Student Support

We realise that it is sometimes hard to study in isolation and so we have developed a comprehensive student support network. Firstly, we will be in regular contact with you and we have tutors on standby to answer your questions, either by phone, online, fax or email. Secondly, we can provide you with names and contact details of other students doing the same subject. Thirdly, our online learning site, MySats helps you to discuss issues with other students and with the SATS staff. Our website, www.satsonline.org boasts a range of valuable resources. Finally, we send out regular newsletters, which inform you of all our latest developments.

Support for Friends and Family of Students

Your spouse, fiancé, friend or relative has decided to study at the South African Theological Seminary and you may be wondering how this will affect your lives. The Friends and Family page explains how things might change and how you can help your SATS student to be successful.

Conferences

SATS hosts a number of conferences, the purpose of which is to address theological and social issues. World renowned speakers are invited to deliver the keynote address and to provide input at the highest level. Students have the opportunity to network with other students and meet top speakers and the SATS staff. Our website: www.satsonline.org provides the latest information on our conferences. Click on this link Theological Conference for the latest information on our conferences.
This year the focus of the conference will be youth leader development and training.

Student Counsellor

 

The student counsellor, Bev van Rensburg, is employed to assist and guide you in coping with your studies and with any problems which may arise during your period of study with SATS. Phone her on 011 234-4440 or email her at bev@sats.edu.za

 

 

Help Desk

 

If you want to ask about enrolments, what to study, curriculum queries, when you will receive your material, etc., dial 011 022-4440 (during office hours), which is a dedicated Helpdesk line and ask to speak to Grace. Alternatively, you can email her at info@sats.edu.za. Grace has worked for SATS for many years and will assist you in a friendly and competent way.

 

Mentor

Reliable research has shown that for distance students to be successful in their learning they need support in the form of a suitably qualified friend or pastor. Our staff regularly contact students, motivating and encouraging them to persevere with their studies but it is the local, personal friend or pastor that will fulfil the role of personal support.

In 2012 we will be running a pilot mentoring programme with a group of students which will give us the opportunity to practically apply the results of our research and adjust the programme if necessary, before implementing it.

Readers

Due to the fact that some theological textbooks are difficult to find and extremely expensive, the South African Theological Seminary provides Readers, free of charge for your convenience in almost all undergraduate programmes, except the Certificate in Christian Counselling. These Readers include selected extracts from all the recommended books, as well as a selection of other relevant documents which we are sure will assist you as you complete each assignment. So that we do not infringe any copyright laws, we have signed a contract with the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO), the terms of which enable us to include these extracts in the Readers. You may purchase and use text books, in addition to the Readers, if you prefer to do so..

Library

Our library contains an impressive collection of books, journals and electronic Bible software. You are welcome, if you live in the area, to come and browse the wide range of outstanding titles to assist you in your research.

For those who live some distance away, the librarian will assist you by placing your requested research extracts on MySats, where your password will give you full access. You will also be able to access all the theological journals online.

Online Resources

• Theological Research page. Here you will find links to Conspectus, our online journal and to Research, a repository of theses and research documents, most of which have been contributed by our staff and past students.
• Christian Lounge. This page has links to hundreds of web sites where you can research information useful for your studies. Christian lounge also has links to an number of downloadable computer resources, most of them free, which have been tested by our staff, as well as links to a vast number of useful articles, documents and research papers.

Internet Presence

As internet connectivity and bandwidth speed continues to improve worldwide, we are able to support you through our very comprehensive website www.satsonline.org, through MySats to which we are regularly adding additional functionality, and, more recently, through Office Communicator, an exciting software programme which enables us to have live, interactive seminars with groups of students all over the world. Depending on bandwidth availability, you can be part of a video/audio conference, during which you can interact with your tutor and with your fellow students! If you are unable to participate at the advertised time, the full session will be recorded and you will be able to download it from our server. Instead of using Skype, which is sometimes very unstable, our software is extremely stable and the voice and video quality is excellent. We are very excited about the possibilities, which we know will help us to further improve our levels of service delivery and give you an improved learning experience.

Bursaries

Although we provide a limited number of bursaries, the allocation for 2012 is already fully subscribed.