The Adelaide College of Divinity (ACD) has finally been laid to rest. Once a lively collaboration between Anglican, Catholic, and Uniting colleges sharing one jointly owned campus and awarding Flinders Uni degrees, ACD has been ailing for some time. The Anglicans’ St Barnabas College left to join the Charles Sturt University group, and the Catholics became part of ACU.
That left the Uniting College on its own in ACD. With an announcement that the Uniting College of Leadership and Theology (UCLT) has joined the Melbourne-based University of Divinity, ACD disappears and the steady pressure for Christian Higher Education colleges to merge steps up.
Brisbane College of Theology – which linked colleges from the same three churches as the ACD – succumbed to financial pressures in 2009.
That leaves the Sydney College of Divinity (SCD) on shaky ground. With foresight the former Melbourne College of Divinity secured University status from the state government before granting University status became a federal responsibility. Now known as the University of Divinity (UD) they have become a winner in the merger stakes scooping up new affiliates.
On a larger scale, the Australian Catholic University, led by George Pell, merged small Catholic colleges into a much stronger institution. However Catholic theological education for priests in NSW and Victoria remains outside of it.
The pressure is on. Get big or get out. “I think that consolidation in theological education in Australia is, is necessary,” says Paul Oslington Professor Of Economics And Theology at AlphaCrucis University College.
“it will happen and it’s a good thing. And this [ACD demise] is an example of that and more of it will be coming down the line soon in the next few years.“The reasons that are driving this consolidation are, that the costs of accreditation are rising by a lot. Also in a world where so many students are online, the fixed costs of setting up an online teaching program are huge. And so, little institutions like the Adelaide College of Divinity just aren’t in the game.”
The students in Adelaide will see it as a step up. “The University of Divinity offers us an excellent scaffold and community in which we can become all that our vision calls us to be, says Rev Professor Vicky Balabanski, Principal of UCLT. “As a Collegiate University, the University of Divinity not only has a long heritage of academic excellence in the field of theology but understands the particular challenges and possibilities for study at all levels in ministry and leadership in the contemporary world. We are delighted to be part of this ecumenical partnership.”
Alongside stand-alone institutions like the Seventh Day Adventist’s Avondale University, and University Colleges like Alphacrucis (the largest Pentecostal theological institution), and Moore College, most theological or Bible colleges belong to consortia that accredit courses.
(Other stand-alone colleges such as Tabor in Adelaide, Campion College a liberal arts institution in Sydney, and Christian Heritage College in Brisbane are one step below with an “Institution of Higher Education” ranking by the Federal government agency TEQSA (Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency). ACD did not attain this level, remaining a “higher education provider’ TEQSA’s lowest step).
There are three main consortia:
- The University of Divinity which includes many progressive colleges
- The Australian College of Theology which includes many evangelical colleges such as SMBC, Melbourne School of Theology and Ridley Melbourne
- The Charles Sturt University group.
The Australian College of Theology (ACT) is the largest group with probably the largest research base, but it has not achieved University or University College status. However, it is working hard to be recognised. Earlier this year ACT changed its cumbersome structure – it was originally an Anglican body. “The new constitution provides for members from a much wider group of current ACT stakeholders, including Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian and Reformed denominations, and mission organisations such as CMS Australia, OMF International and Pioneers Ministries,” the College announced. “The new constitution incorporates a statement of Christian identity for the first time and governance improvements at many points.”
The Other Cheek understands that these changes remove a key obstacle to ACT being granted University College status. The Other Cheek understands that ACT is in the Administrative Appeals tribunal seeking the upgrade
The Charles Sturt University group is under pressure, due to the Federal Government re-imposing a cap on University places. When university places were less regulated, adding extra numbers to a Univerity Student load – and taking a cut of the fees was attractive.
But that incentive has been removed. And for a secular university, there will be a financial incentive to concentrate on directly enrolled students. Charles Sturt’s partner institutions – three Anglican colleges
St Mark’s National Theological Centre in Canberra
St Barnabas, Adelaide
St Francis, Brisbane
And the United Theological College (UCA) in Sydney
may need to join a different consortium. UPDATE: St Francis has announced it is leaving CSU to join the UD. There has been no announcement from St Barnabas but theothercheek understands that it also will join the UD. The other two colleges have been the larger parts of CSU with closer ties to the University.
Sydney College of Divinity has gathered a fleet of smaller institutions, such as the Orthodox colleges, and the former Brethren colleges, meaning it remains financially squeezed. It has now lost its most significant affiliate, the Catholic Institute of Sydney which has announced it has become a Partner Institution of the University of Notre Dame, Australia. Planetshakers Bible College while listed on the SCD website also has an association with Alphacrucis University College.
The future will see Alphacrucis continue to attempt to climb the ladder to University status with theology only one of their subject areas. ACU ranked number one in Australia for Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies, according to the Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies, according to the 2022 QS World University Rankings by Subject. Expect Moore to remain in the “University College“ category that ranks just underneath full University status and ACT to join it.
There will be other consolidations such as the Baptist Morling College recently joining forces with CHC to offer teacher training. Morling now incorporates Vose – the Baptist college in Perth.
All of these institutions apart from ACU find the research standards of a university set by TEQSA difficult to meet.
The merger most likely to make a difference in the ranking would be a merger of ACT and the UD. However, these two institutions are on opposite sides of the “hot button” issue of LGBTQIA participation in the ministry.
Two corrections. the Catholic Institute of Sydney is now affiliated with Notre Dame University Australia. Avondale is a full university.
‘Brisbane School of Theology – which linked colleges from the same three churches as the ACD – succumbed to financial pressures in 2009’. A slight error. It should read ‘Brisbane College of Theology’. The latter was the name of the consortium that closed in 2009. The former is the current name of the ‘Bible College of Queensland (BCQ)’ which then became ‘Crossway’ briefly and still exists today.
Thankyou.