Religious Schools?

[Ally]

I have a question about applying to religious schools. I am new to the job market and I see several postings for religious affiliate schools, for example, Villanova. I am not particularly religious myself, and not Catholic at all. Is it worth applying to a school that has some kind of religious tradition, if you are not a member of the church? Are non-religious faculty likely to face any problems in such a school? Does anyone have any experience with this?

[anon]

It depends a lot on the school. A colleague just accepted a position at Villanova (not in soc.) and she is an atheist. She told me that it didn't pose a problem and that the administration was more concerned that she would find the students frustrating and leave. Certain Catholic schools like Notre Dame or Georgetown are pretty lax in their expectations (to put it mildly). That said, the Vatican is putting pressure on Catholic schools to return to Orthodoxy. Catholic University is a good example of that.

In any event, look for a code of conduct for students and faculty. These will often have explicit expectations regarding religious affiliation, standards of dress, whether religious attendance or church membership is required, and occasionally if the institution is LGBT friendly. Some will state in their posting that they don't discriminate if you don't follow their brand of religion, but I can't imagine that a place like Brigham Young would ever hire a non-Mormon. But who knows.

Personally, I would not ever consider applying to a place like Baylor, Bob Jones, or Brigham Young, or any other institution along those lines. I would also decline any sort of interview through the employment service.

[None]

It's absolutely worth applying. Some evangelical schools require that you are a member of the church, and require a faith statement, but most colleges and universities with a religious affiliation (even most evangelical schools) hire outside of the faith. I work at a Catholic university as an agnostic and very few of the faculty members in our department are Catholic. If you are required to be a member of the Church that will usually be stated in job advertisement. If it is a requirement, and not stated in the advertisement it will likely come up in the application process.

Although not always the case, most colleges and universities are tolerant and welcoming of multiple faiths, even if they have a religious affiliation. If you go to the websites of many christian schools you will see they almost always still have student Muslim associations, Hillel centers, etc.

I wouldn't let your religious affiliation or lack there of prevent you from applying to any jobs you are truly interested in. For most places this really shouldn't affect your chances if you are otherwise qualified.

[from experience]

In this day and age many schools that used to be affiliated with religion are no longer.

For example, Texas Christian U, Southern Methodist U, and Baylor (all in the conservative state of Texas) are affiliated with religion in name only. They are, for the most part, just like other undergrad institutions and have a mix of faculty that represents many different backgrounds.

[baylor]

Hmmm...I can't speak for TCU and SMU, but saying that Baylor is religious "in name only" is an overstatement. It is true that Baylor has non-religious people on their faculty, but those people had to do some BS-ing in the interview. There is also the expectation that you'll be at least superficially attached to some local (Christian) congregation.

[fyi]

Also, just as a followup to an earlier comment, BYU is unlikely to ever hire a non-Mormon, as they expect their faculty to abide by their code of conduct, which stems directly from their religion (e.g., no alcohol/caffeine/etc., no facial hair below the lip, etc.). I would say that, generally, a evangelical protestant denomination school is more likely to be strict about their faculty's religious affiliations compared to others, but most likely won't care one way or another.

[SMU]

I've heard similar things about Baylor. However, I noticed that the recent ad for a visiting position at SMU contains the disclaimer, "SMU is secular." What does that mean?

[aaaaa]

Generally, schools where religion is an issue will have a "moral" clause on the ad.

BYU, for example, usually includes something like "BYU, an Equal Opportunity Employer, requires all faculty to observe the university’s honor code and dress and grooming standards. "
Wheaton (IL) has "Wheaton College is an evangelical Christian liberal arts college whose faculty and staff affirm a Statement of Faith and adhere to the lifestyle expectations of the Wheaton College Community Covenant."


Catholic schools are, for the most part, more lenient about it.

If you have questions about particular schools, the chronicle of higher ed forums generally have good resources about that.

[Baylor]

Last year, an ad for Baylor said that one had to prove being active in a Christian or Jewish congregation. Second the comment that the job ad and student code of conduct (or required religious services) should tell you a lot about the role of religion in faculty hiring and comfort level.

I was hired at a religious school (starting in the fall) and was asked absolutely nothing about my own religious preferences but was brought up to speed about how students' religious backgrounds might affect how they approach course materials. There were a couple of notes about things that might be 'normal' for a sociology class that would violate some students' religious beliefs, but I was also encouraged to talk to the students themselves about how to negotiate maximizing the amount of material I could cover while respecting their boundaries. I realize this situation could seem alarming in terms of academic freedom, but in knowing the particular institution well, I feel very confident that this is a place where we can work to find a good compromise.

