Three faculty members of APNTS attended the PhD Supervisors’ Assembly of the University of Manchester (UoM) on 14-21 June 2019. Upon the invitation of Dr. Peter Rae, Academic Dean of Nazarene Theological College (NTC), Dr. Nativity Petallar, Dr. Irene Yang, and Dr. Dick Eugenio joined the assembly to discuss matters concerning PhD thesis supervision. Increasingly, as a premier theological education in Asia and the Pacific offering graduate and post-graduate degrees, APNTS needs to collaborate and engage with major universities throughout the world in order to raise the seminary’s academic standards and refine its processes. The assembly in the United Kingdom was a great help toward these ends.
Dr. Yang, reflecting on the assembly, writes: “The thorough attention that [NTC] provides to the research projects of their students has inspired and encouraged me to develop a research culture in our PhD programs and in myself as an educator. The assemblies and workshops have not only broadened my knowledge in the area of research but has helped me become aware of the challenges that our students are facing in the process of doing their dissertation. This has firmed up my commitment to provide quality supervision and pastoral care to our students.”
APNTS has sixty enrolled doctoral students in the three PhD programs offered in partnership with Asia Graduate School of Theology (AGST): Holistic Child Development, Transformational Learning, and Transformational Development.
In order to address the growing administrative needs of APNTS’ post-graduate programs, Dr. Petallar was appointed as Associate Dean for PhD studies in May 2019. While at the assembly in Manchester, she was already implementing some of the things she was learning. As a program director as well, she was helped how to “enhance the current processes at the seminary from ‘enquiry to graduation’.” In addition, she says that the assembly gave her a “a fresh sense of awareness that as a thesis/dissertation advisor in APNTS, I am part of a larger body of mentors who desire nothing but help students reach for their dreams. The training helped me see that what I do is an act of worship to God.”
