Mar 28, 2024  
2018-2019 
    
2018-2019 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Master of Divinity/Master of Science in Community and International Development MDiv/MSCID


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To provide a Dual degree option for seminary students who are interested in pursuing a career in providing humanitarian or development services either as missionaries or as development practitioners.

Distinctive Features:

Students will receive practical training in:

  • Finding Innovated approaches to improving quality of life of church and community members
  • Addressing Urban Issues that affect the church: poverty, economic crisis, unemployment, etc.
  • Assessing the needs of the community they will serve
  • Fundraising and Grant writing
  • Program Management
  • Managing Humanitarian Crisis and Programs
  • Program Design, Monitoring & Evaluations
  • Analyze, evaluate and design and execute Policy that affect constituents and local community.
  • Advocacy
  • Research  (design, analysis and recommendations)

Students will receive 6 months of Field experience. This increases their job readiness and marketability. CID/Seminary based Dual degree students will have two options:

  • A six-month supervised internship abroad or in a local community full time. Utilizing knowledge and skills from both degrees. This is the regular standard for the HDS degree.
  • Work 6 months in the church and community selected for TFE assignment. Students will be expected to identify humanitarian needs and issues in their churches and surrounding community and provide a feasible solution.

The knowledge and skills provided will allow students to more confidently address issues in their church and community. Student will be able to use both biblical and research/professional based answers to respond to social and economic issues in their community. An understanding of the humanitarian field and its expectations will increase the legitimacy of programs they implement and chances of receiving funding.

A CID degree will allow students to be more marketable to other fields outside of the church and improve their chances for employment. CID degree holders have a wide range of potential career paths in which the spiritual and physical contributions could be greatly beneficial. These roles generally fall into the following categories (not including exclusively pastoral roles):

  • Practitioner: project management and implementation in the field
  • Policy/Advisory:research, evaluation , lessons learned and developing policy recommendations to use within the organization and to advocate outside of the organization
  • Advocacy & Outreach:ministry, campaigning, lobbying, fundraising, media, communications
  • Support: human resources, finance, logistics, IT, etc. 

General Information


Andrews University has formed a collaborative program between the Master of Divinity Program of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary and the Community and International Development Program in the College of Arts & Sciences. Students can potentially complete the two degrees in 3 years; 2 years in the Theological Seminary and 1 year in the Community and International Development Program. 

The objectives of this program are to prepare students to better follow Christ’s model for ministry by Equipping Pastors, Evangelists and missionaries with important tools, skills and knowledge in order to address the socio and economic needs of their churches and communitity.

Students who receive this degree will have a more holistic view of the Church’s mission and their community. They will receive practical training in:

  • Finding Innovated approaches to improving quality of life of church and community members
  • Addressing Urban Issues that affect the church: poverty, economic crisis, unemployment, etc.
  • Assessing the needs of the community they will serve
  • Fundraising and Grant writing, Program Management
  • Managing Humanitarian Crisis and Programs
  • Program Design, Monitoring & Evaluations
  • Analyze, evaluate and design and execute Policy that affect constituents and local community.
  • Advocacy
  • Research  (design, analysis and recommendations)

Since both the MSCID and MDiv programs share certain cognate courses to achieve a more streamlined and efficient program, both degrees must be conferred simultaneously in order to fulfill the requirements of each degree.  In the event that one degree was completed prior to enrollment for the dual degree program, the cognate requirements for the other degree will be adjusted as shown below. A dual student cannot march in graduation or March-without-Completion if both halves of the dual degree are not completed.

Total Credits: 95


Graduation requirements consist of the satisfactory completion of 95 semester credits with an overall grade point average of 3.0 GPA for the MA CIDS program. and 2.75 or highter for the MDiv program. 65 credits are MDiv credits, and 30 credits are Master of Community and International Development credits. 

13 MDiv credits are used to fulfill equivalent MSCID requirements:

- MSSN 546 - Mission in Cultural and Religious Context  (3 Cr)
- CHMN 543 - Christian Leadership in a Changing World  (2 Cr)
- CHMN 560 - Theological Field Education  (2 Cr)
- 6 Credits of Electives with consultation of advisors

Master of Divinity (MDiv)


MDiv General Infomation


For information regarding: Program Overview, Application, Policies and other entrance requirements - Click Here .

MDiv Degree Prerequisites


Seminary New Student Orientation


Students must attend and register for the Fall semester 0 credit orientation as a graduation requirement.

Divinity Core


Interdisciplinary Credits: 2


Great Controversy, Covenant, Law, Sabbath Course Requirement


Each student must take a “Great Controversy, Covenant, Law, Sabbath” course from their choice of the Theology, New Testament, Old Testament or Church History departments. At least one of these courses will be offered each semester.

Colloquia


Brief 0 Credit colloquia on a variety of ministry topics will be offered each semester for MDiv students.

