2003-04 Greenville College
Catalog
Educational Foundations
Purpose
Greenville College transforms students for lives of character and
service through a Christ-centered education in the liberating arts
and sciences. This mission makes the College a vital place where
students learn and grow. Greenville College provides education marked
by quality, innovation, and spiritual depth. It is education that
values the life of the mind, but is not confined to the ivory tower.
We seek to relate learning to the needs of contemporary society.
We integrate learning into the lives of students in multiple ways.
We actively work to assimilate learning across the disciplines we
teach. We seek to help students think about how their academic discipline
relates to a rich, orthodox Christian faith. We work to help students
apply their learning to life practice.
Greenville College is a Christian community committed to challenging
and nurturing students. It is dedicated to excellence in higher
education grounded in both the liberal arts tradition and a Wesleyan
heritage. The College provides an education characterized by open
inquiry into all creation, and is guided by the authority of Scripture,
tradition, reason, and experience. Faculty and administrators adhere
to and are motivated by a Christian worldview. We encourage faculty
and students to study the issues and ideas of the present and the
past, and in so doing we seek to promote a more humane and just
future for all people.
In the pages that follow we invite you to examine the rich legacy
and contemporary relevance of Greenville. It is a fully accredited
co-educational college which holds to a unique conception of liberal
arts education, one that combines a philosophy rooted in the Christian
faith with a rigorous but balanced academic program. The College
offers a unique setting where students think about central questions
of faith and life in a Christ-centered, supportive community.
Governance and Control
The Board of Trustees of Greenville College wholly owns the institution
and is the final authority of all policy and operational decisions.
The College functions within the context of the "free exercise"
constitutional interpretation and is chartered by the State of Illinois
to operate as a private, independent, Christian liberal arts college.
Applicants are not required to adhere to any specific religious
beliefs in order to be admitted to the College.
Historical Roots
For nearly 150 years, the Greenville College campus has been the
scene of Christian higher education. In the mid-nineteenth century
Stephen Morse moved from New Hampshire to Greenville, where he met
and married Almira Blanchard. In 1855, he established a college
for women, supported in part by his wife's inheritance and named
in her honor. Almira College was affiliated with the Baptist church
and educated young women under the leadership of John B. White,
a classmate of Morse at Brown University. After 23 years, ownership
passed to James Park Slade, who maintained the affiliation but changed
the College to a co-educational institution.
In 1892, ministerial and lay leaders of the Central Illinois Conference
of the Free Methodist Church purchased the property of Almira College,
consisting of "Old Main" and several acres of land, to
provide higher education for both men and women under distinctive
Christian influences. The institution was reincorporated as an independent
institution under the name of Greenville College Corporation and
was authorized to confer the usual degrees. The College and the
Free Methodist Church share a commitment to a Wesleyan theological
tradition and have maintained the rich legacy of mutual support
in a voluntary relationship since reincorporating in 1893. Wilson
T. Hogue, a New York pastor and scholar, was called to be the College's
first president. During his administration, he not only taught and
directed the College, but also earned his Ph.D. degree. Only ten
individuals have served the College as president during its more
than 100-year history.
Since the first graduate in 1898, Greenville College has granted
degrees to more than 7,500 students. The quality of our graduates
is made clear in their accomplishments. An unusually high proportion
of have gone on to earn doctorates. Alumni serve with distinction
in the major professions, in government, business, the church, and
Christian missions, as well as on faculties of major universities
and colleges.
Greenville College is a part of the friendly, midwestern town of
Greenville, Illinois, located near the junction of U.S. Interstate
Highway 70 and Illinois Highway 127, about 50 miles east of St.
Louis. The town is an attractive residential community of approximately
7,500 people. Though rural and delightfully quiet, the town enjoys
the urban advantages of metropolitan St. Louis with its concerts,
sports events, cultural attractions, and large international airport.
The eight-acre central academic campus is within two blocks of Greenville's
town square and shopping area. Three lakes are located within a
few miles of the campus, including Carlyle Lake, the largest man-made
recreational lake in Illinois.
