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Career Transitions
Theological Librarians and Moves to Academic 
Libraries in Public Tertiary Schools
Beth M. Sheppard, University of West Georgia 
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3110-9343

ABSTR AC T The issue of transitioning from work in theological 
libraries to public university libraries is explored using the method 
of autoethnography. Key differences between public, private, and 
for-profit schools are highlighted and linked to how each type is 
driven variously by a mission, mandate, or method. Since the ease 
by which job seekers may adjust when moving between each type 
may be affected by factors beyond personal preferences for bene-
fits, this paper surveys literature related to fit and retention in the 
academy; religious privilege; religion and legal doctrine; and faith 
in the context of secular employment. Finally, the terms theologi-
cal librarian, religious librarian, and religion librarian are defined 
relative to the different roles librarians undertake in private versus 
public institutions. A rubric for evaluating a move to a new employ-
ment setting is included as an appendix.

How smooth are career transitions for librarians who are contem-
plating shifting from a theological library setting in a religiously 
related institution to working in a public college or university 
library? In order to explore this question, it is necessary first to tease 
out the differences between the major types of tertiary educational 
institutions in the United States and then borrow a method from the 
social sciences known as autoethnography to further highlight some 
of their unique characteristics. In autoethnography “a researcher 
recounts a story of his or her own personal experience, coupled 
with an ethnographic analysis of the cultural context and implica-
tions of that experience” (Lapadat 2017, 589). Given that this paper is 
designed for presentation at one of the “Listen and Learn” sessions at 
the annual conference of Atla, sharing personal experiences seems 
appropriate. So too does indulging in a bit of theological reflection, 
which will occur near the end of the piece. As for the analysis proper, 
this will take the form of a literature review. For librarians like us, 
using a literature review to understand primary issues in a subject 

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3110-9343


Listen and Learn Sessions  205

is as natural as breathing. It turns out that it is also a key means used 
by ethnographers to interpret experiences and gain insight into the 
values and conventions of a culture (Ellis and Adams 2011). 

Given our central focus, I will share anecdotes of my own transi-
tion from a career directing theological libraries in church-related 
private tertiary education settings, to serving as a tenured full-profes-
sor librarian at the University of West Georgia’s Ingram Library 
(UWG), a public institution that is part of the University System of 
Georgia. As for the literature review, topics include, amongst others, 
fit /retention in academic jobs as well as religious privilege. Inciden-
tally, while undertaking my research for this project, I began jotting 
down a list of things that theological librarians might wish to have 
in mind before going out on a job search. It has developed into a 
rudimentary “Career Move Assessment Tool.”  In the hopes that it 
may prove helpful to others, readers may find that document in the 
Appendix at the end of this article. 

Anecdote 1: The Rocky Interview

I wanted to move closer to my husband since we’d been in a long-
distance commuter marriage (multiple states away). So, I interviewed 
at a public university where we would have a shorter four-hour 
commute. Although I had been in a seminary library, I had some of 
my degrees from public universities and had experience teaching 
purely academic religious courses stripped of a confessional point 
of view. I could make this sort of career change!  For the interview 
job-talk, I scoured my presentation to ensure there wasn’t anything 
that even mentioned religion. It focused exclusively on digitization, 
repositories, and future possibilities for technology in libraries. I 
was confident I had this “church/secular school” thing figured out 
and scrubbed out. I was wrong. During the question session, one 
member of the audience, who had access to my resume and knew 
I had been a theological librarian, exclaimed, “You don’t fit here! 
What is to keep you from trying to convert us?” Given that reaction, 
I was ready to pack up and head home from the interview. But the 
visit host convinced me this individual was an anomaly. When I 
ultimately landed the job, I learned the host was wrong. It was a 
fear also held by others. 



206  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

METHODICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND REASON FOR STUDY

To be sure, there are some benefits related to using the method of 
autoethnography besides serving as a vehicle to share personal 
experiences with colleagues in a structured conference setting. For 
instance, as Judith Lapadat points out, in focusing on one’s own 
story, the researcher avoids the pitfall of appropriating the voices of 
others and clearly eschews false claims of objectivity. Yet, she notes 
that there are also dangers. Notably, autoethnography is an exer-
cise in which there is no distance between subject and researcher. 
Furthermore, the use of autobiography could cause the work to 
easily slip into narcissism (Lapadat 2017, 589, 591, 596). A more 
subtle difficulty assailing those using this method is the critique that 
the autobiographical sketches that appear often demonstrate inad-
equate literary and stylistic mastery of that genre (Ellis and Adams 
2011). I make no claims that the episodes I recount during this study 
are great literature. Rather, my goal is to share a few incidents that 
I believe may resonate with others who either have already made 
career shifts between private and public academic libraries or may 
someday find themselves undertaking such a move. First, though, I 
do want to acknowledge that there are a wide range of motives for 
making career changes.

Sometimes moves, like the one from which my own anecdotes 
are drawn, are made for personal and professional reasons such as 
to be closer to family, find a better school system for one’s children, 
cut down on a long commute, earn a larger salary, or even have 
better opportunities for advancement. Beyond considerations like 
these, however, there are very real forces at play in the United States 
that may mean that opportunities to serve as a theological librarian 
in the United States will eventually be hard to come by. As a result, 
opportunities in the public sector may seem attractive to several of 
the members of our association. Hopefully, then, this study will both 
be timely and serve as a helpful resource. 

The forecast of an eventual tightening of the job market in our 
librarianship specialty is based on two data points, one drawn from 
Gallup and the other the Association of Theological Schools (ATS). 
First, according to Gallup polling, the US population seems to be drift-
ing away from religious affiliation. While in 1999 70% of Americans 
indicated they were affiliated with a house of worship, by 2020, a 
mere decade later, only 47% made that same claim (Jones 2021). No 
doubt this trend toward a secular society will be similar to that in 



Listen and Learn Sessions  207

areas of Germany where it may now be said, “religion has hardly 
played any role” for generations (Schröder 2017, 28). One would 
surmise that a population’s drift away from formal worship would 
have a knock-on effect in terms of the number of theological librar-
ies that will be needed to support the training of a dwindling number 
of religious leaders. 

