An Update on Chapel Credits

For undergraduate students on the main Berrien Springs campus

Greetings, undergraduate students,

Each year we receive feedback from students about co-curricular engagement and, in particular, Chapel programs.

These responses often range from "Why do we have to do this?" to "I'm thankful for the topics and experiences offered."

As we receive these responses, we do our best to identify relevant topics and formats from the hundreds of survey responses you provide that help us advance the mission of this University and its community.

I wanted to let you know about some updates we've made in response to that feedback.

For your review, here is a link to the current co-curricular credit requirement that includes a minimum of 12 Chapel credits for each student each semester.

To check where you are in meeting those requirements, you can go here.

To see upcoming Chapel programs, you will see weekly updates in the University Faith app and universityfaith Instagram page.

Here are a few of the updates to our current co-curricular Chapel credit system to bear in mind:

Each semester there are 12 Chapel credits required, and we have at least 18 credit opportunities available that include Thursdays, Week of Prayer and a survey at the end of the semester.

Currently, there are a total of four more Thursday Chapel credit opportunities plus the end-of-semester Chapel survey.

We have added "pop-up" Chapel credit events that we will announce either via email or push notifications in the University Faith app. These events will take place at various times and are typically announced the day of or before the event. This has already happened twice this fall semester, and you can expect at least a couple more pop-up Chapel credit events before the semester is over.

A solid majority of you don't need the additional pop-up credits because your continued Thursday Chapel attendance will be enough. In fact, there are students who already have exceeded the Chapel credit minimum. But a handful of you will want to check your credit record and, if needed, be on the lookout for these pop-up credit events to help you get to the minimum requirements.

Based in part on student feedback, we have made space for wellbeing to help reduce the pressure of having "one more thing to catch up on" at the end of the semester. As a result, there will NOT be Chapel credit events following Thanksgiving break. Instead, we will focus on wellbeing activities in the final weeks of the semester that are not for credit but are instead designed for restoration and relaxation. We have been able to offer this option while still providing ample availability for Chapel credit in the remaining weeks of the semester.

Please note that co-curricular credit will continue to be offered for co-curricular events through the last day of classes.

We will continue to welcome and collect your feedback about these updates and changed approaches with a student survey at the end of this semester. Your responses in our surveys have an impact in shaping the campus experience in the months to come.

Finally—we have an amazing student body this year, as has been noted and celebrated by our executive team at the Center for Faith Engagement (Chap D, Chap Prescott, Teela, Sharon and Hope). All of us wish to acknowledge and celebrate that so many of you have invested time, energy and passion to make this school year the best ever and to help make hopes and dreams come true!

We are proud of each one of you and blessed to journey with you this 2022–2023 school year.

Love is Life—John 3:16

José Bourget
University Chaplain