  • On-campus students are required to attend at least 5 of these colloquia during their MDiv experience.
  • Colloquia requirements for transfer students or those completing part of their MDiv off-campus will be one colloquium for each semester that they are on the main campus.
  • Students from previous bulletins who petition into the 2018-19 bulletin will take 1 colloquium per semester for the remaining semesters of their program.

Christian Ministry Credits: 15


Discipleship and Religious Education Credits: 9


Church History Credits: 7


World Mission Credits: 3


Theology Credits: 13


New Testament Credits: 8


Before registering for New Testament courses, check the course description for Greek Language and/or other course prerequisites.

Old Testament Credits: 8


Before registering for Old Testament courses, check the course description for Hebrew Language and/or other course prerequisites.

MS Community & International Development (MSCID) Credits: 30


MSCID Degree Prerequisites


Students must complete the following prerequisite courses or their equivalent.

Community and International Development Core


Research Options Credits: 3-4


Student should choose either the Qualitative or Quantative Research Option

Experience Capstone Credits: 4-10


  • Credits: 1,2
  • TFE Exemption: Pastors who can present a letter from their Employer/Conference, to the CHMN Department Chair, verifying at least 2 years (24 months) of full-time paid congregational pastoral experience including intentional mentoring, verified by a service record, may substitute the course with another 2 credit CHMN, MSSN or DSRE course.
  • If student is in a dual degree, they may substitute this course with the appropriate practicum course in their dual area.
  • If a student is in the Chaplaincy concentration, they will take only 1 credit of CHMN560.
  • OR

  • Credits: 1,2
  • Credits: 2,3
  • Credits: 0

Admissions Requirements


Master of Divinity


All MDiv applicants must meet the Graduate Programs Admission Requirements applicable to all graduate students and the general seminary requirements.

  • Hold a baccalaureate degree: A four-year degree from an accredited United States institution, or its equivalent from an institution outside the U.S.
  • Minimum of 2.5 Undergraduate GPA
  • Normally hold membership in the Seventh-day Adventist Church inasmuch as the MDiv program is specifically designed for Adventist ministers and is sponsored and financed by the Adventist church.
  • Represent high moral integrity with a character, lifestyle, and spiritual commitment reflective of the beliefs and practices of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and show promise of usefulness for Adventist ministry through personal maturity and adequate experience in the Church. (Persons of other faiths who are willing to live in harmony with these standards are welcome to apply.)
  • Submit an autobiographical history and a 350+ word statement of purpose reflecting the applicant’s family and spiritual development, sense of calling to ministry, experience in church work, and future goals in relationship to the MDiv program. A guideline is provided in the admissions package.
  • If married, the spouse of the applicant is also asked to complete a statement in regard to his or her feelings and relationship to the partner’s aspirations for future ministry.
  • Background Check. Applicants to all Seminary programs are required to undergo a criminal background check and to make the results of the check available to the Seminary. The cost of the criminal background check is the responsibility of the applicant.  Details about this requirement may be obtained from the MDiv office.
  • An interview with a representative of the MDiv program may be required, either by personal contact, telephone, or video.
  • Complete and return the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire as directed.
  • Pre-admission Conduct Disclosure Statement - Applicants to all Seminary programs are required to complete and submit to the Seminary the “Pre-Admission Conduct Disclosure Statement.”
  • Recommendations
    • Church board where the applicant is a member
    • Church administrator, pastor, or elder
    • General Recommendation from: College teacher or advisor, recent employer, or some other non-family member

English Language Requirements

Students whose language of education is not English must submit one of the following tests and minimum scores:

TOEFL Paper-based - 565
TOEFL Internet-based - 85
MELAB - 81
IELTS - 6.5
PTE - 58

Application Deadline

Given that applying and obtaining pertinent documents for admission can be a long endeavor, the student must start the application process at least 4-6 months before the the desired starting semester. See University deadlines for individual semesters here.

Master of Science in Community and International Development


Applicants to the Dual degree program must meet the following criteria, in addition to other general admission requirements of the Andrews University School of Graduate Studies & Research:

  • A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university;
  • An overall undergraduate GPA of 3.00 or 3.50 in 8 or more credits of previously taken graduate courses graded A–F. Students may be admitted provisionally with a GPA of 2.6 or higher. Such students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher during their first 12 graduate credits to continue in the program;
  • Completed Graduate Application packet.
  • Completed coursework in Accounting, Statistics and Research II. Provisional acceptance may be granted without these courses, and the student would be expected to take them during the first year of enrollment. Credits for prerequisites do not apply toward the MSCID.

The director of the program may request a personal interview or a third reference and/or other information.

Students who apply for admission to the MSCID program have two options related to the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). For those students who are seeking a graduate scholarship, the GRE must be taken. Scholarship amounts are based on the score achieved on the exam. For students who do not seek a graduate scholarship based on the GRE score, the GRE is not required.

Recommended: A reading knowledge of a foreign language is strongly recommended for those planning on graduate work.

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