The second set of statistics, provided by the Association of Theo-
logical Schools (ATS), helps to make the case that retrenchment 
related to library employment in theological contexts is not neces-
sarily hypothetical, but already in motion. According to ATS data, 
the number of librarians in member schools was down 7% in 2020 
over the number reported in 2016 (ATS, Tables 3.9A, years 2016-17 
and 2020-21).1 The ironic point about this ATS number is that the 
membership in that organization has increased over the five-year 
span, moving from 247 schools to 258. This makes the drop from 
337 librarians to 313 even more significant—an average decrease 
from 1.36 positions per school in 2016-17 to 1.21 per school in 2020.2  
Presumably shared libraries, online collections that require fewer 
librarians than do those that are print for curation, and other effi-
ciencies are at play.3 

THE THREE TYPES OF ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS

One might think that transitioning to a library in a state school from 
a position in a theological library or one in a private university 
would be seamless. After all, there they have the common educa-
tional requirement of a master’s degree in library science and 
shared concerns for promoting information literacy. Also, many 
software systems, platforms, and vendors are ubiquitous across all 
types of libraries. This assumption, however, may not prove true 
for every employee. Because schools may be quite different from 
one another in terms of cultures and objectives either limited to or 
beyond degree completion, adjusting to the new employment setting 
may take some time. 

Anecdote 2: The Gut Punch Graduation

Upon arriving on campus at the public university July 1, one of my 
first duties was to process during the summer graduation ceremony. 
The act of donning regalia in a robing room was familiar; so was 
marching with colleagues of my same rank to the usual brass-heavy 
processional music. Upon reaching the front of the arena, I was 



208  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

momentarily startled because I couldn’t find the crucifer holding a 
cross. I was accustomed to acknowledging it before ascending the 
dais and finding my seat. Nor was there a prayer at the beginning 
of the ceremony. Intellectually I knew these things would not be 
present at a secular, public institution. I didn’t expect them to be. 
But it wasn’t until that moment, when I was caught up in habits long 
formed, that I realized how accustomed I was to these small religious 
observances, how terribly I would miss them, and how much I had 
taken them for granted in my previous role as a theological librarian 
at a seminary. 

Tertiary educational institutions may be classified variously by 
degree levels, amount of research conducted for sponsoring bodies, 
length of program, size of their student population and other criteria. 
There are also three very distinct types of sponsorship or control for 
institutions in the United States: private, public, and for-profit and 
even though we are primarily concerned with the first two, sketching 
out the differences between all three will provide a clearer picture 
of the US educational landscape.

Oddly, the issue of institutional control is so fundamental to an 
organization’s identity, that it may be taken for granted in discussions 
of how institutions might be compartmentalized. For instance, Alex-
ander McCormick and Chun-Mei Zhao provided commentary on the 
major revision of the Carnegie Classification system that occurred a 
decade and a half ago (2005). They discussed many of the categories 
that remained the same and those that were modified or were new, 
but didn’t  specifically mention control (2005).4  Yet,  the centrality of 
whether an institution is private, public, or non-profit is implied in 
the fact that in addition to a school’s name and location, it is one of 
the key pieces of information that appears in the educational insti-
tution “look-up” directory on the Carnegie website. 

Although for-profit educational institutions began a period of 
accelerated growth at the end of the twentieth century, post-second-
ary for-profit degree-granting schools served only about 5% of total 
postsecondary enrollment in 2017-18 (de Brey et al. 2021, 46). By 
contrast, the 2018 classification summary data table provided by 
Carnegie indicates that in the United States there were 1,665 public 
schools serving 14,722,505 students and another 1,743 private 
schools with an enrollment of 4,254,414.5  Within this number of 
privates, the basic Carnegie categorization does not disaggregate the 
number of doctoral and master’s degree-granting schools that are 
associated with religious bodies. The exception involves four-year 



Listen and Learn Sessions  209

colleges, which may elect to carry the designation “faith-based.”  It 
so happens that in 2018 three hundred had this label. Together these 
faith-based four-year undergraduate schools enrolled a subset of 
88,068 of the four and a quarter million students educated at private 
institutions.  

When it comes to the issue of control, there are tensions that 
exist between how private, public, and for-profit schools go about 
the business of education. This is sometimes expressed in stereo-
types. For instance, Samuel Schuman recounts a story about faculty 
members at a public university voicing reluctance to join a new 
athletic conference that just happened to include several church-
related schools. They were concerned that playing against “two-bit 
Bible colleges” would somehow lessen the public school’s prestige. 
Schuman describes the insult used by his colleagues as “a truly 
distasteful example of the least enlightened view of religious colleges 
and universities sometimes entertained by otherwise clever academ-
ics in the secular sphere” (Schuman 2010, 4).

Key Ends of Private, Public, and For-Profit Schools
Encountering a negative stereotype like that may be disconcerting to 
individuals who have dedicated themselves to a career in theologi-
cal education. Indeed, for some members of Atla, theological librari-
anship is a ministry to which one may be called (Morris 1953/2006; 
Keck 1996; Peterson 2001; McMahon 2010; Shaffett 2013; Campbell 
and Keck 2020), and working at a faith-based school at the tertiary 
level is a noble pursuit. Stereotypes aside, what are the differences 
between public institutions and private schools that have a religious 
orientation? As Jessica Mann puts it, the latter are open to integrating 

“faith, learning, and living in a way that holistically develops students 
while simultaneously working toward the common good” (Mann 
2020, 8). This is not to say they are cookie-cutter representations of 
each other. Rather, there are areas of individuation and distinctives 
in each organization. Further, some are formerly religious, and an 
inclination to accept a religious disposition amongst some stakehold-
ers may be all that remains of a religiosity that is otherwise “histori-
cal or nominal.”  When it comes to instruction and the formation of 
students, religiously related schools reflect the unique theologies of 
their sponsoring religious group—as well as the resultant anthropol-
ogies that play out in instructional pedagogy, curriculum, student life, 
and other elements of the educational experience (Liftin 2004, 13). 



