Connections Review

The Quarterly ACI Courier
of Academic Connections, International
Issue # 13, Winter 2016

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In this Issue

To begin with, on our FRONT PAGE we are publishing our second installment of an interview series with Christian faculty. This particular series involves interviewing three professors who have already achieved tenure and subsequently have reached full professor status at their schools. The question we want to ask is, "What can be learned from their experiences, now that they have reached full professorship?" (You can view the previous interview ( in Issue #12, by accessing our Connections Review Archive.)

Below that you can also access our regular departments like Café Cook, Updates and Upgrades, and our own Court Watch.

In the Café Cook section highlighted below you can access recent discussions one a number of topics when you have the time for it. That section includes articles on Christians & the academic world, short readings for those in the humanities and sciences and more. In the Updates and Upgrades section you can access our free updated on-line resources that are posted for your convenient access. In the Court Watch section you can catch up with legal issues that could very well affect you and your journey in academe--we update for each issue we send out. Indeed, be sure to check all these links for each edition of Connections Review.

On PAGE TWO we invite you to read an article we've written about the state of campus ministry and the changes we have observed over the years. We think there are some things to be learned from those changes--both good and bad--that can have a positive impact on what you do as a professor on campus.

We also wish to thank all who participated in last's issue opportunity to invest in this ministry and the offer to receive a year's subscription to Mars Hill Audio. We were able to give five new subscriptions this year to Christian faculty! Thanks!

Front Page

We begin this issue with the second of three interviews on the topic of "gaining full professorship." This second installment is an interview with Dr. Edwin Chong of Colorado State University. (The edited transcript from the conversation begins below.)

ACI: Would you describe your academic trajectory?

Dr Edwin Chong: Well, I received my Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1991; I then joined Purdue University in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and was on the faculty for ten years. Then in 2001, I moved to Colorado State University and I am currently a Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering and Professor of Mathematics.

ACI: Were you a full professor when you moved to Colorado State University?

Dr. Chong: Yes. As it turns out, I moved the year after I was promoted to full professorship.

ACI: When you came in as an Assistant Professor at Purdue, did you have your eyes on the prize of becoming a full Professor?

Dr. Chong: Yes, a part of my career plans included being promoted all the way to Full Professor sometime. I guess most of my academic colleagues would have the same sort of plan. I think without a plan it is difficult to succeed in academia because part of it is having your eyes on the prize, as you say.

ACI: What are some lessons you have learned about charting your course of your career in the academy?

Dr. Chong: One thing that I think I have learned is most people in academia who are eventually successful have in common that they have enough ambition and passion for their academic work to be successful in that environment. Um, I want to quote from a very well know book that is called, A Mathematician’s Apology written by a mathematician named G. H. Hardy. This is what Hardy says about...

USE THIS LINK TO READ THE WHOLE INTERVIEW

Café Cook

Updates & Upgrades (Free)

ACI Court Watch

Page 2

A funny thing happened on the way to campus. Well, it wasn't really all that funny...and it didn't happen on the way to campus, but it did happen on campus. However, subsequently I have occasionally thought about it on the way to campus. I know, I know..

Nonetheless, I have noticed in those reflective moments, that over the years some changes in the way undergraduate Christian campus ministries form themselves and reach out to non-believers. Hopefully, we can learn a thing or two from thinking about those changes.

The changes have been taking place for many years, in some cases over decades of time, so some of the changes are easy to miss if you are relatively new to the Christian scene on campus, or if you haven't been paying some attention to its evolution. You may ask how does that affect me as a Christian professor at a secular university? Let me explain.

First, I want to briefly call your attention to several of these changes that include: 1) a change from the predominance of a "campus ministry" style of ministry, to the predominance of a "youth ministry" style; 2) a change in the way the great things of the gospel are communicated, and 3) a change in the way the truth of the gospel is defended. Then I want to show you why these changes are relevant to you as a Christian professor on campus and the difference it can make on how you conduct yourself. That awareness can help you to form your Christian faculty fellowships/networks in certain ways and thus have a determinative influence for good, especially regarding the rationality of the Christian faith.

USE THIS LINK TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE

We trust you will enjoy this issue! Be sure to check our regular departments (above).

Best regards,
James A. Cook
Editor, Connections Review
Tempus Fugit