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.

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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.

New Students

To enter the Graduate Studies program, prospective students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher in their undergraduate and graduate studies and supply a writing sample that demonstrates competency for post-graduate level writing and research. For those who do not meet this qualification, the 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 will 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.

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Active Student Status

Continuing Education

For students to remain active in the program, they need to take classes each semester. However, students can take advantage of the continuing education provision for each semester they cannot take classes. This involves registering for BC093 Continuing Education through the registration portal (see below).

Students will become inactive, must reapply to return to the program, and are subject to any applicable fees, if they meet any of the following criteria…

1. Do not sign up for any classes or do not register for the continuing education fee class (BC093) during any fall or spring semester.
2. Are unable to take any classes for a 5th fall or spring semester, consecutively or in total.

The continuing education fee amount can be found here under Program Fees. Students may register for the continuing education fee for a maximum of 4 semesters (consecutively or in total) to extend their active status in the program when they don’t take classes during any given semester.

The continuing education fee can be paid by registering for classes like normal, except instead of selecting typical classes, students can just add BC093 Continuing Education to their cart. BC093 is not a course, but rather an indicator that lets our Registrar and Student Accounts offices know that such students are not taking classes but still want to keep their student status active in their program.

Program Extension

For students to remain active in the program, they need to finish the program in 8 semesters. Each semester a student is active in the program counts toward the total number of semesters allowed, regardless of whether the student took classes that semester. However, students can take advantage of the program extension provision once their limit is reached to extend their active status in the program. This involves registering for BC094 Program Extension through the registration portal (see below).

The program extension fee amount can be found here under Program Fees and is to be paid each semester following the term limit assigned to each student. Students have a maximum of 2 consecutive semesters (fall or spring) over which they can pay the program extension fee in order to maintain their active status in the program.

Students will become inactive, must reapply to return to the program, and may need to take some or all of their classes over again, if they meet any of the following criteria…

1. Are past 8 fall and spring semesters and the program extension fee is not signed up for during a subsequent semester.
2. Uses the program extension fee for 2 straight semesters and still needs to take classes to finish the program.

The program extension fee can be paid by registering for classes like normal, except students can add BC094 Program Extension to their cart in addition to the classes they are taking that semester. BC094 is not a course, but rather an indicator that lets our Registrar and Student Accounts offices know that such students want to keep their student status active in their program after reaching their allotted limit of semesters.

If a student needs to reapply to the program, the 8 semesters will reset to 0.

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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.

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Full/Part-Time Student Status

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

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Graduation

A student is eligible to graduate with a Doctor of Ministry degree in Biblical Counseling by meeting the following criteria. The student must . . .

1. Complete all current and required coursework.
2. Meet the 36 required units with a minimum cumulative G.P.A. of 3.0.
3. Earn a ‘C’ or higher in every required class.
4. Finish the program in no more than 4 academic semesters (with the exception of 4 additional semesters via program extension).
5. Pay all remaining applicable costs and fees.
6. Fill out a graduation contract and pay graduation fee.

Each student coming to the end of his or her program will need to complete a graduation contract. A link to the contract will be sent by email to all students every year in September. Students not planning to graduate by the end of the upcoming Spring semester should not fill out the contract until they anticipate finishing the program before or by the end of the following Spring semester.

The graduation contract is mandatory for all graduating students and provides the Graduate Studies staff and the Registrar with important information, such as remaining coursework, intent to graduate, and diploma details.

If students choose to participate in the ceremony, they will need to indicate this on the graduation contract and will be charged a fee of $125 for cap and gown. If students do not wish to participate in the ceremony, they will need to indicate this on the graduation contract instead and will be charged a fee of only $25. The deadline to complete the graduation contract and pay one of these fees is December 1. After this date, graduation contracts cannot be completed and our university cannot ensure a student’s official graduation come May.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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