210  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

For their part, public schools are more limited in their objectives. 
They are not concerned with formation but are focused primarily 
on conveying disciplinary knowledge with the additional goals of 
educating for citizenship, strengthening social cohesion, and bene-
fiting the public good (Calhoun 2011, 3-4). The public good may be 
narrowly understood as the set of specific interests of the state that 
funds the school’s budget, or in a more general sense, such as the 
ideal of providing greater access to education than is available via 
the private schools. Indeed, since a private school’s range of impact 
is limited by their being funded primarily by euergetism and tuition 
fees, public schools help to meet market demand.6 

For-profit colleges and universities, at least many of the ones 
developed in the latter part of the twentieth century, have another 
set of aims and objectives that diverge from those of the publics and 
non-profit privates; they financialize credits for the gain of share-
holders. Another difference is that while publics and privates are 
legally required to serve the public good as a function of their non-
profit status, the market-focused schools are not (Fox-Garrity 2017, 
13). This may appear to be an unfair advantage for the for-prof-
its. After all, although revenue is primarily from student tuition, a 
significant part of that may be generated through Title IV financial 
aid which is portable and accompanies financially disadvantaged 
students (Fox-Garrity, 14). In essence, their work is being subsidized 
by federal tax funds. 

Mission, Motive, and Mandate
Another scheme for describing the three major types of control 
is based on work by J. A. Sheppard and  uses the terms “mission,” 

“mandate,” or “motive” as laid out in Table 1 (Sheppard 2011).7  Since 
control has a direct impact on organizational ends and thus influ-
ences an institution’s culture, this mode of thinking about colleges 
and universities might prove helpful to theological librarians consid-
ering a career move attempting to judge how different another school 
might be from their current employer.



Listen and Learn Sessions  211

TABLE 1: Characteristics of Institutions by Control*

Mission-Driven (Private) Mandate-Driven (Public) Profit-Driven (For-Profit)

Focus

Formation of students or con-
ducting research that supports 
ultimate mission of founder/
founding group.

Earning of degrees or completion 
of research for its own sake or for 
the common good.

Increased market share for 
greater profitability.

Distinguishing Funding Source

Charitable donations. Taxpayer funds allocated through 
state budgeting process.

Initially investment from stock-
holders; then student tuition.

Faculty/Staff

Educators. Civil Servants. Corporate Employees.

Community

Belonging, hospitality, and col-
legiality are celebrated.

Community is possible, but not 
necessary for completing the task.

Fast paced, target-focused, 
sales-oriented work environment. 
Competition may be encouraged.

Values

Common set of values upheld 
and encouraged in addition to 
educational content.

Ensuring students graduate and 
grant dollars are obtained is 
valued by institution.
Avoids privileging one set of 
citizens and their values over oth-
ers within students’ educational 
experience.

Efficiency and acquisition of 
students at lowest cost are valued 
by institution.

*Universities may have individual variations.

Let’s unpack some of the key elements from the table. Private 
schools are depicted in the table as mission-driven. That is to say, 
they were established as a special assignment by their founders 
with an eye toward forming students. This plays out in whether 
the employees—be they administration, faculty, or staff—may feel 
compelled or called to work in response to a higher power, ideal, or 
set of values. A Christian school that focuses on promoting justice 
in service to the Kingdom of God would be an example of a mission-
driven institution. Strictly speaking, such a school would be ulti-
mately accountable to God for the quality of its programming and 
faithfulness to its mission—though this control by the divine may be 
represented by the oversight of representatives from the particular 
faith tradition with which the school is associated. Private donations 



212  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

by those who hold the same values as the founders, laity who belong 
to the faith tradition, or perhaps the denomination/religious body 
itself are contributed to help support these types of schools in their 
mission. These funds are joined with other revenue streams such as 
tuition, endowment earnings, revenue from auxiliary enterprises 
(for instance, from a food service provider), and external sources of 
student financial aid to make up annual budgets.

By contrast, public institutions operate under a mandate. In short, 
the will of the people determines (mandates) that the citizenry be 
educated. In support of this self-imposed obligation, the residents 
of the state pay taxes that serve as the primary source of funding for 
the school. For their part, educators are employed without regard 
to a set of higher values, but simply because they possess the basic 
credentials and skills to demonstrate command of their respective 
subjects. Ultimately, those working at public schools are responsible 
to the taxpayers as represented by the governor and legislature. 

The last category is that of the for-profits, which are described as 
having a motive. The goal in establishing a school with this status is 
to make money for the investors/shareholders, as represented by the 
board of directors. While publics and non-profits are constrained by 
nondistribution rules and must put all excess funds generated back 
into the goods and services they were designed to provide, for-profits 
are not hindered in the same way (Fox-Garrity, 16). As a result, their 
boards are motivated to encourage as school’s leadership to increase 
market share and control expenses—all with an eye toward generat-
ing excess revenue to be paid out to investors (Fox-Garrity, 18). Thus, 
for-profit faculty, just as is the case of the publics, are hired because 
they hold proper credentials. They must, however, also be capable of 
meeting specific goals and metrics in a fast-paced, high-volume envi-
ronment designed to help the school maintain profitability. Granted, 
these schools may still serve the public good, or even have distinc-
tives that seem to echo some of the values of private schools, but 
these are incidental. 

To be sure, the characteristics that appear in the table and 
mentioned above represent some generalizations. Not every school 
of a given type will embody each of the characteristics consistently. 
Changes in administration, institutional culture, legislation, and 
other factors mean that a school of one type may, at least for a while, 
appear like one from another type. 



Listen and Learn Sessions  213

Anecdote 3: Where Are the Refreshments?

During my first few months of employment at UWG I discovered that 
a penchant for holding a myriad of meetings seemed to be a higher-
education universal. However, there were never any refreshments. In 
my previous experience in private higher ed, “table fellowship” was 
considered a means of building community and we rarely gathered 
without at least coffee available. Concerned that UWG had fallen 
on hard financial times, I asked whether budget struggles were 
the reason why food was missing. I was told that taxpayers paid 
us to teach; they didn’t buy us groceries too. About two years after 
this conversation, a new president took the helm. He sent around 
an invitation for everyone to attend his first Presidential Address. 
Surprisingly, the letter of invitation let us know that refreshments 
would be provided specifically “to foster a sense of belonging and 
connectedness” (Kelly 2021). 

The three types of institutions, however, are likely to remain true 
to form in the long run; therefore, a librarian seeking to transition 
from one sector of higher education to another might wish to keep 
this in mind. Regardless, the fact that there are three distinct raisons 
d’être associated with schools in the United States’ educational land-
scape is to be celebrated. The variety in the system differs from the 
models in other countries, such as those that have a single central-
ized system under government control, or a set nationwide curricu-
lum. The variety in the United States, combined with US educational 
institutions’ ability to respond to change and market forces as they 
see fit, means that higher education has had a positive outcome. 
Specifically, education is widely accessible to the US population. In 
fact, over 50% of the population between the ages of 18 and 25 have 
a tertiary degree or at least have attended some college (US Census 
Bureau 2019). Furthermore, tertiary degree attainment by those 
25-34 in the US exceeds the average of the Organization for Economic 
Co-operation and Development member nations (OECD 2020). 

