A Conversation With ... Dr. Laurie Schreiner
Original: AConversation With ... Dr. Laurie Schreiner
On Spirituality and the CCCU
Dr. Laurie Schreiner is co-author of the Student SatisfactionInventory (SSI), a nationally normed instrument used on more than1,200 college and university campuses across the United States andCanada. Schreiner chairs the Department of Doctoral Studies inEducation and teaches in the Higher Education Leadership Doctoralprogram at Azusa Pacific University (CA); she also co-directs theCCCU's Comprehensive Assessment Project.
How satisfied are CCCU students with the spirituality level on their respective campuses?
SCHREINER: In the CCCU, we have been seeing that issues ofspirituality are becoming more and more important to students everyyear. We've been measuring for the last ten yearsand the satisfaction is increasing each year in this area, as well.We've added six items to the Student SatisfactionInventory that measure issues that are relevant to the spiritualmission of our institutions. For example, does being on campuscontribute to spiritual growth? Each year this is more important,and they are more satisfied, so every year they are more likely torespond affirmatively.
We also ask if their understanding of God has been strengthenedby classroom experiences and campus experiences.That's becoming more important and students aremore likely to say yes that's happening. Studentsare telling us they are getting experiences in and out of classroomthat not only help them grow spiritually but also strengthen theirunderstanding of God. Of course, a key difference in CCCU studentsis that many of them come in already predisposed to spiritualgrowth. One of major reasons students choose a CCCU school isthe integration of faith into curriculum. Many come in with highlevels of spirituality, so it improves while they are with us butthey are already at such a high level that the increase, while youcan see it statistically, isn't huge.It's like taking an A student from medium A tohigh A. That doesn't describe all students butwhen lumped all together for a survey, it does.
How are CCCU institutions ahead of the broader higher education realm in terms of speaking to student interest in spirituality and sense of purpose?
SCHREINER: There's a part of methat's a little disappointed thatit's UCLA and not us doing this [national study onspirituality and higher education], because this is somethingthat's been important to us for a long time.We're ahead of game in many ways on thespirituality issue because for at least 30 years CCCU schools havebeen known for their ability to integrate faith issues intocurriculum. In class, students are highly likely to interact witheach other and their professor about how a faith perspectiveinfluences their thinking about the subject matter. Thisdoesn't mean we just pray before and after classor begin with a devotional. In many ways, that's acaricature of what faith integration is. When you look atwhat's happening in our classrooms and some ofprograms on faith integration, the book series Through the Eyes ofFaith that Karen Longman helped produce for instance, we have a lotto say about these issues. I think the faith integration piece hasalways been one of our strengths.
Another strength, but not to the same degree, has to do with howmuch our students are able to talk to faculty outside of classabout these issues. We could still invest time and energy into thisarea. We do a good job (5.5 out of 7), but we could still focussome attention on this.
We also ask, given where they are spiritually, if the campus isa good fit for them. We've foundthat's one of the biggest predictors of whetherthey stay to graduate. Fit is a dynamic process;it's not just a matter of whether students fit theinstitution, but also the degree to which the institution adjuststo the needs of the student. In the area of spiritual fit, one ofthe things we've found is that a lack of fit ismore often a result of how a student is being treated by otherstudents. Students nationally are becoming more and moreconservative. Often they are bumping up against each other. One of the common disillusionments students encounter is when otherstudents don't live up to their expectations ofwhat it means to be Christian.
How is it that CCCU schools have known about the students search for purpose when other institutions are just now catching on to this?
SCHREINER: There is a long history of compartmentalization, asopposed to a holistic approach to student learning. The focus is onintellectual development. Faculty have been quick to say,"My job is to educate, to address the intellectualneeds of students." That's whystudent development started to take care of the emotional andspiritual side. And I think that created a divide between theacademic and student life sides of the house, with not a lot ofrespect between the two.
What's happened in the last decade is that alot of new research on learning coming out of the field ofneuropsychology has made us realize how holistic learning is. Emotions affect it, background and experiences affect learning;it's very social. Our view of learning has changedin the last decade or so. Another thing we've seenthat might be contributing to this shift in a greater concern formeaning and purpose is that our nation as a whole is taking a turntoward spiritual issues. As a nation, we are more concerned aboutspiritual issues, rather than shutting off that part of our lives.Church growth experts will tell you that. There is this wholeseeker movement, those turning back to spiritual issues whohaven't before.
What impact do you suppose the UCLA study, "Spirituality in Higher Education," will have?
SCHREINER: One of the important aspects of the UCLA study isthat the high visibility of it has highlighted spirituality incollege students for the whole nation to see, and has caused all ofus to think more intentionally about our students'spiritual needs as part of their college experience. I thinkChristian colleges have acknowledged from the beginning thatpersons have spiritual natures. Even if someonedoesn't believe in Christ, he or she still has aspiritual aspect to personhood. The UCLA study is strongly gearedtoward defining spirituality as a search for meaning. Again,Christian colleges have always been able to integrate discussionsabout meaning and purpose into the classroom, so we ought to havesomething to offer academia on how to do that. Itdoesn't make the CCCU better than everyone else;strong Christian faculty have always been in public universitiesand have had an influence on students'spirituality. It simply means we have been able to think moreintentionally about this for a longer time because of who weare. Secular campuses have rarely been able to integrate thespiritual into the intellectual side. It's a sadthing that higher education has ignored this whole very importantaspect of the student's personhood.
Helen Astin spoke to the CCCU's AssessmentConference last October. One thing she talked about is that atUCLA, for years faculty never knew whether anyone else hadspiritual beliefs; they just didn't talk about it.Spirituality was a rich aspect never talked about, for fear itwasn't empirical or scientific. This new stream ofresearch has freed people up to talk about this aspect of theirlives in important ways. So now we know that students aresaying that in the vast majority of their classes, faith issues arenever discussed and yet they want them to be. And now we have thisnational survey evidence and can say to faculty,"This whole aspect you've shutoff out of fear of separation of church and state, you can touch itbecause students want you to. You don't have toespouse a certain faith to talk aboutspirituality."
This enables us to be authentic with each other. If I can nevertalk about one whole aspect of my life, there is a part of my lifeI'm not sharing with my students. Authenticityimproves the learning process. So I think that'sone of the biggest advantages of this research on spirituality andhow it can impact the rest of higher education. Spiritualitycontributes to academic engagement. In one of my doctoralstudents' dissertations, she found thatstudents' interaction with faculty was a strongpredictor of sense of purpose and meaning in life, and acontributor to academic engagement. So in some ways I look and saywe ought to have huge advantages in Christian colleges because weare able to do these things. We ought to produce greater academicengagement in our students because we can integrate all theseaspects of their lives in our teaching.