Accreditation and Affiliations
The College has been accredited since 1947 by the North Central
Association of Colleges and Schools as an institution granting the
bachelor degree, and since 1996 granting the masters degree. Since
1974-75 the Illinois State Teacher Certification Board has approved
the teacher education program. Institutional membership is held
in the American Council on Education, the Association of American
Colleges, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, the
Federation of Illinois Independent Colleges and Universities, the
National Commission of Education, and other professional organizations.
It is one of the colleges approved officially by the Free Methodist
Church of North America, and is, thereby, recommended to any of
its young people interested in securing a Christian higher education.
Theological
Assumptions
Greenville College is a Christian college of the liberal arts and
sciences founded by the Free Methodist Church and committed to the
following description of our theological character.
Our faith commitments and our understanding about the nature of
God and creation profoundly shape Greenville College. The following
statements of our theological assumptions and our educational philosophy
were crafted by the faculty in 1995. These ideas are foundational
for understanding our institutional objectives and program of general
education.
As Christians, we believe that God exists and is presently and
actively engaged in the lives of people. Though we employ terms
such as wonderful, powerful, righteous, loving, all-knowing, merciful,
and holy to describe God, none of them alone, or even in total,
can completely capture the identity of God. Because that identity
must be both experienced and learned, we commit ourselves to a living
and learning environment that nurtures the whole person. We affirm
that, as God's creatures, persons are endowed with the ability to
respond, and ultimately know and achieve intimacy with God. This
intimacy with God results in life growing ever more harmonious with
God's nature, which can be described in terms of goodness, beauty,
truthfulness, freedom, and love. Because these qualities transcend
all cultural, historical, and ethnic boundaries, Greenville College
seeks to do the same.
We have seen that humanity does not live in harmony with God, and
we seek to understand why. We believe that God is helping us to
gain this knowledge, both through revelation and by discovery which
God has done in history and has made in creation. Refusing to embrace
this revelation and to begin the journey of discovery is at the
root of humanity's problem. This problem has traditionally been
defined as sin and can be best understood in terms of its consequences:
alienation in all relationships, captivity to sin, and a darkened
heart and mind. Death is the ultimate experience of this alienation
and darkness. We understand that the person of Jesus Christ is the
revelation of God, and the work of Christ redeems all creation,
dispels the darkness of ignorance, frees people from captivity to
sin, and restores all relationships. All this is mediated through
the ministry of the Holy Spirit, holding the hope of redemption
and life for humankind.
These affirmations lead us to embrace a Christianity that is best
defined as orthodox. Orthodox Christianity, holding to what might
be described as a central consensus among Christians of all times
and cultures, affirms that:
We believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
We believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived
by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell. On the third day He rose again. He ascended
into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will
come again to judge the living and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion
of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
We are confident that affirming the Apostles' Creed is completely
necessary and adequate for one to claim to be fully Christian.
In order to define how we at Greenville have and are working out
our faith in practice, it must be understood that we are willing,
and sometimes unwilling, inheritors of a number of religious impulses
and traditions including orthodox Christianity, the Enlightenment,
the Reformation, the Puritan ethos, an Evangelical tradition, the
Anglican/Methodist tradition, the Pentecostal/Holiness impulse,
and American Revivalism. As such, let it be understood that we embrace
the Bible as the authoritative rule for faith and life, the historic
forms and rituals of the church, the evangelical missionary impulse
which preaches the gospel of Jesus, the continuing search for truth
in all arenas, the affirmation of the good, the preeminence of Jesus
Christ, the active ministry of the Holy Spirit in the lives of all
people, the beauty of holiness and the holiness of beauty, the ministry
of love through works of service and mercy as the goal of Christian
practice, the struggle for freedom and justice in all parts of the
earth, and the necessity of an individual encounter with and commitment
to God in Christ.
Philosophy of
Education
All truth is God’s truth. Our educational philosophy rests,
for our search for truth, upon the authority of Scripture, as well
as upon tradition, reason, and experience. It is shaped by Biblical
revelation and informed by our theological presuppositions, and
therefore includes the following assumptions about reality, knowledge,
humanness, and value.
