
literature of both traditional schools and distance
education institutions is counseling. This involves
counseling in academic matters and personal areas as well
as counseling about how the institution works, how to get
help with an administrative problem, or how to get
information about the institution.

Woolfe (1987) defines counseling as "helping people
overcome problems or maximize their potential." Those
people who are selected by the institution to be involved
in the counseling services of the school must be aware of
the critical importance of the core counseling conditions
of empathy, acceptance, and genuineness and must have the
ability to be active attending listeners. The fact that
the counseling may not be in a face-to-face setting does
not make these qualities any less necessary.

Within the distance education setting, the counseling
activities may take on some unique characteristics. Woolfe
(1987) mentions (1) one-way written material, which
provides the student with the opportunity for self-

diagnostic assessment and action, e.g. materials about

34

giving up smoking, (2) two-way written materials such as
letters or the completion of essays by students followed by
comment and advice/guidance from tutors, ( 3) contact via
the telephone, (4) contact via the mass media, (5) one-way
contact via audio or video tape, e.g. self-instructional
material about relaxation, preparing for exams, or do-it-
yourself projects, ( 6) two-way contact via audio-tape in
which student and tutor interact with each other by means
of sending tapes back and forth, and (7) computer based
contact.

The "distance" in distance education is responsible
for these unusual forms of counseling. The student is not
only distant from the teaching site, but also from the
administrative subsystems supporting that teaching
(Friedman, 1981). This distance is at the root of many of
the problems faced by students in distance education.
Lacking the opportunity present in the traditional
institution for face-to-face interaction, the distance
education institution must be ready to pay attention to the
needs of those students who are not self-managing (Atman,
1988). If the institution is willing to accept the student
(particularly following an open learning policy), they must
be prepared to deal with the learning needs that student
brings with him/her.

In calling for a strong counseling program in student

services, Paul (1988) argues that the concept of a self-

35

actualized individual adult learner is a myth. He also
feels that claims that distance education is superior to
face-to-face instruction are not supported by any empirical
evidence. He lists ten areas within distance education
that create the need for counseling.

1. Isolation of the learner. This isolation refers
to the distance between the teacher and the student,
between the learning acts (determined by the schedule of
the student), and between the student and his/her peers.

2. Reification of knowledge. Distance education can
be very conservative in its approach in spite of its
innovative nature. It must not perpetuate the mistakes of
traditional education, such as a heavy reliance on rote
memory or the assumption that slickly prepared printed
materials are more credible than other sources of
knowledge. Printed study materials are less easily adapted
to a learner’s specific needs. Critics also charge that
the courses are too long and require too much work for the
credit given.

3. Personal considerations. Dropout material
indicates that in traditional forms of education, the
institutional factors are crucial to lack of persistence.
Within distance education the main factor is identified as
personal circumstances.

4. Gap between student expectations and realities. A

large percentage of the "dropout" statistics are the "non-

36

starters". These are students who have signed up for a
class but never turn in any work. They apparently were not
prepared for the course material that arrived and what was
expected of them.

5. Student. identity; Many studying in distance
education programs would not call themselves students.
They are workers in a number of fields looking for answers
to the problems they face, who have chosen to look for a.
while in a study program. They are not primarily concerned
about the completion of the course, but about the gaining
of some knowledge that will aid them in their problem
solving quest.

6. Understanding the institution. All organizations
face the problem of bureaucracy and its confusion to those
trying to understand it. Educational institutions also
face this problem and need to break down these barriers.

7. The affective domain. Tutors are normally chosen
because of their academic qualifications. As tutors,
however, they must also deal with the personal concerns of
the student.

8. Combating geographic isolation. Regional centers,
traveling tutors and counselors, regional workshops and
self-help orientation and learning materials are helpful to
the basic course package sent out by the distance education

institution.

37

9. Financial aid. Some students who are interested
in improving their work credentials but have strong family
commitments in their budget may find finances a problem.

10. Student advocacy role. Since students are
fractured geographically, it may be necessary for them to
find a strong student advocacy service to help them in
influencing decision making or to aid in specific case
problems.

Baath (1982) and Robinson (1981) point out that
learning help is needed by students in four different
areas. First, new learners need help in defining their
learning goals. They may not be able to express their
needs in a way that will enable the institution to know
immediately what material to recommend to them for their
study. Second, they need help in selecting appropriate
learning material. This includes the subject matter they
want to study, the type of learning they want to be
involved in (i.e. printed courses, audio tapes, video
tapes, TV or radio broadcasts), and at what level they
enter the institution depending on their background.
Third, help will be needed to deal with the problems and
difficulties that will arise during the learning process.
Difficulties may come from the material that is being
studied or may arise from personal problems that interfere
with academic schedules. Fourth, students need help to

evaluate their progress in learning. They need to know if

38

they are capable of proceeding to more difficult and
complex material or whether they need to take additional
preparatory study before proceeding.

Experience suggests that it is unrealistic to expect

students to be able to function as completely

independent learners on their entry to a distance-
teaching system, yet some distance institutions appear
to assume that this is the case, and provide little in
the way of induction or support programs (Robinson,

1981).

Given the setting of the distance learner, he/she
needs help particularly at the beginning of the study
program (Atman, 1988; Baath, 1982; Robinson, 1981). Re-
entry to study, dealing with self-study materials,
encouraging motivation to succeed in spite of the personal
constraints that will be faced, and helping students to
assess where they are and where they are capable of going,
all may require extra time from tutors and counselors at
the beginning of a student’ s program. Baath (1982) cites
several studies--Baath, 1980; Harter, 1969; James &
Wedemeyer, 1959; Pfeiffer & Sabers, 1970; Rekkedal, 1972-—
pointing out how critical the first unit of study is for
the student.

There is much evidence that the most critical part of

a distance study course is the very beginning of it--

the first study unit or the first few units. The

proportion of non—starters is often great, and the
majority of the remaining non-completers drop out as
early as in the first part of the course (Baath,

1982).

There are many recommendations for institutional

change to aid new students in overcoming the initial

39

barriers to interaction. Some have suggested that the
first step is to simplify the first study units by making
them short and easy. There should also be attempts to
improve two-way communication. High on the list of
priorities is the attempt to tie the new student to a tutor
(or counselor) as soon as possible after the student's
enrollment. This tutor-counselor can make contact with the
student to determine the student's fit with the
institution. The acquaintance of the tutor and student
promotes the student's integration into the social system
of the distance study center and may aid in preventing
dropout (Baath, 1982).

In addition to the personal contact from a tutor-
counselor, there are a number of programs of written
counseling which can help students prepare themselves for
self-study and study time management. Bibliotherapy is a
self-help learning, treatment, or action program that
attempts to engage readers in discussions about personal
change (Marland & Store, 1982). These materials can aid
the student in understanding text preparation.

Donaldson (1989) has suggested that experienced
students should be involved in the decision making process
regarding which buildings in a given community should be
considered as centers to be used for study programs in that
community. He also states that "use of experienced

students as mentors for new students has been cited as

40

extremely important in reducing attrition." Use of
experienced students to help new students feel at home in
the program can relieve the tutor/counselor's pressure and
also give the new student a contact who can more easily see
the problems from the new student's point of view. Hiring
of students or use of volunteer students should also help

in reducing the budget while increasing the efficiency of

the system.
Autonomy vs. Dependence
Conttgi

The debate over student dependence vs. independence
continues in distance education just as it does in
traditional institutions (Garrison & Baynton, 1987; Keegan,
1986; Moore, 1972, 1973). Partly because of its
innovative character, there has been a widespread push for
distance education to champion the view that the student
controls the learning. This corresponds to the difference
in the character of the traditional student over the
distance education student. The traditional student is in
the 18-22 year age range and has no experience outside of
education when he/she enters the institution. Normally
this student is in a search for "pure knowledge" without
necessarily knowing how it will be used in his/her life.
The distance education student is usually older and has

been working for a number of years. He/She is looking for

41

answers to the problems of his/her work, additional skills
for job promotion, or new skills for career change. With
this difference in outlook, there may be good cause to feel
that in distance education the individual student should
have more control over the learning.

Holmberg (1986) recognized this as one of the problems
that needed to be included in a chapter dealing with the
controversial issues that exist in distance education. He
asks whether teachers should even approach or question
learners to find out why work is incomplete or to offer
support to the student. In an attempt to treat the student
as a totally independent, self-actualized learner, there is
hesitation on the part of the tutor/teacher to initiate
contact. For this group the only sense of teaching that
can be included in the educational situation is the one in
which the teacher is passive and responds to the learner's
need for reassurance. Considering teaching in any other
sense opens the way for the teacher to dominate the
learning process when the aim is to make the learner
dominate (Sammons, 1988; Freire, 1970).

While one group fears the teacher/tutor taking control
of the learning situation from the student, another group
fears that too little teacher direction will be viewed as a
lack of concern on the part of the teacher/tutor for the
interests of the student. Beyond this there is also

concern for the cognitive role of the teacher.

42

In the attempt to promote learner autonomy, many have

ignored the cognitive aspect of the teaching. While

distance learners must be self-directed, they still
need support from the teacher. It is not enough,
however, to only talk about the affective needs but we

also must examine the cognitive needs (Sammons, 1988).

Holmberg (1986) expands the whole idea of
student/teacher control by discussing the use of behavioral
objectives and systems approach. The use of behavioral
objectives indicates that there is a direction in which the
learning should be going. The question is who is choosing
the direction. If there is a choice of direction
(curricula), the student has options and can exert control
over the direction. If not, the teacher is in control and
expecting the student to move at his direction.

For pragmatic rather than philosophical reasons, the
norm among distance education institutions that are part of
a residential school is to follow the curricula and
timetable of the parent organization (Daniel & Marquis,
1979) . Even those who are not connected to a residential
structure often have some timetable that needs to be
maintained for record keeping. Within this setting the
question is, "Who will guard the student’ s welfare?" Will
it be the organizers of the distance education program or
will it be the student or a student advocacy group? The
institution usually makes the assumption that the students

are mature adults and do not need to be overly protected

(Holmberg, 1986).

43

Within the writings of the distance education
proponents there are many shades of emphasis in regards to
the matter of learner autonomy. Most would favor a view of
autonomy that is defined as the extent to which the learner
in an educational program is able to determine the
selection of objectives, resources, and evaluation
procedures (Holmberg, 1986). However, we have already seen
support for the need of tutors who would mediate between
the student and the institution by assessing the student’s
abilities and progress. This lends support to those who
would see the teacher/tutor as one who gives the student

validation of knowledge through interaction (Shale, 1987).

Boeing

An issue that has arisen quite regularly within
the university at various times and with various
people supporting the arguments, pacing has been
touted as: a solution to the ubiquitous "attrition"
problem; a shoring-up of the academic stature of the
university; or an administrative necessity required to
save the institution from collapsing under the burden
of maintaining a very complicated student

administration system (Shale, 1982).

In a later article Shale (1987) points out that pacing
needs to have a perspective before it can be used. Is it
for the benefit of the student, the school, or the
administration? At Athabasca University in Canada an
attempt was made to have a completely non-paced system in
the belief that students given time and supplementary
material will be able to complete the study on their own.

This was an attempt to respect student autonomy. However,

44

most schools feel the need to at least set starting and
ending dates for courses in order to establish some
boundaries to what is being done.

Shale (1987) points out several studies undertaken to
examine the effect of pacing on dropout or persistence
rates. His assessment of the studies is that pacing has
very little effect on the persistence of the student. He
feels that most of the pacing is done in the belief that
pacing will help to keep students from falling behind in
their work. Therefore, the pacing is undertaken by the
administrators to aid students in spite of little empirical
evidence that it works. One suspects he feels that the
administrators are in reality more comfortable with the
pacing mechanisms but use the student’s welfare as an
excuse to impose them.

Pacing ranges from the freedom of only having starting
and ending dates to the course to having each assignment or
section due on specified dates. Some pacing is introduced
by supplementary broadcasts. Many institutions also
publish examination dates with the expectation that all
students will be prepared for them at the same time. This
is done so that grading of work or tests can be done by
"batching" in order to prevent students from cheating and

also to ensure that all material is graded equally.

45

Telepnone tutots

It may seem puzzling to find the subject of telephone
tutors within a section on independence vs. dependence. It
is interesting to note that those who mention telephone
tutors as being important in the whole matter of social
integration do have some reservations.

Previous validation studies on Tinto’s model suggested

social integration factors would have little effect on

dropout behaviour among non-traditional groups.

However, in the present study, direct telephone

contact between faculty and students significantly

influenced student commitment and persistence (Sweet,

1986).

Sweet next makes the statement that further study is needed
on who should initiate these calls. According to Scales’
study (1984), "The fact that student-initiated calls, in
particular, do correlate with persistence suggests that
this area be the focus of continued research." There is
reservation on the part of distance education to having
tutors make use of telephone tuition if the tutor is the
one who has to initiate the contact. They are much more
comfortable when the student is the one to make the initial
contact. This comes from the desire to allow the student
to become an independent learner and to accomplish his or

her own goals even at the expense of increasing the

institution's dropout rate.

46

Summary

Distance education is still in the process of defining
and refining itself. Those who have been trained in
traditional classroom settings are trying to create new
methods of study for those who have been ignored in the
past by traditional education--a new pool of students
seeking job skills or personal satisfaction whose life
situation or personal preference makes residence education
unsuitable for them.

As schools create distance education programs, they
face several problems that may hinder this new group of
students from completing courses or programs. The newness
of the distance education approach may raise questions
about its quality in the minds of students and potential
employers. The separation of the student from a school
setting may influence the student to feel less interactive
with the school and lead to feelings of alienation. The
older students’ age and experience may also lead them to
want more control over the subject and methodology of their
study program. These students are more interested in
problem solving types of courses and are less disposed to
absorbing knowledge from a teacher.

Schools need to be ready to deal with the new type of
student that will enter a distance education program.
Building credibility for the program, creating a sense of

belonging and support in each student, and giving students

47

more academic control will be vital to reducing the dropout

rate in this group.

48

CHAPTER THREE

A LOOK AT THE OPEN UNIVERSITY

Any study of distance education would not be complete
without looking at the Open University to determine what it
has done. The Open University is a vast and extremely
successful distance education program established by the
British government as an attempt to provide comprehensive
adult education to everyone, including those who, because
of schedules or a lack of previous educational credentials,
do not fit into the ordinary university system. In this
study the focus is on the subject of dropout and especially
whether tutorial services can influence students to
persist. It has often been stated that the student support
services of the Open University are the key to its success
(Keegan, 1981). The Regional Tutorial Services are a major
part of the overall structure of the university. To
understand how this came about requires a short look at the

beginning of the Open University.

History of the Open University

According to the first Vice-Chancellor of the

Open University, Sir Walter Perry (1977), the university

49

was made possible by the convergence of three post-war
trends. First there was the recognized need for the
provision of a more comprehensive adult education program.
Second was the growth of educational broadcasting and the
potential it held. "As early as 1926, in an internal BBC
memorandum, Mr. Stabart put a proposal to Lord Reith for ’a
wireless university’ but there was to be no such
formalization of educational broadcasting at that stage."
For years there was talk of a "University of the Air."
Even when Prime Minister Harold Wilson introduced the
concept of the open university in the early 19605, it was
still to be a university dependent on broadcasting of its
courses. A third trend was the political objective of
promoting the spread of egalitarianism in education.
According to Perry (1977), Prime Minister Wilson was
aware of the gaps that existed in the educational system in
Britain at the time. There were very few opportunities for
adults in the vocational courses at the higher education
level where training was mostly for "traditional" students.
The training available was not geared for the under-
privileged and deprived for whom it was designed. "The
Crowther report had indicated that the social background of
children was a large factor in determining their
educational career and that steps should be taken to make
opportunities more easily available to the lower socio-

economic groups" (Perry, 1977).

50

Wilson soon turned over the project to a group of
people vitally interested in education under the leadership
of Jennie Lee. This group was known as the Planning
Committee and they began to plan the university around
three very specific themes:

1. There must be a presence of the Open University in
each of the Regions (Britain was divided into 13 regions
which still exists in the Open University structure today).

2. There must be open access to the university. The
concept of open access will be discussed under the Present
Structure but simply put it meant that no one would be
denied a place in the university because of a lack of
previous education or credentials.

3. The reduction of dropout would be a primary task

of the university.

Criticism

The concept of an open university was criticized from
two perspectives. First of all, it faced the problem of
politics. Since it had been proposed by the Prime Minister,
it was bound to be attacked by the opposition party.
Secondly, there was a lot of criticism forthcoming from
those who thought it a foolhardy move educationally. Even
the Tina M W predicted that the
proposed structure of the school would lead to 85% dropout

based on the experience of other English and Scandinavian

51

institutions which had attempted innovative programs. A
final source of criticism was from those who saw the
university as a tremendous drain on the resources of the
country’s budget at a time when resources were already
stretched to the limit.

In response to the recognized need for protection
against dropouts, the Planning Committee proposed to create
two separate departments. the Home Tuition and
Correspondence Services (quickly renamed the Institute of
Educational Technology) and the Local Centers and Tutorial
Services (renamed the Regional Tutorial Services). While
Jennie Lee proved to be a very capable leader for the
project, the whole project had many opportunities to fail
and did not receive a government charter until the last
minute. The charter was finally granted in 1969 and the
first intake of students was planned to come two years

later in 1971 (Perry, 1977).

SUQC§§§

The first year’s intake of students (after dropouts)
was 19,581, which was beyond all expectations. However,
the course completion rates were between 75-82%, with 54.3%
of the 1971 class graduating by December 1978 and 3,000 of
the students still studying. By December 1978, 32,000
students had graduated with a B.A. In 1979 there were

60,000 students studying in the Open University and 42% of

52

them did not have "traditional" qualifications needed to
enter university level studies (Keegan, 1981) . The Open
University predicted, on the basis of the early figures,
that they could expect about a 50% program completion rate
(Perry, 1977). This compares favorably with schools of the
same type. The German FernUniversitat had 28,000 students
in 1985. The first ten years saw some 500 graduates who
had completed the full regular curricula for a German
University diploma. Another 500 had acquired other types
of academic competencies by degree exams (Holmberg, 1986).
As can be expected, the Open University was unique
among educational institutions.
Other universities had doubted whether we would have
many applications, and half expected those who applied
to be the rag, tag, and bobtail of the academic
profession. Nothing did more to establish the
credibility of the Open University in their eyes than
the quantity and quality of the applicants for these
first posts (Ferguson, 1975).

The Open University became a model for the creation of
many open style universities. It also provided a model as
a distance education institution. Before this time most
distance education programs were departments of traditional
institutions and their authority was embedded in
communities of educational agencies. The Open University
was the first distance education school to exhibit a whole
system control model (Moore & Thompson, 1990) . It has

other distinguishing characteristics as well: (1) It is

designed for adults of all ages who are already working,

53

(2) it’s educational opportunities have been provided at
degree level, (3) it’s study is designed to be mainly home
based, (4) it uses open-network BBC television and radio in
addition to written and other materials, and (5) it
requires no formal educational qualifications (McIntosh,

1976).

Regional Tutorial Services

There are many things that could be written about the
Open University: the struggle to develop curricula, to
produce materials through course teams, or to develop self-
study materials for students who need to learn good study
and organization skills. However, the focus of this study
is to look specifically at the part the tutorial services
play in helping to reduce dropout and develop persistence.
The first step is to follow the 3 phase evolution of the

Regional Tutorial Services from 1971 to today.

Exolotioo of the Regional Tutorial Sorxioos

Because of an overwhelming response to invitations to
apply to the Open University, the initial structure planned
to handle the students was overtaxed. Changes were needed
for a short term fix and then a long term solution. This

necessitated two major changes in the tutorial services.

54

£11252 1

Keegan (1984) has. outlined the development of the
tutorial services very well. In 1971 the university opened
with a very ambitious goal. They were intending to provide
a program of three tutorial persons for each student that
received a place. First there was a correspondence tutor.
The correspondence tutor was responsible to mark
assignments, write comments on them, and keep records of
the student’s progress. The correspondence tutor could
live anywhere in Britain since his/her role was only to be

in correspondence with the student regarding the subject

matter of the course the student was taking. The second
person was a counselor. The counselor had many roles to
play which often seemed confusing. These duties included

contact. and. encouragement, study' problems, personal and
social. problems, study' centers, student. meetings, group
discussions, availability of resources, remedial help,
keeping records, contacting students unable to visit study
centers, preventing dropouts, and guiding students in their
study programs.

The counselor had to live within the region to which
he/she was assigned in order to maintain the kind of
contact described. He/She would be present at the study
center so that students could feel free to either visit or
phone at their convenience. The third person was to be a.

class tutor. It was the class tutor who was responsible to

55

give face-to-face tutorials to students in the local study
centers. They were subject specialists and they were to be
living in the same region as the students they were
assigned to.

While this seemed an ideal plan, it didn’t work. Over
40,000 students applied, 24,000 were given places, and over
19,000 stayed and completed their first course. This
overloaded the system and it became immediately apparent

that the system must be changed.

Boats 2.

