Dr. J. Derek Halvorson of Covenant CollegeCOMPARING SCHOOLS* Providence Christian College has about 70 students. Annual total tuition is $21,936.* Covenant College has nearly 1,000 students. Tuition is $13,235 per semester for 12 to 18 credit hours.ABOUT J. DEREK HALVORSON* Covenant College’s sixth president.* Currently president of Providence Christian College in Pasadena, Calif.* Ordained as a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church in America.* Graduated cum laude from Covenant in 1993 with a bachelor of arts in history.* Earned a master of arts from the University of Arizona and a doctorate of philosophy from Loyola University Chicago — both in history.* Director of constituent relations at Covenant from September 2003-January 2005.* Regional director of development at Covenant from January 2005-June 2009.Source: Covenant College
Covenant College is acquiring a new president and possibly a West Coast campus at the same time.
College trustees voted Friday to hire alumnus J. Derek Halvorson and to start the process to acquire the college he is coming from, Providence Christian in Pasadena, Calif.
If the sale goes through, it would become Covenant’s first branch outside the Chattanooga area.
“I think it fits our mission pretty well,” board Chairman Martin Moore said Friday. “We believe this sister institution — a small, reformed, residential liberal arts college on the West Coast — is a remarkable fit with Covenant’s mission and purpose and offers an opportunity for Covenant to extend the reach of its mission.”