Reality:
We understand God to be personal—the creator and ruler of
an orderly, dynamic universe. Through this universe God’s
eternal purposes, meaning, creativity, and loving care are expressed.
Knowledge:
We learn about reality through observation, thought, and a scholarly
and disciplined search for truth. We then perceive reality’s
ultimate meaning in and through God and through His creation. The
fullest information about God’s person and purposes appears
in God’s self-revelation in redemptive acts—in Hebrew
history and in the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ—as recorded and interpreted in the Bible. God’s
dealings are always primarily relational, first through God’s
choosing of a people and later through the establishment of the
church. God continues to be at work in the world through His creation
and through the instrument of the church in the power of the Holy
Spirit, calling people individually and collectively into a saving
experience.
To learn, throughout our lives, we must do more than gain knowledge.
We must also integrate our knowledge with the adaptive coping skills—skills
which we develop through our life experiences and temper by spiritual
discernment. As we watch our community’s leaders and members
integrating the outcomes of their moral choices, we learn from our
own faith-based choices. From these people we can learn to serve
by leading, and to lead by serving. Their habits of heart and mind
serve as models for our own. As we create our unique spiritual,
cognitive, and psycho-social synthesis, our Christian learning community
encourages and supports us. In such a community, both the curricular
and co-curricular experiences can help us develop into servant leaders.
Humanness:
We humans are created in the image of God, and are therefore of
inestimable value. We further understand that this image is found
across cultures, ethnic and racial groups, and social class. But
because we are bound by sin, we have become estranged from God and
neighbor, and our lives are distorted. Yet God, out of infinite
mercy, offers us salvation and reconciliation in the atoning work
of Jesus Christ. As a result, all who profess belief in Christ are
called to seek the fullness of the Spirit and to live lives of wholeness
and grace through the power of the Holy Spirit.
As bearers of God’s image, humans retain certain qualities
and responsibilities. These qualities include complex rational capabilities,
systematic and powerful skills of investigation, and the capacity
for compelling ethical and aesthetic insights. And because we are
social in both our nature and our circumstance, we bear a responsibility
to live as a functional part of society in its diverse manifestations.
This requires sensitivity to culture, ethnicity, race, gender, religious
tradition and practice, and social class. In addition we should
live redemptively, pointing others to Christ, to the church, and
to the Christian worldview.
Value:
We value righteousness, which we understand to be obedience to God
and His revelation. The essence of this obedience is captured in
the Christian ideals of character and calling.
Regarding character, we prize:
• commitment to God through a saving relationship with Jesus
Christ,
• respect for all creation,
• respect for persons as they have been variously created
by God,
• personal freedom and the acceptance of responsibility for
the personal and social consequences which result from the exercise
of this freedom, and
• obedience to the teachings of Christ and the apostolic tradition,
and to the Spirit of God at work in the life of the individual and
the church.
With respect to calling, we embrace:
• the responsibility of each believer to live a life of full
service in and through the church—the Body of Christ;
• the wholeness of life and our dual obligations to affirm
all that is true, good, and beautiful and to exercise stewardship
over all of creation;
• the ethics of love and the responsibility for bringing good
news and personal relief to all, with special care for the poor
and downtrodden, and
• the necessity of the indwelling Spirit of God if we expect
our lives of ministry and service to have either substance or effectiveness.
Based on our assumptions about reality, knowledge, humanness, and
value, Greenville College pursues certain objectives. Our pursuit
unifies both spiritual and academic aims, in an effort to minister
to the whole person.
Institutional
Goals and Objectives
The College has committed itself to education for character and
service. Therefore, through our curriculum and co-curriculum, we
intend that each graduate:
• Seek truth. Seek it dynamically,
integratively, comprehensively, biblically, and historically, with
discipline and scholarship; and seek meaning in truth through recognition
that it proceeds from God.
• Learn to think critically and creatively.
Develop such thinking processes as induction; deduction; problem
solving; quantitative reasoning; intuition; communication; interpretation;
aesthetic discernment; creative expression; and perceptive reading,
viewing, and listening.