In the 1972-1975 period, it was decided that the class
tutor and the correspondence tutor would be combined into
one role and called a course tutor. The course tutor would
be responsible to mark assignments and provide face-to-face
tutorials for both foundation courses and post—foundation
courses. The role of the counselor was also revised and
the counselor also received a tutorial function. The
counselor would be assigned foundation students studying
within his/her subject specialty. It was hoped that this
would give some continuity for students during their stay
at the university since the counselor was assigned to local
students. The counselor was to emphasize the method of
study while the course tutor was to deal with the subject
matter. In his 1972 report, the Vice-Chancellor reported

on this new system.

56

The student thus had two individuals from the outset
to whom he could turn; one a teacher/assessor and the
other a teacher/advisor. It was hoped that close
acquaintance with both student and course material
would enable course tutors and counselors to work
effectively as a team, together training students to
act as independent learners, a vital need if they were
to overcome the considerable problems of transition
from foundation to post-foundation level (Perry, 1973).
Even with this change it was discovered that there were
still many problems and there was no consensus achieved.
It was necessary to set up an internal committee to study
the problem and develop some recommendations for future

action.

Phase 3 - 1m to 1:2on

After spending a great deal of time in debate, the
Open University introduced a new system in 1976 which is
still working today. It was decided that each incoming
student would have two people assigned to help them through
their study experience. The first one would be a tutor-
counselor. The tutor-counselor would have responsibility
for 25 students who may be following different courses. At
the nucleus of this group would be 10 students studying in
the same foundation course and for whom the tutor-counselor
would provide correspondence and class tuition. The second
person would be the course tutor who would provide
correspondence and other tuition for a group of students
following a post-foundation course. The course tutor would
be expected to have a group of about 16 students (after

final registration). Even before 1976 it had become a

57

common practice to assign students studying in one
discipline to a counselor who worked in the same
discipline. This seemed to be working well and was
continued as part of the system.

With this new system in place it was hoped that the
linking of student learning with the learning materials
would be improved. This new method gave the university
three ways to accomplish this: (1) The new student is
linked in his/her first year of study to the university by
a single person based at his/her local study center, the
tutor-counselor. ( 2) This contact remains throughout the
student’s years of study at the university. During the
foundation courses, the tutor-counselor functions in both
these roles; during the post-foundation courses, he/she
acts only as a counselor. (3) In post-foundation courses
the student’s work will be monitored and the Tutor Marked
Assignments assessed by highly qualified specialist
academics throughout the United Kingdom (Keegan, 1981) .
Although problems still exist, this system seemed to be

workable and continues to be used.

Willi—$01; e

The brief description above has been given from the
student’s perspective. In the grass-roots view, the tutor-
counselor and the course tutor may be the only face of the

Open University that many students ever see. In order for

58

these two people to be most effective there is need for a
supportive structure. This section will deal with the
overall structure and staff that make up the Regional

Tutorial Service.

Int Regions

The Open University, for administrative convenience,
has chosen to divide Britain into thirteen regions, based
on the government’s Regional Advisory Council areas of
responsibility. The Regional Tutorial Services Central
Staff is located at Milton Keynes and consists of about 18
people. This includes the director, 2 assistant directors,
4 other academics with responsibilities for handicapped
students, research officers and administrators. It is here
that the Open University journal Qngn Leatning (previously
called Igngning gt n Distance) is edited.

This staff is also responsible for the publication of
various materials for the Regional Tutorial Services and
its students. They include:

-Handbook for Part-Time Tutorial and Counseling Staff
-Further Information for Part-Time Staff

-How to Study

-B.A. Degree Handbook

-Associate Student Handbook

59

The aging; Centers

Each of the regions has its own administrative office.
The Regional Center is normally located in the principal
city of that region in a rented facility. Each Regional
Office normally consists of 1 Regional Director, 1 Deputy
Regional Director, 12 Staff Tutors, 4 Senior Counselors, a
Regional Secretary, 3 other administrators, and 20
secretaries and clerks. These offices are for
administrative purposes only and students do not use these

facilities.

Stngy Centets

Within each region there are about 20 study centers,
making a total of 260 study centers under the Regional
Tutorial Services. The study centers are normally rented
from local institutions for use on most week nights and
sometimes on the weekends. They consist of a series of
lecture rooms, meeting rooms, and offices which are used
for tutorials, group discussions and informal meetings.
Tutor-counselors are assigned to study centers and it is
here that students can meet with the tutor-counselor to
discuss course work, study problems, or any difficulty in

their study program.

Staff Intots
Each one of the Open University faculties (Arts,

Social Science, Mathematics, Science, Technology, and

60

Education) have at least one Staff Tutor in each region.
The Staff Tutors are responsibLe to (a) organize day
schools, field trips, and all other activities for students
enrolled in courses run by their faculty, (b) organize
tutorials in the evenings or on Saturday mornings at the
local study' center, (c) recruit, interview and appoint
part-time staff, (d) check the accuracy and consistency in
the marking of the Tutor Marked Assignments in their
subject, and (e) send information to headquarters about the
success of learning materials and teaching strategies in

their region. In 1988 there were about 140 Staff Tutors.

Senior Counseiots

The Senior Counselors deal with the exceptional
student problems that a local tutor-counselor cannot
handle. They also deal with the matter of dropouts,
disabled students, choice of courses, vocational guidance,
assignment extensions, summer school attendance, and how to
cope with the centralized system. They are to help the new
part-time staff adapt to the Open University system in
knowing how to carry out their responsibilities. Each
Regional Office has 3-4 Senior Counselors who are
responsible for about 35 tutor-counselors and 1,700

students.

61

Inter-qunselgfs

There are about 1,750 Tutor-Counselors whose main work
is to deal with the students in the foundation courses.
Their role begins in pre-registration when they are given a
list of students that will be allocated to them for the
following year. They are to make contact with these
students, looking for those whose study problems are most
acute, whose previous study is inappropriate, who are
disabled, or who cannot attend the study center. This can
be done on a personal basis but is most often done with an
induction meeting in an attempt to get acquainted with the
group and also facilitate the students’ getting to know one
another, which may help them to form support groups.

As tutors their role is to help foundation students
with study problems, providing supplementary subject
materials, and extensions for Tutor Marked Assignments. As
counselors they are to help students with anything that may
be a barrier to the students’ progress within the study
program. It was recognized early on that about 50% of the
students’ needs were not directly related to problems with
the course. From the beginning the student’s relationship
to a locally based counselor was seen as the basis of the
university’s relationship with the student (Keegan, 1981).

"Central to any distance education system is the
link which is provided between the learning materials that

are developed by the institution and the learning that is

62

to take place therefrom" (Keegan, 1981). It is easily seen
that the priority for the tutor-counselor is to help the
student adjust to the system, become an independent
learner, and overcome difficulties that may appear during
the years at the university. This means that the
orientation of the new students and the weekly tutorials
held during the first year of foundation courses are the
focus of the tutor-counselors’ work. It is here that the
university is most concerned about dropouts, depending on
the tutor-counselor to use his/her considerable skills to
assist in student persistence. It is the tutor-counselor
who keeps the Open University from being a faceless
teaching bureaucracy (Keegan, 1981).

Within the original planning was the theme of reducing
dropout to an acceptable minimum. It was for this purpose
that the counselors were to be the ones who were locally
based. The correspondence tutors could not be local
because possible low enrollment rates would not justify a
tutor in each of the regions of England (Keegan, 1981).
Within the Regional Tutorial Services’ philosophy was also
"concern for continuity". The counselor was to be the one
charged with the responsibility of following the students
throughout their programs even when the they proceeded to
the post-foundation courses, which would be outside the
counselor’s specialty. The university recognized that the

counselor was to help students become independent but not

63

isolated learners and to reduce the number of dropouts to
an acceptable minimum (Keegan, 1981).

Within the Regional Tutorial Services, the tutor-
counselor must have skills that allow him/her to deal with
the personal side of the student’s study. The course tutor
will be spending his/her time dealing with the academic
side of the program. However, both must have some
understanding of the role of the other and at times the
distinction between the two may be somewhat fuzzy: WAS a
counseling service it [the Regional Tutorial Service] is
interventionist but not clinical. It seeks to identify
problems and intervene to prevent them from interfering
educationally. It refers other problems on to specialists
in those fields" (Keegan, 1981).

The complexity of the role of the tutor-counselors can
be seen in the wide range of activities they must be
involved in. Tutor-counselors must be ready to field any
problem while course tutors can concentrate on their
academic specialties. This has led some to call for a
redefining of the tutor-counselor role since the job
description is too abstract. There is a need to set
priorities or to shift some of the responsibilities (Gagan,

1984).

Coufse Intotg

The university has over 5,000 part-time course tutors

who are assigned to work with students in the post-

64

foundation courses. Each tutor has about 25 students
assigned to him/her. The course tutors are to cement on
and assess the students’ written assignments. They do this
through correspondence tuition, face-to-face tuition, or by
telephone tuition. While these tutors live within the
region they are assigned to, they may be at some distance
from the study centers in which they need to offer some
face-to-face tutorials, which means that traveling takes
some of their time. The other option is to require
students to travel long distances to attend post-foundation
course tutorials. While the Open University literature
gives the ideal number of students for a course tutor as
about twenty-five, some claim that the allocated student

group may be as high as fifty or more (Gagan, 1984).

Problems Yet to be Solved

While the Open University has been very successful, it
is not without its problems. Since the Regional Tutorial
Services are the primary tool of the university to increase
human contact in the program and thus reduce dropout, they
have been the focus in this paper. Even though they have
been credited as being the key to the university’s success,

there are many concerns that must be investigated.

65

Tomorrows

The terms Tutor-Counselor and Course Tutor are very
confusing to those entering the university. One can
understand the terms and their significance by tracing the
evolution of the terms, but entering students shouldn’ t
have to do this to understand their relationship to these
people (Keegan, 1981). Even when the terms and boundaries
are understood, the roles of the two staff members may
sometimes be confusing. Students must consider whether
their problem is a personal one or an academic one. It is
easy to visualize a situation where students whose problems
have elements from both areas might be caught in a loop,
with each of the two people assigned to help them referring

them to the other.

wit-'emff

The heavy use of part-time staff creates some
administrative problems. At present it is the policy of
the Open University that any student who wishes to get an
extension of a Tutor Marked Assignment must have a tutor-
counselor’s authorization. An accommodation has been
reached, temporarily, to allow any tutor who is marking the
course to grant this extension. In the future this needs
to be clarified.

While the Regional Tutorial Services’ philosophy calls

for a "continuity of concern" for the student by having the

66

original tutor-counselor maintain contact with a student
throughout his/her years of study at the university, this
is very rare. With increased numbers of students and more
responsibilities for each tutor-counselor, these students
are often assigned to part-time people. The quality of the
part-time staff member is crucial to fulfill this

philosophy.

goalie—ting HILL 9 ests

New students who are taking a course run by the
faculty of the tutor-counselor are usually dependent on
this tutor-counselor for the grading of the written
assignments in the foundation courses. If the students are
not happy with the grade, teaching, or handling of the
course, it is difficult for them to go to the tutor-
counselor and complain. There needs to be some independent
contact that can check this problem for the students.

In a study dealing with the internal evaluation of the
tutors by the staff tutors, it was noted that the staff
tutors showed personal style to be the main factor of
whether a tutor was considered to be a good or bad tutor.
This means that the staff tutors emphasized not what tutors
had done, but how they did it (Gibbs and Durbridge, 1976).

At the Open University course sequence and direction
is set by course teams. Students and tutors have little

impact on either. The tutors, like the students, have no

67

part in designing the courses and are not encouraged to
bring in their own experience. Tutors are not able to set
or modify assignments to fit students’ particular interests
(Farnes, 1975). It also happens that tutors find the
presentation of materials prepared by course teams, rather
than their own creations, frustrating and boring to teach.
This may prove beneficial to some students in that it will

aid them in viewing the material more critically.

inadggnate Resgnrces

In the university’s early history (68-69) it was felt
that there should be no face-to-face tuition outside summer
school. In 1969 it was decided that a small proportion of
the budget should be used for "remedial" class tuition
(Lewis, 1975; McIntosh, 1976).

The truth is that face-to-face teaching is alien to

the Open University. The university’s commitment to

the relatively new concept of distance teaching meant
that energy and resources were concentrated there.

Right from the planning stage the great advantage that

can accrue from face-to-face meetings was recognized,

but to explore that advantage in detail was less
important than to put into practice the new and
distinctive mix of correspondence tuition,

broadcasting, and a counseling service (Lewis, 1975).

Keegan (1981) set forth several areas that need
consideration for the future of the Regional Tutorial
Service to help in improving the service:

1. While students apply in February and tutor-

counselors presently receive their allocated list of

68

students in November, there should be efforts to get the
lists to them even earlier. This would aid in the
establishing of relationships and study of bridging
materials before the first course materials are received in
January.

2. There needs to be the development of more bridging
materials to help students with study and organization
problems. In 1979 the percentage of those entering without
university qualifications reached 42%. These students are
at risk and need materials that will help them overcome the
barriers to their continuing to study.

3. Computerization of student records needs to be
refined. Many improvements have been made since 1981 and
now most student records can be pulled up on the computer
in less than 5 minutes. Now the problem is getting student
files updated since many tutor-counselors and course tutors
are overloaded and have difficulty getting records in on

time.

Unique Features of the Open University

Open Learning

One of the stated purposes that the Planning Committee
was committed to was the "openness" of the admission policy
of the Open University. Strictly speaking, open learning is

the removal of barriers to students. No system is

69

completely open in all possible ways (Lewis, 1986). It has
already been mentioned that the Open University is open on
the question of who will be allowed to study but they are
not open on the schedule that the student must maintain.

In the case of the Open University, the original
vision for the term ppgn univefsity came from four factors:
the openness of the university in respect of (1) people,
since it would not debar applicants on account of their
ladk of educational requirements; (2) place, in the sense
that learning would be home based and not restricted to
classrooms or a campus; (3) the use of new methods of
teaching; and (4) ideas, both filling the human mind with
knowledge and viewing that mind as a potential fire that
must be set alight (Keegan & Rumble, 1982; Ferguson, 1975).

There has been some confusion between "open learning"
and "distance education". Open learning refers to the
openness of access to the institution. Distance learning
refers to the freedom from the constraints of time and
space. Some of the confusion has come from the Open
University where distance education at a university
standard is offered to students who do not posses
conventional university entry requirements (Gough, 1980).

The target of the Open University is working adults
although they have experimented with a limited group of
teen-agers. Dr. Witchit (1983), writing about the

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, comments that "even

70

though the university is open to both working adults and
secondary school learners, it is clear that distance
education is more popular with the former group, and we
expect this trend to continue." He goes on to speculate
that the reason for this is that the younger group has been
accustomed to the face—to-face instruction of elementary
and secondary school. They will be much more comfortable
continuing as internal students in conventional
universities. By inference, the adult students are more
interested in innovative methods where they can have more
control over how the learning takes place as well as what
they study.

Even though the university is open as to places, it
does not always overcome the problems brought on be socio-
economic factors. In his study dealing with the advantages
gained by graduates of the Open University, Woodley (1988)
found that those who entered without university entry
qualifications and subsequently graduated gained their
benefit in terms of personal and social achievement. Those
who did enter with qualifications tended to be rewarded
more in their occupational level. While the "openness" of
university places has fulfilled the egalitarian ideal the
university was seeking, this has not always translated into

equal benefit for all who study.

71

Technology

One of the planning themes was the inclusion of
broadcasting as a medium of instruction. The original
intent was to use television and radio time to reach the
homes of people who could not be involved in residence
study. However, there were many concerns about teacher-
student interaction when commercial media were used. How
would the student react to a teacher that could not answer
questions?

A central issue in distance education is how the

learner and the teacher communicate. The form of this

communication distinguishes distance education from
other types of education. In conventional education,
the learner receives direct instruction in face-to-
face communication with the teacher. In contrast, the
distance learner receives instruction through
commercial media. Distance education is achieved

through noncontiguous communications (Saba, 1988).

Some felt that eventually the teacher would be done
away with, since audio and video tape could become
"teachers." In time, with the mass production of VCRs,
video cassettes that could be used at home became popular.
This gives the students control of the time when they can
watch them, the number of times the material can be
reviewed, pausing for consideration of a point, or the
ability to replay any section as necessary (Brown, 1983).

In spite of these considerations, there are still many
reservations about the effectiveness of video and the

extent to which it will be used in the future. Holmberg

(1986) has expressed doubts that video presentation will

72

become the standard over the printed page. He feels that
leafing and browsing through books is very effective.
Books are easier to read than watching some videos. Less
technology is required for books and overall it is less
expensive to use printed materials. There is a wider range
of material available in printed form than will likely be
produced in video form.

Teleconferencing was one of the methods chosen to
overcome the problems of distance in distance education.
Since tutors and students could not be together in a single
location, telephone centers were created to bring about
conversation and discussion. However, even this had
problems. ". . . Compared with face-to-face contact,
conversation over audio telecommunications systems is seen
as formal and impersonal--good for getting the task done,
but not good for forming or maintaining social
relationships" (Williams, Holloway & Hammond, 1975). There
were many technical problems associated with the sound
quality of these systems as well.

The newest hope for improved communication in distance
education is the area of teleconferencing by computers. ".
. . Teleconferencing (and perhaps some evolving computer-
based technologies) provides an opportunity for
approximating the ideal educational process not available
through other ways of conducting education at a distance"

(Shale, 1987).

73

It is important to note that computerization is
impacting the student services in at least two major areas.
The first is in facilitating the storage and recall of
student records. While there are dangers here in regards
to confidentiality, it is much easier to answer students
questions if access is immediately available. Second, the
computer allows teachers and students, or students with
their peers, to achieve interaction although it may not be
face-to-face. Another possible benefit will be in the
shortening of turn-around time on assignments. While the
load level of the tutor will always play a major part in
this problem, at least the time presently lost in mailing

can be saved.

Ecpnoni cs pf distance education

The Open University has never hidden the fact that
while the Regional Tutorial Services are the key to it’ 5
success, they are also very expensive. The student support
services require just over 25% of the entire budget
(Keegan, 1981) . In 1986 the Open University spent about
$37 million dollars on faculty and administration support.
Slightly more was spent. on the student support functions
(Moore & Thompson, 1989). It does not require a long
discussion of the economics of distance education to
understand the difficulty most institutions will have in

replicating the tutorial study centers. The average

74

private institution cannot hope to match the budget of the
large university supported by public funds.

Of course, a smaller school can scale down its program
of student. services. considerably"without. neglecting ‘the
needs of its smaller student body. Most of these schools
are not so egalitarian as the open university, restricting
their student body to a more focused target and avoiding
some of the expanded services necessary to the open
university. While such changes in scale and method may be
introduced, it is obvious that tutorial centers will be a
major part of the budget of any institution seeking to

duplicate the success of the Open University.

Summary

Early criticism of the Open University centered around
political considerations and the unproven nature of
distance education, which might lead to very high dropout
rates. Because of this latter criticism, there was great
thought given to strategies that would increase interaction
between the staff of the school and the students. From
this planning came the Regional Tutorial Centers. Although
the early plan to provide each student with three contacts
in the school proved untenable, the Open University today
continues to give each student access to two tutors who can

deal with both program and course problems. The Open

75

University’s commitment to the Regional Tutorial Services
is shown in the fact that fully one quarter of its budget
is allocated for this service. The success of the tutorial
centers has led to a persistence rate of 60%, which is
comparable to most traditional institutions. Clearly there
is much in the approach of the Open University that can

serve as a model for other distance education institutions.

76

CHAPTER FOUR

THE SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM

In chapter two, research into dropout in distance
education is presented in an attempt to discover general
strategies that might increase persistence. Chapter three
contains a presentation of the Open University, looking at
the steps they took to prevent attrition. In this chapter,
the focus will be on the Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary’s
Southeast Asia Extension Program (SAEP) . The SAEP is a
small, theological program serving as an extension of a
seminary located in Michigan. A brief description of the
program will be given and three sites presently used by the
program will be studied to determine what factors are

affecting dropout rates in this institution.

Program Description

The Southeast Asia Extension Program is an extension
of the Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary. It has a three-fold
purpose (Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary, 1986):

To upgrade the theological education of the national
educators and ministers to the Master’s level.

To assist in the development of national Bible schools
and colleges.

77

To contribute to the further development of the
national churches by offering graduate-level
theological education to qualified and gifted students
in their own cultural milieu.
The intent of the SAEP in each of these cases is to provide
advanced training for those already involved in the
ministry rather than the basic, pre-requisite training
necessary to enter the ministry.

Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary is accredited by the
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools as a
graduate-level theological school. The seminary offers
five Master’s degrees: The In-Service Master of Religious
Education (32 semester hours), the Master of Religious
Education (62 semester hours), the Master of Theological
Studies (62 semester hours), the Master of Divinity (95
semester hours), and the Master of Theology (30 semester
hours beyond the M.Div.) . Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary
lists four purposes in the institution’s published mission
statement (Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary, 1986):

To prepare persons for church ministries and worldwide

missions (Master of Religious Education, Master of

Divinity, Master of Theology) and to help prepare

scholars for teaching and research (Master of

Theology).