Other Differences in Academic Institutions
In a few moments we will look at relevant literature for providing 
context for some of the anecdotes listed above. Before doing so, it is 
important briefly to acknowledge some other factors that may play 
into a theological librarian’s deliberations about making the leap to a 
position in a secular environment. For instance, whether a campus is 
rural, urban, or distributed (with most work accomplished remotely) 
may be a personal preference. For their part, Clery Act statistics 



214  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

are worth investigating as part of one’s decision-making process 
since they are an indication of campus safety. In addition, a school’s 
financial stability may impact one’s ability to adjust to a new job. To 
be sure, some institutions are well-endowed by private donations 
or receive generous taxpayer funding, while others are financially 
distressed. It is good to know in advance whether a school is prone 
to issuing late paychecks or conversely, in a position to offer gener-
ous retirement plans and perks like no-cost loans for housing. One 
final difference to note is that just as faith-based schools may be alter-
nately conservative or liberal theologically, public schools may have 
distinct political leanings driven by their need to lobby for funds in 
their state capitals. Further, schools dependent on the budgeting 
process of state governments will alternately shed or assume the 
dominant political ideology of the state’s current leadership. 

Anecdote 4: Achoo!

During the pandemic, mask-wearing at UWG was dependent on cues 
from the Republican governor. So, it was no surprise that during 
the summer graduation ceremony, the stage party was unmasked. 
Although fully vaccinated, my religious convictions drove me to 
wear one to be considerate of others’ health and wellbeing. More 
than one person attending the event, however, gave me the side-
eye. In the end, I was relieved to have my mask, given that the Delta 
Variant was on an upswing and the individual seated next to me 
sneezed throughout the entire event. I just pray that the unmasked 
graduates in front of my sniffling, wheezing seatmate didn’t end up 
catching the virus. 

Along with the factors just mentioned, when changing jobs, it is 
also helpful to be attuned to the school’s reputation. Some are proud 
of being prestigious research institutions, others are noted for their 
sports prowess, still another group may be humble and completely 
unknown beyond a short radius of their main campus. Another 
consideration beyond the basic campus culture that is worth weigh-
ing is whether the school offers faculty status to librarians. While 
some may find the security of tenure comforting, others who are 
hired pre-tenure may regard the stress and uncertainty associated 
with the preparation of a portfolio and subjecting one’s scholarship 
and performance evaluations to peers during the review process to 
be worth skipping. It seems that if one is seeking employment at a 
school that has membership in the Association of Research Librar-



Listen and Learn Sessions  215

ies, there is about a 54.8% probability of ending up in a position that 
leads to tenure (Antell and Hahn 2020, 8). 

Finally, it is also important for the job seeker to be willing to 
work with the primary population served by the institution. Some 
schools, for example, may be celebrated for the work they do as 
second chance schools. Others serve adult learners. A few focus on 
educating specific racial/ethnic groups as is the case with HBCUs or 
Tribal Schools. Some educate at the graduate or professional level, 
while others pride themselves on their programs for undergraduates. 
Regardless, a theological librarian’s knowledge base, passions, and 
experience may position one to thrive in some of these environments 
more readily than in others. Many of these factors are included in 
the Career Move Assessment Tool found in the appendix and may 
be weighted in accordance with personal preferences. 

I do want to take a moment to share some less obvious differ-
ences that I myself perceived in the transition from a private sector 
to UWG since they were items that I had not even thought to bring up 
during my interview. They may prove helpful for others to consider. 
First, UWG functions like a branch campus of the “system” rather 
than a standalone university. This plays out in a variety of ways. 
For instance, my paycheck is from the system, not UWG. This has a 
positive effect in that I am a state employee and can take part in the 
state pension plan. Being a state employee in a system, though, can 
be a bit of a mixed bag in terms of school policy and budget. As was 
illustrated in Anecdote 4, for instance, many decisions are made at 
the system level in Atlanta, not locally at UWG. While neither posi-
tive or negative in and of itself, it is important to note that with this 
extra level of bureaucracy, sometimes decisions take longer than 
they might at a standalone school. It is important to have realistic 
expectations about the pace at which an institution’s administration 
can move. Finally, responsibility to the taxpayer at UWG plays out in 
a variety of ways that might make one uncomfortable. To be specific, 
should the state revenues or even our campus revenues go sour, all 
employees at UWG may be asked to take furloughs. These are days 
when we would be directed not to come to work, and we would not 
be paid for those days. In addition, Georgia is an open-records state. 
This means that all salaries are published in a publicly accessible 
database. This openness even extends to employee emails (despite 
standard clauses in the email signature block about messages 
being limited to their intended recipients). As I understand it, every 



216  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

message sent or received using school email accounts is archived 
and available to the pubic upon request under certain conditions—a 
marked difference from some seminary environments where clergy 
faculty members may use email to conduct pastoral conversations 
with the presumption of a fair degree of confidentiality. These sorts 
of policies may vary from school to school, and it is worth having 
one’s eyes wide open about them before taking a job. 

LITERATURE REVIEW

Rather than relying purely on a single person’s subjective experi-
ences about a career transition, it is important to explore what others 
are saying about religion and life in the academy. 

There are four topics in the academic literature that are relevant. 
They are 1) fit and retention of employees in academic settings, 2) the 
phenomenon of religious privilege in higher ed, 3) the extent reli-
gion in the public sphere, including public tertiary education may 
(or may not) be subject to legal protections, and 4) how one lives out 
one’s faith in the context of secular employment.  Given time limits 
for this presentation, just a few articles are highlighted to give a sense 
of the relevant issues. 

Fit and Retention in the Academy
Although it is possible to talk about “fit” when it comes to match-
ing job candidates with openings, it turns out that it is a concept 
that is “amorphous and poorly articulated” (White-Lewis 2020, 2). 
In theory, a good “fit” occurs when the job seeker feels attachment 
to an organization. Damani K. White-Lewis points out that schol-
arship on the topic of fit identifies two types, one of which is a bit 
more concrete than the other. Search committees appear to be on 
firmer ground with what is known as person-job fit. This type of 
match involves evaluating a candidate’s skills, knowledge, and abil-
ity. It is determined at early stages in the search process, and there 
is often some consensus amongst search committee members about 
each candidate’s degree of success in meeting these basic position 
requirements (White-Lewis 2020, 13). By contrast, the second type 
of fit, known as person-organization fit, seeks to discern alignment 
between values and identity. Assessing this sort of match is more idio-
syncratic because committee members tend to use their own percep-
tions rather than a set of specific criteria. In fact, White-Lewis warns 



Listen and Learn Sessions  217

that without a rubric, this is the point in a search where cultural 
and racial biases may come into play (2020, 4). Given that search 
processes in the academy may lack an objective basis for person-
organization fit, job seekers should neither take failure to land a 
position too personally nor feel inadequate but should remain posi-
tive instead. Furthermore, job contenders would be wise to develop 
measures for a desirable match of their own before engaging in 
the job hunt. To this end, the Career Move Assessment Tool that is 
appended to this paper functions as a model of the type of rubric 
that might be applied consistently across several potential positions.  

Ultimately, whether a given fit is successful is determined by 
a school’s ability to retain faculty and staff employees. The litera-
ture on that topic mentions a few perks beyond salary and basic 
benefits that sometimes have a bearing on their job satisfaction. 
These include the availability of funding for advanced degrees, fair 
and clear processes for tenure and promotion, the availability of 
mentorships, and the ability to work according to flexible sched-
ules (Harris 2019).8 Sometimes, the availability of parental leave 
benefits may also have a bearing on retention (Rupp 2018). Finally, 
whether a tertiary school’s basic administrative policies and proce-
dures may align with employee values may alternately contribute 
to loyalty or conversely lead to disenchantment. Along these lines, 
Kerry O’Meara pointed out that one school’s insistence on employ-
ees obtaining outside offers of employment for positions they did not 
plan on accepting before being granted raises by their current school 
was viewed by some employees as unethical. Ultimately, O’Meara 
contends, this policy led to resentment and contributed to talented 
faculty trickling away to competing universities (O’Meara 2015, 293). 

Although it may not be on one’s radar during the interview, a 
school’s orientation process for new hires also has an impact on how 
successfully one assimilates into a new work culture. Indeed, some 
prospective employees prefer being thrown into the deep end, while 
others benefit from a structured onboarding program. It is during 
orientation that new employees seek information about things like 
an institution’s values, the degree to which the organization fosters 
a sense of community, and its commitment to fostering work-life 
balance (Scott, Lemus et al. 2016, 15). Now that we mention it, a job 
aspirant might want to gain some insight into these elements during 
the search process instead of waiting for them to be revealed during 
orientation.  



218  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

When it comes to the role that faith plays in fit and the work envi-
ronment, two studies are of interest. First, Fanny Rantung (2014) 
developed a questionnaire to determine the satisfaction level of 
faculty members at four religiously affiliated schools in East Indone-
sia. Her survey was compiled after visiting with faculty focus groups 
and included points like whether faculty members were happy with 
the levels of their travel and book allowance (incidentally, these are 
two additional factors that those seeking to switch employers may 
wish to include in hiring negotiations). The surprising feature about 
Rantung’s questionnaire was that there were no questions related 
to religion or calling, though one question did appear related to 

“moral values” (Rantung 2014, 57). This lack was notable given that 
the four schools involved variously represented Catholic, Protestant, 
and Muslim affiliations.9   Presumably employees were in harmony 
with the degree of religious praxis on their respective campuses 
and willingly conformed to any faith-driven policies that were in 
place. Otherwise, issues related to religious culture likely would 
have arisen as a point of concern in the focus groups upon which 
the survey was based.

In another study, Kristen Edwards (2015) discovered that employ-
ees in Historically Black Colleges and Universities where Christian 
faith traditions play a significant role, were aware of the institutions’ 
religious identity and valued it. Black women faculty appreciated the 
Christian emphasis and described their work as taking place within 
a community that provided solace and support in a world where 
their gender and race might otherwise put them at a disadvantage. 
Edwards did question whether the religious identity of such institu-
tions would become problematic for students whose aptitudes and 
self-concepts might not align with the environment of the school in 
instances where HBCUs were being pressured to admit ever more 
diverse populations (Edwards 2015, 264). 

Given these two studies, it appears faith-based institutions that 
deliver tertiary education are often successful in creating a campus 
environment that reflects the values and ideals of the sponsoring 
religious bodies. Since sometimes a college or university’s culture 
may diverge from that of the mores and behaviors of society at 
large, theological librarians should carefully weigh the degree to 
which they are comfortable functioning either within or outside of 
a community organized in accordance with a particular religious 
ideology or mission.



Listen and Learn Sessions  219

Religious Privilege 
In order to fulfill any aspects of their missions related to these reli-
gious ideals, faith-based schools may provide curricula in which 
sacred texts or religious precepts are taught, time in daily sched-
ules set aside of worship,  semester breaks appear on calendars in 
ways that accommodate holy days, spaces for religious observance 
and purification rituals are available, food services are designed 
to cater to the dietary requirements of the faith, clergy or spiritual 
directors are present to assist students in their faith journeys, reli-
gious artwork and symbols appear in campus architecture or even 
on letterhead or branding materials, and so forth. Theological librar-
ians who are fulfilled working within a microculture where a partic-
ular faith is advantaged in this way should carefully consider the 
degree to which the culture of a secular, public university campus 
may differ. Since Christianity has been the dominant religion in the 
United States since the founding of the country and is culturally 
pervasive in the country, literature on a phenomenon known as 
Christian privilege may prove enlightening.10

Anecdote 5: Winter Celebration

As December approached, planning for the faculty/staff social 
gathering began. Because the event is held at a time when several 
religions celebrate holidays, the goal was to create a secular, yet 
welcoming atmosphere. One year, however, poinsettias were 
selected as table centerpieces, not knowing the flowers were 
associated with Christianity. Colleagues of other faiths and those 
who were atheists were vociferous in their objections to the choice. 
The reactions were so strong, in fact, that since the fateful misstep, 
the tables are bare, and no one dares risking the words “holiday” or 

“seasonal” relative to the event.

