Policies and Procedures
Recruitment and Promotional Materials
ETS is responsible for the recruitment of students for the programs offered. ETS primarily uses its website and social media to communicate information to prospective students. The European Church of God is primarily the population from which students are recruited, and ETS has access to this population through events and general word-of-mouth advertisements. ETS also has a simple promotional brochure. The brochure and website are periodically reviewed by program coordinators to ensure it reflects the programs offered.
Admissions Procedures and Requirements
Admissions policies and procedures are made available in the application for admissions and on the ETS website. Requirements are also sent to students via email upon request. An admissions committee reviews all new student applications. The admissions committee includes the President, academic dean, and faculty members. The appropriate administrators accept students meeting all criteria for acceptance into the program. If a potential graduate student does not meet the minimum qualifications for the program, these students are referred to the appropriate program coordinator at Lee University. Students may be accepted on probation at the discretion of the committee and the Lee University program coordinator.
At ETS, applicants must submit a completed application form, certified copies of their undergraduate diplomas demonstrating a 2.0 minimum GPA, two academic references, a character reference, an application fee (50 euros), and a writing sample. In addition, each applicant must also conduct a personal interview with an ETS staff member. If students do not have the necessary prerequisites for the program, students may be expected to complete some leveling courses.
Program Length and Awarding of Credit
The master's programs offered at ETS can be completed in three years, which is the typical length of a part-time master's degree program in Europe. All programs match program length requirements for similar programs on the main campus. According to Lee University policy, at least one-third of all credits earned toward a graduate degree must be earned through instruction offered by Lee University. The transfer policy, which limits students’ transfer credits to a maximum of 6 hours, ensures all students who graduate from these programs meet this requirement. Lee University does not award academic credit for coursework taken on a noncredit basis for any of its programs.
The university maintains standards to ensure sound and acceptable practices for the awarding of credit regardless of delivery format. Practices for awarding credit are consistent with the Federal definition of the credit hour. In a traditional Lee University class, a semester credit hour is defined by Lee University as 50 minutes of class work or faculty instruction per week for fifteen weeks of the semester. The average minimum expectation for out-of-class work per credit hour is the equivalent of two hours a week for the fifteen-week term. Therefore, the total required activity for a 3-credit-hour course is 112.
All programs at ETS are offered in an intensive format. For a typical intensive course, students are expected to engage in coursework prior to and following the intensive classroom experience. For a typical 3-credit-hour intensive course at ETS, approximately 40 hours of classroom seat time is required over a 5-day intensive session; this is preceded and followed by a number of clock hours of reflective work as specified in the course syllabus. In total, the amount of instructional activity meets the minimum 112 hours as required by Lee University policy, but reflects normal practice in Europe.
Awarding of Transfer Credit
The Lee University transfer credit policy allows for the transfer of up to six credit hours (10 ECTS) of relevant graduate study from an accredited institution, as approved by the respective director of the graduate program in which the student is seeking admission. This applies to students in all Lee programs offered at ETS. The transfer policy is made available in the ETS Graduate Student Handbook and on the ETS website.
The ETS Academic Dean works with the appropriate program coordinators at Lee to consider possible transfer credits. A method of scrutiny has been developed as follows: (1) involves the leadership of both institutions in a decision about transfer credit; (2) requires transfer credits from accredited or approved institutions at the graduate level (seminary or university); and (3) requires courses transferred to be germane to the content of the courses in the program as well as be at a level equivalent to the academic rigor of the courses being offered in the program. Students should receive a response in writing from the ETS Academic Dean regarding the acceptance or denial of transfer credits as well as which course/s the transfer credits will replace in the program. To date, only one student has applied for six transfer credits, supported by a transcript, to be accepted from another institution to be accepted in the ETS program.
Academic Calendars, Grading Practices, and Refund Policies
The academic calendar, grading policies, and refund policies for the programs offered at ETS follow the host institution's guidelines. The fall and spring calendars are published on the ETS website, and grading and refund policies are available in the MA Student Handbook.
Student Rights and Complaints
Student rights and complaint procedures are made available to students in the ETS Graduate Student Handbook and on the ETS website. Adequate procedures are in place to ensure students are treated fairly and their concerns are heard and addressed. The institution has a process where the students elect two class speakers, and these speakers meet with the faculty/administration during each intensive. These students bring to the faculty problems and/or complaints about the institution, and the faculty and administration work to resolve issues. More specific individual complaints may be addressed by the student directly to the ETS Academic Dean. The program coordinators at Lee University are informed of all written complaints. Action is taken to investigate and resolve such complaints, at the earliest opportunity.
