Covenant College

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Covenant College


Motto	"In all things Christ preeminent"
Established	1955
Type	private
President	Niel B. Nielson
Location	Lookout Mountain, Georgia, USA
Campus	mountaintop campus near Chattanooga, TN
Colors	Blue and white
Nickname	The Scots; Lady Scots
Affiliations	Presbyterian Church in America
Website	http://www.covenant.edu

This article is about the American tertiary institution. For other uses, see Covenant College (disambiguation).

Covenant College is an accredited four-year Christian college emphasizing the liberal arts, located in Lookout Mountain, Georgia and affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America. The campus includes a grand Prohibition-era hotel and has a dramatic view overlooking Chattanooga, Tennessee.

1 History
2 Athletics
3 Accreditation
4 Campus
5 Notable alumni
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

Founded in Pasadena, California in 1955, the school is distinctive among small Christian colleges because it is one of the few that espouse confessional Reformed theology. Offering Associate of Arts, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Music, and Master of Education degrees, and several pre-professional programs, Covenant also has two adult education programs, Quest (established 1984) and BSECE, a degree completion program in early childhood education for paraprofessionals. In addition, the campus is the home of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development (established 1999).

Covenant's faculty is composed of 58 full-time teaching faculty members, 88% of whom hold doctorates or terminal degrees in their field. The student-faculty ratio is 14:1.

The college has over 5,000 alumni living both in the United States and abroad. Alumni are employed in a variety of fields, such as education, ministry, music, business, the military, science, and journalism. Over 60% of graduates go on to earn graduate degrees.

Since 2002, the college president has been Niel B. Nielson. The college's previous presidents are Robert G. Rayburn (1955-1965), Marion Barnes (1965-1978), Martin Essenburg (1978-1987), and Frank Brock (1987-2002).

[edit] Athletics

The college sponsors varsity teams in men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's basketball, men's golf and baseball and women's volleyball. Covenant competes in the Appalachian Athletic Conference and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. College teams are known as the Scots and Lady Scots.

[edit] Accreditation

The college was first accredited in 1971 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).^[1] However, in December 2005, SACS reviewed the college and found that the college had "significant non-compliance with the core requirements."^[2]

As a result, its accreditation is currently on probation for one year pending a follow up review in December 2006. An official statement addressing the probation was released: "This warning comes as a result of some questions about our adult degree completion program, reviewed in the fall of 2004. The fact is that Covenant College remains fully accredited, with full accreditation status for the entire college program. However, the warning requires that we address specific issues regarding our adult degree completion program."^[3] The college sent its final report to SACS concerning how it has addressed those specific areas of concern in February 2006.^[4]

The warning for accreditation was removed and the ten year examination by SACS took place in 2006. Current school president noted there was nothing of importance in the recommendation other than "Several of the points are matters of inadequate documentation, said Hall, such as the records at the Dalton Campus, which SACS noted as being insecure. Other concerns were the support services provided for Quest, faculty qualifications and the formula used to calculate faculty loads.^[5] They are expected to have their accreditation reaffirmed in 2007.

[edit] Campus

The campus sits on Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

[edit] Carter Hall

Carter Hall is the signature building on campus, and predates the college. Construction of what is now Carter Hall began in 1927, and the building was completed in the summer of 1928. When first built, it was called the Lookout Mountain Hotel, and was popularly known as the "Castle in the Clouds." However, since it was completed at the dawn of the Great Depression, it had a bad beginning and never operated successfully. It opened and closed several times before 1960, when it shut down for the last time.

Both the exterior and interior of Carter Hall are Austro-Bavarian Gothic revival in style. The building has had two towers in its history. The first tower was similar in design to the Frauenkirche (Cathedral of Our Lady) in Munich. Poor maintenance before acquisition by the college in 1964 required it to be rebuilt. The new tower, though considerably simpler in style, maintains the architectural style of the original tower.

Covenant College bought the building in 1964, upon relocating to Lookout Mountain. At this time, the building was renamed Carter Hall, after Paul Carter, the Chattanooga businessman who originally planned, built, and owned it. During the first few years of Covenant's operation on the mountain, all the functions of the college were contained within Carter Hall. At that time, it housed the chapel, the library, the classrooms, the professors' offices, and all of the dorm rooms, as well as the dining hall and administrative offices which are still located there today.

[edit] Founders Hall

Founders Hall contains three different wings named after founding persons of Covenant College.

Belz Hall, the first to be built, was completed in 1972. It is named after pastor and Christian educator Max Belz, a member of Covenant College’s original Board of Trustees. Belz hall houses approximately 100 students and was originally known as the Men’s Dorm. Then, in 1990 and 1993, two new wings were added to the structure and the building became known as Founders Residence Hall.

Schmidt Hall was completed in 1990 and is named after Rudy and Collyn Schmidt, co-founders and long-time friends of the College who have been actively involved with it since its inception in 1955.

Rayburn Hall was completed in 1993 and is named after Pastor Robert G. Rayburn, the founding president of Covenant College.

[edit] Maclellan/Rymer Hall

Maclellan/Rymer Hall is a recent addition to the campus dormitories. The Maclellan wing of the dorm, built in 1998, was named in honor of the Maclellan Foundation, a longtime supporter of Covenant College. The Rymer wing of the building, completed in 2000, was given by Ann Caudle Rymer and her son, S. Bradford Rymer, Jr.