To offer continuing education to professional church

ministers/missionaries (In-service Master of Religious

Education).

To offer graduate theological education for lay

persons who are not seeking professional church

ministries (Master of Theological Studies).

To provide a center of theological and ethical
reflection for the General Association of Regular

78

Baptist Churches [the constituency that approves the
seminary] and the community of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The Southeast Asia Extension Program arises particularly
out of the second and fourth of these purposes. By making
available the In-service Master of Religious Education
degree of the seminary, the program provides continuing
theological education for Asians in their own geographical
and cultural contexts. It also offers a setting for
theological and ethical reflection for the churches that
have been established in Asia by the mission agencies
affiliated with the General Association of Regular Baptist

Churches.

History

In October 1983 an Asian office of the Southeast Asia
Extension Program was established in Bangkok, Thailand.
Bangkok was chosen because of its strategic location in
Southeast Asia and because of the ease of air travel to the
major urban centers of Southeast Asia. In June 1985 it was
relocated to Manila, Philippines. The move to Manila was
caused by difficulties in obtaining visas in Thailand for
expatriate missionary staff personnel associated with the
program.

The first courses were pre-taped, directed study
materials and two-week intensive residence seminars which
were offered in Thailand in October 1983. Only one full-

time staff was on site at this time and was responsible for

79

the academic and administrative functions of the program.
Nineteen students, all coming from the country of Thailand,
enrolled for the program during the first six months it was
offered. Included in this group were Thai nationals who
were Bible School teachers and others who were involved in
local church-related ministries. There were also students
who were citizens from Western countries like the United
States, Australia, and England serving in Thailand as
missionaries.

Students from six different countries in Asia
(Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh, India, Hong Kong, and the
Philippines) had joined the program by the beginning of
1986. While 40% were expatriates from Western countries
(i.e. United States, Australia, New Zealand, Finland,
England, Germany, and Canada) serving as missionaries in
Asia, 60% of the students were Asian nationals. By this
time there were three full-time staff responsible for the
general oversight of the academic affairs of the program
and one Filipino responsible for the business
administration of the program. There were two additional
part-time workers responsible for the maintenance of
student records and student admissions.

Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary maintains close control
over the program in monitoring the quality of the education
delivered since it awards the degree earned by the SAEP

students. The SAEP curriculum is also generated by the

80

seminary. Most of the directed study courses used in Asia
are produced in Grand Rapids by the resident faculty. The
full-time personnel of the Southeast Asia Extension Program
are under contract to the Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary and
are, therefore, directly responsible to the seminary Dean.
They have gone through the procedure of interviews and
evaluations required in the appointment of all seminary
faculty’ and. are iconsidered. professors of the seminary.
Qualified Asian church leaders and missionaries working in
Southeast Asia must be approved as adjunct faculty before
they can be used to teach seminars. All courses offered
through the auspices of the SAEP must be in conformity with

the course descriptions published in the seminary catalog.

in-Setvice M.R.E.

The Southeast Asia Extension Program is presently
utilizing the In-Service Master of Religious Education (In-
Service M.R.E.). The M.R.E. degree is normally a two-year,
62-semester hour program. The seminary originally designed
the program to train "those who wish to engage in
supportive ministries" (Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary,
1986). Supportive ministries are defined as those areas of
ministerial responsibility in a local church with which the
Senior Pastor needs assistance. Associate or Assistant
Pastors, Music Directors, Directors of Christian Education,

and Directors of Youth or Children’s programs are all

81

examples of supportive ministries. Those working in
Christian Day Schools and in cross-cultural missionary
endeavors would also be included in this category.

Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary introduced the In-
Service Master of Religious Education degree program "with
a view to meeting the continuing education needs of
experienced church-related field workers" (Grand Rapids
Baptist Seminary, 1986) . Under this program students are
allowed to receive 32 hours of academic credit for prior
ministry experience, reducing the program’s classroom hours
to 32. Before admission to the program, students must be
able to certify a minimum of three years full-time
experience in their field. The In-Service M.R.E. is
described in the catalog as follows:

A one year program designed for persons who have had a
minimum. of 3 years of successful professional

ministry. It is a 32-hour program built around
concentrations in Bible, Theology, and one of the
following areas of service: Pastoral Studies,

Missions, Christian Education or Christian School
Administration (Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary, 1986).

The In-Service M.R.E. uses a combination of resident
and extension studies. While at least 12 of the total 32
hours must be taken in some type of residence study, the
remaining part of the program can be completed through
extension courses. Directed study courses were developed
by the seminary faculty at Grand Rapids. Mail and
telephone interviews handle assignments and other

communications between the student and the teacher in the

82

U.S. The intention of the program is that it be taken as
continuing education since it was designed for those who
are actively engaged in Christian ministry. Students are
not allowed to take more than two extension courses per 15
week semester and normally students will take from two to
four years to finish the program.

The directed study courses fall into three main
categories of course design. The first category are
courses using lectures by faculty members at the Grand
Rapids Baptist Seminary on cassette tapes. These lectures
may be supplemented by textbook reading assignments,
extensive handout notes, and lecture outlines. A second
category involves the use of reading courses with students
selecting a topic of interest and making an agreement with
the course director concerning what material is to be read
and how this will be reported. The third category is
independent study courses. The student is responsible to
cooperate with the course director to design a research
project relating to his /her own ministry as well as the
program of study which he/ she is undertaking. The SAEP
Handbook in Appendix Two has a listing of the courses which
are presently in existence and are currently being used in
the SAEP.

The Southeast Asia Extension Program began using as
the core of the degree program in Asia the set of extension

courses which have been prepared by the Grand Rapids

83

faculty for the extension studies of the In-Service M.R.E.
students in the United States. Students were encouraged to
take as many of the directed study courses as possible
since it would save them money and time. About two-thirds
of the degree program could be accomplished by using the
extension courses offered.

The Southeast Asia Extension Program provides
residence study through two-week seminars normally planned
twice each year in each of the participating countries.
Two 3-hour courses are available during each seminar, one
in the morning and one in the afternoon. A student can
conceivably take six hours of credit during a seminar, but
this can be very heavy for those already employed full-

time.

Characteristics of the Teaching Sites:

Brief History of Three Sites

While the SAEP has resident teaching sites in five
countries (Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar [Burma],
India, and Hong Kong), three countries have been chosen
for this study. Thailand and the Philippines are the
oldest of the sites, with the longer history necessary to
generate some comparison of dropout in various situations.
Hong Kong, although relatively new, has grown rapidly so

that it ranks second in number of students. It is also the

84

site most familiar to the author, who worked as the country
coordinator from 1987 to 1990. Myanmar is currently not an
active site because of the political unrest in the country;
India, opened in 1988, does not yet have a viable pool of

students for research purposes.

Thailand

With no previous overseas extension experience, Grand
Rapids Baptist Seminary leaned heavily on the advice and
connections of the mission agency which helped facilitate
the financing and care for the first Director of the
Southeast Asia Extension Program. Some of the leaders had
contacts with individuals in Thailand, considered it to be
a site that would be receptive to the program, and realized
that it had very little in the way of government entrance
restrictions for theological organizations.

From 1983-1985 the Director of the program was the
only staff present on site. There had been virtually no
advance publicity in Thailand so that there was very little
teaching done in the first year. Most of the work involved
making contacts and finding the people who could benefit
from the program. This was done by word of mouth within
the missionary community, meeting with the contacts given
by the missionary advisors, and personal contacts
established by the Director through the religious

community.

85

In a needs assessment done early on by the Director,
it became apparent that there were three distinct groups
that would benefit through the SAEP. First, pastors and
missionaries who were interested in upgrading their
knowledge and credentials. Many of these individuals had
graduated from Bible‘ school and were now facing
congregations increasingly populated by doctors, lawyers,
engineers, and other well educated people. They felt the
need to develop their own abilities to meet the needs of an
increasingly educated constituency. Many of the
missionaries had come to Thailand at a time when a Bible
school education was sufficient to minister in the country.
The groups they were dealing with were rapidly becoming
more highly educated and they felt the need to keep pace
with them.

A second group that needed the program were pastors
who had crossed over from other occupations. With a lack
of adequate training facilities to meet the needs of the
churches for pastors, the churches often face long periods
of time where there is no full-time pastoral leadership
available. After waiting anywhere from several months to
several years, the church begins to look within itself to
those who have received training in other occupations.
Often these individuals have the leadership abilities
necessary to fulfill their role as professional church

leaders. When they accept the role, they are immediately

86

faced with the need to find some theological training
without leaving the church which has already been without
leadership for a long period of time. Extension education
within their own area is the first choice of many.

A third area of need was in the training of lay
leaders. Christianity in Asia has been growing fastest
within the well educated middle class. This means that
within the church there are many in lay leadership
positions who already have undergraduate degrees and often
some who have graduate degrees. When these individuals
express interest in being involved in their churches on a
part time basis as counselors or lay ministers, they need
some way to increase their skills without giving up the
occupation in which they are already established.
Extension training can fit into their schedule quite
easily.

During the first year in Thailand the SAEP was able to
recruit six students. In 1984, the first residence seminar
was offered in Bangkok and enrollment grew to 31. By 1985,
enrollment had jumped to 89. The program was off the
ground, and growing, with the course completion rate
standing at 62%. By 1990, the overall completion rate was
68%. However, the 1991 report on student enrollment status
shows that persistence in the program as a whole has not
been good in Thailand. Of the 62 students who have

enrolled in the program, 6 have graduated, 34 have

87

withdrawn and 5 are on inactive status. The persistence
rate is only 37%. (For complete statistical information,

see the tables in Appendix One.)

We

After having spent 2-3 years in Thailand setting up
and expanding the SAEP, the mission agency funding the
staff decided that they would not join the consortium of
mission agencies necessary to getting a more permanent visa
to stay in Thailand. It was decided that the headquarters
would be moved to Manila, Philippines. The major
consideration for this move was that one of the mission
agencies involved had been founded and working in the
Philippines for over 50 years and their personnel could
help in setting up in the Philippines and in locating
students needing this kind of a study program.

Another influence was the presence of two
undergraduate Bible schools which had been started by the
mission agency and were now entirely under national
control. The mission agency and the schools together had
been planning for a long period of time for a graduate
theological school but lack of personnel and resources had
prevented its creation. The SAEP could take care of the
needs felt by both the mission agency and the schools and

was therefore welcomed with open arms.

88

Three groups were mentioned as existing in Thailand
and needing the SAEP program: pastors and missionaries,
those assuming pastoral positions with no theological
training, and lay leaders. In the Philippines the ones
making greatest use of the SAEP were the pastors and
missionaries. Especially at the beginning, most of the
national pastors were graduates of the two Bible schools
associated with the mission agency.

The second group, crossovers from other occupations,
were not so prevalent in the Philippines. While there were
a small number, the two Bible schools in the country had
sufficient graduates to meet the needs for most of the
churches in the country. The main area with a shortage of
pastors was in the urban churches since both Bible schools
tended to attract rural students who did not transfer well
to the urban setting. It may be that the SAEP will be
instrumental in upgrading the credentials of some pastors
so that they can meet the needs of the highly educated
urban congregations.

The third group, the lay leaders, were also present.
Many who were deacons and Sunday school teachers became
students. Many of these proved to be very good students.
They had come from secular schools having a high standard
and were ready to complete the work involved in the SAEP.

A fourth group was present in the Philippines which

has not yet been discovered in Thailand. These are the

89

faculty of the two Bible schools. Nearly all of the
faculty in these Philippine schools have only an
undergraduate degree, usually granted by one of these two)
schools. This practice seems to the author to be dangerous
and unhealthy. In the Philippine Bible schools, it has led
to a narrowness in outlook and a diluting of the education
available. The situation has come about mostly because the
graduate schools available are :not denominationally
acceptable and, therefore, the faculty are not willing to
attend them. Since the SAEP is denominationally
acceptable, there was a flood of faculty from these schools
applying to study.

The available pool of students in the Philippines led
to an early decision to have multiple sites. The
headquarters are located in Manila and the building housing
the headquarters has a conference room suitable for
seminars. A second site was opened in Iloilo on the island
of Panay. This is the site of one of the Bible schools and
its campus is used as a host site for the seminars. A
third site was opened much later in Mindinao, with classes
meeting in a large church in the city of Davao. The
Philippines is the only country to date which has more than
one teaching site within the country.

Although a few students took extension courses in the
early years of the program, the first teaching site in the

Philippines was not established until 1986. Course

90

enrollment during that year was 33, with 58% completing
courses. Enrollment increased rapidLy. By 1988, 131
courses were attended, with 69% completed. At the end of
1990, the overall completion rate stood at 69%.
Persistence in the program as a whole has been somewhat
better than in Thailand, with 51 of the 120 students who
have enrolled in the program withdrawing, 6 inactive, and 3
graduated. The persistence rate is 52%. (For detailed

figures, see the tables in Appendix One.)

H229 Kong

Hong Kong became one of the teaching sites as recently
as 1989. Because of its short history there are only two
years of enrollment figures available for this site. It is
still unknown what the pattern of growth will be.

Both Thailand and the Philippines are largely rural in
their make-up, particularly as it relates to the type of
student being helped by the SAEP. Hong Kong is very
industrialized and cosmopolitan. Although it only has 400
square miles, it houses over 5.5 million people. It is a
modern city state. With good public transport, people
living in any given area of the colony can reach other
areas in 45 minutes or less.

One of the reasons it was chosen as a site was that
one of the sponsoring mission agencies had been working in

the colony for about 40 years. This provided some support

91

structure in terms of personnel qualified to teach in the
school, help in publicizing the program, and logistical
help in setting up and running seminars.

Hong Kong also houses one of the mission agencies’
undergraduate Bible schools. This facility couLd be used
as a host for the classes. The school could attract its
graduates into the program by sponsoring the SAEP and
hosting its seminars. Administrators in the host school
were interested in serving as voluntary coordinators for
the SAEP as well.

Although there was no formal needs assessment done
prior to the first seminar in Hong Kong, there had been a
needs assessment done at a meeting of educators from the
sponsoring mission agencies two years before showing each
of the countries as needing help especially in the graduate
area. The large number of students involved from the
beginning confirmed that this was indeed the case.

The primary need proved to be the upgrading of those
involved as church leaders. While a good quality seminary
does exist in Hong Kong, many church leaders were unable to
make use of its program because of finances, time
schedules, or denominational differences. Many felt that
studying in an extension mode was much easier on their
schedules.

The church leaders in Hong Kong also face the problem

of a very highly educated congregation. As the educational

92

level of the average Hong Kong Christian has increased it
has become more pressing for the pastors and other leaders
to keep pace. Studying with the SAEP has been one way to
fulfill this need.

Another group that has taken advantage of the program
are those pastors who are moving out of church ministries
into Bible school ministries. The sponsoring missionary
agency has been emphasizing the indigenization of the Bible
school in Hong Kong, and has been actively recruiting
Chinese teachers and staff. Interested church leaders need
a Masters degree to qualify to teach in the local Bible
schools and the SAEP can provide this degree conveniently
within the schedule of most church leaders.

In Hong Kong the crossover student from other
occupations into pastoral ministry is very rare. Another
group that has not emerged in Hong Kong are the lay leaders
who want to take courses to become a more active part of
their churches’ ministry team.

All of these factors taken together made Hong Kong a
fertile target for the program. During its opening year in
Hong Kong, 40 courses were taken in the residence seminars
of the program with 7 people taking extension (taped)
courses. The second year there were only 3 courses taken
by tape but the residence seminar enrollment rose to 56.

The increase in enrollment was from students who were

93

outside the denominational circle of the sponsoring mission
agency.

While it is clear that the SAEP is attracting many new
students, the program has not been in existence long enough
to establish a pattern of program completion. The course
completion rate for 1989-1990 is 80%, a remarkably high
figure. Enrollment status according to the 1991 SAEP report
is 25 active students, 1 inactive and l withdrawal. Two
students are scheduled to graduate in 1992. Whether this
high persistence rate will continue is a matter of
conjecture. (Complete statistical information is available

in Appendix One.)

Factors Affecting Dropout in the SAEP
gfedibiiity

One of the key factors in the minds of students who
become involved in the SAEP is the fact that the program
offered is accredited by the North Central Association of
Schools and Colleges. When the degree is granted, it comes
from Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary through the SAEP. This
gives the students assurance that the program has met a
recognized standard of quality. It also allows them to use
this program as a building block to degree work in the
future. The degree they will receive upon completion of

the program will be recognized by other accredited

94

theological schools as sufficient credentials to meet their
entrance requirements. Asian peoples, by and large, are
highly educated and knowledgeable about credentials and
respond favorably to an accredited program.

Missionary enrollment in the program in Thailand and
the Philippines has also been a positive factor. Several
students commented that this encouraged them to think of
the program as a quality program, since missionaries, who
had opportunities to attend other schools of good quality
within their own countries while they were on furlough,
found the program challenging. Missionary enrollment has
not been a factor in Hong Kong, since the personnel
assigned to Hong Kong in the past already have Masters
degrees or above. Recent new arrivals have not had such
credentials and have indicated that they do plan to enroll
after they have finished language study.

The recommendation of missionaries in the Philippines
and Hong Kong, where the sponsoring mission agencies have
active works, has also been an important factor in the
growth of the SAEP. In the Philippines, where the mission
agencies had been working for over 50 years, there were
over 600 churches associated with the mission agency and
more than 60 missionaries of that agency working in the
country. This active support base produced much larger
enrollment in the beginning of the program in the

Philippines than would otherwise have been possible.

95

One problem in this area was that the missionaries’
enthusiasm often outweighed their knowledge or
understanding of the program and resulted in students
attending who were not really prepared to study at this
level. Another problem was that students would agree to
study when asked by the missionary but when the seminar was
held and the missionary was no longer there to encourage
them, they chose not to attend. This meant that seminars
prepared to teach twenty students would have 5-10.
Nevertheless, the missionary's recommendation helped
promote the SAEP in the Philippines.

The missionary agencies in Hong Kong have also been
quick to publicize the program. The first students to be
enrolled in the program were those who were graduates of
the mission agency school which was the host school for the
seminar. These students came on the recommendation of the
missionaries who had been their teachers in the host
school. The Christian community in Hong Kong is relatively
small, however, and enthusiastic word-of-mouth from those
who first enrolled in the program spread quickly. By the
second seminar, students who had graduated from other
schools began to be in the majority. Because three of the
teachers at the undergraduate school in Hong Kong were also
adjunct faculty in the SAEP, information about the program

was readily available, and misinformation was also less of

96

a problem. Most of the students who enrolled in the

program were well able to complete the work assigned.

9W

There are several areas that can affect the
convenience or inconvenience of the student. These include
time schedules, locations, availability of library and

research facilities, and affordability.

line W

Schedules for taped courses are fixed with two
semesters. The first semester runs from May 1 through Oct.
4. The second is Oct. 1 through March 15. This schedule
is true for all Asian sites. The only problem with these
dates for most Asians is the time it takes for mail to
arrive for advertisement, registration, and turning in
completed materials. The dates are entirely arbitrary, set
up merely for the convenience of the office staff. Some
thought should perhaps be given to extending these dates,
or perhaps to some more flexible pacing system.

The daily time schedule for resident seminars is also
the same for all Asian sites. At each seminar, one course
is offered from 8-12 AM and a second one from 1-5 PM.
Those who are free to take both courses can come in the
morning and stay for the entire day. These times were
established in the beginning in Thailand, and they are

equally convenient in Hong Kong, where meetings for the

97

church tend to be held at night. The difficulty for the
student in Hong Kong is that there is a temptation to
maintain a normal work schedule in the evening while
attending classes during the day. If there is a lot of
daily work, the student gets behind and by the second week
is both unprepared and very tired. For this reason many
students in Hong Kong opt to take only one of the two
courses offered in each seminar. This problem would not be
addressed by changing the time schedule, of course, but by
counseling new students not to tackle double seminars
unless they are able to get some time off work.

The morning seminar is at a good time for the
Philippines, since most people are up by 5 AM. The
afternoon class is more difficult since there is normally a
siesta time after lunch. In addition, faculty members of
the Manila Bible school, which is on the opposite side of
town from the SAEP headquarters, find it difficult to
arrive for the start of the second course. Although there
is no empirical evidence that changing the time of the
second seminar would affect enrollment, it does seem
logical to fix a schedule that suits the local students and
their culture, rather than the convenience of the visiting
professors.

In Hong Kong, Thailand, and Iloilo, where local Bible
schools host the SAEP, the seminars are mostly set up to

correspond with vacations at the host school. Faculty

98

members who do not have graduate degrees can thus
conveniently attend seminars. In Thailand, the host school
receives benefits from the SAEP by allowing their
undergraduate students to take the courses that are being
offered with reduced requirements. This enables students
to have a wider choice of courses and professors than the
school is able to offer on their own. In Hong Kong, the
undergraduate school has several highly qualified faculty
members who are approved as adjunct faculty for the SAEP
and can be scheduled to teach if the seminars are held
during school vacations.

