About The Urantia Book Internet School

Introduction

One of the duties of URANTIA Foundation is to provide means and methods to disseminate the teachings of The URANTIA Book worldwide. Many readers have expressed a need for a place where they could join and study The URANTIA Book with experienced, long time readers. This in turn leads to the development of teachers and leaders.

The Urantia Book Internet School was created as a means to help students from all over the world study The URANTIA Book in an internet setting that frees the students from the constraints of distance, timetables, and physical presence. Courses are given in small classes under the guidance of a trained and experienced teacher/facilitator using the 'Questions and Response' technique. The Urantia Book Internet School is designed to help the student to:

develop a progressive approach to difficult concepts;
enlarge his or her comprehension by going deeper into the revelation;
learn teamwork and the fostering of good will, and
develop methods for presentation and dissemination of the teachings.

Philosophy

It is not the purpose of UBIS to interpret the truths and teachings in the Urantia Book in a dogmatic way. Since the teachings of The Urantia Book were presented in written form every person can have a their own first-hand experience with the material. The Internet School's purpose is to provide tools to assist each student in experiencing the teachings first hand and to promote, improve and expand his/her comprehension of the material through a non-interpretive, non-invasive, and non-aggressive pedagogy.

How the UBIS Functions

The UBIS is an Educatonal/Outreach program of the Urantia Foundation. It operates through the efforts of a volunteer group of twelve members who serve as the UBIS Board of Directors, and it functions through the services of its companion group of Teacher/Facilitators. The program was initiated by the Foundation in 1999, and through learning and experiential growth now serves the readership around the world.
Operationally, the UBIS is organized with specific functions assigned to its various members, such as the Teacher Training class, the Course Review Committee, the Mentor Program, the Curriculum Committee, the Course Archives/data/Library of Courses Coordinator, Semester Planning Coordinator and the Student Correspondence/Outreach Committee. Above all, the most important and vital function is that of the dedicated Teacher/Facilitators who prepare and present the courses. Over the years, thirty individuals have served as Teacher/Facilitators. Most recently they are

Jane Ploetz	Michelle Kaiser	Judy Cosky	Betty and Ralph Zehr
Pam Maunakea	Polly Friedman	Ray Gardini	Mary Steigerwald
Gregory Hawkins	Phil Taylor	Linda Barton	Stacey Jackson
Dorothy Elder	Rick Lyon	Elisabeth Callahan	Carrie Prentice
Guy Perron	Sherie Crosby