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ACADEMIC POLICIESAcademic CreditCredit Hour Requirements. One unit of credit is defined as an academic designation denoting approximately 25 to 30 hours of classroom experience, academic preparation, and research. The faculty has also adopted guidelines for measuring the amount of work that various kinds of assignments may be expected to represent. One hour is represented by one hour of class, 25 pages of reading, or one page of a research paper. Thus a 10-page paper represents 10 hours of the 100 to 120 hours that may be expected in a four-unit class; 500 pages of reading represents another 20 hours. Residence Requirements and Transfer Credit. For the Master of Arts degree, at least 24 units (not including Field Education or independent studies) must be earned on the Pasadena campus or at one or more of the five Extended Education areas approved to offer the MA degree in its entirety. Except for those students enrolled in an MDiv cohort program in Seatte, Menlo Park, or Phoenix, a minimum of 48 units must be taken on the Pasadena campus to earn the Master of Divinity degree. The remainder may be taken in any Extended Education area. Distance learning courses are also available, but limits apply, depending on degree program. Consult your academic advising office for details. Fuller Seminary normally accepts transfer credit from graduate institutions accredited by the Association of Theological Schools or a regional or international accrediting agency that is appropriate to your degree and concentration. For the MACL degree, a maximum of 36 quarter units of graduate biblical and theological studies may be approved for transfer credit. For the MA degree, the maximum is 48 quarter units, and for the MDiv degree, the maximum is 64 units. If you think you may have credits that might qualify for transfer, contact your academic advisor for a preliminary evaluation. Final determination will be made by the faculty or someone they designate in each school. Nontheological studies are normally not considered for transfer credit in the School of Theology. Course work taken in a nonreligious setting which might be considered as parallel to course work in the Fuller curriculum may be considered on an individual basis if it is appropriate to the field of concentration, approved by the School of Theology Academic Affairs Committee, and integrated through a 4-unit directed study.
Attendance PolicyAcademic credit for a course requires regular class attendance, whether or not this is stated in the syllabus, and is not just a matter of completing the assignments. Attendance means being present in the class for the entire scheduled class meeting, not just some part of it. In the event of absence for any reason, you are responsible for any information or class content missed. The professor may require additional work to make up for an absence. If you are absent from a significant portion of the course or if you are frequently late for class meetings, even due to extenuating circumstances, this may result in a lower grade or even a failing grade for the course.
Computer and Internet AccessFuller Theological Seminary expects that its students will have ready access to a computer and to the Internet during the course of their studies for the purpose of academic work and for receiving student services. Many student services are only available online, including the academic catalog, the student handbook, grade reports, student account information, and financial aid applications. Other services, such as the coursepacks used for reading assignments in classes, are only available on CD-ROMs or as .pdf files. Many faculty members may require their students to do research for their courses on the Internet. In addition, some faculty members will receive coursework as electronic documents submitted via e-mail; some may even require this. For those students who do not have access to a computer, the seminary provides limited access to computers in the McAlister Library and the Student Service Center. However, you will be best served by having your own computer and broadband access to the Internet.
Final ExaminationsWhether or not a class has a final exam is indicated in the Expanded Course Description (ECD) available in the library, in the academic advising offices, through a link on the schedule on the Fuller website, and in the class syllabus. For ten-week classes which have final exams administered in the classroom, the exam will be scheduled during the last week (11th week) at the regular meeting time of the class. If the class meets twice a week, the final will normally be scheduled for the second class meeting day of that final week. Final exams scheduled for intensive classes are scheduled within the allotted class time at the discretion of the professor.
Course Work Due DatesEach faculty member determines due dates for course work within the quarter, as well as policies regarding these due dates (such as penalties). This information should be published in the course syllabus. All work for a course must be submitted by the end of the official last day of the quarter (see the academic calendar for exact dates), regardless of the meeting schedule or nature of the class (including IDL classes). Faculty are not authorized to extend end-of-quarter deadlines for classes or individuals under any circumstances. Asking for (on your part) or giving (on the part of the faculty member) more time without a valid Incomplete or Hold is considered a violation of the Academic Integrity Policy. If you are unable to complete all work in a master's-level class by this deadline, due to extenuating circumstances (as defined below), you may request a grade of Incomplete to allow you to finish the course work (see below). In most doctoral-level classes, you may request a grade of Hold from the instructor if you have been unable to complete your work by the end of the quarter (see below).