Scheduling seminars during vacation periods also
enables the host school to make classroom and library
facilities freely available to SAEP students. In Thailand,
dorm facilities are also made available to any students
coming from outside of Bangkok to take the courses.

In Thailand, seminars are usually held in April and
October, with specific dates announced after the host
school announces their vacation dates. In Hong Kong, the
seminars are usually held in January and September. The
Davao seminar is flexible since a church hosts the seminar
and there is no need to fit into specific dates. Dates are
usually set at approximately six month intervals and are
announced well in advance. Seminars in Manila are held at
the SAEP headquarters and are also not controlled by the

school’s vacation periods. Consequently, the Bible school

99

faculty in Manila can only come to the afternoon seminars

since most of them are teaching in the mornings.

chation

In Thailand, the host school is located within the
metropolitan area of Bangkok. This has both a positive and
negative impact. A positive factor is that it allows
students who come to Bangkok to use the public transport
facilities which provide for ease of travel. The traffic
congestion in Bangkok is well-known in Asia but public
services are available. The negative impact is that the
majority of the Thai students who are presently enrolled in
the SAEP are all living in the Bangkok area. The program
has not yet been able to reach Thai church leaders living
in the remoter areas of Thailand. Publicity is lacking to
make them aware of the program. Many Thai pastors also
lack the necessary financial resources to come to Bangkok
for a two week seminar.

There are several missionaries who work with the
Laotian and Burmese refugees in the North who come into
Bangkok to take the resident seminars. These missionaries
are citizens of Finland, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA.
More needs to be done to facilitate the outlying Thai
pastors coming to the Bangkok site or there needs to be new
provision made for resident seminars to be held in areas

like Chiang Mai and Phuket.

100

In ‘the: Philippines, the decision to provide three
sites within the country has gone a long ways toward
helping make the seminars available to the students
throughout the country. In Manila the location of the
seminar is in a well traveled and available part of town.
However, many of the students come from outside the city
and experience travel times of 1-2 hours caused by traffic
congestion during rush hours. Inconvenience in the support
systems is endemic in the Philippines, and unavoidable.
Traffic in Iloilo is also heavy, but since it is a small
city those riding to the seminars each day do not
experience the same level of difficulty as the students in
Manila. Most of the students who come into the seminar
from out of town will stay in the dorm at the host school.

The Davao seminar is held in a large church on the
:main street of town, which makes travel quite convenient.
Members of the church make their homes available to
students who come from out of town. The greatest location
difficulty here is the days that it may take for the
students to arrive in Davao by boat or bus from distant
places. While students in the Philippines are very poor,
there are a few who have been able to travel from their
home, located in one teaching site area, to another
teaching site to facilitate completing the program in a

shorter period of time.

101

Classes in Hong Kong have been held in the host
school’s facilities and in a church on the same floor as
the host school. The host school is located on the second
floor of a high rise building in an industrial section of
Hong Kong. It is very near to both subway and bus stations
and easy to get to. While the Chinese students would
prefer a more suburban location, the area is well known
since there are many churches located in this part of the
city.

Seminar facilities in each of the three sites are
quite good. One of the major problems in all of Asia is
the heat and humidity constantly present, making the
classroom atmosphere very stifling. Each of the teaching
sites has at least one fairly large classroom that is air
conditioned. Tables or desks are available for students
and blackboards and overhead projectors are available for
the teachers’ use. Most of the locations provide for
drinks and snacks to be available during the class breaks.
The SAEP has made a real effort to provide services as
requested by each of the host schools, and the hosts have

generally made the SAEP feel very welcomed to this point.

Accesg t_p 1.1m faciiiti es

Whether taking an extension course by tape or working
on the assigned project after finishing a residence
seminar, students in distance education can be plagued with

the problem of inadequate library resources. This is a

102

problem that seems to be inherent to all distance
education. In the case of the SAEP, the various sites
differ widely in the resources available to students.
Students in Hong Kong do not lack for library
resources. Because the colony is so small geographically,
no student is more than 45 minutes away from the host
school library, which is adequate and available for the use
of SAEP students. There are also several other Bible
schools and three major universities in Hong Kong with very
good libraries. Students who live in Manila also have
ready access to good library facilities. The staff members
at the SAEP headquarters make their rather extensive
libraries available to students. There are also several
other resident theological schools in Manila which will
permit students access to their library facilities.
Students in Thailand and the Philippines who do not
live in the capital cities are less fortunate. While on
site in Bangkok for a resident seminar, the library
resources of the host school are available to Thai
students. However, the main period of study comes after
the seminar and a lack of resources during this time is a
real source of concern. Library facilities at the host
school in Iloilo are quite limited, due to the lack of
money in that school to buy books. There are several small
schools scattered throughout the island of Panay which

would allow students to use their facilities, but it is

103

7 _

rare for them to have adequate resources in the theological
section. In Mindinao, where classes are held in church
facilities, there is no host school library at all. Most
of the students in these locations are dependent on their
own holdings and those of friends that may have a few
books. Occasionally missionaries also have books that can
be of help, but since these missionaries are not involved
in formal educational ministries, their libraries are very
restricted.

Both extension and residence seminars provide
textbooks with the course. Other materials must be found
by the student. It seems unreasonable to expect students
who have difficulty affording tuition and texts to purchase
adequate resource materials. Some thought has been given
to providing a lending library through the SAEP, but this
has proved impractical for two reasons. First, mailing
books between Asian countries is so time consuming and
unreliable. Secondly, a high percentage of books loaned
out are never returned. One possible ray of hope may be
the use of computer links to a study site where reference
materials could be called up for the student’s use.
However, while this technology does exist, at the present
time it appears to be beyond the financial reach of the

average student and the SAEP.

104

Cost

 

It was very obvious that students in Thailand and the
Philippines would not be able to pay the tuition rates that
a U.S. student on-campus would be expected to pay. The
accrediting association has recommended that the overseas
extension students be expected to pay one half of the on-
campus rate. Even this is beyond the ability of the
average student. Church leaders wishing to study in the
SAEP are mostly from small struggling churches which are
unable to pay very good salaries. Even though the churches
in. Thailand. have :middle class people in ‘them, the
congregations are small and are often made up of members
who are very young and are at entry level in their
professions. Many of the churches in the Philippines are
in rural areas, with membership made up almost entirely of
the poor, and the pastors receive very little salary.
Most Asians are expected to contribute funds to their
extended families which leaves very little for areas such
as education.

Disparity in ability to pay is an issue that continues
today. Within the early history of the SAEP, this became
noticeable when both national and expatriate students were
taking the same residence or extension courses. It was
decided that expatriate students would be expected to pay
one half of the home campus tuition rate but would receive

benefit of the book subsidies offered by the program. This

105

still created a problem in deciding what to charge students
from the various Asian countries. Some attempt was made to
tie the tuition hours to the cost of a bag of rice in the
various countries. This did not work out well. It was
finally decided that the Thai students would be charged US
$10 per credit hour and that scholarship funds would be
raised and made available for the Thai students. in: this
point Thai students have not indicated that the cost of the
program is a factor against their being involved.

In the Philippines, it soon became apparent that even
$10 per hour would be beyond the average student’s ability
to pay. This was the most important influence keeping
students from enrolling in the program. It was necessary
to find ways to keep the costs of the seminars as low as
possible and to find funds to be used as scholarship money
to help students continue in the program. At present,
students in the Philippines are paying $5 per credit hour.

Missionaries under the mission agency used as a
channel for SAEP staff began to donate funds to the school
to be used for scholarships. Some were also willing to
sponsor individual students. Interested individuals in the
Us also began to raise funds to be used in purchasing books
for these seminars so that the students could receive book
subsidies as a means to keep the cost low. Plans are

presently being made to find donors in the US who will

106

donate both in a one time gift and by a monthly pledge to
subsidize students in the Philippines.

The students in Hong Kong are the ones most able to
meet the tuition costs of the seminar. At $30 per credit
hour, they are the only students approaching the North
Central Association of Schools and Colleges’ recommendation
that overseas students be required to pay one half of the
on-campus cost of tuition. In Hong Kong it is also normal
for the church to cover the cost of any educational program
undertaken by its leadership. Therefore, there is no

hardship on the student in the matter of tuition costs.

Connnnicatipn

Because Hong Kong is a modern city with emphasis on
entrepreneurship and business acumen, communication is very
efficient. Phones are readily available and in good
service. Mail service is also highly efficient. With
public transport available to move over three million
people per day, it is easy for the students to come to the
seminars or visit the coordinator of the program. Hong
Kong is the most likely site open at present to make use of
fax facilities and computer hook ups to facilitate
assignments being turned in, graded, and returned, as well
as keeping up with the records.

The infrastructure of Thailand is also quite good.

Mail and telephone services are able to facilitate

107

communication between students and teachers or the
headquarters. Some students do live in areas where the
facilities may be limited or slow, but there seems to be no
problem in mail getting through. At present there are
discussions taking place regarding increased use of fax or
computer teleconferencing between the local office and the
students as well as between the local office and the Asian
headquarters. Use of advanced technology of this type may
be delayed for any students living in areas where these
facilities do not presently exist.

The infrastucture of the Philippines is not very good.
The mail and telephone services are not dependable and are
a hindrance to aiding students in communicating with the
school or with each other. A recent informal record of
mail was kept in the headquarters where it was discovered
that about 25% of the mail coming in and going out was
being lost. Telephone communication within the country is
very time consuming and cannot be counted on to be clear
enough to hear or to be able to get through to the person
sought. Fax and computers are being used to alleviate some
of this problem. However, the power sources in Manila are
not sufficient to meet the demand and this leads to
brownouts most days for up to four hours.

It has been decided that the headquarters of the SAEP
must be moved to another site where the infrastructure is

better able to meet the needs of the school. The

108

communication problem of the students in the Philippines
will continue after the headquarters move as they try to

communicate with the headquarters and with each other.

usooftnoliobaanMofIn—Muct'on

Both Hong Kong and the Philippines have a long history
of English usage as a trade language and as the language of
colonizers. The students in the Philippines generally have
the best grasp of English of any of the present sites,
especially among the urban people or those who have any
connection to business. Most upper level schooling is
conducted in English, including instruction in the local
Bible schools, and any meeting that involves Filipinos from
different language groups is likely to be conducted in
English. Therefore, the average student is able to
comprehend and communicate in English.

In Hong Kong, the level of English is somewhat lower,
hampered partly by the fact that English in schools is
mostly taught by Chinese teachers who learned their English
in Hong Kong. In recent years there has been an increase
in the level of English because of a larger number of
students studying in the West who return to do business in
Hong Kong and because of the emphasis on increasing trade
in world business, which is mostly done in English.

The host school of the seminars in Hong Kong has been
staffed by missionary teachers who taught in English. It

is in transition now to national faculty members but still

109

has about 40% of its courses taught in English. Other
Bible schools in the city are mostly taught in Chinese with
the occasional guest lecturer brought in from the West.
When this happens they often use a translator. The
Universities in Hong Kong use much more English than
Chinese as a medium of instruction.

Thailand has been the site of greatest difficulty in
the use of English in the classroom and in assignments.
Thailand is just now emerging as one of the more
economically developed areas in Asia; therefore, the study
of English in the classroom is behind that of some other
areas in Asia, such as Hong Kong or Singapore. Filipino
students from rural areas where English is not so widely
used also experience some difficulty, as do a sizable
minority of the students in Hong Kong. In nearly every
case, the students’ comprehension of English is better than
their ability to use English in spoken or written
communication.

When resident seminars are offered, both teachers with
and without cross cultural experience are used. Teachers
are encouraged to speak slowly, to avoid slang, and to
provide written notes to help students whose listening
comprehension lags behind their reading comprehension. As
a general rule, the classes are informal and rely heavily
on teaching techniques that involve give and take between

teacher and student rather than lecture. In this

110

situation, expatriate missionaries or Asian students who
are proficient in English can translate difficult words and
concepts for less able students. Sometimes when the class
situation does not lend itself to immediate translation,
one can hear discussions during the breaks in which
misunderstandings are being cleared, but it is generally
considered more effective for the teacher to encourage
discussion during the class itself. Professors are
encouraged to do the best they can in understanding the
meaning of any oral or written communication without
allowing the grammatical presentation to detract from the

meaning of the student and adversely affect his grade.

Ditected Study Counses

The most difficult communication problem in the SAEP
at present is in the taped courses offered by extension.
These were prepared for and delivered to students at the
seminary in the U. S. by professors in Grand Rapids who
rarely have any cross cultural experience. Often the
quality of the tape is not as good as it should be, which
hinders comprehension by anyone but is especially difficult
for students studying in a second language. Also, the
Western professors use slang and abstract vocabulary in
presenting difficult concepts. This is further complicated
by the fact that no help is given to the Eastern student

whose thinking process is different. Not only is the

111

language difficult but the way the concepts are presented
may further complicate communication and comprehension.
Lacking the option of two-way communication, many students
simply give up.

At the present time, completion rates in residence
seminars are considerably higher in all the Asian sites
than are completion rates for the extension courses. This
is true in spite of the fact that the student is required
to complete an extensive ministry or research project after
he returns home from the seminar in order to get credit for
the course. Overall completion rates for extension courses
is 54%, for resident seminars 73%. (For a further
breakdown of these figures, see the tables in Appendix
One.) It is extremely important that the SAEP develop new
taped courses written by Asians for Asians. However,
this is a long and costly project and will not be realized

in the near future.

Huma Qontact

In the study of dropout literature, one is immediately
aware that the biggest factor in social or academic
integration is the right human contact between the student
and the school (Bean, 1980; Keegan, 1986; Lenning, Beal &
Sauer, 1980; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1977; Ramist, 1981;
Spady, 1971; Terenzini & Pascarella, 1978; Tinto, 1975).

The perception that there is someone available who can

112

help with the student’s problems and is interested in him
or her can be the single most important factor in retaining
students who show interest in any distance education
program (Brady, 1976; Holmberg, 1986).

Since the SAEP began in Thailand, the first
headquarters was readily available to the students there
whether they were Thais or expatriates. Growth was seen
from 1983-1985 in both extension and residence courses, the
number of courses taken increasing from six in 1983 to 89
in 1985. With the relocation of the headquarters to Manila
in 1985, 1986-87 were years of decline. Only 48 and 40
courses were taken in these two years. Many of the
students enrolled in the program were not as active during
this period. With the hiring in 1987 of an Asian to be the
part-time country coordinator for Thailand, the enrollment
in resident seminars began to reverse itself, with 51
courses taken in 1988 and 50 in 1989. In 1990, the co-
ordinator left the country to continue his education and
course enrollment dropped to 46.

Student persistence in the program is the lowest in
Thailand of any of the sites, with only 37% of those
students who have enrolled either graduating or remaining
active in the program in 1991. (Complete statistics are
available in the tables in Appendix One.) While there may
have been many factors contributing to the pattern of

student persistence in Thailand, the most obvious and

113

important one is having someone in-country who can deal
with students’ needs, encourage students to persist toward
the completion of the program, and be active in face-to-
face recruiting of new students.

With the headquarters of the SAEP present in Manila,
the students there have the ability to drop in and talk
directly to the staff or call on the telephone. This tends
to create the interaction that Tinto and others felt would
strengthen the tie of the student to the school.
Therefore, in Manila there is not a problem with human
contact.

In Iloilo and Davao the situation is quite different.
No staff reside in either of these sites and at present
there is no one assigned full-time to handle the
responsibilities of a coordinator for these sites. This
means that someone who is not associated with the program
is doing this job in a voluntary capacity and is not really
conversant with the program. Often this is a missionary
who is anxious for the program to thrive and who does not
understand all the aspects of the program, which makes it
easy for him/her to promise things that the school cannot
deliver. Another problem caused by using missionaries is
that the missionary is out of the country for furlough for
at least one out of every five years. This leaves a gap
that works against the program. The missionaries have

worked hard in recruiting students for the school and

114

should be commended for this. However, there is a need for
someone connected to the SAEP and more familiar with the
program to provide the human contact at these sites.

Plans are currently being made to move the
headquarters of the SAEP to Singapore in the summer of
1992. It remains to be seen what will happen to the
enrollment statistics in the Philippines if adequate in-
country coordinators have not yet been found to take care
of the program. If the Thai pattern is the norm it should
be expected that the enrollment will be reduced until good
human contact has been restored.

When the program opened in Hong Kong in 1989 the
coordinator was one of the administrators at the host
school who was also approved as an adjunct professor with
the SAEP. Students were able to take their problems to
the coordinator, a Western missionary, and have him handle
it. This administrator moved on to a new position out of
the country in 1990 and a church worker who was an alumni
of the host school was recruited to take over this
position. Not being involved in education and having no
familiarity with the procedures of the program, the
coordinator did not feel adequate for the task. It remains
to be seen how this will affect the enrollment in the

program.

115

Winthohaiotonanooofooontrxw rd'nat s
The SAEP staff keenly feel the need to maintain

knowledgeable resident staff or counselors at each of the
teaching sites. However, the nature of the SAEP
organization creates difficulty in making funds available
to recruit and hire local administrators to be in-country
coordinators or national professors. At present the SAEP
only receives funding from interested people or churches
who choose to give monthly or in one time gifts. Local
tuition is used to pay expenses for seminars and local
office expenses, but is not sufficient for air fare or
salaries. There is no money that comes directly from the
mother school or from the mission agency. Both the mission
agencies are faith missions, which means that they merely
approve missionary candidates who are then responsible to
go to churches to raise their own support. Part of the
support figure that they are to raise is the work funds
that will be necessary to maintain the ministry they are
involved in. When a missionary joins the SAEP, he/she is
requested to raise a specified amount of support for the
program in addition to his/her own salary. These pooled
funds become the working budget of the SAEP. While some
funds come in from outside sources, the staff of the SAEP
provide the vast majority of the budget.

The problem that arises is that as SAEP continues to

operate in Southeast Asia, one of its goals is to find

116

Asians who are qualified and capable to be part of the
staff of the institution. With its present structure the
SAEP will not have funds to pay salaries for such people as
well as cover the other expenses of the program. It is
unlikely that the mission agencies will be willing to
accept. the :national faculty' and staff' members into
missionary status since that would bring them to the US and
require them to raise funds within the US for their
salaries. This lack of funding will create a personnel
shortage which will mean sufficient staff and faculty will
not be available to provide the human contact needed in a
distance learning situation to maximize the program’s
effectiveness.

A further problem in recruitment of staff and faculty
is the tension that exists between the Director of the SAEP
and the mission agency. As a missionary with the mission
agency, he is under its authority. With the agreement
between the mother school and the mission agency, the
mission agency has seconded him to the authority of the
mother school. While authority is to come from the school
side, there are still responsibilities and loyalties to the
mission agency which is providing sponsorship for his
funding. The difficult part is that those missionaries who
have been serving in Southeast Asia for a number of years
and are qualified to teach on the graduate level are the

first priority for recruitment to the program. This takes

117

these missionaries away from other very worthwhile projects
in Southeast Asia and the mission agency then must recruit
others for those projects. Since missions requires a great
deal of time for missionary preparation in language
learning and cultural training, it is easy to understand
the reluctance on the part of the mission agency to release
those who have already received this training from direct
field ministries into the SAEP. There will always be a
struggle to determine which task should be the priority
task, thus creating tensions between the SAEP Director and
the missionary administrator in charge of the personnel in
Southeast Asia.

Another problem in meeting the need for human contact
through the SAEP structure is the matter of size. Because
of a limited staff (5 units as of 1991) it is not possible
to place these staff members in different countries in Asia
to act in a dual role as staff and country coordinators.
All five of the staff are presently assigned to the
headquarters site. Those who are acting as country
coordinators are people who are not part of the SAEP staff
but are interested educators, church leaders, or
missionaries working in their respective countries and
volunteering their time and energy to promote the SAEP.
While this is generous of the individuals involved and
essential to the program at this time, it would be better

in the overall interests of the program to have staff

118

located at these sites who can advise students at that site
about all of the details of the program, which the
volunteers presently cannot do. While the SAEP leadership
would like to see two or more staff families located in
each of the teaching sites throughout Southeast Asia, the
reality is that this is not feasible in the near future in
terms of personnel or finances. This means that more work
needs to be done in facilitating communication between
volunteers and home office staff as well as educating the

volunteers regarding the program and its requirements.

Emerson—”ac Mite—SEEM 'n s

The huge success of the residence seminar in Asia has
come as a surprise to the administration of the SAEP.
Originally, it was expected that the bulk of the program
would be taken by extension, with perhaps a few more than
the required core of 12 hours taken in the residence
seminar. Instead, the residence seminars quickly gained in
popularity while the extension courses languished. In
1984, with Thailand the only location offering residence
seminars, taped courses still accounted for only 64% of the
total courses taken. By 1987, seminars constituted 75% of
the courses. In 1990, only 10% of the course enrollment
was in the extension mode. Course completion has also been
consistently higher in the seminar courses. (Complete
figures are available in the tables in Appendix One).

