>Today was the last day of our Self-Study process. The Visiting Team had its last meeting this morning, they presented their preliminary findings, and then, they left.

The exit interview culminates a process that began in September 2004 when the president of Northern Baptist Seminary wrote a letter inviting me to serve as the Director of the Self-Study. When I accepted the invitation to guide the Self-Study process, I knew that leading a Self-Study was hard work, but I had no idea how hard the work would be.

For the past three years, I have led the seminary in doing a comprehensive study of itself. Each department and each program prepared written reports detailing their work for the past ten years. Then, the seminary evaluated its work by applying the standards of accreditation established by the Association of Theological Schools and the criteria of accreditation established by the Higher Leaning Commission of the North Central Association. Then, using all this information, I wrote the final Self-Study Report.

Because of my work on the Self-Study, my blogging has suffered. Since last year, I have been involved in preparing for the Self-Study visit, which occurred on November 4-7. The preliminary results of the visit are encouraging and we should have the final results in January.

So, my work with the Self-Study is finished. Now, I can return to blogging on a more regular basis and I plan to do this beginning in the next couple of days.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary