Policies

Academic Dishonesty

It is the responsibility of the faculty member to pursue suspected incidents of academic dishonesty occurring within his/her courses. If a student is found to be guilty of cheating, plagiarism, or another form of academic dishonesty, the faculty member is required to document the incident in writing and submit the report to the Provost. The first documented incident of academic dishonesty will result in the student failing the assignment of the course at the instructor’s discretion, depending on the severity of the incident. Any subsequent documented offense of academic dishonesty by that student (regardless of whether it occurs in the same or any other course taken by the student at the University) will result in automatic failure of the course and expulsion of the student from the University for a minimum of one academic year.

Academic Probation

Academic Probation is a status assigned to students who do not meet satisfactory academic requirements (see below). It is a procedure that helps the Graduate Studies faculty and staff monitor the student’s progress in the program and come alongside those who may need greater assistance to improve their academic skills. Students will only be placed on Academic Probation one semester at a time. Students who satisfactorily improve their academic results during the semester of academic probation will be taken off academic probation for the following semester. Students who are unable to satisfactorily improve their academic results during the semester of academic probation may be placed on academic probation for another semester or asked to take a leave of absence from studies, as deemed by the Graduate Studies administration.

Beginning Students: To enter the Graduate Studies program, prospective students must have a Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher in their undergraduate studies and provide a satisfactory ministry peer recommendation and supply a writing sample that demonstrates competency for post-graduate level writing and research. For those who do not meet this qualification, the doctoral admissions committee may place such students on academic probation at the start of the program or deny them admittance to the program.

Current Students: Current students in the Graduate Studies program are required to maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and a grade of ‘C’ or higher for each class they take. Students who do not meet these standards in a given semester may be placed on academic probation for the following semester. Any class in which the student earns a ‘C-’ or lower will need to be retaken before graduation at the current cost.

Any graduate student whose cumulative GPA remains below 3.0 or receives grades lower than a C- in classes for two consecutive semesters could be subject to academic disqualification and dismissal from the University. A student subject to disqualification may appeal by submitting a letter to the Provost, stating why he/she should not be disqualified. The student’s request will then be reviewed by the Provost for a final decision.

Active/Inactive Student Status

Graduate Biblical Counseling students are considered active if they continue taking classes in consecutive semesters and they are considered inactive if they do not take classes for more than four consecutive semesters. Students will be charged a continuing education fee of $500 per semester they do not take classes and they may only utilize this option for three semesters total for the duration of their studies in the program. If students are unable to take classes for a fourth semester (consecutively or total) they will be considered inactive as of the beginning of the fourth semester. Students who become inactive must reapply to return to the program and are subject to any applicable fees. To be clear, students are only given one opportunity to skip three semesters (the time it will take to pick up the next cohort they need to take in the program) before they will need to reapply.

Appeals of Academic Dismissal

A student subject to academic dismissal because of a low cumulative GPA or because of academic dishonesty may appeal by submitting a letter to the Provost within two weeks of being notified of dismissal, along with an explanation of why the student believes the dismissal was unfair. The student’s request will be reviewed by the Provost with input from the student’s advisor, faculty who have had the student in recent classes, and the academic counselor. The Provost will make a decision on the appeal, which will be communicated in writing to the student.

Auditing

Auditing classes in the D.Min. program is not offered at this time.

Full/Part-Time Student Status

Any student enrolled in 8 units or more is considered “full-time” in the D.Min. program.

Graduation

To successfully graduate from the Doctor of Ministry program, students must complete their studies in no more than 8 academic semesters (approximately 4 years). A semester is included in the total even if students do not take a class in a semester. For re-admit students, the 8 semesters reset to zero when they become inactive and return to the program. Failure to complete the program in 8 semesters will result in students being charged a $1500 program extension fee for each semester they exceed this limit up to three semesters. In cases where students exceed the limit of 8 semesters, or exceed the three-additional semester limit, the Graduate Studies administration may require them to retake any or all courses to graduate and continue to pay the program extension fee per semester.

Pass/Fail

Certain courses in our program are graded on a pass/fail basis (no letter grade A-F is given). Due to the nature of these courses and the grading scheme, students are required to submit work within the first 30 days of each class, or they will not pass the class and be required to retake it.

Remote Library Access

To facilitate research from off-campus locations, the University library provides remote access to many of The Master’s University’s online databases. This access allows the student to search the available databases from any off-campus computer that has an internet connection. Currently, The Master’s University has more than 20 databases available with remote access. Students are welcome to contact the library directly if they need help with their research needs.

Scholarships

Churches are encouraged to consider assisting D.Min. students financially to cover tuition costs for the program, as students will be providing a special private ministry of the Word of God in their respective congregations.

Scholarships for the D.Min. in Biblical Counseling program are provided through the Graduate Studies department directly, not through our Financial Aid office. Scholarships are awarded semester by semester. Any active D.Min. student who wants a scholarship must apply each semester. Because scholarship funds are provided directly from our department they are limited. In this way, scholarship applications are considered on the basis of a combination of academic performance, financial need, and ministry potential. Scholarship applications are due to be submitted by the first day of the semester to which they will apply. Scholarship notifications will be provided by the beginning of the third week of the semester. Since scholarships are not guaranteed, students should plan to fund their education separately. See Tuition for more information and to apply for scholarships.

Theological Distinction

The D.Min. in Biblical Counseling program stands firm on the sufficiency of Scripture, specifically, that the Bible is everything a person needs to address the spiritual problems people face (2 Pet. 1:3; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). As a result, the D.Min. program takes the doctrine of sign gifts seriously and holds to a cessationist position. It is the counselor’s responsibility to help a counselee change based on the standard of God’s Word. If other forms of revelation, such as prophecy or tongues, are allowed in biblical counseling, the sufficiency of Scripture is undermined and called into question. We welcome those who are unsure about the gifts as a result of not being taught thoroughly about them. The D.Min. program offers clear instruction on these issues. However, the following consequences could result for those who are approved to enter the program and maintain a non-cessationist position on sign gifts or those who remain unconvinced of the cessationist position after having been taught about it in the program. First, a student may not be eligible for ACBC fellow status. It is also possible that a non-cessationist position will prevent a student from obtaining certification with ACBC, if the student has yet to obtain certification subsequent to starting the program. In this case, the student would be unable to proceed in the program without ACBC certification. Second, a student may score lower on certain assignments and in certain classes based on their position as well.