Colleges and Courses - Site Policy

This document is currently being developed as we work out how best we can help candidates decide how to train, but maintain a godly, gentle and encouraging atmosphere.

This document applies to the AOCM website for all training courses, not to main website. It was last updated 2nd May 2008.

We welcome contributions from everyone, but we do not necessarily publish everything we receive. Each site is managed by the AOCM representative from the training institution. Many of the decisions about publishing comment will come down to their discretion.

What we intend

  • That these site will give a fair and accurate impression of the experience of training on a specific course.
  • That these sites will give the “insider’s perspective” on life in each college/course: a kind of “things it would have been good to know when thinking about where to train” spot.
  • We want the feel of these websites to be edifying. We envisage that the vast majority of comment and testimony on each site will positive and we think that’s great.

What we need

We need as many comments as possible to give a balanced view, so it would be great if you could contribute a couple of paragraphs, being as specific as possible, on any one (or more) of these topics which appeal to you:

  • Training with a young family/single person/married person without children/family with older children
  • What the academic life/pastoral care/community life is like
  • What is distinctive about the course ethos?
  • Quality of the teaching staff
  • How good your course is at ordinand formation - what will the typical graduate look like/have experienced?
  • Quality of resources/facilities
  • Overall atmosphere of the course
  • Training alongside other students
  • or anything else that occurs to you!

Comments do not need to be exclusively positive as we want to build an honest picture of each course, but any negative comments should be true, gracious, expressed in a godly manner, and thoughtfully phrased.

How it works

  • When you fill in the ‘contribute’ form on the site, the content will be emailed to the AOCM rep.
  • No contributions may be anonymous.
  • All comments will be shared with the training institution, whether positive or negative. We want to be part of the process of encouragement and refinement, not just critics on the sideline.
  • All negative comment will not appear until it has been discussed with an official of the training institution. This is to ensure that criticism is not unfounded and that the institution has a chance to respond.
  • If we do not hear back from the training institution within a fortnight, the publication of comment will be at the discretion of the AOCM rep. We suggest that caution is taken with any criticism. If in doubt, we will not publish it.

When we will publish

  • If the comment is positively helpful. For example, a specific description about some thing positive about the institution.
  • If a negative comment is gracious, expressed in a godly manner, and thoughtfully phrased and is not objected to by the course itself.

Unless there is technical or human error, you will at very least receive a reply to your contribution.