Synodical Placement Application Instructions

Office of Synodical Placement
Concordia University Chicago
Concordia University System
708-209-3030
Synodical Placement Credentials

Instructions:
In order to produce credential file copies which are to be transmitted to prospective Call sites, it is important to complete the following information clearly and accurately. The "on-line" format lends itself to quick correction and ease of updating information as well as transmission of credential information via e-mail, fax or standard mail. Information submitted here is understood to be open to review by authorized representatives of Calling bodies who have requested this file through the Office of Synodical Placement.

On-line Form Navigation:

1. You may wish to print out a copy of these instructions before proceeding further.

2. Press the "Insert" key (located in the six key array just to the right of the main keyboard) in order to be able to fill out forms without moving the actual text of the form itself.

3. Use the up/down/right/left arrow keys or click on blanks in the form in order to move around in the form. If you use the "Tab" or "Enter" keys, you will insert additional spaces or breaks in the forms. If you accidentally disrupt the format, use the "Undo" arrow which is centered in the standard toolbar. The small arrow to the right of the "Undo" arrow allows you to go back several actions if necessary.

Completion of Hard Copy Forms:

If you are completing these forms as hard copies, i.e., real copies on paper, rather than the on-line version, the information must be typewritten.

Page 1:
Name and address information: Please check to ensure accuracy, especially phone and e-mail addresses. If you are a residential student, please check to see that the "Local (i.e. campus) Phone" number also includes the correct three-digit exchange, i.e. 209 or 488.

Program: Indicate the program of study that you are completing at Concordia University. Check all that apply.

GPA: Indicate your latest undergraduate cumulative GPA here

Anticipated Date of Graduation: Indicate Fall, Spring or Summer term and the year in which you expect to complete your program.

High Schools / Colleges Attended: If more than space allows, indicate the latest two or three, as applicable. Under Colleges, name the institutions at which you have completed at least one full time term.

Type of Teaching Certificate: Indicate the type of Illinois certificate for which you will be eligible upon program completion, if applicable.

Page 2:

Academic Program:
Indicate your Major/Minor (secondary) or Concentration/Specialization (Elem) or Major/Specialization (ECE). List all courses in the appropriate column including the number of quarter or semester hours. Courses in Professional Education will be those listed on your degree audit printout or transcript with the department prefixes of EDU, EDUX, TED and/or ELF. Some courses listed on your records prior to the change to the semester calendar may have prefixes that are different than those listed in the current Concordia University catalog.

Page 3:

Experience:
Student Teaching and Internship Site Information: Be certain to correctly name the school/site and its location (there are innumerable "St. John Lutheran Schools or Churches" out there…) and correctly spell the name of your cooperating teacher(s)/internship supervisor(s) and university supervisors. Prospective Calling bodies will likely contact these references.

Previous Full-Time Professional Experience:
List any location where you have been engaged on a full-time, professional basis in a position related to a degree which you possess. Most new graduates will leave this area blank. Colloquy graduates (Teacher, DCE or Deaconess) will likely have information to offer here, which may or may not be related specifically to their area of ministry. Do not include part-time positions.

Interests:
Indicate three areas of interest which may or may not be related to your area of ministry or professional training. These may include sports, hobbies, civic or community activities, reading interests, recreational organization memberships, leisure time pursuits, etc.

References:
Indicate three individuals who can attest to your competency in your chosen area of ministry. These should be people who have observed your performance in a pre-professional setting and have the expertise to offer an informed appraisal. Do not use the names of family members or your social acquaintances. You may wish to name individuals here other than those who supervised your student teaching/internship. It is considered proper to request the advance permission of those whom you name here.

Pages 4 and 5:

Leadership Skills:
In the blank before each item, indicate areas in which you can take a leadership role. Use "T" in the blank for those areas which have been part of your professional Training; "E" in the blank for those areas in which you have Experience to a significant degree; "I" in the blank for those areas in which you have some future Interest, whether through advanced education or voluntary participation.

