College to Offer Two New Master's Degrees
Houghton will soon begin classes for two new master's degrees—one in theological studies and one in literacy education. These will be the second and third master's degrees Houghton offers; the Greatbatch School of Music began awarding masters' in 2005.
The Graduate Theological Studies master's program will consist of 48 credit-hours, with classes offered during the fall, spring and summer. The program offers courses in a "block" format (meeting once a week) during the fall and spring semesters, or in an "intensive" format (meeting for 30 hours in a five-day period) during the summer sessions. Additionally, the program will not designate any specific sequence for the courses—students can take them in any order.
"We've tried to keep the thing as flexible as possible," says Mike Walters '86, chair of the religion and philosophy department, "That's why there is no course sequencing—because we realize that a part-time pastor out there who's coming to school may be able to take three courses one semester and then something happens in his church and the next semester he can't take any."
The same approach affected the structure of the degree itself. "We built a degree that had a core requirement," Walters explains, "and then the rest of it is very flexible." The program includes six "core" classes required of every student, and then six more classes in theology or Bible and four courses from general electives. "By choosing courses, you can establish what your own emphasis is," Walters says, "Pastors can really emphasize getting themselves better preparation for pastoral ministry. A person in youth ministry could do the same thing. A person who wants to do missions work could emphasize that."
"We tried to do that very deliberately," he says, "We need to appeal to a broad spectrum of people." Walters sees three primary groups as prospective students. The first would be people already in ministry who realize that they need more education. The second would be what Walters calls a "more traditional" student—perhaps recent graduates who want to continue their education, "Or maybe a student who majored in something else and says 'I wish I'd done more in Bible or theology,'" Walters says. The final group he sees are those attracted by the specific subject matter— or perhaps by a well-known teacher—of the class offered. These would likely be more interested in continuing education and may not pursue a degree.
The program will start the last Saturday in August with an all-day retreat intended to build a sense of community. Walters says he wants students to "start knowing and caring for each other and realizing that we're not here just trying to give them some content; we're here to really try to help shape them spiritually." After that, the college will offer two classes each on Monday and Thursday nights.
For now, all classes will be held on the main campus, although Walters thinks they may be able to offer simulcasting to the West Seneca campus as well. That would allow students in the Buffalo area to go there rather than making the trip all the way down to Houghton. Although there is no plan to offer online classes now, "It's hard to tell where technology will take us," Walters says.
The program has admitted its first students, and further inquiries are coming in. Walters hopes to have the equivalent of 12 full-time (nine credit hours per semester) students in the program to make it self-sufficient. "To get 12 full-time equivalencies, I may need 20 or 25 students," he says. That number is similar to what Mark LaCelle-Peterson, who chairs the department of education, hopes to see enrolled in the new master's degree in education as well. However, the two new degree programs are very different in many other ways.
For example, the master's in theological studies is broad, with each student shaping its focus while the new degree program in education is very specific. LaCelle-Peterson explains that this is partly because the state of New York has rewritten its requirements for teacher certification. "They found that the general master's weren't very useful for teachers," he says. As a result, the state now requires master's programs in education to be targeted to an age group and to a particular subject.
Houghton's new degree program is for those already certified to be elementary teachers and it adds specialized knowledge in literacy so that they can qualify to be reading specialists. LaCelle-Peterson explains that students who go through Houghton's education program graduate with certifications in both general elementary education and special education—the two are bundled together in the college's undergraduate program. The new master's will qualify them for ongoing certification and add a specialization in literacy.
"Our first interest is in making sure that they are prepared to be the best possible teachers they can be, that they understand general teaching," LaCelle-Peterson says, "Then we make sure they understand how to work with all learners, because of the special ed. piece. Finally, the master's gives them additional training in reading, and at the elementary level reading is the single most important factor—everything is important, but reading is the key to everything else." LaCelle-Peterson says the college expects that many of its students for the new program will come right from Houghton's undergraduate program—and, in fact, that many will come as undergraduates with the intention of staying here at Houghton all the way through their master's degree as well.
The new program will offer two "tracks" to achieving the 36 hours necessary for the degree—a 15-month, intensive track (two summers and one academic year) and a standard, 27- month course (three summers and two academic years). Unlike the theological studies degree, the education master's will be strictly sequenced. LaCelle-Peterson explains that the education master's will require a research project, such as a thesis, and therefore will offer classes that take the students through an approach to completing that project that need to be followed in order. He also notes that sequencing the degree allows each course to build upon the previous one rather than mixing together students who may be at the beginning or at the end of the program.
Keeping the students together in a "cohort" will be a distinctive of the program, as well, according to LaCelle- Peterson. "We know that students get an added benefit in going through together with the same group," he says, "they learn together and remind each other of what they've learned, so we've built this program on a cohort model— start together, go through the program together and finish together."
Another distinctive will be an emphasis on service learning that will fit with Houghton's stress on scholarservice at all levels. In fact, LaCelle-Peterson hopes that some of his students will sign on with Americorps and volunteer in area schools. By doing so, the grad. students will get a living stipend from Americorps as well as an education benefit to help pay their tuition. The schools get a volunteer that is highly qualified, and learning more each week. "We're excited about that, both because of what it gives to the community and because of the good experience that it gives to the students," LaCelle-Peterson says. The degree program is scheduled to begin classes in June 2009.
As for the future, LaCelle-Peterson foresees adding at least one additional degree program. For instance, this program will be quite useful for a great many teachers in elementary education, but for those at the secondary level: "It's a little trickier," LaCelle-Peterson says. Noting the state's requirement for master's degree programs that are specific to a subject area, he explains that finding an area that would be attractive to a great many adolescent education majors—such as reading is to elementary education—might be more difficult. One alternative is to add a degree program for every subject area—such as mathematics, history, English, etc.—and that may be too much to jump into all at once. Other possibilities might be degrees in special education, literacy or teaching English as a second language (TESL).
The college will be considering them in the future. In the meantime, though, LaCelle-Peterson will work this year to recruit students and put together the first cohorts. "It would be healthy if we could get to where we have 10 part-time and 10 full-time students starting every year," he says.
For more information on either master's degree program, contact the college at 585.567.9200 or visit the programs' websites below:
