1. Ministering to, Advising, and Caring for DMin Students
Paul Bramer, PhD Director of DMin, Tyndale Seminary
Barney Wells, DMin, Director of DMin, Lincoln Christian Seminary

2. About the Methodology…
Sampling Frame: Current and recently graduated DMin students from the 45 Programs registered for the 2016 ADME Conference by Mar. 1.
329 responses over a 10-day period.
2 questions:
an inventory of 8 common life issues DMin students face and an “none of the above” response,
An open-ended question asking how the director, faculty, staff, and students responded.

3. About the Methodology…
Data from Question 2 was coded to indicate one of four levels of response.
Level 0 – No response
Level 1 – Electronic or paper written response ( , card, letter)
Level 2— Voice contact (phone or in person)
Level 3— Flexibility or modification of program schedule (extension of due dates, cohort reassignment, etc.)

4. Common Life issues DMin students face

5. Common Life issues DMin students face
29 (21% of respondents) students reported experiencing 2 of these during their program
4 (2% of respondents) students reported experiencing 3 of these
1 student reported experiencing 4 of these.

6. How Seminaries Responded
Level 0 = 63 cases
Level 1 = 9 cases
Level 2 = 51 cases
Level 3 = 58 cases
Two observations from the qualitative data that are not numerically reflected:
Students expressed the most positive feelings about Level 2 and 3 responses
About 20% of Level 0 responses were because the student did not report the life issue to the Program Director or classmates.

7. Questions for Group Discussion
What about your DMin program may provoke some students to "crisis?“

8. Questions for Group Discussion
What school resources do you have to help you?

9. Questions for Group Discussion
When and how do we "check in" to see how the students are doing?

10. Questions for Group Discussion
What are some symptoms that might indicate to you that a student is struggling or in crisis?

11. Questions for Group Discussion
What is your director identity related to student crises? (e.g., manager, academic advisor, referral, placater, pastor)

12. 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12
…but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.