GradesGrading Scale. Grades have been assigned the following numerical values for the purpose of computing the grade point average:
All other grades, including P (Pass), SA (Satisfactory), I (Incomplete), and H (Hold) are not computed in your grade point average. Courses which continue past the closing of a quarter will show the grade IP (In Progress) until the course ends and the grades are entered. RD (Report Delayed) indicates that the course has ended but the professor has not yet submitted a grade. Course Grading Policy Statements. A clear statement of the grading policy for any course offered by the seminary must be included in the course syllabus. This must include such matters as:
Grade Reports. Grades for a quarter are received and recorded by the Registrar's Office by the end of the second week of the following quarter (normally about three weeks after the end of the quarter, but later for Fall due to the holidays). A link on the first page of Campus Pipeline announces their availability. At that time, you can view your grades on Campus Pipeline. Printed grade reports are not provided, unless you need a printed copy for a specific purpose, such as tuition assistance by an organization or employer. To request a single copy for this purpose, contact the recorder in the Registrar's Office at 626-584-5412 (or email grades@dept.fuller.edu). A signed form is required. Quarterly grade reports list only the grades for a single quarter. Grade changes due to completing work under Incompletes or Holds (as well as any other authorized changes) are recorded as they are received. This also includes grades from IDL classes completed after the quarter of registration. You will be notified through Campus Pipeline as soon as any grade change is entered. Grade Changes. Faculty members may submit grade changes for several reasons, such as errors in calculation, reevaluation of work previously graded, or completion of work under an Incomplete or Hold. Grade changes are not accepted for work submitted after the quarter without an Incomplete or Hold, or for work redone, or for work submitted after the deadline for an Incomplete, Hold, or Extension of Incomplete or Hold after the initial grade is recorded. Individual faculty members are not authorized to extend deadlines under any circumstances. An approved grade change will appear on the transcript as soon as it is entered, and you will be notified through Campus Pipeline. After a period of two years, it is presumed that both you and the faculty member involved have had ample opportunity to be aware of the grade recorded and to see that any appropriate adjustment has been made. At this point any grade recorded becomes permanent and cannot be changed. No Grade Replacement. All grades recorded become a permanent part of your academic history. You cannot retake a class for which your receive a passing grade. If you receive a failing grade, that grade will always remain on your record and count in the cumulative GPA. If such a course is retaken, the new registration and grade will also be recorded on your permanent record. Pass/Fail Policy. Master's-level students in the Schools of Theology and Intercultural Studies may choose to take up to one-fourth of their course work done at Fuller on a Pass/Fail basis. However, if you are earning a School of Theology degree, you cannot take more than 12 units Pass/Fail in any one of the following four areas: biblical languages, biblical studies, theology/ church history, and ministry. Furthermore, you cannot take more than 8 units Pass/Fail in any department in the last three areas. Psychology doctoral students may exercise the Pass/Fail option in their regular School of Theology curriculum only. If you are not pursuing a degree program, you may exercise this option at a rate of one course in four. Courses which are only offered on a Pass/Fail basis are considered a part of any of these limits. The Pass/Fail option is intended to encourage you to explore courses and schedules that you might not otherwise attempt, or to help students who anticipate difficulty with required courses. It is considered a privilege, and its purpose demands that the option be exercised at the beginning of a course. Accordingly, there is a deadline for selecting this option (or reversing it), and petitions to change this status in either direction after the deadline are almost never granted. Individualized Distance Learning (IDL) classes cannot be taken Pass/Fail. You indicate your choice of graded or Pass/Fail status of a class on your registration. You can change this status within the deadlines set for this change: Tuesday of the second week of the quarter for ten-week classes, Tuesday of the first week of a one- or two-week intensive, and Wednesday of the first week of a five-week class. Faculty members submit regular grades for all students, but only the P (if you pass the class, or F if you do not) is entered on the transcript if you choose this option. The grade of Pass is not calculated in your grade point average, but an F is calculated. You may request, by appointment, to find out the grade the professor actually submitted in a course, but that grade can never be recorded in place of the Pass and can never be reported by anyone at Fuller in any way. If you are on academic probation (including Special students), you may take courses on a Pass/Fail basis, but the grades actually submitted will be considered in evaluating your academic progress and in making decisions concerning your status. If you anticipate the possibility of ordination in the future, you should find out how your denomination views Pass/Fail grades. (The actual grades cannot be reported just because you find out later that you need grades in certain classes.) If you anticipate the possibility of doctoral work or other advanced study, remember that admissions committees will not have access to the grades submitted for courses you took on a Pass/Fail basis, and they may not look favorably on your use of this grading option in some areas. Since the actual grades cannot ever be reported, you should exercise great care in making this choice.