In the main, Christian privilege as described in the United States 
is “…a seemingly invisible, unearned, and largely unacknowledged 
array of benefits afforded to Christians,” a phenomenon that has the 
unfortunate byproduct of “subordinating members of other faiths 
as well as non-believers” to a Christian worldview and practices 
(Fairchild and Blumenfeld 2007, 177). Examples of the type of advan-
tages Christians enjoy include the expectation that one may display 
a “Jesus is Lord” bumper sticker on a car without worrying about it 
leading to the vehicle being vandalized or the general assumption 
that leaders and elected officials are likely Christian (Clark, Vargast 
et al. 2002, 54).



220  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

There are two models that seek to counterbalance some of the 
more oppressive aspects of Christian privilege for those of other 
faiths. The first is multiculturalism. In this scheme, various tradi-
tions and non-believers are welcomed. All exist side by side in a 
culture of mutual respect and toleration (Bowman and Smedley 2013, 
746).11  The second model is that of pure secularism. In this way of 
constructing work and learning environments, the objective is to 
ensure individuals’ and groups’ “freedom from” religion as well as 

“freedom of” religion by either stripping religion completely away 
or taking care not to impose one’s traditions and values on others 
(Blumenfeld 2005, 208). 

For those accustomed to working in a college or university envi-
ronment where a dominant faith tradition is intentionally culti-
vated in service to the school’s mission, adjusting to a setting where 
that particular faith may no longer have a privileged status may be 
difficult. In the case of Christianity, this is sometimes related to the 
perception that there is anti-Christian bias on campus (Lee 2021). 
In such an environment, Christian academics may feel pressured 
to hide their faith (Haggerty 2010) or may be hypervigilant about 
displaying behavior that could be interpreted as intrusive, prosely-
tizing, or overly conservative (Edwards 2015, 271). 

Religion, Government Employees, and Legal Doctrine
Closely related to the extent to which religion should be visible on 
public campuses is the issue of religious freedom. When it comes to 
being a government employee within public colleges and universi-
ties, uncertainty about one’s ability to object to performing assigned 
tasks based on religion, or to demonstrate an individual expression 
of religiosity such as wearing religious symbols or garb, is par for the 
course. In fact, legal doctrine with respect to the religion of govern-
ment employees is not well developed. As recently as 2017, Caro-
line Corbin, a professor of law at the University of Miami, suggested 
filling the gap in legal literature about such matters by making an 
analogy with how speech doctrine relates to government employees 
given that speech doctrine is more robust.  Corbin writes that when it 
comes to free speech, “government employees are not protected from 
their government-employer to the same extent they are protected 
from their government-sovereign. In other words, the government 
may discipline its employees for their speech in a way it cannot 
punish regular citizens” (Corbin 2017, 1198).  If, by analogy, the same 



Listen and Learn Sessions  221

limits also apply to religion, then the main recourse government 
employees would have to religious protection wouldn’t fall under 
the First Amendment, but rather laws against discrimination as 
defined by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Corbin 2017, 1250). Given 
that at present I am not a legal researcher and was able to discover 
little on this topic besides the rather complex legal piece written 
by Corbin, I am uncertain of the degree to which this issue may be 
important for theological librarians entering public school employ-
ment. Much more research needs to be done on the issue, though it 
did seem worth mentioning. 

Faith and Secular Employment 
Corbin’s work related to law and religion recalls Thomas Jefferson’s 
assertion that there should be a wall of separation between Church 
and State. Thus, it is no surprise that clergy and lay librarians who 
see their work as a calling, but who are employed at public state-
sponsored schools, are aware of the limits to which personal reli-
gious convictions may be openly expressed in the course of their 
work. Donald G. Davis, Jr., and John Mark Tucker, who worked at 
the University of Texas and Purdue University respectively, shared 
their thoughts on the role of librarians who happen to be Christian 
and find themselves in just these sorts of settings. Drawing on a 
passage from Colossians (3:17, 23-24) they point out that all work that 
Christians perform, even as laity in the secular world, is to be done 
as a ministry on behalf of Jesus (Davis Jr. and Tucker 2002, 42). That 
does not appear to mean that one may proselytize one’s coworkers. 
Instead, they suggest that for Christian librarians, religiosity plays 
out in subtle ways. For instance, religious values may influence the 
quality and kind of relationships that are formed in the workplace in 
terms of one’s 1) willingness to mentor others, 2) desire to establish a 
reputation of being approachable and trustworthy when others are 
seeking counsel or advice, 3) enthusiasm for celebrating the gifts of 
others, and finally 4) treatment of coworkers and patrons almost as 
though they are family to the extent that one advocates for their well-
being and success (Davis Jr. and Tucker 2002, 43-44). They concede 
that many of these behaviors, while Christian in their orientation 
and motivation, are simply good professional practice (45). Presum-
ably, then, a Christian librarian working in a secular setting might be 
indistinguishable from a caring colleague of any other faith or even 
a compassionate non-believer. 



222  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

Other thoughts that are germane to this discussion were shared 
fifteen years ago at the ATLA Annual Conference by our colleague, 
Beth Bidlack. She highlighted the fact that although many members 
of ATLA work in professional schools designed to train clergy, several 
are employed in colleges and universities that are secular. These 
two work environments can seem to be poles apart. In the course of 
trying to come to grips with differences that she herself experienced 
working at both Bangor Theological Seminary and the University of 
Chicago, she wrote, “Traditionally, a seminary focuses on the practice 
of religious traditions, whereas a university focuses on the academic 
study of religious traditions” (Bidlack 2006, 40). This key difference 
played out in various ways. For example, the nature of the material 
added to the respective school’s collections differed considerably in 
that the former included devotional materials that were outside of 
the scope of the latter. In her comments at that meeting, Bidlack also 
suggested that comparing mission statements, the relative sizes of 
schools, and their levels of organizational complexity (number of 
campuses, number of professional schools, and so forth) provides an 
excellent framework for understanding why work experiences may 
vary considerably between private secular universities and theo-
logical schools (Bidlack 2006, 40-43). Bidlack concluded her excellent 
thinking on how differences between types of educational institu-
tions impact library work in the area of religion with reflections on 
what it means to be a theological librarian (46). This is an excellent 
idea, and I will now follow in her footsteps as I bring my own presen-
tation to a conclusion.

THE HEART OF THE MATTER: WHAT IS A THEOLOGICAL 
LIBRARIAN?

