Strategic Indicators of Mission Fulfillment at Assemblies of God Colleges: Reaching Consensus on Faith Integration and Spiritual Formation

Strategic indicators provide timely information about the trends that reflect the current condition and trajectory of an institution in terms of its ability to pursue its mission. Although extensive research has produced a number of strategic indicators for colleges and universities, there is a dearth of research regarding strategic indicators relative to the mission of Christian higher education. In the present Delphi study, a panel of 26 academic leaders from five Assemblies of God colleges reached consensus on 28 strategic indicators relevant for use at their institutions after three rounds of questionnaires. Because the integration of faith and learning, as well as students’ spiritual formation, are distinctive to the mission of Christian higher education, there was a special emphasis on the development of these strategic indicators. The panel selected three indicators for the integration of faith and learning. According to feedback from the panel, many more indicators of integration could have been selected if panelists first agreed on a definition of the integration of faith and learning, as well as how it is to be applied across the disciplines. Two strategic indicators were selected by the panel for the spiritual formation of students, but according to panelists many more could be selected in future research if panelists shared a set of agreed-upon goals and measures of spiritual formation. These findings suggest that future research on the development of strategic indicators for institutions of Christian higher education should begin by clearly defining the concepts that are central to their mission, such as spiritual formation and integration of faith and learning, then identifying inputs, processes, and outcomes measures that are appropriate for those concepts.