Two Seminal Meetings at the Seminary

On Friday, September 18, the Board of Directors of the Saint Photios Orthodox Theological Seminary convened an onsite meeting at the Seminary campus.

September 18, 2020 3 min read News
The members of the Board of Directors (from left to right): The Reverend Nun Mother Agapia, Mrs. Katherine Lukianov, the Most Reverend Bishop Dr. Auxentios of Etna and Portland, Mr. Alexis V. Lukianov, Mr. Daniel F. Lula, Esq., the Reverend Deacon Father Dr. Peter Bushunow, and Dr. John N. Caminis (members not pictured: the Most Reverend Bishop Sergios of Portland Emeritus and Dr. Nadezhda Nedelsky).

On Friday, September 18, the Board of Directors of the Saint Photios Orthodox Theological Seminary convened an onsite meeting at the Seminary campus. This was the second such onsite meeting of the Board, scheduled, just as was the previous one, to coincide with a visitation from the Seminary’s accrediting agency, the Association for Biblical Higher Education. Eight of the Seminary’s nine Directors met in Etna for the event, the ninth participating remotely by videoconference on account of COVID-19 concerns.

The meeting lasted for some six hours and covered three areas of concern to the Directors: the need for continued fundraising and the progress of the Seminary’s development program, directed by the Seminary’s newly-appointed Communications and Development Director, Alexei Bushunow; future student recruitment opportunities; and the impact of the Seminary’s growth on the current facilities.

Despite its full and complicated agenda, the meeting proceeded on schedule, with all participants approving the materials presented and enthusiastically endorsing various proposals for appropriate and sustainable growth of the Seminary. Beside its biennial onsite meeting, the Board of Directors normally conducts at least two teleconferences every year. All participants agreed that this was the most productive and beneficial meeting to date, notwithstanding the difficulties occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic.

The members of the Association for Biblical Higher Education evaluation team with members of the Seminary administration (from left to right): Dr. M. Shane Wood, Commission on Accreditation Staff Representative; Mr. David Sayers, Team Chair and Resources Evaluator; Dr. Gary W. Streit, Academic Evaluator; the Very Reverend Archimandrite Father Gregory, Librarian and Director of Spiritual Life; the Very Reverend Archimandrite Father Dr. Patapios, Dean; Schemamonk Father Chrysostomos, Treasurer; Dr. Jim J. Adams, Administrative Evaluator; Dr. Heather Shalley, Student Services Evaluator; the Most Reverend Bishop Dr. Auxentios of Etna and Portland, President and Rector; Ms. Gabrielle Asgarian, Registrar; Mr. Alexei Bushunow, Communications and Development Director; (onscreen) Ms. Cynthia Snell, Faculty and Library Evaluator.

Immediately on the heels of the meeting of the Board of Directors, on Monday, September 21, a five-member evaluation team arrived at the Seminary from the Association for Biblical Higher Education. For the next two days, through Wednesday, September 23, the evaluators reviewed extensive documentation; interviewed members of the Board, administrators, faculty members, and students; and inspected the entirety of the Seminary’s facilities, including classrooms, the library, offices, student housing, and more.

The evaluation team will be completing its report over the next several weeks, which it will then submit with a recommendation to the seventeen-member Commission on Accreditation. The Commission will then review the evaluation team’s report and consider its recommendation before making a final decision, in late February of 2021, on whether or not the Seminary will be advanced to full accreditation. We ask our supporters to pray for a positive decision by the Commission on Accreditation on what has been as intensive endeavor for everyone involved in the accreditation process.

Meeting

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