There are two areas of required interaction to receive credit for your Semlink course: You must participate four (4) times in the Integration Questions discussion forum, and you must correspond with your Semlink Teaching Fellow a minimum of three (3) times beginning with your response to the Conversation Starter found on your course web page here on the Semlink website.

> Integration Questions
> Conversation Starters
> Additional Opportunities for Formation

In the Community Center, there are Integration Questions being discussed at all times. These conversations are focused on the area of theological education associated with the course you are taking. The discussion starters found here are designed to allow students to evaluate, analyze, synthesize and apply what they are learning in their courses in a cross-curricular environment. You'll be sharing ideas not only with other students taking your course, but also with students taking any course in that broader area of study. Discussions include reference to current events, culture and literature, case studies and discussions based on Scripture. Discussions will take place primarily among students, but the forums are moderated and maintained by Semlink Teaching Fellows.

The Integration Questions are part of your course requirements. You must participate in a significant way a minimum of four (4) times in the broader area of study of your Semlink class (Church History, Theology, Ministry of the Church, Applied Ministry, Old Testament or New Testament).

It is our goal to make the interactivity components engaging and stimulating. If there is a topic you are interested in exploring with fellow students and faculty, please email your suggestion to your Teaching Fellow.

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The other required element of interactivity is the email-based conversation with your Semlink Teaching Fellow. By responding to a Conversation Starter, students have the opportunity to interact on a more course-specific basis. Following the link in the sidebar to the left of this page, students can read the first question, think and reflect about it, and then reply by submitting the form on the web page. The dialogue with your Teaching Fellow that ensues via email is designed to offer a rich one-on-one experience. Conversation Starters are initial questions aimed to touch on the overarching theme(s) of a course that are open-ended enough to allow response based each student's own perspective and experience.

The Conversation Starters and all subsequent email correspondence are a required part of your Semlink course. You must participate in a significant way a minimum of three (3) times--first, submit your answer to the conversation starter, and then reply two more times to follow-up questions that come from your Semlink Teaching Fellow. All replies must meet common-sense minimum requirements for graduate level work, both qualitatively and grammatically. And be sure to allow for at least one month over which this correspondence can take place.

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IRON SHARPENS IRON:
New in the fall of 2003 is an open discussion forum called "Iron Sharpens Iron," with homage paid to an actual bulletin board that hung outside the South Hamilton campus cafeteria some time ago. This is a place for Semlink students to post their own Ninety-five Theses on a virtual door and see what kind of reaction they receive from the Semlink community. While this is not a required component of your Semlink course, we encourage you to engage at this level with your peers.

FORMATION FOR MINISTRY and SPIRITUAL FORMATION:
There are also opportunities to participate in discussions that are not as course-content focused or even broad study area-related. Dealing with issues of spiritual formation and formation for ministry are essential parts of pursuing theological education at the graduate level. [MORE INFO REQUIRED]

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