Incompletes and HoldsIncompletes. If your work in a master's-level class is not completed at the end of the quarter due to extenuating cirumstances (as the seminary has defined them), you can request a grade of Incomplete. You need to get a Request for Incomplete from your advising office, get the professor's signature on it (if he or she agrees), and bring or send it to the Registrar's Office by the end of the last day of the quarter. Each faculty member decides whether work not finished at the end of the quarter warrants an Incomplete grade for the course, a reduction in grade, or a grade of F. The policy for the course is to be stated clearly in the course syllabus. Incompletes are to be granted only when your work in a course has not been completed due to extenuating circumstances. Extenuating circumstances are major, unplanned, unanticipated, and unavoidable disruptions which make it impossible for you to complete a course within the quarter. Examples of such circumstances are personal illness of more than a brief duration, illness in the family that has required your attention, death in the family, a personal or family crisis of a traumatic nature, or an unplanned and unexpected increase in job responsibilities. Examples of reasons which are not considered acceptable are class load (at Fuller and/or elsewhere), incomplete work from previous quarters, general overload of classes (including internships) and work, preparation for denominational exams or other special exams, general church or job responsibilities or opportunities, English language difficulties, logistical problems (computer, typist, etc.), difficulty of the class, or redoing work already submitted. Incompletes are not permitted for the purpose of allowing you to improve your grade in a course. A grade of Incomplete is not to be given on the basis that the design of the course requires more work than can reasonably be expected to be completed within the quarter, or that any assignment requires extended time or cannot be done within the quarter in which the course occurs. (This situation is not supposed to exist.) Work to be completed under an Incomplete may, at the professor's discretion, include a take-home final examination or a scheduled in-class final examination. The professor decides when, within the additional quarter allowed for the Incomplete, the final must be taken. (It is not automatically extended to the end of the quarter.) If the Incomplete is granted, a processing fee of $5 is charged to your account, and your completed course work is due to the professor by the end of the last day of the following quarter. Summer Quarter is considered a regular academic quarter, and is not excluded from this. When you are granted an Incomplete, your first priority must always be completing that work. You should not take on additional course work unless you can also complete the older unfinished work. Although you have an entire additional quarter, you should plan on completing your unfinished work as quickly as possible. The longer you wait, the harder it will be. Grade penalties for work completed during this period may be assessed if such a policy has been clearly described in the syllabus for the course. If the work for the course has not been completed by the end of the additional quarter, the faculty member determines whether a reduced grade or a grade of F is warranted, based on what you have completed and the grading policy published in the course syllabus. The Incomplete must be resolved to a regular grade (A through C-, Pass or F) at this time. The grade of Incomplete cannot remain on the record. Further extensions of time (see Extension of Incomplete or Hold) are almost never granted. The additional quarter (at least three months' time) that was granted was intended to preclude any consideration of further extension. Individual faculty members are not authorized to extend deadlines under any circumstances. When the grade has been recorded, a code appears on your transcript next to the grade to indicate that it was originally an Incomplete. Incompletes are not calculated in your grade point average. However, they are also not considered satisfactory grades when measuring satisfactory academic progress. Holds. If you are enrolled in 700-level or 800-level classes and your work has not been completed at the end of the quarter of registration, you may request a "Hold" grade from the professor. This allows one additional quarter to complete the work. Unless an extension is granted by the Academic Affairs Committee of the school or program, the completed work must be submitted to the professor no later than the last day of the following quarter (including Summer), and a grade must be submitted. The Hold grade cannot remain. Individual faculty members are not authorized to extend deadlines under any circumstances. Extension of Incomplete or Hold. If you are unable to complete your work within the time allotted by an Incomplete or Hold due to extremely extenuating circumstances, you may petition for a brief extension of time. However, such petitions are almost never granted except in the most extenuating circumstances. The additional quarter (at least three months' time) that was granted in the first place was intended to preclude any consideration of further extension. Do not put off completion of the work until some point later in the quarter. When you are granted an Incomplete or Hold, your first priority must always be completing that work. You should not take on additional course work unless you can also complete the older unfinished work. Individual faculty members are not authorized to extend deadlines for the Incomplete or Hold under any circumstances.
