We are pleased to announce that Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) has designated Dr. Wayne McCown to chair CBTS’s accreditation evaluation team. Dr. McCown is currently the Vice President and Dean at Northeastern Seminary and has been involved in seminary education for over 35 years. He is also a former president of Wesleyan Theological Seminary. Moreover, he has personally chaired eight evaluation teams with a number of accrediting agencies, including Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (NASC), the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), and Middle States (MSCHE). The role of the evaluation team chair is crucial, as the entire self-study process culminates with the spring 2009 team visit to assess whether the Seminary meets the Commission’s accreditation standards.

Dr. McCown is no stranger to CBTS. He previously visited the seminary in March of 2004 as an evaluator on the initial Applicant Assessment Team. At that initial point in the process (in which we were requesting consideration to file as a candidate for accreditation), Dr. McCown’s contribution was extremely helpful in getting CBTS off to a good start on the road to accreditation. We praise the Lord for his willingness to serve and look forward to his future participation – both in guiding CBTS during the final stage of the process and in chairing the evaluation team. (Dr. McCown will make a preliminary visit later this year to review the draft of our self-study report and to discuss our readiness for the full team visit.)