Maintaining Student Records
Lee University maintains all official academic records for the ETS programs. When students are first admitted into a program, a record of the student is submitted to Lee by the ETS registrar. At the beginning of each term, the ETS registrar sends student course rosters to Lee University. At the end of each term, the ETS registrar submits final grades to Lee University. Since both Lee University and ETS have up-to-date student records, either institution can generate transcripts; however, the official record is maintained by Lee University. Upon completion of a degree, the ETS program coordinator notifies the graduation coordinator at Lee University that a student has completed all work required for a degree. The graduation coordinator works with the respective program coordinator at Lee University to complete a degree audit and certify the student does in fact meet the requirements for graduation. If approved, an official diploma is printed and sent to ETS prior to the graduation ceremony, if possible.
Electronic and hard copy records are kept in the respective Registrar offices at Lee University and ETS. The offices at both institutions are locked and the computers are secured through usernames and passwords. Hard-copy files are kept in locked filing cabinets.
The ETS registrar provides students with an electronic record of their transcript each semester. Grades are communicated to students through secure electronic communication. No student records are communicated publicly. ETS has a formal policy for the confidentiality and security of student records. This policy is made available to students in the ETS Graduate Student Handbook and on the ETS website.
Curriculum Development
The curricula for all Lee University programs offered at ETS are designed and overseen by full-time Lee University faculty. The program coordinators at Lee University are ultimately responsible for the curriculum development process. The Director of the Graduate Counseling program at Lee University is the program coordinator for the Marriage and Family Studies program, and the Director of the Graduate Theology program is the program coordinator for the Biblical Studies program. These coordinators work with the respective chairs and deans at Lee University, as well as the relevant departmental committees and the Graduate Council, to gain the appropriate institutional approvals.
The programs and syllabi for all ETS programs were developed by full-time faculty at Lee University. All syllabi have been approved by the respective graduate departmental committees and the Graduate Council at Lee University, and each program has been approved by these committees and the entire graduate faculty. With only slight modifications from traditional master programs to accommodate cultural differences, the programs at ETS provide almost identical courses and requirements to the programs on the main campus. Any differences are presented to the appropriate committees on the Lee University campus and are approved by them before implementation.
Instruction
Programs offered at ETS make use of both full-time faculty from the main campus and adjunct faculty from the countries and cultures where the programs are located. Students receive the advantage of having teachers that are full-time academics from Lee while also experiencing vetted adjunct professors that are familiar with the local culture and can appropriately contextualize the curriculum.
Full-time faculty travel to ETS to teach classes multiple times per year. These faculty are drawn from the Lee University full-time faculty within the disciplines of the programs being offered. Qualified adjunct faculty are secured by ETS and approved by the respective program coordinator at Lee University. The university uses the same procedures for hiring and credentialing as used on the main campus, and the basic requirements are the same. Part-time and adjunct faculty are required to have a doctorate degree in an area relevant to the course that they are teaching. For USA professors, transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work are normally required; however, certified diplomas and letters are the standards of documentation for most European schools. Once a part-time faculty member is approved, official documentation of their educational credentials is sent to the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Lee University.
During the COVID-19 pandemic it became necessary to offer courses online via Zoom. Lee University teachers and European based teachers were used to run the courses this way, as was the case in many European Universities that remained open during the pandemic. Since the relaxation of the strict covid policies the courses have continued to be offered online or in a hybrid form with some students attending on-campus and others joining via Zoom. Currently Lee University teachers are still offering the courses online.
Advising
The ETS Academic Dean is responsible for general student advising. The class selection aspect of advising is straightforward in that students are admitted in cohorts. Students receive a plan of study when they enroll, and they simply follow it to graduation. The ETS Academic Dean monitors students’ progress through the program and addresses any questions about scheduling and/or progress. The ETS Academic Dean works on the ETS campus and serves as the primary on-campus liaison for students. The larger concerns of advising such as vocational choices, possibilities of doctoral studies, etc. can be addressed to Lee and ETS program coordinators, as well as faculty who teach in the programs. Since most of the students and faculty travel from a distance to the campus for their studies, communication between students, faculty and staff often takes place electronically. Students have full access via email and video conferencing to the program coordinators and faculty.
Program Assessment
Student learning outcomes are identified for each program. These student learning outcomes align with the outcomes established for similar programs on the main campus. Lee University maintains the responsibility for assessing the student learning outcomes and has created a process whereby select outcomes will be assessed annually. Each program is assessed using the same process and protocols that are used on the main campus. The program coordinators at Lee University are responsible for coordinating these assessments. Results of the assessment are filed with the appropriate academic administrators and the Director of Institutional Research and Assessment. Changes to the length of the program, part-time and the number of courses offered came about due to the program having to be accredited by the German Government. All foreign university study programs have come under this scrutiny, but this is beneficial to our students that the degrees are accredited both in the USA and Germany.
Evaluation
Lee University has an established contractual agreement for the provision of services with ETS. The contractual agreement clearly states the responsibilities of both parties. The presidents of Lee University and ETS signed the most recent agreement in March 2021. The program at ETS was evaluated in 2014 and again in 2021 prior to the renewal of this agreement. The next evaluation is scheduled for 2026.