Anecdote 5: The Question

When I worked in United Methodist seminary libraries, it was an 
honor, privilege, and significant responsibility to serve on hiring 
committees. At the phone interview stage, I had a stock question 
for library job candidates: “How do you think a theological library 
differs from other academic libraries?  Invariably they answered that 
collection development in seminary libraries focused on acquiring 
books on the topic of religion and that the library’s patrons were 
planning to become ministers. True enough. But somehow, this 
answer always felt a little simplistic. For myself, a key difference 



Listen and Learn Sessions  223

was that library work in the seminary context was undertaken in 
an environment where the holy was welcomed, embraced, and 
celebrated. 

As we have already briefly mentioned in an earlier section above, 
many theological librarians conceive of their work as stemming from 
a ministry or calling. In fact, Bidlack herself described her work at 
Bangor Theological Seminary as a ministry. She noted, however, that 
her work as a religion bibliographer at the University of Chicago 
required subject knowledge, advanced degrees, and technical skills, 
but not necessarily the service-oriented approach to librarianship 
that many Atla librarians tend to highlight in their work—elements 
such as hospitality, ministry, and stewardship (Bidlack 2006, 46). 
Although she elected to bring a service-oriented approach to her 
work as a bibliographer, that did not seem to be a requirement of 
the job. As a result, Bidlack began to wonder whether a university 
librarian employed in a secular context, even if collecting works on 
religion, can truly be identified a theological librarian (46). She left 
the question unanswered, simply posing it for others to ponder. 

If I were to offer an answer, I would say no. Although I was at 
one time a theological librarian, at this moment in my career I no 
longer am—even though my Ph.D. is in Bible, and I am undertaking 
this “theological” presentation here at Atla as part of my scholarly 
research. Rather, within the context of working at UWG, I would 
describe myself as a librarian who happens to be religious. In short, 
whether or not one is a theological librarian may change as one 
moves from institution to institution throughout one’s working years. 
Fair warning: altering one’s identity and self-perception so drasti-
cally may require a significant level of adjustment.

To flesh out what I mean by the distinctive roles, I propose that 
we use three separate designations for our work: theological librar-
ian, religious librarian, and religion librarian. They are defined as 
follows:

Theological Librarian: 

These librarians possess subject expertise or technical skills related 
to religion. Yet in addition to executing typical library tasks, they 
are permitted to openly engage in religious praxis, model values of 
the faith for others, and undertake theological reflection within the 
context of workday activities and research. They feel at home doing 
this formative work along with their regular library tasks. The work 
of the theological librarian typically takes place in an environment 



224  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

designed to promote and promulgate encounters with the holy 
at an institution that understands its mission as a response to a 
higher power. Although usually this would be a school of theology, 
it also might be a private, religious faith-based college/university 
or even a library outside of the academy, such as one located in a 
denomination’s headquarters. 

Religious Librarian  

This is the Christian librarian described by Davis and Tucker but may 
also be a librarian of any religion or faith tradition. The religious 
librarian usually works in an environment where devotional acts 
and open religiosity are not appropriate, such as a secular private 
university, a public university, or a non-profit where the school may 
or may not offer a degree in religion or collect library resources 
in that subject. If tenured and possessing appropriate credentials, 
however, the religious librarian may research, write, and publish in 
the field of religion and theology. Furthermore, within the context 
of doing one’s daily work, the religious librarian incorporates the 
values of his/her faith as a matter of private conscience to the 
extent possible.

Religion Librarian: 

The religion librarian may be found in any type of institution, 
including a school of theology. He or she has subject expertise and 
technical skills in religion as appropriate for the position that he 
or she holds—perhaps as a religion bibliographer. Yet this librarian 
views his or her own work as a career or occupation without 
ascribing to it confessional or religious overtones or motivations. 
Further, interactions with others and work behaviors are likely 
rooted in basic human decency rather than faith convictions. To this 
end, the religion librarian who chooses to accept employment in a 
school of theology or a faith-based college or university may not 
feel at home taking part in forming students or participating in faith 
activities. That being said, they would not see the need to inhibit 
colleagues who do. 

Whatever type of librarian you may be, at any point of time 
during your career, you enrich the work and connections we make 
here at Atla. I wish you well in wherever your career may take you, 
and if, like myself, you find yourself transitioning from the private 
sector to public tertiary education, and would like to reach out, I’d 
be happy to hear from you. 



Listen and Learn Sessions  225

APPENDIX 

CAREER MOVE ASSESSMENT TOOL

5 is highest rating, most desirable in each category

Category 1: Basics & Personal
This category would include things like salary expectations, move 
closer to family, quality of schools for children, special benefits, cost 
of living, how well skills and education match job requirements, 
sabbatical policy, research/travel/conference support etc.  

Must-Haves
Example:
Short Commute

Evidence at Institution

Map shows 27 
minutes in traffic

Score 1-5

2

1.
2
3. 
4. 

Category 2: Carnegie Considerations
Similarities to your current post. The higher the score, the more simi-
lar to your current position and, in theory, the easier the adjustment.  

Characteristic Score 1–5
Size
Degree levels offered (associates through doctorate)
Number of advanced degrees conferred
Length of program – 2 years, 4 years, other
Level of research
Setting (residential, commuter, online etc.)
Focus – arts, sciences, professional, special
Student characteristics – full time, part time, transfers
Other_______________

Category 3: Other Qualities of Target Institution
Assign a higher score if the institution matches your preferences.

Characteristic



226  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

Score 1–5  
(5 is most preferred)
Conservative/Liberal
Prestigious/Humble
Selective Enrollment/Open Doors
Well-Funded/Financially Distressed
Rural/Suburban/Urban
Faith based/Historically Religious/Secular
Racial/Ethnic Serving
Safe (Clery Act Stats)
Other_________________

Category 4: Overall Character of institution and Environment/Culture
To what extent do each of the following match your preferences for 
the workplace?
Keep in mind an individual department within the school may have 
its own unique subculture.  In addition, changes in leadership or at 
the state capital (for public hchools) may change the culture and 
character of the school over time.  

Characteristic Score 1–5
Private, public, non-profit environment
Level of collegiality 
Ability to be your genuine self, express your full identity 
(religious, gender, race, other) 
Work ethic and pace of work matches your preferences
Values match your preferences
Other________________

Category 5: Other Perks/Considerations

Characteristic Score 1–5
Offers faculty status to librarians
Moving and/or housing allowances/loans
Other_____________



Listen and Learn Sessions  227

Scoring
Total the categories.  Score possible is 118-140 as written.  Feel free, 
though, to add items to customize this for yourself.  That would alter 
the score totals.  The higher the score, in theory, the better the “fit”. 