All to say - it depends!

[Myview]

If you are concerned, just look closely at the University website. Usually, the code of conduct is on the HR page somewhere. In my experience, most Catholic universities are pretty open. I have interviewed at 3 and what I was told was that the religious nature of the institution did not affect academic freedom, and that rather than expecting faculty or students to be Catholic they were trying to maintain an appreciation for religion/spirituality (not just Christianity or Catholicism) and social responsibility. I would have loved to have worked at any of the three (unfortunately, they did not feel the same about me! lol)

The smaller religious schools, however, are often ((but not always) a different story. Check for codes of conduct. But also, I ultimately decided not to apply to some because I felt like their mission was completely at odds with what I think sociology is all about. There are some schools, in my opinion, that people send their kids to in order to shelter them from the "real world" and all its diversity. I just can't imagine trying to teach sociology in such an environment.

So my advice is to research the school carefully and then decide whether it is a place you would really want to teach. While researching that Baylor job, for example, I learned that active participation in an approved congregation was one of the requirements for tenure! While I consider myself a Christian, I decided that I did not want to work for a University that would put that in the tenure expectations.

[SMU]

I interviewed at SMU in the past and can confirm that the mentioning of secular is just meant to add up-front clarity for applicants (who might otherwise overlook the university out of concerns for religious freedom or because the applicant isn't Methodist, etc.) that there is no religious litmus test for faculty, students, curriculum, etc.

From: colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/smu-3613

"Despite its name, this private university in Dallas is a secular institution when it comes to classes. The school was founded by what became the United Methodist Church in 1911, but is now home to students of many religious affiliations."

I have heard, but can't confirm, that some universities like Notre Dame have crosses on the classroom walls. SMU does not.

[clarification]

Jul 6, 2011 18:13:26 GMT -5 @fyi said:

Also, just as a followup to an earlier comment, BYU is unlikely to ever hire a non-Mormon, as they expect their faculty to abide by their code of conduct, which stems directly from their religion (e.g., no alcohol/caffeine/etc., no facial hair below the lip, etc.).

Hi,
Just a clarification that consumption of caffeine is not prohibited by the LDS Church ("Mormons"), but rather coffee and certain teas. Also, it is true that employees of BYU cannot have facial hair below the lip, but this is not a tenet of the LDS faith either, just a policy the school (along with other LDS-operated organizations) has adopted. I know too that there are non-LDS faculty at BYU, but I would put it at no more than 5%. I believe, for example, all members of the sociology department are devout Mormons.

[also]

It is also worth mentioning that Brigham Young is generally recognized to have little respect for academic freedom. They are still on the AAUP's censure list: www.aaup.org/AAUP/about/censuredadmins/

[anonprof]

At the Boston ASA meetings a few years back I took a cab back to where I was staying. The cab driver asked where I was coming from, and when he heard it was ASA told me he used to be a soc prof at a religious college, but he was denied tenure because he was open about being an atheist and did research that the university didn't like. I'm not sure if he was just griping or full of shit or what, but it was a weird experience (especially since I was coming back from an ASA interview).

That being said I know several people who are not particularly/not at all religious and who work at religious affiliated colleges with no problems at all. Meanwhile I work at a *public* university in very religious area of the deep south, and have been warned that I shouldn't focus my research exclusively on GLBT issues (which is something I study among many other things) because it might hurt my chances of getting tenure.

I would say, look at your own beliefs (people who believe in god will probably fit in better in a religious university vs. an atheist, and someone who follows any judao-christian religion will fit in at most christian colleges) and what type of research you do- if it's anything controversial from a religious perspective (GLBT stuff/sex research in general) or if you want the freedom to do that kind of research in the future, avoid religious universities.

Also ask around about the university- if you go to the chronicle.com forums, there is a message board about "The interview process" where you can ask for inside info on any university (and most universities already have a thread there you can do a search for). Schools vary widely from the religious in name only to the crazy fundy super religious.

Oh and you will not have problems at Villanova.

[heathenincatholictown]

I got a TT job in '10 at a small Catholic college. I'm areligious. I've been here one year and will be on the market this coming year, but not because this is a Catholic school.

Here, they don't care that I'm not Catholic, at least officially, but it does make it kind of hard to relate to my students.

(The security check words are "bread of life.")