A Study of Factors That Predict the Success of Christ-Centered Higher Educational Institutions: A Mixed Method Study

Abstract

A STUDY OF FACTORS THAT PREDICT THE SUCCESS OF CHRIST-CENTERED HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: A MIXED METHOD STUDY

Timothy Lee Smith, Ph.D.

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2015 Chair: Dr. Michael S. Wilder

Many faith-based academic institutions began to deteriorate in the twentieth century as the institutions wandered toward a secular educational platform. Because of this transition, there is a renewed call for faith-based institutions to move beyond an environment of piety by creating a climate of faith and learning as the foundational synergistic roots in preparing graduates to embrace the cause of Christ.

To address this concern, a sequential transformative mixed methods study was implemented to describe the factors, as expressed by presidents of Christian institutions, which predict the missional success of Southern Baptist Convention liberal arts educational institutions. In addition, this study argued that presidents of Christian institutions can clearly describe the factors of missional success of Christian institutions and a self- assessment model of institutional success can be established from the learned factors.

In stage 1 of the study, 24 presidents of CCCU institutions, but not leaders of SBC schools, agreed to provide factors through an e-Delphi approach that predicted the success of Christ-centered institutions. Ninety factors were gathered during the initial phase of the study. With the completion of two additional rounds of surveys with the same presidents, a group of 56 factors were found important or very important in achieving the success of a Christ-centered institution. These factors were then examined through a

factor analysis statistical process that established 6 clusters. In the second stage of the study, presidents of SBC institutions ranked the factors in each cluster.

The results revealed that the most important cluster that included 5 factors addressed the importance of right Christian persons and explained 66 percent of model. The second cluster contained 19 factors about operational principles of the institution. Both of these clusters explained nearly 80 percent of the model of success.

Results illustrated that presidents can express the factors that predict the success of Christ-centered higher educational institutions. The significance of these findings is the opportunity to examine the historical cases where Christian institutions wandered from their Christian faith and to look forward in using this model in promoting the success of a Christian higher educational institution.