Upcoming Events

Federal higher education update: loan rules, accountability, and accreditation in flux  

Significant actions have taken place involving federal student aid, program accountability, and graduate student loan eligibility. More is still to come related to accreditation and civil rights. In this update, ATS Executive Director Frank M. Yamada provides a high-level summary of what member schools need to know and why it matters for the work we do together. He examines changes to professional program definitions, earnings-based accountability, Title IV aid eligibility, accreditation, federal priorities and what these developments mean for member schools. Listen Here.

Melissa Snarr is named ATS director of leadership development and institutional capacities 

Melissa Snarr’s appointment as director of leadership development and institutional capacities expands the Association’s ability to design, facilitate, and assess programs for presidents, deans, faculty, key staff, and emerging leaders in its member schools. Snarr joins ATS after 23 years at Vanderbilt Divinity School, where she was the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Associate Professor of Ethics & Society. Listen Here.

Stephen Graham retires from ATS after nearly 19 years of service

Thank you to Stephen Graham for his steadfast leadership in almost 19 years of service to ATS. Graham retired on July 1 as strategic director of context and continuity, and director of accreditation—just two of the titles he held during his time at ATS. Graham was instrumental as a member of the task force to redevelop the Standards of Accreditation. Read more to learn of the many initiatives he led, and how he provided a historical perspective on the Association’s identity. Listen Here.

2026 ATS/COA Biennial Meeting highlights: shaping the future of theological education

What does it mean to flourish as one ecosystem? Grounded in the theme Nurturing Vital Ecosystems to Serve Our World, the 2026 ATS/COA Biennial Meeting brought together more than 440 leaders to engage pressing issues in theological education, approve key governance actions, welcome new member schools, and strengthen the relationships that sustain the ATS community.

Changing students, changing institutions: four early findings on student demographic change and institutional capacity

Schools are actively recruiting students from communities that are new to their context and school culture. What might this mean for schools’ readiness to serve these students well and to embrace the different realities and perspectives they bring? ATS Director of Research Deborah H. C. Gin and research consultant Grego Peña-Camprubí explore this question using a four-part framework to examine the strengths and challenges schools face in adapting to demographic change. Listen Here.

The ministry label: who claims it, who doesn’t?

Who do your alums say they are, and how do they describe what they do? According to the last-administered ATS Mapping the Workforce study, the word “ministry” does not always travel with them or reflect their context. Most Alumni Questionnaire respondents say their self-designated label of ministry aligns with a congregational setting, which often entails an employer-expected credential. In this article, ATS Director of Student Data and Research Christopher The discusses degree or credential expectations, what to make of mismatched profiles, understanding of workplace fulfillment, and what these survey findings may mean for your school. Listen Here.

Lessons from The Serviceberry: how ATS nourishes leaders to share their gifts

“All flourishing is mutual.” So says Robin Wall Kimmerer in her book The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World. The ATS staff recently read Kimmerer’s book together to further imagine the ways our work makes room for reciprocity and abundance amid the vastness of our membership—and what we hope to create in support of them. In this article, ATS Associate Director of Leadership Development Chelsea Brooke Yarborough discusses the book’s themes of gratitude, shared resources, and service as a way of understanding how we participate in practices that open possibilities. Listen Here.

New Book: Taking the Longer View examines 90 years of challenges in theological accreditation

Explore the first comprehensive history of the ATS Commission on Accrediting, from its founding in 1934 to its impact on theological education today. Written by longtime accreditation leader Thomas M. Tanner, Taking the Longer View is available as a free PDF download or as an affordable print-on-demand edition. Discover the story of the Standards, partnerships, and vision that have shaped theological education for more than 90 years. 

BU School of Theology hosts inaugural New Wineskins Conference for contextual education supervisors

Community, religious, and nonprofit leaders from across New England gathered on Boston University’s

campus for the March 24 inaugural BU School of Theology New Wineskins Conference. Hosted by BU’s Office of Contextual Education and supported by a Lilly Endowment Inc. Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative grant, the event focused on how faith communities can build resilience, respond to trauma, and sustain leadership amid rapid social and institutional change. Listen Here.