Academic StandingGood Academic Standing. To remain in good academic standing, you must have a 2.5 cumulative grade point average (GPA) for all course work. Grades which represent successful completion are A through C-, P (Pass), and SA (Satisfactory). Grades which do not represent successful completion are I (Incomplete), H (Hold), and F (Fail). Academic Probation. In the event that you fail to meet the standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress, you will be placed on academic probation. If your cumulative GPA falls below 2.0, you may be subject to academic dismissal. Veterans' Benefits. If you are receiving veterans' benefits and fail to meet the above standards within two consecutive terms of enrollment after being placed on probation, you will not be eligible for benefits until you have regained good academic standing.
PetitionsAcademic Petitions. A petition is a request for an exception to a clearly defined, published seminary policy (such as a deadline). It is not simply the paperwork needed to do what is being requested. Regardless of the nature of the request, it stands a good chance of being rejected if the circumstances which created the problem are not extenuating or the reasons are not compelling. Ignorance of the policy or deadline, lack of time, or forgetfulness do not provide a basis for petition. Forms for submitting various kinds of petitions are available through academic advisors. Financial Petitions. A financial petition may be submitted to request a greater refund of tuition or fees than you are entitled to under seminary policy. This petition is a request for an exception to a clearly defined, published seminary policy (such as a deadline). It is not simply the paperwork needed to do what is being requested. Regardless of the nature of the request, it stands a good chance of being rejected if the circumstances which created the problem are not extenuating or the reasons are not compelling. We're sorry, but ignorance of the policy or deadline, lack of time, forgetfulness, or inability to pay do not provide a basis for a financial petition. A financial petition related to an academic petition or other action (such as dropping a class) should be submitted along with that academic petition or drop form. However, academic petitions will not be considered on the basis that you only want to drop the class if your financial petition is approved.
Withdrawal from the SeminaryIf you decide to discontinue your work at the seminary for any reason, you should notify your academic advisor and make sure your accounts are cleared. Additional special procedures apply to School of Psychology doctoral students. (See the Clinical Psychology Student Handbook.) Extended Absence (Nonenrollment). If you do not enroll for a period of two years (eight quarters) or more, you must apply for reinstatement before you can register again. Details are available in the Office of Admissions. If you are reinstated, you must meet the degree requirements in effect at the time you resume enrollment, even if they have changed from the requirements in effect when you began. Courses you took before may no longer meet the same requirements, or you may have to take additional courses to meet new requirements.
GraduationTime Limits for Completion of Degrees. In order to ensure that a degree, when granted, represents education that is current and reasonably focused (not acquired a little at a time over an unreasonably long period of time), requirements for a degree must normally represent credit earned within a certain period of time. This period includes any credit earned elsewhere and applied to the degree, as well as all credit earned at Fuller. For the MA, MAC.L., or MDiv degree in the School of Theology, this limit is set at ten years. The time limit for the Th.M. degree is five years; for the D.Min. degree, seven years; and for the Ph.D. degree, eight years. There is a ten-year time limit for completion of degrees in the School of Intercultural Studies (master's or doctoral level). The limit for the M.S. degree in Marital and Family Therapy in the School of Psychology is seven years, and for all doctoral programs in that school, the limit is ten years. Graduation Basics. Naturally, you must satisfactorily complete the prescribed course of study as outlined in the curriculum for your degree program. You may choose to meet the requirements set forth in the catalog in effect at the time of your matriculation, or any later catalog. However, if you are not enrolled at any time for a period of eight quarters or more, then you are subject to the requirements set forth in the catalog in effect at the time of your reenrollment, even if those requirements have changed since you began your work. Courses you took before may no longer meet the same requirements, or you may have to take additional courses to meet new requirements. Graduation with a master's degree (MA, M.S., MAC.L., or MDiv) in any of the three schools requires a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5. For the Th.M., D.Min., D.Miss., and Ph.D. degrees (SOT and SIS), only courses with a minimum GPA of 3.0 (B) may be counted toward graduation (with the exception of one B- for D.Min. students). For psychology doctoral students, a minimum GPA of 2.7 (B-) is required in each psychology course to be counted for graduation. In addition to academic requirements for graduation, you must receive the endorsement of the faculty responsible for the degree program in which you are enrolled that you have acted responsibly in attempting to live in accord with standards of wholesome Christian character and with the general standards of the institution as well as those of the