T = Training E = Experience I = Interest

Please mark items on this page and the next with care and honest reflection. It is understood that any area marked T (Training) legitimately falls within the candidate's present level of certification or education. This extends to extra-curricular activities as well, especially for teachers. For example, coaching at the Varsity level requires considerable experience and training. It is further understood that areas marked are "fair game" for discussion or inclusion in prospective Call.

Further, there are areas listed here in which expertise beyond the Bachelors degree is required, e.g., school administration or counseling. Although you may have future Interest, your choices marked, as Training must fall within your present qualifications.

Age/Grade Level Groups:
Teachers should choose the grade levels closest to those in which they student taught, at least initially, and which are appropriate to their state certification. DCE's and Deaconesses should likewise indicate the age group(s) in a congregation or agency which are closest to their experience in fieldwork or internship.

Elementary and/or Secondary Subjects:
Items marked Training must fall within your present qualifications by degree and/or certification.

Special Education:
Items marked Training must fall within your present qualifications by degree and/ or certification.

Coaching:
Items marked Training or Experience at the Secondary level must fall within your present qualifications by degree and/or certificate. Items marked Experience are allowable at the Elementary level. "Experience" is defined as minimum of Varsity level team sports in your high school experience or advanced recreational team sports, e.g. Pony League baseball, advanced club level volleyball, etc. School administrators cannot employ coaches with insufficient experience or training due to the risk of injury to student athletes.

School Extra-Curricular and Service
Self-Explanatory. If you don't see the item that specifically describes your Training, Experience or Interest, choose the item that describes it most closely.

Parish-Wide Leadership
Most applicable to DCE and Deaconess Candidates.

Parish Music
May apply to any candidate. Again, indicated areas accurately in terms of your Training or Experience.

Administration
Most applicable to DCE, Deaconess or Colloquy candidates with previous teaching experience. An indication of Interest here in areas that require further education is informative to prospective Calling bodies.

LCMS District
Indicate by numerical rank at least three districts in which you would definitely consider a Call. If there are special circumstances which restrict your availability to less than three districts, please discuss this with the Placement Director at your interview. "All of the Above" will suffice if one really has no preference. You may wish to consult a copy of the Lutheran Annual for an indication of what areas are included in such districts as Atlantic or Southern. NOTE: English District and the SELC (Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church) are non-geographic districts, i.e., their member congregations are spread out over the entire U.S.

Community
Indicated by numerical rank at least three community types in which you would definitely consider a Call. Secondary teacher candidates should be aware that Lutheran High Schools are located primarily in Large Metro, Small Urban or Suburban settings.

Page 6:

Biographical Sketch

Spend some time carefully thinking through your comments for this page. What you write here tells a prospective principal, pastor, or board member a lot about you and your professionalism. The Writing Center may be of assistance in terms of form, usage, grammar, etc. If you'd like my input/comments, I'd be happy to proof/edit it or assist in any way that I can short of writing it for you.

On this page, write three or four paragraphs in response to the heading. The tone of your writing should be professional, should avoid both floridity and the tendency to write what you think people will want to read here. You may wish to include factors that have influenced your choice of ministry area, your philosophy of teaching, some observations on the value of your particular ministry, or elements that you believe you will bring to a particular ministry setting or population. Writing about a particular person who influenced you in entering your area of ministry is, to be honest, probably overused. If the latter is done very well, it can be impressive, however it's probably more effective to write something that indicates to the reader that you are ready to be a professional in your own right. The people out there who are considering you as a candidate will pay close attention to what is written here!

Be absolutely certain that the material here has been proofread and is absolutely correct in grammar, spelling and punctuation. Spell-check only identifies words that are spelled incorrectly, not those which are spelled correctly and misused!

Signature (See Page 5) Complete this item only after completing the entire form.

The Synodical Placement Credential is neither complete nor valid without your signature and date.

Your signature here indicates that, to the best of your knowledge, the information provided in these pages is accurate, truthful and forthright.