• Understand and value the wholeness
of creation. Integrate knowledge from many areas of study
into a comprehensive point of view. Learn to discern truth, goodness,
and beauty; take interest in ideas regardless of their immediate
utility; and exercise stewardship over one's physical and biological
environment.
• Understand our world. Know the
basic content and processes of the physical and biological world,
the human race, our civilization, our society, our technological
environment, and other cultures.
• Respect human life and understand the
human condition. Recognize humankind's best and worst capacities;
affirm persons of all ethnic and racial backgrounds as creative
bearers of God's image; respond to and love others, and work for
reconciliation.
• Understand and apply basic social structures
and processes. Recognize society's diverse manifestations,
develop cultural sensitivity, and communicate effectively and responsibly.
• Develop self-understanding.
Exercise integrity of character, personal expression, and stewardship
of self; appreciate the value of one's own physical and psychological
well-being; and recognize learning as a life-long process.
• Value personal accomplishment.
Recognize talent as from God and accept responsibility for developing
creative skills, demonstrate competence in at least one area of
study, learn to make sound judgments, and develop a sense of vocation,
which gives meaningful direction to one's life.
• Respond to God's expression.
Understand the Judeo-Christian worldview as made manifest through
Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience; fully embrace one's
role in the Body of Christ; respond to God's initiating grace; be
sensitive to the Spirit of God at work in the individual, the church,
and the world; affirm the values of truth, goodness, beauty, and
the glory of God; express those values in responsible decisions
and action; and join in God's creative and redemptive activity by
becoming a servant leader.
Standards for the
Common Good
Greenville College is a community of Christian scholarship that
seeks to help students develop both intellectually and spiritually.
College programs and activities are designed to educate all members
of the community to reach for wholeness, truth, and service to God
and humanity. We desire to produce graduates who will make wise
choices in vocation, assume their responsibilities as leaders and
citizens in a world community, and build successful home and family
lives centered on Jesus Christ.
Greenville students are expected to come to college eager to enter
this life of learning. They are expected to join together with faculty
to develop informed and critical views of the arts and humanities,
social sciences, and natural sciences. In short, students are expected
to come to college to become active participants in their education.
Living in a Christian academic community means more than simply
studying hard. Greenville College seeks to promote not only intellectual
growth, but also Christ-centered living. For this reason, the College
has always sought to maintain positive standards of life and action
among its faculty and students. These standards reflect our view
that we are not only granted freedom to ask challenging questions,
but are also accountable to God and responsible to the broader society,
The standards that we maintain are those that are consistent with
a Christian worldview informed by Scripture, tradition, reason,
and experience. A complete statement of standards for members of
the Greenville College Community, and a rationale for them, is published
in the Student Handbook. This is available on the World Wide Web
and is available from the Student Development Office upon request.
For clarification, some of the standards are listed here. It is
expected that the Greenville student will observe social norms which
exclude the use of alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and illegal drugs.
Students are requested to refrain from entertainment and behavior
that is not consistent with Christian values. Students allowed to
live off-campus are expected to observe essentially the same regulations
as those in effect for students in the residence halls. All students
enrolled in the traditional undergraduate program are required to
attend the College chapel programs on a regular basis.
If a student chooses not to abide by the values, standards, and
regulations of Greenville College; is persistently uncooperative;
or violates the public laws, the College reserves the right to take
appropriate disciplinary action, including dismissing the student
from the College at any time, and/or denying the privilege of registering
for the following semester. In all disciplinary cases students are
provided with due process, which includes the right to have a hearing
and to appeal judgments to higher levels of authority.
College policy requires that all single students enrolled in the
traditional undergraduate program not living at home shall live
in college housing. Exception to this policy can be made in unusual
circumstances if students are in good academic and social standing.
Applications should be made in writing to the Associate Vice President
and Dean of Student Development for each semester that the student
desires to live in approved off-campus housing. Approval may be
granted to sophomores, juniors, and seniors after sufficient cause
has been shown by the student. Housing for married students is available
privately in the community.
Last updated: June
18, 2003
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