"Due Process" is a legal term that concerns the protection of rights. It involves the principle of justice that the individual be protected from arbitrary decisions and from the occasional and unavoidable human weaknesses associated with institutional decision‑making.

Due process involves two components:  a procedure for decision‑making regarding students, and an opportunity for "appealing a decision."

Due process concerns three contexts of decision‑making.

Due Process Regarding Grades

Faculty members submit grades to the Registrar's office for each student in a course on the basis of requirements outlined in the course syllabus.

The appeal process gives a student the right to ask a faculty member to reconsider a grade he or she feels is unjust. If the student is not satisfied with the results of the faculty member's review, the student may appeal to the Academic Dean for a grade review. The Dean and another faculty member appointed by the Dean shall review the work submitted for the course and make recommendation for grade confirmation or grade change to the Academic Committee. The student and the faculty member whose grade is being appealed shall be present at the meeting of the Academic Committee where the Grade Review Committee submits its recommendation. The decision of the Academic Committee is binding.

Due Process Regarding Termination for Academic Reasons

The Academic Committee recommends termination to the faculty if a student is placed on academic probation for two successive semesters. A student is placed on probation by the Academic Committee if his/her G.P.A. falls below 2.50.

There is no appeal process for academic termination.

Due Process Regarding Termination for "Readiness for Ministry" 

A student may be terminated for "readiness for ministry" reasons by the faculty. "Readiness for ministry" reasons include problems in communication or patterns of behavior deemed by the faculty to preclude effectiveness in the ministry of the church.

Termination on "readiness for ministry" grounds is linked to the annual student evaluation process. (Degree Discernment for first year students, second-year evaluation or Ministry Discernment for second and third year students.)

The Reference Group or Discernment Group may recommend termination of a student to the Academic Committee. If the Academic Committee, expanded to include the Dean of Students, agrees with the recommendation, the recommendation is forwarded to a meeting of the faculty as a whole.

It is also possible for the faculty to ask a Reference or Discernment Group and/or the Academic Committee (expanded to include the Dean of Students), to review the status of a student on "readiness for ministry" grounds. The faculty may terminate a student by a consensus decision on the basis of a recommendation from the expanded Academic Committee.

The appeal process for "readiness for ministry" termination gives the student the right to a hearing at every level of decision‑making and the right to the counsel of a friend, pastor or faculty member in the appeal process. A student may request reconsideration of a recommendation by requesting a special meeting with the Reference Group, or with the Academic Committee, or with the Faculty. The appeal process shall be expeditious, and not take more than two weeks from the day the student is notified of termination. The decision of the faculty following review of an appeal shall be binding.