degree program. You also must make satisfactory financial arrangements before graduation. Otherwise, you won't have access to any further student services, including transcripts, degree verification, diplomas, transfer, registration, or enrollment in another degree program. Application for Graduation. To get the graduation process started, ask your advisor for a Graduation Packet, complete the Application for Graduation, and ask your advisor to process it right away. You should do this when you see your advisor for registration for the quarter prior to your final quarter (that is, two quarters before the quarter in which you hope to finish). If you wait until the last minute, it may delay the clearing and posting of your degree. If you don't complete your degree requirements in the quarter for which you applied, just complete a new Application for Graduation. A one-time (per degree) graduation fee of $50 is charged when you apply for graduation. If you want to be included in the annual Commencement and related activities in June in Pasadena (whether or not you plan to attend), you must submit your Application for Graduation no later than March 1. Otherwise, you will not receive information and order forms (for announcements, photographs, etc.), regalia will not be ordered for you, you will not be able to participate in Commencement or related activities, and you will not be listed in the program. Date of Graduation. In order to qualify for graduation in a given quarter, all work must be completed and all requirements met by the official graduation date for that quarter (the Friday of final exam week in every quarter). Classes which are not completed by the last day of the quarter do not qualify for graduation in that quarter. Work completed under Incompletes and Holds applies to graduation in the quarter in which you actually complete it, not the quarter in which the course was originally taken. Graduation Clearance and Diplomas. Due to the time needed to receive and record final grades and process graduation clearances, degrees will normally not be recorded on transcripts until anywhere from three to eight weeks after the end of the quarter. Diplomas are mailed at about the same time. Commencement. Commencement is held in Pasadena at the end of Spring Quarter each year. Students who have graduated in the most recent Summer, Fall or Winter Quarters and have not already attended Commencement are invited to participate, as are those who apply for graduation in the current Spring Quarter. Graduates who were eligible for the previous year's Commencement but did not attend are also invited. Students who expect to graduate at the end of the Summer Quarter may also participate, subject to certain limitations (see below). In all cases, if you want to be included in the annual Commencement and related activities in June (whether or not you actually attend), you must submit your Application for Graduation no later than March 1. Otherwise, you will not receive information, regalia will not be ordered for you, you will not be able to participate in Commencement and you will not be listed in the program. Participation in Commencement exercises is not equivalent to the conferral of the degree, which is official only when faculty approval has been given, the Registrar's Office has determined that all academic requirements have been met, and satisfactory financial arrangements have been made. Special Commencement Participation Policy. If you are a master's-level student and you have no more than 20 units of course work (not to include theses or dissertations, qualifying exams, etc.) to complete during the Summer Quarter, you may request to participate in the June Commencement exercises. The deadline for application is March 1. Special conditions apply. Copies of the policy are available from Academic Advising offices.
Alternative Diplomas and TranscriptsIn some circumstances, a diploma or transcript from a theological seminary may cause significant difficulties in the places where our alumni/ae are working or seek to work. To resolve this problem, Fuller Theological Seminary has taken legal steps to allow it also to identify itself as Fuller Graduate Schools. Fuller Theological Seminary remains the true legal name. Criteria. The right to receive an alternative diploma and/or transcripts with the heading Fuller Graduate Schools may be granted for the following reasons:
Petition Process. Any student may submit a petition to receive a diploma and transcripts with the Fuller Graduate Schools heading. On the petition, you must indicate why you believes that the use of the alternative name would be appropriate for your situation. Petition forms are available in the following offices:
All petitions are subject to the review and approval of the faculty of the respective school. Services and Procedures. If the petition is approved, it allows you to request transcripts with the Fuller Graduate Schools heading, and to request a diploma with that heading. Each time a transcript is requested, you must specifically request the FGS format if that is the transcript you want to be sent. Otherwise, the standard Fuller Theological Seminary transcript will automatically be sent. The fees for transcript service are the same in either case. Everyone will receive the standard Fuller Theological Seminary diploma. If you want the alternative Fuller Graduate Schools format as well, you must submit a request to the Registrar's Office and pay the fee currently in effect. Students who have been approved for the alternative documents may also submit their master's thesis or doctoral dissertation with the alternative name.
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