Optional Weighting.  
Pick the 2-3 “must-haves” and “characteristics” that are MOST 
important to you.  

• If those characteristics/must-haves already have a high score, 
make them higher by adding an extra 20 points to those 
elements! (Each of those lines may now be as high as 25).   

• If those characteristics/must-haves have a low score, subtract 
26 points from that line.  That means the lowest possible 
rating for those weighted lines would be -25.  

Thoughts/Notes/Reactions
Complete this assessment tool twice for each institution.  The first 
time, complete it right after an interview or campus visit.  Then give it 
a day or two and fill it out again to see if your impressions/comments/
reactions are the same.

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American Theological Library Association Summary of Proceed-
ings 55: 231-50. 

Rantung, Fanny H. 2014. “Factors Contributing to Faculty Satisfac-
tion and Its Relationship to Faculty Retention in Tertiary Insti-
tutions.”  Human Behavior, Development and Society, 9 no.1 
(July): 47-57. https://so01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/hbds/article/
view/173684. 

https://ischristianitytrue.wordpress.com/2021/03/31/the-persecution-of-christians-on-campus/
https://ischristianitytrue.wordpress.com/2021/03/31/the-persecution-of-christians-on-campus/
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https://doi.org/10.31046/tl.v3i1.131
https://doi.org/10.1787/69096873-en
https://so01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/hbds/article/view/173684
https://so01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/hbds/article/view/173684


Listen and Learn Sessions  231

ENDNOTES

1 This number includes those designated as head librarians 
in member schools and also those identified as professional 
staff.

2 If the math is correct, assuming a 40-hour week, this 
represents an average reduction of 6 hours’ worth of 
librarian labor per week in supporting each of the member 
schools’ libraries. A deeper analysis of the data, including 
an analysis of the intervening years, is necessary to firmly 
establish any trends.  

Rupp, Nicolas G., and A. Zeager. 2018. “Paid Parental Leave and 
Female Faculty Retention.” Eastern Economic Journal 44: 475-488. 

Schröder, Stefan. 2017. “Humanist Organizations and Secularization 
in Germany.” Religion & Society in Central & Eastern Europe 10, 
no. 1: 21–34. doi:10.20413/rascee.2017.10.1.21-34.

Schuman, Samuel. 2010. Seeing the Light: Religious Colleges in 
Twenty-First-Century America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity Press. 

Scott, Whitney, Daisy Lemus, Greg Knotts, and Janet Oh. 2016. “Why 
Learner-Centered New Faculty Orientations Matter: Organiza-
tional Culture and Faculty Retention.”  Journal of Faculty Develop-
ment 30, no. 1: 15-22. 

Shaffett, John E. 2013. “Theological Librarianship as Ministry.”  
American Theological Library Association Summary of Proceed-
ings 67: 69-83. 

Sheppard, Andy. (May 19, 2011). What is Unique about Southwest-
ern College?  Courier Traveler, https://www.ctnewsonline.com/
news/article_39d3b2f0-5df0-5be1-8df3-4018f0fc2ddb.html. 

United States Census Bureau. 2019. “Educational Attainment Table 
S1501” https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?t=Educational%20
Attainment&g=0100000US.04000.001_0200000US1,2,3,4&y=2019
&tid=ACSST1Y2019.S1501. 

Vryhof, Steven C. 2004. “Schools as Communities of Meaning.” The 
Journal of Education 185, no. 2: 59-65. 

White-Lewis, Damani K. 2020 “The Facade of Fit in Faculty Search 
Processes.” The Journal of Higher Education 91 no.6: 833-857. 
https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2020.1775058. 

https://www.ctnewsonline.com/news/article_39d3b2f0-5df0-5be1-8df3-4018f0fc2ddb.html
https://www.ctnewsonline.com/news/article_39d3b2f0-5df0-5be1-8df3-4018f0fc2ddb.html
https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?t=Educational%20Attainment&g=0100000US.04000.001_0200000US1,2,3,4&y=2019&tid=ACSST1Y2019.S1501
https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?t=Educational%20Attainment&g=0100000US.04000.001_0200000US1,2,3,4&y=2019&tid=ACSST1Y2019.S1501
https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?t=Educational%20Attainment&g=0100000US.04000.001_0200000US1,2,3,4&y=2019&tid=ACSST1Y2019.S1501
https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2020.1775058


232  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

3 It will be interesting to see if COVID-19 accelerates this 
downward trend, or temporarily reverses it, should the 
jobless seek out graduate schooling, including theological 
education. 

4 Public schools are mentioned in passing (205), though not in 
the context of the category “control.” 

5 The 2018 data also revealed that there were 300 four-
year faith-based schools, one of which was for-profit and 
the remainder private. Together they enrolled 88,068 
students. The CCIHE2018 spreadsheet may be downloaded 
from: https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/downloads/
CCIHE2018-SummaryTables.xlsx/. 

6 Indirect funding from the government might take the form 
of student loans and Pell Grants as part of Title IV Aid. 

7 I would like to thank J. A. Sheppard (who also published the 
piece referenced here under the name “Andy Sheppard”) 
for being willing to expand on his work in a series of 
conversations with me during May 2021. Table 1 reflects 
many of his insights. 

8 Although Harris studied Nursing faculty in particular, these 
concepts appear to be universal across faculty. A unique need 
amongst nurses, according to Harris, was the requirement 
of flexibility in timelines for promotion and tenure given 
additional responsibilities nursing faculty have related to 
their clinical duties. 

9 Question #35 on the survey did inquire about satisfaction 
with the moral values of the institution.

10 That is not to imply that the USA is a “Christian nation.”  Ellen 
Fairchild expresses concerns about that notion and stresses 
that the founding fathers intended a separation of Church/
State (Fairchild 2009, 6).  

11 Bowman and Smedley are focused on the positive goods the 
multicultural model might have for student retention on 
campuses, though likely faculty and staff retention numbers 
might be impacted by the implementation of a similar model 
depending on the dominant workplace culture. 

https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/downloads/CCIHE2018-SummaryTables.xlsx/
https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/downloads/CCIHE2018-SummaryTables.xlsx/

