After almost two decades in Shawnee, a seminary is looking to downsize while it continues to embrace the virtual learning model.
In January, the board of directors for Central Seminary put its 9-acre campus for sale after recognizing its 45,000-square-foot building was being underutilized. In return, it’s looking for a smaller space that will still meet the needs of its faculty and students.
“We’ve decided to funnel that money into our students rather than keep it going into a building,” said President Pam Durso.
In spring 2023, the historically Baptist seminary enrolled nearly 500 students in diploma, master and doctoral-level programs, according to its website. Read more about the seminary here.
The seminary has been going virtual since 2017
Only about 8% of the seminary’s faculty live in the Kansas City area, including Durso, who moved from Atlanta to the area after she was hired in 2020.
“To honor the people who are committed to coming into the building on a regular basis, we want to stay within a drivable distance for them,” Durso said.
Central Seminary’s enrollment ranges between 440 and 500 students. Because its students and teachers live across the world, including Myanmar, China and Africa, it has been conducting virtual classes for eight years.
While convenient for its staff and students, the virtual learning model meant the building was not getting the use it needed to justify the costs of maintenance and utilities.
“This is not good stewardship of our donor money or our students’ time, putting money into a building where no one comes,” she said. “We can’t keep (our tuition) kind of flat or provide other services for students that we’re not able to because we’re paying for heating and air conditioning or whatever breaks.”
The seminary was founded in 1902
It originally operated at a campus in Kansas City, Kansas, before downsizing and moving to Shawnee at the former Westside Family Church location in 2005.
Its building contains modern, glass-lined conference rooms and offices, large meeting spaces and a physical library with thousands of books.
Durso said the next location will have a smaller library, with most of its books being digitized and uploaded to the Digital Theological Library, a virtual library that contains more than 1.5 million books.
“We won’t need a huge library,” Durso said. “But our students across the world will have access to everything that we have now physically.”
It was a difficult decision
Durso said that while talks about moving have existed since she first arrived, the board of directors gave it slow and thoughtful consideration.
“It was the best decision for Central and our students and our future,” she said.
The faculty is thankful for support Shawnee has shown and looks forward to wherever the seminary will end up moving.
“This is a beautiful building, and people are attached to it,” Durso said. “I’m sure that as we leave it, there will be moments where we gather and celebrate what was here together and celebrate what we’ll be in the future.”
