Report Praises Chaplains on Campus

The report, Chaplains on Campus, is based on a study carried out jointly by academics at Coventry, Durham and Canterbury Christ Church Universities.

They conducted interviews with over 400 university chaplains, managers and religion or belief organisations, and nearly 200 students.

The researchers found that chaplains play a vital role in supporting students "to integrate, progress with their university studies, develop their identities and practise their religion."

"As student pastoral needs grow, universities increasingly depend on chaplains to supplement other student support services," the report reads.

"As religion and belief groups are becoming unable to sustain their current levels of funding for chaplaincy, universities need to increase budgets for chaplaincy across the sector. Universities should, in particular, commit to providing funds for chaplains' salaries."

Report co-author and Professor of Sociology of Religion at Coventry University, Dr Kristin Aune, said a lack of funding was holding chaplains back from meeting their full potential on campus.

"Our research has found that chaplains are doing a great job supporting students pastorally and responding to an increasingly multi-faith environment," she said.

"What is letting them down though, is how under-resourced they are, so one of our 15 recommendations is that universities increase their funding for chaplaincy to continue this vital service."

The study found that three-quarters of chaplains believed their presence had made an impact on individual students in the last 12 months, while two-thirds said there had been a change in atmosphere or sense of community on campus.

Students were also positive about the presence of chaplains on their university campus. Over a third of students who had visited the chaplaincy said they had done so to seek guidance or advice about their spiritual development, a personal problem, ethical concerns, or "life in general".

One student said chaplaincy had been "central to my university experience," while a student services manager at another university said that chaplaincy was making a "significance difference" to the campus experience and lives of individual students, "particularly students who may be vulnerable, or be looking for some support."