There are undoubtedly many factors involved in the

119

popularity of the seminar mode. The poorly adapted nature
of the extension courses has already been discussed. The
more traditional appearance of the seminar may also be
comforting to the Asian students, to whom distance
education is a relatively new concept. However, the most
important factor in the success of the seminar seems to be
the increased opportunity for human contact. Students find
great benefit in discussing practical ministry problems
with the other practitioners present at the seminars. The
give and take of the seminar situation facilitates the
adaptation of courses to the exact needs of the student
population in the various sites. Professors expert in
various fields are seen as valuable resources both inside
and outside of class time.

Early in the development of the SAEP, the decision was
made to ensure that one full-time staff member attend every
SAEP seminar. Frequently, the staff member is scheduled to
teach one of the courses. However, if course scheduling
requires that two adjunct professors be flown in to teach
the two courses, an additional staff member is also present
to handle administrative matters. A surprising amount of
academic counseling is conducted during these seminars as
students and prospective students come with questions
regarding the program or their own academic needs,
especially in those sites where the country coordinator is

lacking. Students who remain in the program for some time

120

often become quite well acquainted with staff members,
since the number of SAEP staff is still relatively small.
The nature of the residence seminars may thus be an
important element in increasing student persistence through

human contact.

Summary

Through its Southeast Asia Extension Program, the
Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary is offering distance
education for religious training on a graduate level. The
status of the SAEP is enhanced by its accreditation through
the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges and
by recommendation of missionaries in the various countries,
many of whom have enrolled in the program themselves.

Scheduling for seminars is more often arranged in
response to administrative considerations than student
convenience, but generally this has worked out to be quite
convenient to most students. The locations of the seminars
are generally convenient and pleasant and the facilities
adequate, although an additional teaching site needs to be
added in Thailand and a lack of research and library
facilities has presented a problem in some of the sites.
The cost of the program has had to be scaled down in most
of the countries below the price recommended by the
accrediting association and scholarship funds have been set

up for those who cannot meet even the modest fees charged.

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The reliability of the infrastructure and the
availability of advanced technology such as fax machines
and computers varies a great deal from one site to another.
The use of English as a medium of instruction creates some
problems; care must be taken to minimize these problems.
The creation of materials adapted to the Asian situation,
both culturally and linguistically, is especially important
in the extension courses.

Although the early expectation of the SAEP
administration was that Asian students would prefer to
study via extension courses (taped or written materials),
the reality is that these students still prefer to have
some contact with teachers in a face—to-face setting.
While some improvement in the quality and style of the
taped courses might bring about an increase in their usage,
it would appear that Asian students still feel most
comfortable in doing a majority of their work in a face-to-
face setting.

The Southeast Asia Extension Program also needs to
find ways to increase human contact in its administrative
structure, especially through the use of country co-
ordinators. Ideally, this needs to become a paid position,
allowing the coordinator to devote full energies to the
program. At the least, part-time staff members should be
given careful training to prepare them to administer the

program in—country. Adequate SAEP offices maintained in

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each country should both increase the recruitment of new
students and relieve some of the students’ feelings of
isolation, which can often lead to dropout. Increased
technology, such as fax machines, teleconferencing, and
multi-media courses should also help students find more

satisfaction and response in the program.

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CHAPTER FIVE

STRATEGIES TO PREVENT DROPOUT IN DISTANCE EDUCATION

The distance education literature emphasizes two broad
areas that are important to the distance student. First is
the concern for meeting the learner’s needs, especially
those of the non-traditional student who faces a more
diverse set of difficulties in returning to a program of
study. Secondly, there is great concern that the distance
aspect of distance education might hinder the integration
of the student. Special care needs to be taken to improve
the student’s interaction with himself/herself as a
learner, with his/her peers, and with the instructors or
administration. While this is also a concern in traditional
institutions, they have the advantage of daily contact
between the teacher and the student because of their
geographical situation. The concern in distance education
is that the isolated student may feel that the school
offering the program has no one interested in him/her and
the problems that he/she may encounter. This leads to
alienation from the program and ultimately the student
drops out.

The Open University, with its active maintenance of

student centers and counselors, offers a means by which

124

some of these problems may be overcome. While their system
may not work in every detail in another setting, it does
provide a framework for keeping the relationship between
the student and the program in good harmony. The major
challenge seems to be to develop a balance between the
student’s independence in feeling in control of his/her own
program and the school’s ability to monitor the student’s
progress. The school needs to be able to offer needed help
without infringing on the student’s freedom.

The experience of the Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary’s
Southeast Asia Extension Program can offer some guidelines
to smaller institutions, without the vast resources of the
Open University, as they seek to provide adequate student
services to the more selective clientele that they serve.

The areas to be considered for appropriate strategies
will be presented in an outline dealing with policies,
people, places, and publications. In each section, the
strategies found in the study will be presented, compared
as they apply to the Open University and the Southeast Asia
Extension Program, and discussed in terms of a broader

consideration for the small distance education program.

Policies

Before any publicity is created for any institution,

there are certain policies that must be established that

125

will have a great bearing on the nature of the institution.
Three policies likely to have an effect on the dropout rate
will be considered in this section. These areas are

admission policies, publicity, and orientation.

Admissionol'riiox

One of the factors that has marked the Open University
as a leader in non-traditional education has been their
policy of open admissions. According to Perry (1977), the
open admissions policy was a conscious effort to fill a
recognized gap in the British educational system. The
status of a person was too dependent on his/her past
educational experience and there were very few ways
available to overcome this deficit. With a growth in the
concept of egalitarianism in education, it was necessary to
provide a program in which no one would be denied a place
because of a lack of previous education. There were no
preconditions set or minimum credentials required to apply
for entry to the Open University. Keegan (1981) states
that just over 40% of those entering the OU did not have
the traditional credentials required at most universities.
Since the CD was given a charter by the government, the
university was free to make such a policy while their
graduates are recognized as having a qualified graduate

degree. Even with a high percentage of students not having

126

recognized credentials to study, the OU still maintained a
graduation rate of 60% (Perry, 1977).

The SAEP is an extension of the Grand Rapids Baptist
Seminary, which is accredited by the North Central
Association of Schools and Colleges. The accrediting
association’s policy is that students admitted to an
approved program must have sufficient credentials to enter
the appropriate level of study. Although the accrediting
association allows for a category of special, highly
motivated students who may be admitted on probation in
spite of insufficient credentials, the SAEP does not have
the option of choosing an open admissions policy. It is
restricted to the policies of the accrediting association.

Schools can also choose to restrict their admissions
beyond the matter of credentials. The restrictions for
admission to SAEP include: (1) evidence of a salvation
experience, (2) demonstration of abilities to minister, (3)
a B.A. or its equivalent, with a G.P.A. of 2.5 or above
necessary to avoid probation, (4) confirmation of at least
three years in some field of professional full-time
ministry, (5) ability to use oral and written English, and
(6) adherence to the SAEP Doctrinal Statement (Grand Rapids
Baptist Seminary, 1989). These restrictions indicate the
nature of the institution and the goals it wants to

accomplish. Other theological institutions would be

127

expected to have a similar set of restrictions with a
difference in the doctrinal statement.

The OD and the SAEP indicate the extreme ends of the
range that exist in admission policies; the OU as a large,
government sponsored institution seeking tn: make its
program available to all citizens equally and the SAEP as a
small, private school aiming only to continue the education
of professional church ministers. Other schools between
these two extremes may need to add restrictions or ease
restrictions depending on their nature and goals. Some
theological schools have chosen not to seek accreditation
simply because they want to set their own restrictions and
not be under the influence of any other group in doing so.
Denominational schools can continue to do this as long as
the denomination is sufficiently large to contain a
clientele who are more concerned about denominational
values than they are about accredited degrees.

Studies have shown that religious institutions
generally have higher persistence rates than secular
schools (Cope, 1978). This trend undoubtedly reflects the
more careful admissions policies and the explicit,
specialized mission of the schools. Lenning, Beal & Sauer
(1980) found that "those institutions that had a clearly
defined mission and communicated it throughout their
institution have higher retention rates than the schools

where the purpose has become clouded."

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The admissions department and policies play one of the
most vital roles of the institution. Some admissions
departments have been guilty of recruiting students to pump
up numbers and revenue with no concern for the fit between
student and program (Noel, 1978). The institution’s self-
study should reveal this weakness so that it can be
corrected. Within this study the question the institution
needs to deal with is not how many students need to be
retained, but rather how the institution can meet the
educational needs of the students that are admitted. "The
primary goal of effective retention programs should not be
merely that more students be retained but that they be
further educated" (Tinto, 1985). If the admission policies
are too broad and the programs cannot meet the needs of the
students who have been admitted, the dropout rates will be
needlessly high. If the policies are too restrictive,
students who need the training and could contribute their
resources to the program will be overlooked and

opportunities will be missed.

Eubiicity

The catalogue of programs and policies is the backbone
of the publicity of any institution. In order to be as
attractive as possible to prospective students, exaggerated
claims may be made in the catalogue which will lead to the

disenchantment of the student when the truth is discovered

129

(Lenning, Beals & Sauer, 1980; Ramist, 1981) .
Representatives who make contact with those interested in
the school or its programs should be well informed and
careful not to mislead students. Publicity materials
mailed to prospective students and application materials
must also be accurate in all details. While it is expected
that pictures of the school will be of the most beautiful
areas, embellishing of faculty, courses, or programs is
deceiving the student and will ultimately have a negative
influence on the school’ 5 reputation. Both the ability to
attract new students and to keep students enrolled will be
adversely affected.

On the other hand, it is important that publicity and
admissions materials be attractively presented and of good
quality. In Bean’s model of attrition (1980), one of the
most important variables is the perceived quality of the
school. School materials that are of poor quality will not
attract new students, nor will it foster the kind of school
pride that encourages integration and persistence.

At present, publicity is one of the weak areas of the
SAEP program. The catalogues have been run off on copy
machines and stapled together. No pictures have been used
to enhance the attractiveness of the catalogue. Some of
the printing has not been of very good quality. This has
been due to a lack of funds, a lack of staff, and a

"missionary mentality" that causes missionaries to try to

130

get by as cheaply as possible in an effort to "save the
Lord’s money." There has been little done in the area of
brochures and flyers and, again, what has been done has
been of poor quality.

The program has been dependent on word of mouth
publicity from those who have taken courses in the past.
It also depends on the influence of the sponsoring mission
agencies’ missionaries to steer people toward the program.
While the poor quality of the materials may put off some
quality students, the inadequate information given by the
missionaries promoting the program may cause some students
to enroll who are not really suited to the program. The
student may not be able to meet the school’s expectations
or the school may not be able to meet the student’s
expectations. In either case, dropout is the most likely
result. More work needs to be done in implementing a
controlled recruitment program and in creating attractive,
informative materials to recruit students who will fit the
program.

Budgets are a main factor to consider in the range of
quantity and quality of materials to be used in publicity.
The OU has available public funds to help in the publicity
materials it uses while others may need to depend more on
personal appearances and alumni or related agency

influence. As with admissions, there needs to be a balance

131

between exaggerated claims and shoddy materials to make the

most of this tool.

Otientgtion

Orientation within traditional education has normally
meant a program during the week the new students arrive on
campus to familiarize them with the physical layout of the
campus and introduce them to the school where they will
study for the next four years. This may also include a
time for adjusting to roommates, getting to know some of
the faculty, and taking care of some of the administrative
paperwork necessary for record keeping. Within the
distance education framework it has a very different
meaning.

Orientation for the distance education student places
very little emphasis on geography. It may be necessary to
inform a student where a study center is located or where a
tutorial class will be held but not much more. The greater
concern is on helping the student understand the program
and its procedures and also in making sure the student is
ready to study.

In the area of helping the student integrate into the
program as smoothly as possible, the OU has worked hard at
enrolling the new students as early as possible before the
study terms begin so that the tutor-counselors can make

contact with them and help them feel comfortable (Keegan,

132

1981). The initial work of the tutor-counselor is to build
a relationship with these new students. The students need
to be comfortable enough to initiate contact when they
need it. Otherwise the tutor may not be aware of the
obstacles encountered by the students. Distance education
students are sometimes insecure because of previous
traumatic educational experiences, or they may worry that
having been out of the classroom for a long period of time
may cause some difficulty in being able to study again.
The encouragement of an experienced tutor in counseling
with these students may be all that is needed.

An additional use of the orientation process is to
create some social opportunities for the new students to
get together. Meeting others in the program is important to
a sense of belonging. Students are encouraged to find
others who may be able to form study groups in a local
area. It’s also an opportunity for new students to meet
others who may have been studying in the program for a
period of time. Older students can often give help and
advice that new students might not request from a tutor-
counselor.

At present, the SAEP has no orientation process.
Course announcements are mailed out several weeks in
advance of a seminar. It is often unknown how many
students will be taking a course since they are allowed to

sign up even on the first day of the course. This means

133

that new students to the program can show up on the first
day of the seminar, apply for the course, and also hand in
an application to the program at the same time. Although
the application will take a few weeks to process in the
headquarters of the SAEP, the student is immediately
allowed to begin his/her course of study. Therefore, no
orientation has taken place previous to the student’s first
day of class.

Since there is an SAEP staff member there for the
seminar, the student can ask questions about the program
outside of the classroom during breaks and before and after
class. Attending the seminar will acquaint the new student
with others studying in the program. However, some formal
orientation needs to be put into place that will indicate
which students need help before studying the initial
course. One of the problems now surfacing is that many
students were not able to pass the first two or three
courses they took because they did not understand how the
program operated or did not have sufficient ability to
handle the material. This is especially dangerous if they
are borderline academically since the failures in the
initial courses will bring down the G.P.A. and can
disqualify them from graduating. There needs to be
consideration given to changing the policy of allowing men
and women to register for a course before being accepted as

students and demonstrating a knowledge of how the program

134

works and their ability to handle the level of the
material.

One of the main emphases of the orientation experience
for many may be getting used to using mail, telephone, or
computer communication as part of the education experience.
Such communication is one way to positively influence the
integration/interaction factor that can aid in persistence
(Tinto, 1988). However, their use may seem strange to the
new student. In international education, the cost of fax
or phone communication can be high. Inefficient mail
service may cause havoc with deadlines of study terms,
necessitating the use of phone or fax. Students from the
lower side of the economic scale may find such costs
prohibitive, leading to frustration which would result in
dropout. Orientation materials should explore this area of

potential difficulty.

People

The lifeblood of any educational program are the
people that the students have contact with. If these
contacts do not meet the student’s expectations, alienation
will occur and persistence in the program will be
negatively affected (Brady, 1976; Holmberg, 1986). With
this in mind, there are three main areas that need

attention in regards to how the school can improve its

135

people to meet the expectations of the students:

administration, teaching, and advising.

Administfation

Often the earliest contact the student has is with
someone who is responsible to process the student’s
application or respond to an inquiry about data needed in
deciding whether or not to enroll. The attitude of the
people involved in this area may be perceived by the
student as an indication of the attitude of the entire
staff. If a negative impression is created, the student
may feel like looking somewhere else and an opportunity is
lost. If the impression is a positive one, the student is
inclined to continue the process and expects to aiso
receive good impressions from the faculty (Brady, 1976;
Holmberg, 1986).

In international programs there is also the factor of
medium of communication. Most extension programs use
English as the medium of instruction and, therefore, will
also use English as the main language of communication.
However, it must be recognized that for a majority of the
students, English is a second language. It becomes
important, then, that any publicity materials are proofread
with this restriction in mind. Any replies to requests for
information need to be written in clear English with

special emphasis placed on eliminating slang, nuances, and

136

g-

abstractions. Instructions that are unclear to the student
may result in his being unable to meet the requirements of
the program or in misunderstanding about the educational

opportunities being offered.

A final area of administration that can cause some
anxiety is in the area of record keeping. Keeping students
files up to date and available to the student gives the
student a feeling of competency. The OU had some
difficulties with this area in the early years (Keegan,
1981) and the ones involved in advising students were often
unable to answer questions for the student since their

records were out of date or could not be located.

Frustrations of these kinds may lead to dropout.

cut

While access and contact with the people involved in
the program is important at all levels for the student, the
most vital factor in persistence is the area of student
faculty interaction. It is accepted by all that increased
interaction between faculty and students has a positive
impact on persistence (Astin, 1977; Pantages & Creedon,
1978; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1977; Pascarella & Terenzini,
1979; Ramist, 1981; Terenzini, 1978; Tinto, 1975; Wilson,
Gaff, Dienst, Wood & Bavry, 1975). Distance education
compounds the problem by often depending on the printed

page as the medium of communication with very little

137

opportunity for the student and the faculty to be in
contiguous interaction. Keegan (1986) reminds us that
interaction can take place as the students interact with
themselves, with the reading they are doing, and with other
students or teachers by means of telephone, mail, or study
groups. Others have stated that even though the printed
page will continue to be the predominate feature of
Idistance education, tutors are important to the system
(Pittman, 1987). Learners need to be assured their
knowledge is sufficient to handle the material being
studied, and they also need to have objective observers to
point out any misconceptions they may have that are
hindering their progress.

The regional student services of the Open University
have led the way in establishing a balance between caring
for the students’ needs while enlisting them in the program
and tutoring them in the subject they are studying. Each
student upon acceptance into the program is assigned two
tutors. The first is the tutor-counselor, whose role is to
acquaint the student with the processes of study and the
resources available as well as dealing with any problems
such as a lack of study skills or time management. This
tutor generally takes care of the students during their
early years and has ability to advise them on the content
of their early courses as well. The tutor-counselor is only

assigned students in his/her own area. This tutor must be

138

based in the region in which the students are studying in
order to make him/her as available to the students as
possible.

A second staff member is the course tutor who becomes
more important to the students as they progress on into the
higher levels of the field in which they are studying.
This tutor does not necessarily live in the region since
any given region may not have sufficient students studying
in that field to warrant such an assignment. It is felt
that by this time the students have a thorough
understanding of the system; their main concern will be in
the area of subject matter. If questions come up at this
time either in relation to the program as a whole or to the
subject matter, both of these tutors are available to help.

In thinking about the OU it must be remembered again
that it is a public institution backed by the government
with access to public funds, enabling it to spend one
fourth of its budget on regional tutorial services (Keegan,
1981). Small private schools will have trouble duplicating
the system due to lack of funds and personnel.

Within the SAEP there is no provision for a student to
be assigned to a personal tutor. Each of the extension
(taped) courses has a staff member assigned to grade it and
work with the student as he/she takes that course.
However, for the next extension course taken there may be a

different course monitor. For the residence (on site)

139

courses, the instructor of that course has the
responsibility to make sure that the students clearly
understand what work needs to be done after the two week
seminar session. It is often difficult for students to
contact teachers who are adjunct professors since they are
not at the headquarters site. Delay in mail delivery adds
an extra burden to the student studying in an international
program.

The SAEP should look into ways of placing an in-
country representative of the SAEP in each of the countries
where teaching sites are maintained. An in-country co-
ordinator would facilitate a rapid response to student
inquiries and serve as a convenient connection between the
faculty and the student. If the office were to maintain
fax or computer communication equipment, information could
be more readily available which would aid in the student’s
integration into the program.

A plan to create a coordinating and counseling office
in each country where the program is being used has at
least two major problems. First, the staff of the SAEP is
relatively small. At no time in the past have there been
more than six families involved in the headquarters. To
use a staff family as the coordinator in one of the
countries would deplete the headquarters staff which is

vital to the ongoing of the program. Given the present

140

number of staff, there would not be sufficient personnel to
man each of the seven sites presently being used.

A second problem is the lack of funds to hire those
that would be capable of handling this responsibility. It
would be easy’ to ‘make a case that the in-country
coordinator should ideally be a national of that country.
This would aid in communication and recruitment. However,
in the present structure of the SAEP the only funds
available to the program are those that each missionary
contributes to the program and these funds would not be
sufficient to cover the salary of a full-time person to set
up an office in any one of the sites, let alone all seven.
With the overwhelming evidence that institutions must
increase interaction between faculty and students to
improve retention, it also seems logical that the in-
country coordinator might best be one who is qualified as a
faculty member of the SAEP. At present this is not the
case in the SAEP and this weakness must be addressed and
overcome.

Compromise solutions may be available for programs
such as the SAEP. Mission personnel who may be qualified
to be adjunct professors for the school but are presently
assigned to other duties may be used to be the inrcountry
coordinator for a small, theological program of this
nature. An additional problem facing the theological

school is that most of the missionary personnel who would

141

be 'used. in 'this way' would be out of the country for
furlough one out of every five years. Thought would need
to be given to having a backup coordinator who could ensure
the smooth running of the office for that year. Secular
programs may be able to find educators within the country
who would be willing to serve on a part-time basis to be
the in-country coordinator for an out-of-country program.
This would involve training to make sure that the person
used really has an adequate understanding of the program to
be able to satisfy students’ needs. If an adequate
training program were to be instituted and provision were
made for rapid communication between the part-time staff

and the headquarters, this method could prove beneficial.

