Provide opportunities to gain practical ministry experience with your theological education.
Give online learners an opportunity to pay more affordable Main Campus tuition for an internet class with a face to face component.
Provide a great option for distance learners to have a face to face learning experience.
Present an opportunity to develop lifelong mentoring relationships.
Who Can Take a Mentoring Course?
Any student from any degree program is welcome to take a course that is offered in the mentoring format. Students who choose to pursue the Master of Divinity (Mentoring Track) can earn up to 34 hours towards their degree by taking courses in the mentoring format.
The two primary courses for the Master of Divinity (Mentoring Track) are:
It is possible for a student to earn up to 21 hours of academic credit by taking courses with the mentored component in most MDiv specialization degrees.
How is a Mentoring Course Different from Other Formats?
Mentoring courses are one of the formats NOBTS offers in getting course credit. NOBTS offers on-campus courses, hybrid courses, online courses, mentoring courses, etc. In a mentoring course, students meet in person, weekly, with a mentor while completing online assignments received from the professor. Students choose their desired mentor for the course they are taking, but mentors have to meet certain requirements. Students will submit reports about weekly discussions and are also required to complete the assignments that the professor gives, as assigned through Blackboard. Students will also need to complete a certain number of hours in a ministry setting (it varies with each class) as well, to fulfill the requirements of the mentorship during the semester. How many hours students are expected to fulfill is mentioned in each syllabus for mentoring courses.
Students will meet with their mentor one hour each week and each meeting will have two parts. During the first 15-20 minutes of weekly meetings with their mentor, students will talk about their spiritual journey, spiritual disciplines, how they’re doing in the ministry setting, etc. The last part of the meeting is focused on discussing coursework. Most professors upload weekly videos and give scenarios to talk about regarding the class work for the week. Mentors will share about their ministry experience in relation to each week's course content that the professor teaches. This format provides the flexibility of online learning because the professor teaches course content online, but it also provides an opportunity for students to learn face to face about ministry from a mentor. Mentoring courses can be taken anywhere and combine a face to face learning experience from mentors with the convenience of online learning.
