Synchronous Online Graduate Student Option
For the Fall Cohort, our priority applications deadline in May 1st*
For the Spring Cohort, our priority application deadline is November 15th*
*Applications may be accepted after these dates, if there is room in the program.
The Institute for Spirituality and Social Justice is excited to announce our new Synchronous Online Graduate Student option for those who wish to join our unique program!
Inspired by our mission and Ignatian concern for the whole person, we understand there may be reasons students are not able to relocate for their graduate studies, but wish to be part of a program which provides a university context for personal and social renewal, ethical analysis, a deeper social imagination, and exploration of the spiritual resources of the world's wisdom traditions.
Our graduate theology program at Xavier University offers students a rich academic and socially engaged atmosphere in the Ignatian tradition, with classes that provide a space for learning, reflection, community building, and imagining a more humane future. And we want to make sure everyone has access to that space! The learning communities that form in each of our graduate classes provide a unique space of support, stimulation, rigor and depth in which students pursue personal enrichment and the grounding for a variety of Christian vocations, career options, or future doctoral work.
What is the Synchronous Online Option?
Synchronous Online Graduate Students will have the option to attend all their theology graduate classes in-person or synchronously online. This means they can attend classes live, online using a computer and a web-conferencing program (such as Zoom).
What will class be like for an Synchronous Online Student?
Our Synchronous Online Students will be able to participate in real-time, engaging with their professors, participating in class discussions, and creating a community of discernment with other online and in-person graduate students. Students who choose to be a part of our graduate program through the Synchronous Online Student Option will be immersed in the graduate community, taking classes alongside traditional in-person graduate student and other Synchronous Online students.
Our graduate classes are offered as blended synchronous classes, meaning local students will be in-person while students outside of Cincinnati, across the nation will join class live using web-conferencing. Our classrooms are set up with technology which ensure Synchronous Online Students are able to clearly see and hear their classmates and professors, as well as, those in-person are able to see and hear the Synchronous Online students.
Generally, our 3-credit graduate classes are 2.5 hours long, held weekly, in the evenings. Because the Synchronous Online Student Option requires real-time participation, accepted students will need to be able to attend class during the window of 6:00 pm-9:00 pm EST.
What are the requirements to be an Synchronous Online Student?
In order to maintain your Synchronous Online Student status, you must reside more than 1-hour from our Cincinnati campus. You will also be required to participate in two ISSJ graduate community events (in-person and online options) per active semester.
How do I apply?
If you are interested in applying to be an Synchronous Online Graduate student in the Theology Graduate Program here at Xavier University’s Institute for Spirituality and Social Justice, please follow this link to our application portal.
In order to maintain a balance of in-person and Synchronous Online Students, we will have priority applications deadlines for our Synchronous Online Option. Your application may still be accepted after the deadline, but applications turned in before the deadline will have priority. If you are accepted into the program, but there are no longer Synchronous Online Student spots available in a given semester, you will be placed on a waitlist.
For the cohort starting in Fall, our priority applications deadline in May 1st.
For the cohort starting in Spring, our priority application deadline is November 15th.
More questions?
Please reach out to Co-Director Ashley Theuring (theuring@xavier.edu) with any questions you have about our graduate theology program or the Synchronous Online Options.