Advising

There has been a growing awareness of the need for
academic counseling in education (Lenning, Beal, & Sauer,
1980; Noel, 1978; Ramist, 1981). Academic counseling
involves: (1) helping students clarify their goals and
values, ( 2) helping students understand the nature and
purpose of higher education, (3) providing accurate
information about education options, requirements,
policies, and procedures, (4) helping students plan
educational programs consistent with their abilities and
interests, (5) helping students in monitoring and

evaluating their educational programs, and (6) integrating

142

the institutional resources to meet the students’ special
needs and aspirations (Crockett, 1978). Ramist (1981)
feels that withdrawal procedures should also be handled by
advisors, with an interview required during the process,
both because students intending to withdraw might be helped
by a personal interview and because an exit interview will
aid the school in its search for better retention methods.

In the traditional institution, where a large group of
students are gathered at one place, provision is made for a
group of advisors distinct from the faculty. In distance
education, the two functions are more often merged. The
Open University uses the tutor-counselor as the main
advisor to the students as they come into the program. The
tutor not only advises within the field of study during the
foundation courses, but also is responsible for the
orientation of the student to the program, the area of
study methods, and solving of problems the student might
have that would interfere with completion of the program.
With the growth in emphasis on student services in recent
years, advising is one of the areas that needs to be
improved in distance education programs to help eliminate
barriers to persistence. Provision must be made for those
who need help in the area of self management (Atman, 1988;
Woolfe, 1987). The 00 plan seems to be a very successful

one .

143

The SAEP has a policy which helps with the matter of
advising students when they come to the residence seminars.
The policy states that one SAEP staff member must be
present at all residence seminars. Usually they are one of
the teaching staff at the seminar. Occasionally two
adjunct faculty will be teaching the two courses in a
seminar; in this case it is necessary to assign
headquarters staff to be present during the seminar to
facilitate students who may have questions about their
program or any part of the process involved in the SAEP
program. Adjunct professors are not expected to know the
program well enough to field these questions. The seminar
program thus assures that students can have personal
contact with qualified SAEP personnel at least twice a
year.

An area that needs attention in the process of setting
up or improving any distance education program is the
training of those who will have contact with the students.
They must be prepared to deal with adults who have
experience outside of the educational world. They must be
ready to deal with students who consider this educational
experience to be apart from the main responsibility of
their lives. They also need to structure courses so that
students can accomplish the academic goals on their own

without the presence of the teacher.

144

Cultural differences are also one of the areas that
need to be considered. Due to its international nature,
the present policy of the SAEP is to require each new staff
member to either learn an Asian language or complete an
Asian studies program in an Asian university. This is done
in an attempt to help the staff members be better prepared
to understand the problems faced by the Asian students that
are the focus of the program. This also means that current
missionary personnel who are qualified to teach are the
first focus when new staff members are needed. They
already have studied language and have some background in
cross-cultural communication. While their experience is
never guaranteed to make them better teachers than new
staff recruited from the US, it is more likely that they
will have skills already developed that will enable them to
be immediately effective in communicating with other

culture groups within Asia.

Places

Centefs

Traditional institutions have a campus where students
are expected to come to attend their classes. Some of
these institutions have also opened programs in adult and
continuing education which often meet in the evenings or on

the weekends. These courses are sometimes offered in

145

communities away from the campus to facilitate those who
can not come to the home campus.

In distance education there is often no home campus.
The school is geared to bring instruction to the students
within their own community setting. Depending on the
program, the instruction may require no local facilities
apart from the student’s own study area, or it may require
a gathering place where tutorial classes, study groups or
seminars can meet at a regularly scheduled time.

The Open University has no "home campus" in the
traditional sense. They do have a headquarters that houses
the administration and record keeping facilities. They
have other buildings that handle the printing, storing, and
mailing out of the materials that will be studied, but they
do not maintain a building of their own for student use.
The government has divided the country into thirteen
regions and the university uses these regions in their own
organizational structure. Each region is expected to have
20 centers where students can be directed for tutorials,
counseling, study groups, or occasional social events.
These centers are normally rented facilities in schools or
community halls which are happy to rent space for
educational purposes. While the tutor-counselors are based
within the regions they serve, they do not necessarily
maintain offices in these centers. It is entirely possible

for a student to never make use of a center during his/her

146

time of study in the Open University. However, the student
will be making regular contact with the tutor-counselor or
the course tutor.

While the SAEP does have a home campus, it is located
in Grand Rapids, Michigan and the average Asian student
will never visit it. Facilities are rented for seminars,
but are not available at other times. In some of the sites
no local office is maintained at all.

It is important that student services for distance
education be easily available to the student. The strongly
motivated, self-sufficient student may not worry about
immediate access to tutorial or counseling services, but he
is also not typically in danger of dropping out. In terms
of persistence, student services are most valuable for the
insecure or under-prepared student. Thus those who need
help the most are the ones most likely to give up if
services are not readily available. Whether the program
maintains a separate office or shares joint facilities, the
tutor or country coordinator must be readily available in a

designated place.

goootaobx

It should be noted that the Open University faces a
very different geographical problem than many other
extension programs. The Open University offers six

faculties in which a student can study. However, the

147

students live in the same country and speak English as a
first language. They also come from a homogeneous culture.
While there may be foreign students studying in the
program, for the most part they are residing within the
country and have already adapted to the culture.

Programs which are international in character face a
very different reality. As an example, the SAEP offers one
faculty which is working in seven sites in five different
countries. This means that the students come from
different language groups and for most of them English is a
second language. It also means that the students are in
diverse cultural settings. Adaptation to the geographic
location of the learner is essential to student
satisfaction. Certain courses must be adapted to meet the
needs of the various cultures. Teachers need to be more
aware of their own language and keep it as concrete and
free of abstractions and slang as possible. For the
graders of courses there must be some understanding of how
much leeway will be given in written English in
assignments. Instruction may also be necessary for those
who will have face to face encounters with the students as
to what gestures and behaviors might not be acceptable in
certain cultures and would interfere with the students’
ability to concentrate on the material of the course.

Students who perceive the school as incomprehensible, alien

148

or socially inept are less likely to persist in their

studies.

Euiromoot

For programs that use more face to face situations,
the class site will be of some importance. Hoyt (1978), in
dealing with satisfaction as a factor in student retention,
writes that satisfaction comes from two sources: a sense
of progress in personal goals and a sense of comfort with
the environment. For this reason, it is important that
class and center sites be attractive to students.

The SAEP has had mostly good success in this endeavor;
the sites for its seminars are generally attractive and
well equipped. Usually a host school is the ideal site
because it is set up with classrooms in mind and can also
offer other benefits such as media equipment, library
facilities, and public address systems. While there may be
conflicts in scheduling, these can usually be worked out.
Evening activities and class or study facilities can meet
in different parts of the same building. Programs with
modules lasting several days can be set up during vacation
periods. Use of schools and community halls that are well
located in terms of travel either by driving or public
transport are best. Those that are more well known may
also make it easier for students to find and use.

Inadequate or inaccessible class sites will surely affect

149

the satisfaction of students and their desire to return for

subsequent classes.

Publications

In addition to the publicity that was mentioned
earlier, there are other publications that will have an
influence on the student’s decision to persist in a course
or a program. The main publications indicated here are the
bridging materials that are used to ease the student past
some obstacle and into the material to be studied in the

course and the course materials themselves.

Bridging Matetiais

The Open University recognized early on that many
students who were applying to their program were unsure
about their ability to resume a formal study program. This
brought about the creation of materials that would not be
essential to the field of study but would give students an
opportunity to hand in weekly assignments and gain
confidence as they work through them. This type of
orientation program seeks to correct study problems by
using "bridging materials" specifically created to prepare
the student to be ready for the actual study materials of
the program (Robinson, 1981). The bridging materials may
have to do with time management, or the honing of reading

and writing skills, but are set up using the same format as

150

later study courses. Students can gain confidence in their
abilities by completing materials in these areas before
proceeding to the course work itself.

Other materials were created for those who had
experienced learning traumas. The barriers in their study
habits needed to be cared for before they could make
progress on the area they had chosen to pursue. Initial
interviews and conversations between the student and the
tutor-counselor may uncover these areas. In the Open
University, these are followed by foundation courses that
have been prepared to review the field in which the
students will be studying, moving them to the entry level
necessary to successfully handle the material in that
field. During the whole orientation process, the students
rely heavily on the tutor-counselor to reaffirm their
ability to proceed with the study program.

The SAEP is just now beginning to look for materials
that would help in these areas. The first attempt is to
find and experiment with some materials that will help
students to prepare to study in English since it is their
second language. Other materials need to be developed that
can ease the student into the new mode of study, especially
for those students who wish to complete some of their
credits by using the extension courses. If these materials

can be incorporated into an orientation package, the

151

___.' .

students can gain confidence in their ability to complete

the program.
Course Materials

The Open University discovered very early that they
needed to create materials that could stand on their own.
Course material teams were created in each faculty and the
overwhelming work of creating written media that could
teach on its own was begun. The huge numbers of students
who have studied in the program and graduated give evidence
that they have been successful in this endeavor.
Supplemental information can be obtained from the video
courses offered on television, through cassette tapes, and
in tutorials.

The SAEP offers each student the opportunity to study
in two different ways. For those who attend the two week
modules offered twice each year, each professor is
responsible for preparing the materials he wants the
students to have. Textbooks are also assigned by the
teacher and the program makes them available to the
students at the site. Courses do not have a prescribed
'textbook. or syllabus that ‘the 'teacher’ must use. ZBoth
enrollment and persistence in these courses is much higher
than for the taped courses, and student comments generally

are most positive .

152

The extension (taped) courses that the student
receives in the mail include a syllabus and textbook.
However, these courses were created on the home campus for
US students. This often means the sound quality of the
tape is not good, the material was geared for a Western
culture, and the language of the teacher may be difficult
for an Eastern student to understand. At present there are
plans to upgrade these courses, mainly by having them
rewritten and redone by Asian theologians to make them more
acceptable among the students. Unfortunately, this
important task is hampered by a lack of funds and
personnel. Like most small theological schools, the SAEP
faces a limited budget and has a small target population.
In many instances, this combination prevents the creation
of quality standardized materials. However, the production
of quality materials that will be delivered to the students
during their study program is of prime importance. It is
hoped that an improvement in this area will be possible
and, together with improved access to country coordinators,

will decrease the high rate of dropout in these courses.

Summary

This chapter contains a comparison of the Open
University and the Southeast Asia Extension Program with an
attempt to discuss strategies applicable to distance

education programs of various types. The findings of this

153

study are listed below as recommendations. While some of

these recommendations may be of higher priority than

others, all of the areas influencing dropout can be viewed

as opportunities to strengthen persistence.

List pf Recommendations

 

Policies
a. Admissions

Small private schools need to have guidelines as
to the target student pool they can adequately handle.
b. Publicity

There is a need for clear, accurate presentation of
the programs being offered and what qualifications are
needed for successful completion of these programs.

c. Orientation

1) Students may need early work in foundation study
modules, including instruction in studying in a second
language, experience using media in the study program,
and help in forming study groups.

2) Country coordinators or regional counselors can
be effective in introducing the program to local
students and solving their problems.

People
a. Administration
1) All communication from the school needs to be

handled with an awareness of language and cultural

154

differences when crossing cultural and language
barriers.

2) Care should be taken in these contacts to create
a positive impression and avoid miscommunication or
frustration.

3) Use of fax and computer technology in record
keeping can keep local coordinators up-to-date on
student records to facilitate answering student
inquiries.

b. Faculty

1) It seems best for local coordinators to be
qualified course tutors so that they can help students
with course difficulties and increase student-faculty
interaction.

2) The training of teachers and counselors in the
techniques of distance education and making sure they
are familiar with all aspects of the school’s program
is also important.

3) The presence of qualified staff members at
teaching points when students gather for seminars or
tutorials will also aid students in seeking necessary
counseling.

Places
a. Centers
In international programs, one office per country

staffed by a trained country coordinator is a must for

155

maintaining the human contact necessary to reduce
dropout in distance education.
b. Geography

1) In religious programs, use of experienced
missionaries who are qualified to teadh on a graduate
level is recommended.

2) In all international programs, new teachers
with no experience in the local culture should be
involved in a cultural studies program or language
study program.

c. Environment

In programs where face-to-face instruction is
employed, teaching sites should be attractive, contain
adequate facilities, and be central to the students in
the program.

Publications
a. Bridging materials

The bridging materials developed by the OU can be a
pattern for new schools who wish to develop such
resources.

b. Course materials

1) The production of quality materials that will be
delivered to the students during their study program is
of prime importance.

2) In international programs, courses need to be

created with national thinking patterns in mind, with

156

careful attention to language difficulties, and with

good quality materials used to avoid technical trouble.

Impiicatigns fg; Furthet Study

There are several areas affecting dropout in distance
education that still remain to be researched. Orientation
procedures that will strengthen the interaction between the
institution and the student need to be developed. An
investigation into this area might study whether printed
materials, video materials, or face-to-face sessions can be
most effective in reducing alienation.

More research is needed in the development of
effective extension course materials. What factors in the
use of audio or video materials affect persistence could be
pursued. Pacing, frequency and types of feed-back, and
styles of course presentation might also be analyzed for
their influence on persistence.

Human contact in distance education was one of the
major themes of this study. However, much more thought
needs to be given to creating and evaluating increased
opportunities for interaction in distance education. This
author has the impression that, while many students in
danger of dropping out would benefit from increased
interaction, some who are attracted to distance education
are natural persisters, and perhaps loners, for whom

additional interaction would be an inconvenience rather

157

than an aid. Research needs to be done to determine
whether this is, indeed, the case; if it is, researchers
should identify which students would benefit from increased
interaction.

Technology in education is a growing field. As new
technology becomes available, its potential for improving
persistence in distance education must be studied.
Comparing programs that have made use of advanced
technology and dealing with its cost effectiveness in
relation to its educational benefit would profit those who

are considering using this technology.

158

APPENDICES

APPENDIX ONE

SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM DROPOUT STATISTICS

TABLE ONE
OVERALL PROGRAM STUDENT PERSISTENCE

1991 Student Enrollment Statistics

Active Inactive Withdrawn Grad. Total Persist.

THAILAND 17 5 34 6 62 37%
PHILIPPINES 60 6 51 3 120 41%
*HONG KONG 25 l 1 0 27 92%
ALL SITES 108 21 112 9 250 47%

*Statistics for Hong Kong are from 1989-1991 only.
Other sites are from 1983-1991.

159

TABLE TWO

COURSE COMPLETION RATE

1983 1984 1985

THAILAND

enrollment 6 31 89
completion 1 20 57
yearly % 17% 65% 64%
cumulative % 56% 62%
PHILIPPINES

enrollment 1 4 12
completion 1 3 8
yearly % 100% 75% 67%
cumulative % 80%
HONG KONG

enrollment

completion

yearly %

cumulative %

TOTALS FOR ABOVE THREE SITES

enrollment 7 35 101
completion 2 23 65
yearly % 29% 66% 64%
cumulative % 60% 63%
TOTALS FROM ALL SITES
enrollment 8 45 101
completion 3 25 65
yearly % 38% 56% 64%

cumulative %

1

160

986

48
35
73%
65%

33
19
58%
62%

81
54
66%
64%

86
59
69%

1987

40
37
92%
70%

51
32
63%
62%

91
69
76%
68%

118
86
73%

1988

51
36
71%
70%

131
91
69%
67%

182

127
70%
68%

207
141
68%

1989

50
36
72%
70%

178

145
81%
73%

47
41
87%

228

181
79%
73%

289
233
81%

1990

46
25
54%
68%

137
79
58%
69%

59
44
75%
80%

183

104
57%
70%

247

152
62%
69%

TABLE THREE

EXTENSION COURSE ENROLLMENT AND COMPLETION

THAILAND
enrollment
completion
yearly %
cumulative

PHILIPPINES
enrollment
completion
yearly %
cumulative

HONG KONG
enrollment
completion
yearly %
cumulative

1983

1
100%
%

%

1984

15
7
47%

75%

TOTAL FROM ALL SITES

enrollment
completion
yearly %

cumulative

8
3
38%
%

29
12
41%

1985

18
6
53%

12

67%

30
14
47%

1986 1987
6 13
5 13
83% 100%
ll 7
6 1
55% 14%
20 29
14 17
70% 59%

161

1988

10
5
50%

18
61%

33
18
55%

1989

23
14
61%

41
24
59%

1990

50%
54%

18

61%
59%

33%
70%

25
15
60%
54%

TABLE FOUR

RESIDENCE SEMINAR ENROLLMENT AND COMPLETION

THAILAND
enrollment
completion
yearly %
cumulative

PHILIPPINES
enrollment
completion
yearly %
cumulative

HONG KONG
enrollment
completion
yearly %

cumulative %

1984

16
13
81%

TOTAL FROM ALL SITES

enrollment
completion
yearly %

cumulative %

16
13
81%

1985 1986 1987

71 42 27
51 30 24
72% 71% 89%

22 44
13 31
59% 70%

71 66 89
51 45 69
72% 68% 78%

162

1988

41
31
76%

113
80
71%

174
123
71%

1989

46
34
74%

148
131
89%

40
35
88%

248
248
84%

1990

44
24
55%
72%

119
68
57%
72%

56
43
77%
81%

222

137
62%
73%

TABLE FIVE
COMPARISON OF ENROLLMENT IN

RESIDENCE SEMINARS AND EXTENSION COURSES

 

1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990

THAILAND
extension 6 15 18 6 13 10 4 2
seminar 16 71 42 27 41 46 44
% extension 48% 20% 13% 33% 20% 8% 4%
PHILIPPINES
extension 1 4 12 11 7 18 23 18
seminar 22 44 113 148 119
% extension 33% 14% 14% 13% 13%
HONG KONG
extension 7 3
seminar 40 56
% extension 15% 5%
TOTAL FOR ALL SITES
Extension 8 29 30 29 29 33 25
Residence 16 71 66 89 174 248 222
% extension 64% 30% 23% 25% 16% 14% 10%

163

APPENDIX TWO

SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM HANDBOOK

wheel/z.
% Grand Rapids
Baptist Seminary

Handbook for

Continuin
Educatlon

SOUTHEAST ASIA
EXTENSION PROGRAM

P. O. Box 320
1502 Greenhills
pines
. Rodri uez, Sr. Avenue

Metro Manila, Phili
Office: CulmmL Bldg, l27- i333
Phonez72i~104i Loco

164

Letter of Invitation. 2
Programs of Study 3
In-Ministry M.R.E. Degree Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Application and Registration Procedure. . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Application. . . . 5
Residence Course Registration. . . . . . 5
Extension Course Registration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Fees . . . 7
Withdrawals and Incompletes. 8
Degree Candidacy and Graduation Requirements. . . . . . . . . . 9
Program Procedures. .10
Extension Courses. .10
Residence Courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Course Descriptions .14
Required Courses for In-Ministry M.R.E . . . . . . . . . .14
Extension Course Descriptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Residence Seminar Courses .25
Residence Seminar Faculty .26
Forms Relating to the Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Appendix
Application for Admission. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AP-l
Application Addendum . . . . . . . . . .AP-2
Residence Course Registration. . . . . . . . . . . . . .AC-l
Extension Course Registration. . . . . . . . . . . . . .AC-Z
Incomplete Grade Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AC-3
Request for Independent Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . .AC-4
In-Ministry M. R. E. Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AC-S

SAEP Handbook 4192 - Paar I

165

Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary
SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM

W

Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary is a Graduate Center of World
Missions and Church Ministries. The goal of the Seminary is to
prepare gifted men and women for home-culture and cross-culture

ministries.

the Southeast Asia Extension Program (S.A.E.P.), the

Through

Seminary makes available graduate-level theological education to
eligible national church leaders and foreign missionaries
ministering in Asia. This program provides the means whereby

these individuals may earn an In-Ministry Masters of Religious
Education (M.R.E.) degree from the Seminary while remaining in
Asia. Working in connection with Baptist Mid-Missions and the
Association of Baptist for World Evangelism, Grand Rapids Baptist
Seminary has four full-time adjunct faculty living in Manila,

Philippines administering this program.

Students earn their degree through a combination of pro-taped
extension courses and residence seminars. The residence seminars
are two-weeks in length and are held in major cities twice each
year. Seminars are taught by full-time S.A.E.P. faculty members
as well as by professors from the Grand Rapids campus. Tuition
levels for both extension courses and residence seminars have
been adjusted to fit the economics of Asian countries. Although
all academic work is accomplished through the S.A.E.P. office in
Manila, the completed degree is awarded by the Grand Rapids

Baptist Seminary.

The Seminary is a member of the North Central Association of
and Schools in the United States. This means that the

Colleges
M.R.E. is a recognized and accredited graduate degree. It also
means that extension students in the degree program are

guaranteed to receive the same quality and standards of education
as those students studying in residence.

This handbook will provide the guidelines and procedures to
follow for the phase of Continuing Education suitable to your
needs. Please read it carefully and refer to it often to answer
questions and to remind you of deadlines. If you have additional
questions, please contact the Regional Director.

John R. Lillie, Ph.D.
Director of Continuing Education
Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary

Norman J. Barnard, M.Div., Ph.D. Candidate

Regional Director
Southeast Asia Extension Program

sue mam m2 - rm 2

166

PROGRAMS OF STUDY
IN-MINISTRY M.R.E. DEGREE PROGRAM

Admissions

Each applicant for admission to the program must:

1.

2.

Give evidence of the new birth.
Demonstrate that he is gifted in ministry.

Have earned the B. A. degree or its equivalent from a recog-
nized college or university and maintained a grade point
average (G.P.A.) of 2.5 on a 4.0 system.

Students having a G.P.A. less than 2.5 may apply for admis-
sion on a probationary basis.

Have a minimum of three years experience in some aspect of
professional full-time ministry.

Manifest ability to use the English language with precision
in speech and writing.

Adhere to the following Doctrinal Statement:
a. The inspiration and inerrancy of the Holy Bible.

b. The death of Jesus Christ as the second Person of the
Trinity.

c. The historical nature of the Incarnation of Jesus
Christ and His substitutionary death and resurrection.

d. The importance of the Church of Jesus Christ which is
composed of those who are regenerated by the grace of
God.

e. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

SAEP Handbook 4192 - Page 3

167

Degree Requirements

Every

student who is a candidate for graduation must meet the

following degree requirements:

1.

ll.

Completion of 32 credit hours of work with at least a 3.0
grade point average.

a. Twelve of these 32 hours must be taken in approved
residence seminars. Dates, locations, and costs of
seminars are made available through the Manila office.

b. The remaining 20 hours can be taken by extension.

Note: A minimum of 20 hours must be achieved by transfer
students. Hours transferred into the S.A.E.P. must be taken
from an accredited institution and must have been taken

within the last five years.

Completion of a minimum of 6 credit hours in Biblical Stud-
ies and 6 hours in Theology, including THE 533 Doctrine I

and ~THE 534 Doctrine II.

Completion of a minimum of 12 credit hours in the chosen
area of ministry concentration.

Submission of a research project dealing with some practical
aspect of the student’s current or future ministry in the
chosen area of concentration.

Admittance to degree candidacy. (See page 9 for details.)

Evidence of personal commitment to Christ and moral charac-
ter and conduct. '

A good command of the English language and satisfactory
knowledge of Bible content.

The meeting of all financial obligations.
The maintenance of a meaningful full-time ministry.

All degree requirements must be completed within five years
of official approval into the program.

Completion of five years of professional full-time ministry
prior to graduation.

SAEP Handbook 4192 - P190 4

168

APPLICATION AND REGISTRATION PROCEDURE

Application
1. Send the following materials to the S.A.E.P. Registrar’s
office:
a. Seminary Application and Addendum

b. Official transcripts

2. Applying for an extension course is the same as applying for
any other course at the Seminary. You must first be accept-
ed if you have never applied and been admitted.

3. You must request that an official transcript from the col-
lege or university which granted your qualifying Bachelor
Degree and any other graduate level work be .sent to us.
Xerox copies are not acceptable unless affixed with the

school seal.

4. Normally, you will be notified by letter when you are ac-

cepted as a student. In some cases applications are re-
ceived too close to the deadline and may not be officially
recognized until after you have begun your course. The

acceptance process does take time, and we recOmmend that you

fill out all forms promptly and completely before submitting
them to our office.

5. The total course load, including both residence and exten-
sion courses, will be a maximum of two courses per semester.

Students who manifest discipline in completing course work
may enroll in a third course with the approval of the

Regional Director.

Residence Course Registration

Residence Courses are intensive seminars held for two weeks.
Residence Seminars are convened twice each year in each of our
seminar sites. Two courses are offered each time.

1. Upon receipt of your acceptance into the Seminary you may
register for residence course work through the Registrar’s

office of the S.A.E.P. in Manila.

Pre-registrations must be received two week prior to the
first day of class.

Those who register at the seminar will be charged a late
registration fee ranging from $2.50 to $5.00.

SAEP Handbook 4/92 - Page 5

169

Priority will be given for textbook distribution to students
who preregister.

2. All fees are due on the first day of class and are payable
to the on-site representative of the S.A.E.P.

Extension Course Registration

Extension Courses consist of taped lectures, reading courses, and
independent studies. These courses are completed in your place

of residence.

1. All extension courses must be applied for and approved by
the Regional Director.

2. If you are taking courses by extension, you will need to
submit the Extension Course Registration form, and mail it
to the S.A.E.P. office. '

This registration is subject to formal seminary acceptance.

3. Upon receipt and approval of your Extension Course Registra-
tion and formal application, you will receive a Fee Assess-
ment.

4. Course materials will be held in our office, and registra-
tion is not complete until you have submitted the required
payment.

When we receive your payment, course materials will be
mailed to you, usually during the month before the beginning
of the semester for which you are enrolled.

Failure to pay this fee will result in loss of opportunity
to take a course.

5. Extension courses must be completed and postmarked by
October A for the first semester, and.Ma;ch 15 for the
second semester.

First Semester ~ Registrations due: May 1
Semester Begins: June 1?
Semester Ends: October 4

Second Semester - Registrations due: October 1
Semester Begins: November 12
Semester Ends: March 15

SAEP Handbook 4192 - Pan: 6

170

Fees

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Tuition is assessed at the following rates:

a. Western Expatriates -- $55.00 (U.S.) per credit hour.

b. Asians -- Discount rates have been adopted by the
S.A.E.P. to fit the economics of Asian Countries and
will be published through Course Announcments and Fee
Assessments or made available upon request.

c. Audit Fees -- 1/3 credit tuition

Books, taped lectures, postage, and any handouts are addi-
tional and listed on the individual fee assessment.

Payment should be made by money order, dirgct mail transfer
between banks, or bank demand drafts. For amounts under
$100.00 the first method is preferable. If direct mail
transfer is desired, you should contact the S.A.E.P. office

for further information.

a. Personal checks from Asian countries will not be accept-
ed.

b. Personal checks written in U.S. dollars from U.S. banks
may be used for payment, however, a service fee of $5.00
will be added to the fee assessment.

c. Students with accounts at A.B.W.E. or B.M.M. can trans-
fer funds directly to the S.A.E.P. account at each

mission office.

d. A.B.W.E. (Philippines) students may also have their fees
paid directly from the Mandaluyong office.

Each semester’s financial obligations must be met before a
student is permitted to begin the work of the following

semester.

Students who are unable to pay the full amount must contact
the Regional Director to make arrangements for payment.

SAEP Handbook 4/92 - Paqa 7

171

Withdrawals and Incompletes

1.

If you wish to withdraw from a course, you must notify the

 

 

 

 

 

 

Registrar in writing before thgifingl day of class for
residence seminars_gnd before the sixth week of the exten-
pion course semester. (First Semester: July 27; Second
Semester: December 22.) Financial refund of tuition .is

available for extension courses or residence seminars ac-
cording to the table below:

 

 

Refund Extension Residence
100% First Week First-Fifth Day
80% Second Week Sixth Day
60% Third Week Seventh Day
40% Fourth Week Eighth Day
20% ‘ Fifth Week Ninth Day
None After Fifth Week After Ninth Day

Course materials are yours to keep.

If you are unable to finish a course during the prescribed
semester, you must notify the Registrar before the due date
by returning the "Incomplete Grade Request“ form requesting
an ”Incomplete”. (A form for this purpose is located in the

back of this handbook.

An automatic grade reduction of 1/2 letter grade is given to

those granted the extension period to complete the work. If
the work is not finished during the time allotted, the
”Incomplete“ automatically becomes an "F".

Those who desire to receive credit for the course will be
permitted to re-enroll at their own expense. Full tuition
will be charged and financial aid will not be granted.

Note: If we do not receive any word from you and you do not
file an ”lncomplete Grade Request" form, you will automati-

cally receive an ”F”.

Regardless of your circumstances, please write us before the
scheduled completion of the course as this allows us to ex-
plore all the alternatives with you before any action is
taken that will be a reflection on your permanent academic

record.

SAEP Handbook 4192 - Paqa 8

172

DEGREE CANDIDACY AND GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

It is vital that you understand the following information in
order that you may successfully complete your course of study and
graduate from the program. Please read everything carefully and
‘ make sure that you have met all of the requirements.

1. You will be assigned an advisor upon your admission to the
Seminary.

2. As you maintain your time chart and checklist with your
advisor, one copy will be kept on file in the S.A.E.P.
office.

3. Filing for graduation is the sole responsibility of the
student. No contact will be made by the S.A.E.P. to remind

you of graduation application.
In order to apply for the degree diploma you must:

a. Have your checklist maintained, approved, and signed by
the Regional Director.

Send this to the S.A.E.P. office six months before you
plan to complete the program.

b. The S.A.E.P. office must file for graduation of quali-
fied students with Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary by
December 1 for May graduation. You must notify us of
your intention to graduate one month prior to the

filing date.

In order to meet all graduation deadlines, the complet-
ed Ministry Research Project must be submitted two
months prior to the graduation date.

SAEP Handbook £192 - Pay! 9

173

PROGRAM PROCEDURES
EXTENSION COURSES

General Description

The courses consist of taped lectures, accompanying diagrams, and
written explanations prepared by the professor to guide you in
your course of study.

Any questions that surface as you take the course may be directed
to the Regional Director via letter, cable, or phone.

Reading courses and Independent Studies are also available. See
the course descriptions for study procedures of these courses.

Registration

Instructions for registration are given on pages 5 and 6 of the
handbook.

Registration deadlines are: 1st Semester - May 1
2nd Semester - October 1

It is recommended that students enroll for one course at a time.
However, students may enroll for one additional course if de-

sired.

Students may not register for subsequent courses until all prior
bills have been paid.

Terms of Study

The extension program is offered during two semesters. The first
semester begins on June 17, and continues until October 4. The
second semester runs from November 12 to March 15.

Deadlines for completion of work are: lst Semester - October 4
2nd Semester - March 15

If the student is unable to complete the course requirements
by the due date an extension can be obtained by filing a ”Incom-
plete Grade Request“ form. (See page 8 for details.)

Students may not register for additional courses until the
”Incomplete” is satisfied.

NOTE: IT IS THE STUDENTS'S RESPONSIBILITY TO FILE FOR AN INCOM-
PLETE OR TO NOTIFY THE REGISTRAR FOR WITHDRAWAL!

If you must withdraw from an extension course follow the proce-
dures listed on page 8.

SAEP Handbook 4/92 - Page IO

174

If you started the course but could not complete it, your
grade will be entered as a withdraw-passing (W/P), or a
withdraw-failing (W/F) according to the work done at the time of

withdrawal.

Examinations and Proctors

When you have advanced in your course to the point of examination
please notify us with the name and address of someone who has
agreed to act as your proctor. We will send the examination
directly to your proctor who will administer the test, and return

it to the S.A.E.P. office.

It will be the responsibility of the proctor to monitor the
student during the course of the examination in order to ensure

his integrity.

Husbands or wives of students may not serve as proctors.

Forms

Most of the forms that are needed for your progress in the
program are enclosed. However, if you find that some are miss-
ing please write to the Registrar and request them.

There is only one copy of each form provided. We recommend that
you maintain it as a master copy and have it reproduced when

needed.

Mailing

Items will be mailed from our office as quickly as possible.
Courses are usually mailed the month before the beginning of the
semester for which you are enrolled. Because of the uncertain-
ties associated with international mail, we cannot give a firm

time estimate for mailing.

Each package we mail will be accompanied by a separate letter
informing you of the contents, and the date it was sent.

If you feel that the postal service in your country is not reli-
able for the shipping of cassette tapes and related educational
materials, then we request that you make other arrangements with

us.
It is recommended that students mailing course material to the
Extension Center use registered mail.' Course work must be post-

marked by the semester due date. It is strongly recommended that
you maintain a copy of all work submitted as a precautionary

measure .

SAEP Handbook 4/92 - Page II

175

RESIDENCE COURSES

General Description
Each Residence Seminar consists of two parts.

1. Two-week period of intensive classroom study and interaction
with the professor and other students. Seminars are
convened for four hours each day, five days per week.

2. Three month period following the seminar allowing further
investigation, integration, evaluation and reporting.

Residence seminars are taught by the on-site staff of the
Southeast Asia Extension Program, and visiting professors of the
Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary. Qualified adjunct faculty from
Asia and the U.S. also contribute to the curriculum in special-

ized areas.

Residence seminars are conducted twice each year in each of the
participating countries of Southeast Asia. During each seminar
two courses are made available. Locations and dates of residence
seminars can be obtained from the S.A.E.P. office in Manila.

Registration
See pages 5 and 6 for details.

*Course Announcements announcing the courses and professors are
mailed to students approximately two months prior to the sched-
uled seminar in their area. This mailing also contains a ”Resi-
dence Course Registration” form. This form should be completed

and mailed to the Registrar as soon as possible.

Students who have not been admitted to the program are permitted
to register for the residence seminar with the understanding that
the granting of credit depends upon acceptance of the formal

application.

Persons auditing classes who are not enrolled in S.A.E.P. may not
upgrade to credit status. Students eggolled in S.A.E.P. may
upgrade from audit to credit if requested during the seminar.
Once a course has been audited, it may pp; be taken for credit.

Registration fees are due at the commencement of class. Students
who have not met their financial obligations by the end of the
first week of class will not be permitted to continue into the

second week.

‘S.A.E.P. Students are automatically placed on the mailing
list. Others wishing to receive Course Announcements may
request them by writing to the Registrar.

SAEP Handbook 4/92 - Page 12

176

 

Course Materials

The S.A.E.P. will endeavor to announce the course text and sup-
plemental texts in the Course Announcements to enable students to

prepare for the seminar.

Texts, syllabi, and course materials will be made available by
the S.A.E.P. representative on the first day of the seminar.

These materials are offered at cost, and payment is due upon re-
ceipt.

Post-Seminar Assignments

All post-seminar assignments are due three months from the last
day of class. Assignments mugt be postmarked by this date and
should be mailed to the S.A.E.P. offices in Manila.

Students should make a copy of all work submitted since course
work has. been lost through mailing. It is also advised that
work be sent via registered mail.

Extensions on Assignments

Where unforeseen circumstances prevent completion of an assign-
ment by the due date, the following policy will apply:

1. Students must submit all work for residence seminars three
months from the last day of class. If work is not completed
the student may file for an ”Incomplete” prior to the due
date of the project. If approved, he will be granted an
extension of two months to submit the work and remove the
"Incomplete”. However, there is an automatic grade reduc-
tion of 1/2 letter grade. If the work is not submitted by
the end of the two months, the "Incomplete” automatically

becomes an ”F”.

Failure to file for an ”Incomplete” will result in an
automatic "F". Those who desire to receive credit for the
course will be permitted to re-enroll at their own expense.
Full tuition will be charged and financial aid will not be

granted.

2. Students with incomplete projects may not enroll for another
course until all prior work is completed.

SAEP Handbook 4/92 - Page 13

177

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
REQUIRED COURSES FOR IN-MINISTRY M.R.E

The courses listed on this page are required for anyone enrolled
in the 32-hour In-Ministry M.R.E. degree program.

THES33 Doctrine I

A systematic study of prolegomena, revelation, theology
proper, and anthropology.

Credit: 3 hours
This is a residence course only.

Professor: David W. Clark

THES34 Doctrine II

A systematic study of Christology, pneumatology,
soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology.

Credit: 3 hours
This is a residence course only.

Professor: David W. Clark

MIN779 Ministry Research Project

A research project related to a ministry in a given
situation. The findings and conclusions of the project
are presented in accepted thesis style.‘ The original
unbound manuscript should be presented to your assigned
faculty member after completion. Our expectation is a
minimum of 50 pages of written work. The copy that you
present to us will be placed in the Grand Rapids Resource
Center for future reference by our students.

Credit: 3 hours
Professor: Assigned
I"Your paper should follow standard thesis style such as

Turabian, A Manual for Writers for Term Papers, Theses
and Dissertations or the MLA Style Sheet, in accordance

with the preference of the professor.

sac: mum: U92 - r... n

178

EXTENSION COURSES

Extension course registration deadlines are May 1 for the first
semester, and October 1 for the second semester.

BBL501

BBL521

Biblical Hermeneutics

An introduction to the process of determining the origi-
nal meaning and contemporary significance of Biblical
texts. Lecture, discussion, and individual research will

be stressed.

Credit: 3 hours

The course consists of 13 taped lectures, lecture notes,
a paper format, daily devotional sheets to be completed
and one final examination.

Textbooks: How to Regd the Bible for All It; Worth,
‘ G. Fee and D. Stuart, Zondervan.
How to Read the Bible as Literature and
Get More Out of It, L. Ryken, Zondervan.
Hermeneutics: Principles and Procegses of
Biblicgl Intprpretation, H. Virkler,
Baker Publishing.

Professor: Dr. David Turner

Old Testament Biblical Theology

A study of Old Testament history, literature, and
theology with emphasis upon the historical development of
key concepts of Old Testament biblical theology.

Credit: 3 hours

The course consists of taped lecture, lecture notes, and
examinations.

Textbooks: Old Testament Survgy, W.S. LaSor, D.A.
Hubbard, F.W. Bush. Eerdmans Pub.
Themes in Old Testament Thpploqv,
William Dyrness, IVP
Chronologicgl Charts of thpyO-T., Walton
An Eye for an Eyp, Wright, IVP
God's Degiqn, Martin, Baker

 

Professor: Mr. David Kennedy

SAEP Handbook 4’92 - Page 15

179

'7'

BBL551

BBL 549

BBL747

Nebrews

A careful study of the English text, the struc-
ture of the book, its significance for today, and its
relation to the Old Testament.

Credit: 3 hours

Textbook: Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews,
Philip Hughes, Eerdmans Publishing

Professor: Dr. Carl B. Hoch, Jr.
New Testament Survey: Gospels/Life of Christ

A chronological synthetic study of the four Gospel re-
cords, emphasizing the time, place, circumstances, and
persons involved in the events of our Lord's ministry,
with a view to a fuller understanding of the significance

of His words and works.

Credit: 3 hours

This course consists of 24 taped lectures, reading as-
signments, written reports, a paper and 2 exams. The
textbooks required to complete the course requirements
are apt provided by this institution, but are listed here
for your information.‘ It is the student's responsibility
to purchase the required texts.

Required Texts: Harrison, Everett F. A Short Lifgi of

Christ, Eerdmans, 1968.
Thomas, Robert L. and Gundry, Stanley N. Harmon of
the fipspels, (New American Standard Version). Harper &

Row, 1978.

Professor: Dr. Terry C. Hulbert

Seminar in Messianic Hope

A study of the themes of the Old Testament which find
their fulfillment in the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The
course emphasizes proper study methods in prophetic
literature, identifies Messianic ideas, and surveys Old
Testament passages which teach these themes.

Credit: 2 hours

The course consists of taped lectures by Louis Goldberg.
**The textbooks for the course are not provided by our
institution but are listed in the syllabus bibliography
for your information.

Professor: Dr. Louis Goldberg

SAEP Handbook 4/92 ~ Page 16

180

THESIS Historical Theology I: The Ancient Church

This course examines the history of the ancient church

in detail. Following a historical progression, the
course covers the development of doctrine and introduces
the student to the main figures in the Patristic age.

Credit: 3 hours

The course consists of taped lectures by Dr. Richard C.
Gamble. The textbooks for the course are up; provided by
our institution, but are listed here for your informa-

tion.

Required Texts: Kelly, J.N.D. Early Christian Doc-

 

trines, Harper and Row, 1978.
Wiles-Santer. Documents in Early Christian Thoutha

 

Cambridge Univ. Press, 1975.
Professor: Dr. Richard C. Gamble
THE517 Historical Theology III: Reformation Church
This course traces the historic development of the Prot-
estant Reformation from its background prior to the 16th

century to its impact on the world and church of today.
The lives and teachings of the leading Reformers (Luther,

Zwingli, Calvin and Knox) are examined in some detail,
along with the course of the, Reformation in various
nations: Germany, England, Scotland, France and Nether-
lands. In addition, both the rise of the major Protes-
tant Movements - Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anabaptism and
Puritanism - and the Roman Catholic and Remonstrance

reactions are outlined.

Credit: 3 hours

This course consists of a set of 24 taped lectures by Dr.
William Robert Godfrey. The course textbooks are listed
in the syllabus but are app provided by this institution.
They are listed here for your information only. Their
purchase is the responsibility of the student.

 

 

 

Required Texts: Calvin John. Institutea, of Christian
Religion. 2 vols. Westminster Press, 1960.

Luther, Martin. The Bondage of tha Willa Attic Press,
1975.

Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church. vol 5.
Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1892.

Professor: Dr. William Robert Godfrey.

SAEP Handbook 4192 - Page 17

181

THESld

THE578

THE539

Historical Theology IV: History of Christianity In
America

A study or the church in AmeriCa from its Colonial
beginnings to the current day with emphasis on the numer-
ous influences that have forged the current religious

scene.
Credit: 3 hours

This course consists of a set of 24 taped lectures by Dr.
John D. Hannah. The required textbooks are p2; provided
by this institution. They are listed in the course
syllabus and their purchase is the student's responsibil-
ity.

Christian World and Life View

An elaboration of the Christian perspective upon all
of life and reality with emphasis upon basic matters such
as method, being, knowing and doing.

Credit: 2 hours

The course consists of nine taped lectures, packet of
handouts, and exams.