Since it is difficult to sign a document on a computer screen, please do the following:

a. Print one copy of page 6. Sign the hard copy and submit this to the Placement Office, Krauss 200.
b. Going back to page six of the Application, type the following in the blank for your signature:

Candidate Signature (Your initials in all caps) Signed copy on file in Placement Office and date.

This will allow us to send copies of your documents directly from our data base as an e-mail attachment or to a fax number. We will retain the hard copy which you signed as your permanent file.

Page 7:

Director of Christian Education Supplementary Data:

The information here will be somewhat repetitive of other information in your credential file, however we have found it useful to provide a summary page for Call Committees to review. They can then search your credentials for more detail on what they find to be pertinent to the position which is being filled.

Certification:
Indicate whether your are completing the single or dual certification DCE program.

DCE Specialization:
Indicate the specialization which you are completing in your DCE Program.

Field Work Experience(s):
Indicate here each FieldWork experience which you have completed. If all fieldwork was completed at the same site, please complete a separate section here for each semester's experiences.

Internship:
Indicate the site at which you completed your DCE Internship, the dates of your involvement and summarize your experience in the various categories of ministry which you experienced, i.e., JHS Youth; SrHS Youth, Singles, Outreach Program, etc. Your Internship evaluations will go into more detail.

Fill in the name of your supervisor and that individual's title.

Page 8:

Deaconess Supplementary Data:

The information here will be somewhat repetitive of other information in your credential file, however we have found it useful to provide a summary page for Call Committees to review. They can then search your credentials for more detail on what they find to be pertinent to the position which is being filled.

Program:
Indicate whether your are completing the Deaconess program as an undergraduate degree, as a Deaconess Colloquy student or as a candidate for Deaconess Chaplaincy (which includes the M.A.R. or equivalent degree).

Deaconess Minor:
Indicate your Minor, as appropriate. If you are completing the program with an alternative minor, indicate your area of study as "Other".

Field Work Experience(s):
Indicate each FieldWork experience which you have completed. If all fieldwork was completed at the same site, please complete a separate section for each semester's experiences.

Internship:
Indicate the site at which you completed your Deaconess Internship, the dates of your involvement and summarize your experience in the various categories of ministry which you experienced, i.e., CPE training, institutional or agency staff, parish duties, etc. Your Internship evaluations will go into more detail.

Fill in the name of your supervisor and that individual's title.

Page 9:

Director of Parish Music Supplementary Data:

The information here will be somewhat repetitive of other information in your credential file, however we have found it useful to provide a summary page for Call Committees to review. They can then search your credentials for more detail on what they find to be pertinent to the position which is being filled.

Program:
Indicate whether your are completing the Director of Parish Music program as an undergraduate degree, Masters Degree, or Colloquy Certification.

Field Work Experience(s):
Indicate each FieldWork experience which you have completed. If all fieldwork was completed at the same site, please complete a separate section for each semester's experiences.

Fill in the name of your supervisor and that individual's title.

Upon Completion:

ALL CANDIDATES: Please examine the application to be sure that your page breaks are in the correct places (refer to "Placement Guidelines" at http://www.cuchicago.edu/career_services/ ) and that all information is clear and accurate. Although the content of these credentials are reviewed by the staff of the Office of Synodical Placement, the accuracy and quality of presentation of the information herein is solely the responsibility of the candidate. Further, any changes or updates of this information prior to or following acceptance of an initial Call are, likewise, the responsibility of the candidate.

Save Your Application
Save your Placement Application on your computer. Select "SAVE AS." from the FILE menu. Choose your preferred location from the listing under the "SAVE IN:" window. For a file name, use (Your Last Name, First Initial) SynodPlApp " e.g. Waldron-SynodPlApp.

Double-check before submitting information, close the Placement Application file and open the copy which you just saved to verify that the information was retained correctly. Send electronic file as an attachment to Linda Hasley at crfplacement@cuchicago.edu. Make sure that your name and "placement application" is in the subject box of the email.

In addition to the electronic file submit to the Placement Office one signed hard copy of page 6 of your Synodical Placement Application.