Holy Cross Accreditation Renewed

The Board of Commissioners of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) Commission on Accrediting met in Pittsburgh, PA, February 7-9, 2019, and discussed the comprehensive visit and report of the ATS evaluation team that visited Holy Cross November 12-15, 2018.

Among its several decisions, the Board of Commissioners voted:

• to reaffirm the accreditation of Holy Cross for a period of five years.
• to approve the three degree programs Holy Cross offers: Master of Divinity (MDiv), Master of Theological Studies (MTS–academic MA), and Master of Theology (ThM).

The Board encouraged Holy Cross to maintain and enhance its distinctive strengths, including “the institution’s rich legacy and ongoing potential to serve both clergy and laity in the Greek Orthodox Church in America” and its faculty, who are “effective teachers, mentors, and scholars.”

Based upon the comprehensive evaluation visit, the Board of Commissioners requires Holy Cross faculty to:

• adopt an appropriate concluding exercise for summative evaluation of students in the MTS degree program. A report to ATS is due by October 1, 2019. During the spring 2019 semester, the faculty adopted a summative exercise and is currently preparing its report to ATS.
• prepare and submit a report on educational assessment by April 2020.

The Board of Commissioners also imposed three notations that deal with finance, governance, and institutional planning. Holy Cross faculty is prepared to work openly, collaboratively, and creatively to assist the institution in addressing these issues.

The concluding report of the comprehensive evaluation visit noted specifically that Holy Cross “has a very strong faculty whose research and teaching is admirable…[and whose] members participate in their respective academic disciplines and represent the Orthodox Church in ecumenical and interfaith activities.” The report also stated that Holy Cross faculty members are “well published with numerous texts, articles, and professional documents produced.”

As a response to negative publicity, we reaffirm that Holy Cross’s accreditation was recently renewed. The faculty is embarking now on new great academic projects such as a mentorship program and online continuing education while revisiting issues such as revitalizing Holy Cross Orthodox Press.