 

 

Textbooks: The Universe Next Door, James Sire,
IVP.
The Christian Mind, Harry Blamires.
Servant.
Ethics: Approaching Moral Decisions
IVP.

Reason Within the Boundaiof Raligion,
Wolterstorff. Eerdmans Publishing.

Professor: Dr. Stephen R. Spencer

Readings in Systematic Theology

Guided reading and research for the student with an
adequate background and superior abilities.

Credit: 1-3 hours

The course consists of readings of your choice guided by
a professor with the use of a selected bibliography.
Three papers are required. ‘

Professor: Rev. David W. Clark

SAEP Handbook {/92 - Page 18

182

MIN500

MIN540

Spiritual Formation (P) (Formerly THESOl Christian Life)

An investigation into the meaning of biblical Christiani-
ty and its relationship to faith and practice.

Credit: 2 hours

The course consists of 20 taped lectures, a workbook
containing outlines of the material, 17 handouts, one
manual of notes for the course, and two examinations.

Textbooks: Embrace the Spirit; Steven Harper, Victor
Books.
True Spirituality, F. Schaeffer, Tyndale

Professor: Dr. Victor M. Matthews

Urban Mission and Ministry (M)

A course that focuses on Christian mission and ministry in
the world's growing cities. The Biblical basis for urban
ministry is presented and case studies of effective urban
strategies worldwide are examined. Attention is given to
urban issues such as ministry to the poor and homeless,
pastoring and raising a family in the city, and planting
urban churches.

Credit: 3 hours

The course consists of 24 taped lectures by Dr. Roger S.
Greenway. The required textbooks are listed here for your
information, but are not provided by this institution. It

 

is the student's personal responsibility to acquire the
required texts.

Required Texts: Barrett, David B. World-Class Cities and
World Evangelization. New Hope, 1986

 

 

 

 

Greenway, Roger S. & Monsma, Timothy. Cities: Mission’s
New Frontier, Baker, 1989.

Greenway, Roger S., editor. Qiaciplinq The City: Theo-
logical Reflectiona on Urban Miaaiony Baker,
1979,'82,'86.

Greenway, editor. The Pastor-Evapgeliat: Preagher. Model

 

apd Mobilizer for Church Growth. Presbyterian & Reformed
Publishing Co., 1987.

Professor: Dr. Roger S. Greenway

SAEP Handbook ll?! - Page 19

183

MIN544

MIN614

History and Philosophy of Christian Missions (M)

This course traces the historic development of the Chris-
tian world mission in chronological sequence from Pente-
cost to William Carey (1793). The modern period is de-
veloped along geographiCal lines: Asia, Middle East,
Africa, Latin America and Europe. The course closes with
an attempt to evaluate the achievements of the past and
the prospects for the future.

Credit: 3 hours

The course consists of taped lectures by J. Herbert Kane.
The textbooks for the course are apt provided by our
institution but are listed here for your information. It
is the student‘s responsibility to purchase the required
texts for this course.

 

 

 

Required Texts: Kane, J. Herbert. A Global Viaw of
Christian Missiona. Baker, 1975.

Neill, Stephen. A History of Christian Miaaionay Penguin
~Books, 1964.

Professor: Dr. J. Herbert Kane

Family Life (CE)

A biblical analysis of the relationship of man and woman
through dating, courtship, and marriage. Emphasis upon
the roles and goals of the family members in a distinc-
tively Christian home. Areas of concentration include
worship, finances, standards, child training and the
family relationship to the church, school and society.

Credit: 3 hours

The course consists of one introductory tape, and 14
taped lectures. Also included are extension lecture
notes.

Textbooks: Creating a Successful Christian Marria e,

 

Cleveland MacDonald. Baker Book House.
The Marriage Builder, Larry Crabb. Zondervan.

Professor: Dr. Ronald Chadwick

SAEP Handbook 4/92 - Page 20

184

MIN 633 Interpersonal Communication & Conflict Management (CE)

An examination of the process of interpersonal communica-
tion and conflict management in human relationships within
Christian organizations, with attention given to communi-
cation models, self—concept, non-verbal messages, stress
and other strategies that will assist the Christian leader
in developing interpersonal communication skills and the

productive use of conflict.

Credit: 2 hours

This course consists of 24 recorded lectures, assigned
readings, study questions, research paper, diagnostic
study and a final exam. The textbooks required for this
course are up; provided by this institution, but are
listed here for your information. It is the student's

responsibility to purchase the required texts.

Required Texts: Griffin, Em. Making Friends. IVP, 1987.
McSwain, Larry L. and Treadwell, William C. Conflict

Ministry in the Church; Broadman Press, 1981.

Professor: Dr. Kenneth O. Gangel & Dr. Samuel Canine

MIN639 Readings in Christian Education (CE)

An in-depth pursuit of personal Christian education
interests through the reading of Christian education
related journals, periodicals, and books.

Credit: 1-3 hours
The course consists of readings of your choice guided
by a professor with the use of a selected bibliography.

You will contract with the professor for the reading to
be done and the grade to be received.

Professor: Assigned

MIN648 Readings in Missiology II (M)

A concentration on career orientation, cross-cultural
communication, and the religious milieu in the student's

host culture.

Credit: 3 hours

You will contract with the professor for the reading to
be done and the grade to be received.

Professor: Assigned

SAEP Handbook 4/92 - Page 21

185

MIN649 Readings in Missiology I (M)

MIN682

MIN699

A concentration on historical, biblical, and theological
bases of missiology together with readings in the stu—
dent's host culture.

Ci'edi t z 3 hour 5
The course consists of readings of your choice guided by
a professor with the use of a selected bibliography. You

will contract with the professor for the reading to be
done, and the grade to be received.

Professor: Assigned

Church Administration (P)

A consideration of the administrative duties of a pastor
in both personal and organizational contexts. A theo-

_ logical foundation for administration is deduced and

basic administrative/leadership principles gained from
the divine model are studied and applied to present-day
church situations.

Credit: 2 hours
This course consists of taped lectures given by Kenneth
O. Gangel. The textbooks for this course are not provid-

ed by our institution but are listed in the course sylla-
bus for you to purchase.

Professor: Dr. Kenneth O. Gangel

Readings in Pastoral Studies (P)
An in-depth pursuit of personal interest in the homile-

tics or pastoral areas. Reading of related books, period—
icals and the presentation of reports are included.

Credit: 1-3 hours

The course consists of readings of your choice guided by
a professor with the use of a selected bibliography.

Professor: Assigned

SAEP Handbook 4/92 - Page 22

186

 

MIN712

MIN739

MIN759

History and Philosophy of Christian Education (CE)

A survey of the development of education through its many
phases and periods with careful analysis of current
religious and secular education trends in the light of
Christian philosophy. Students are required to formulate
a personal philosophy of education consistent with bibli-
cal theism, giving special attention to its implication

for educational practice.
Credit: 3 hours
The course consists of lecture notes and syllabus.
Textbooks: Christian Education: Its Hiaggryaé
Philosophy, Benson & Gangel, Moody.
Philosophy & Education; An Intro. in Chris-

tian Pepapective, 2 ed. Knight, George.
Andrews University Press.

Professor: Prof. Jonathan Rohrer

Independent Study in Education (CE)

Supervised independent study for advanced students in

Christian education. Prerequisite: approval of the
department.

Credit: 1-3 hours

The course is based on a study proposal that you present
to the professor. Request for an independent study must
be filed with the A.B.T.S. office. This form is provided
in the catalog. Upon receiving approval, you will pro-

ceed with the study under staff guidance.

Professor: Assigned

Independent Study in Missions (M)

Supervised independent study for advanced students in
Missions. Prerequisite: approval of the department.

Credit: 1-3 hours

The course is based on a study proposal that you present
to the professor. Request for an independent study must
be filed with the A.B.T.S. office. This form is provided
in the catalog. Upon receiving approval, you will pro-
ceed with the study under staff guidance.

Professor: Assigned

SAEP Handbook 4/92 - Page 23

187

MIN789 Independent Study in Pastoral Ministry (P)

Supervised independent study for advanced students in

pastoral ministries. Prerequisite: approval of the
department.

Credit: 1-3 hours

The course is based on a study proposal that you present
to the professor.‘ Request for an independent study must
be filed with the S.A.E.P. office. This form is provided
in the catalog. Upon receiving approval, you will proceed

with the study under staff guidance.

Professor: Assigned

SHE? Handbook 4/92 - Page 24

188

RESIDENCE SEMINAR COURSES

 

Course Course Hours
Numbar Tiala (*1 Credit
BBL501 Biblical Hermeneutics 3
BBL522 New Testament Biblical Theology 3
BBL527 Pastoral Epistles 3
BBL531 Hebrews 3
BBL532 Romans for Asians 3
BBL533 Revelation 3
BBL535 .Daniel 3
BBL562 History and Culture of Israel & Ancient Near East 3
BBL617 John 3
BBL627 Ephesians 3
BBL628 Themes from Isaiah 3
BBL656 Seminar in Wisdom Literature 3
BBL676 Johannine Epistles 3
3

BBL775 Lukan Parables

THE513 Asian Church History 3
THES33 Doctrine I 3
THES34 Doctrine II 3
THE772 Apologetics 3
MINSll Theology of Church Ministry 3
MIN512 Teaching Process (CE) 3
MIN531 Adult Religious Education (CE) 3
MIN542 Dynamics of Church Growth (M,P) 3
MIN544 History and Philosophy of Christian Missions (M) 3
MIN556 Occultism (M) 3
MIN571 Homiletics I (P) 3
MIN611 Principles of Leadership/Administration (CE) 3
MIN621 Theological Issues in Asian Min/Buddhism 3
Theological Issues in Asian Min/Islam Hindu 3
Theological Issues in Asian Min/Roman Catholic 3

MIN668 Leadership Development in the Third World (M) 3
3

MIN681 Pastoral Theology (P)

(*) M = Missions; CE = Christian Education: P = Pastoral Studies

SAEP Handbook 4192 - Page 25

189

Full Time Faculty
Norman Barnard, B.A.

David W. Clark, B.A.
Hubert K. Rat-J, B.A.

Adjunct Faculty
Harry Ambacher, B.A.

RESIDENCE SEMINAR FACULTY

, M.Div., Ph.D. Candidate, Director
, Th.M., D.Min. Studies
, M.Div., Th.M.

, M.Div., D.Min.

Larry Armstrong, B.R.E., M.R.E., D.Min.
William Barrick, B.A., Th.M., Th.D.

Kent A. Craig, B.A.,

M.Div.

Stephen H. Holman, B.A., M.Div.

David Pardini, B.S.,

Visiting Faculty
Paul A. Beals, B.A.,

Th.M., D.Miss Studies

Th.M. , Th.D.

James Grier, Th.B., M.Div, Th.M., Th.D

John R. Lillis, B.S.

, n.3,, M.R.E., M..Div., Ph.D.

John Wilson, B.A., M.A., M.Div., Ph.D.

SAEP Handbook 4I92 - Page 26

190

Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary
SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM
P. O. Box 320
1502 Greenhills
Metro Manila, Philippines

Application fog Admissipp

Every item on this form is important to us as we make plans for

your educational experience. Answer questions completely and do
not omit any items without giving written explanation. An incom-
plete application will delay the processing. Your acceptance

will be determined by an evaluation of the quality of your col-
lege achievement record, all subsequent educational experiences,
and your Christian commitment and service. It is the responsi-
bility of all applicants to provide the Extension office with
official transcripts from their college and/or university train-

 

ing as well as all subsequent institutions attended. Although
you can begin course work prior to their receipt, these trap;

scripts are required beforepg final decision can be made on yog;
application for admission.

 

If you are applying for re-admission within five years, complete
only Part I, II, V, and your signature in Part VIII.

After completing the required information, please forward this
application to the Registrar of the Southeast Asia Extension

Program.
I. PERSONAL INFORMATION

(Mr.,Dr.,Rev.
Mrs.,Miss)

 

Name: First Middle Last

Mailing Address

 

City State/Province

 

Country Mail (Zip) Code Number

 

Phone Number

 

Place of Birth

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date of Birth (Month) (Day) (Year)
U.S. Social
Country of Citizenship Security No.
Marital Status: Single___, Married___, Separated___, Divorced___
Remarried___, Widowed___
AP—l 4/92

191

II. FAMILY INFORMATION

Spouse's Name Christian?

 

Children's Names and Ages

 

III. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

How long have you been a Christian?

 

Name and address of the church of which you are a member.

 

Name and address (if different than #2) of the church you cur-
rently attend.

 

 

Iv. EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

List the college from which you received your Bachelor (or equiv-
alent) degree and any schools at which you have done further
graduate studies. If you have not received a Bachelor degree,
list the school at which you have received your highest level of

education.

Name of School Address Dates Attended (from/to) Degree

 

 

If you are transferring from another seminary, please explain why

 

V. EDUCATIONAL GOALS
What Program do you wish to pursue?
Special (credit courses without degree objective)

Master of Religious Bducation-In-Service Degree (Open only to
Christian workers with 3 or more years of fulltime experience)

What will be your area of concentration? __

Pastoral Studies Missions
Christian Education Undecided
AP-l 2/89

192

Are you presently enrolled in another seminary, Bible college or
institute? __ ___~

 

If so give the name and address of the school as well as the
degree or program for which you are studying.

 

 

VI. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Have you received God's gift of Eternal Life?___ _

If your answer is yes, what makes you certain that you have
received this gift?

 

 

 

 

-. --—---- ---—-.—-——--- ---—_———-

To what type of Christian work do you believe God has called you?

—— -_--—_-—-—

 

What experiences have helped you to grow in your Christian life?
(Include devotional life as well as serving in the home, church

and community.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are your personal convictions and practices concerning such
matters as the use of alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs and other
carnal practices?

 

 

 

Have you read, and are you in agreement with the Doctrinal State-
ment found in the handbook on page 3? Yes No

How did you become interested in the seminary?

 

 

AP-l 2/89

193

VII. MINISTRY INFORMATION

How many years of experience have you had in fulltime Christian
Service?

 

What is your current area of ministry? (i.e. Pastor, Mission-
ary, Teacher, bulltime Local Church Worker)

 

‘ State your primary responsibility. (i.e. Church Planter, Bible
woman, College Professor, Youth Pastor)

 

I certify that all my answers on this application are complete
and accurate to the best of my knowledge.

Signature Date

 

APPLICATION CHECK LIST

: : Have you . . .
Attach

: : Filled out form completely?
Photo Completed & enclosed Addendum?

: : Requested Transcripts forwarded
Here to SAEP office?

: : Attached photo?

AP-l 2/89

194

Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary
SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM

522W

To be accepted into the In-Service M.R.E. Degree Program, you
must. have 3 years of full-time ministry experience. Please
validate this for us with the following information.

List the names of the churches or organizations with which you
worked and years of experience in your area of concentration.
List the most recent service first. Also, list the name and full
address of one person at each position whom we can contact for an
evaluation of your work. If you have only worked at ppp place,
please give us the names of two other people we may contact for a
personal reference.

W:

Number of years applicant has worked with Organization

 

 

Name (Personal Reference)

 

 

 

 

 

Address
City State/Province
Country Mail (zip) Code

 

summon:

Number of years applicant has worked with Organization

 

 

Name (Personal Reference)

 

 

 

 

Address
City State/Province
Country Mail (zip) Code

 

 

 

WW:

Number of years applicant has worked with Organization

 

Name (Personal Reference)

 

 

 

 

Address
City State/Province
Country Mail (zip) Code

 

 

Please supply information requested on reverse of this form.

AP-Z 2/89

195

53 Evaluation pg Personal and Ministry Goals
Please list below an outline of specific personal and ministry

goals you have projected for yourself and how your Seminary
pregram is intended to assist you in reaching these goals.

Name Date

 

 

AP-Z 2/89

196

Grand Rapids Baptist seminary
SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM
P. 0. Box 320
1502 Greenhills
Metro Manila, Philippines

Residence Course Registration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name_ ___-_____-_. _-____ Student No._
Address __ -_
City State/Province _________-_
Country _ Mail (Zip) Code _____ __
phone No. Country of CitizenshipL________-_____

 

Presently Enrolled in SAEP Degree Program? Yes____ No____

If presently enrolled please answer the following:

Degree Pursuing: In-Service M.R.E.(Credit)___ Special(Credit)___
Area of Concentration: Mission___ Pastoral___ Christian Ed.____

I have not yet applied to SAEP but wish to. Yes No

I wish to enroll in the following student status:
In Service M.R.E. (Credit) Special with Credit Audit

If you wish to enroll as a degree, or credit student and have not
filed a formal SAEP Application form, you must do so through the
Registrar's Office. Non-credit students may simply enroll using

this form.

Please enroll me in the following residence course(s) for the
session indicated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seminar Location Seminar Date
COURSE NUMBER COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOUgg
Signature Date _

 

 

* * i e a a t e a e t a t e * a * t t e t t t * a a a * * t t a *
DO NOT WRITE BELOW THIS SPACE - FOR OFFICE USE ONLY

Date Approved Advisor's signature-__ _

 

AC-l 2/89

197

Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary
SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM
P. O. Box 320
1502 Greenhills
Metro Manila, Philippines

Extension Course Registration

If you have not filed a formal Seminary Application and Addendum
you must do so through the Extension Office. An official
transcript indicating your undergraduate work and any post-
graduate work must be received in the Extension Office if you are

pursuing a degree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name __Student No.

Address _ ___.. __-________
City __ _____ State/Province _________
Country_4_ _ Mail (zip) Code__________~__________
Degree Pursuing: In-Service M.R.E.____ Special(Credit)____
Area of Concentration: Mission___ Pastoral___ Christian Ed.___

Please enroll me in the following extension course(s) for the
semester indicated. (File only one form per semester, a limit of

two courses.)

First Semester (June) l9__ Second Semester (Nov.) l9__

COURSE NUMBER COURSE TITLE CREDIT HOURS

 

 

 

 

 

I have read the course description for this course in the catalog
and wish to order (check one):

All of the course materials (tapes, syllabus, and textbooks)
Part of the course materials because I have some of them.
Items which I need and wish to order are:

 

 

Date

Signature _ ____

 

* * t a t a t t a t t a e i a t * a t t a t t t e a a e t t * t *
DO NOT WRITE BELOW THIS SPACE - FOR OFFICE USE ONLY

 

 

 

Date Received_ Date Student Notified_-
Date Approved _______ Advisor's Signature ____
AC-Z 2/89

198

.1-

Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary
SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM
P. O. Box 320
1502 Greenhills
Metro Manila, Philippines

Ipcompletp Grade Reguest

Students are expected to complete all course work within the time
period prescribed in the syllabus. If there are extenuating
circumstances the student must inform the Seminary before the due
date by completing this form. The request will then be consid—
ered and the student will be informed of the decision. An
”Incomplete”, also results in an one—half grade deduction.

The incomplete work must then be completed within the prescribed
time. Failure to complete the work by the Extension Date will

automatically result in a failing grade of ”F”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Name Student No.
Address

City State/Province
Country Mail (Zip) Code

Phone No.

 

Course Number and Title

 

Extension Course: Semester Year

 

Residence Seminar: Location Date

 

Reason for Incomplete

 

 

Description of work to be completed

 

 

t***************************************************tIIHktiktikttt#10111

Your request for an ”Incomplete” grade has been:

Approved Denied Extension Date:

 

Comments:

 

 

Date

 

Coordinator's Signature

 

{VII ~17. l. /' 90

199

Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary
SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM
P. O. Box 320
1502 Greenhills
Metro Manila, Philippines

e uest for nd e de tud

Extgpsion Students must file this form along with the Extension
Course Registration in order to be approved for an Independent
Study by extension. You will be notified of approval and this
form will be filed in the Extension office.

 

Student Name Student ”0- _________

Department

 

Course No. and Title

 

Semester Hours Credit Semester________ Year____
Hours per week to meet with instructor (if in residence)____ _____
Frequency of progress reports to instructor (if by extension)____

Brief statement of goals and assignments in course:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* t * t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t * t *
DO NOT WRITE BELOW THIS SPACE -- FOR OFFICE USE ONLY

Approved ____Yes No Date of Approval

 

Director's Signature

 

onwd 2/90

200

Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary
SOUTHEAST ASIA EXTENSION PROGRAM

In-Ministry M.R.E. Checklist

A copy of this checklist must be filed with the SAEP office and main-

tained. Courses already listed below are required of all M.R.E.
students.
Student Name Student No.

Ministry Concentration

Date

Submitted

 

 

 

BIBLE AND THEOLOGY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UNITS COURSE 3 COURSE NAME MODE COMPLETED
3 _ THE 533 Doctrine I Res
3 THE 534 Doctrine II Res
Total Bible and Theology Units (12 Units Minimum)
MINISTRY
3 MIN 779 Ministry Research Project Ext
Total Ministry Units (12 Minimum - all in area of concentra-
tion.
ELECTIVES
Total Elective Units (8 Minimum from any area)
TOTAL M.R.E. UNITS
Bible and Theology Units
Ministry Units
Elective Units
' TOTAL (32 Units Minimum)
AC-S 11/90

201

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Demitroff, J. F. (1974). Student Persistance. 1e e
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