Atlantic Union College

Bachelor's Degrees in General

Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees with various majors are available through the Adult Degree Program.

Eight units are required which include general education units and units within the major. The minimum requirement for a major in the Adult Degree Program is two units, except in interdisciplinary majors, or in areas where technical or professional requirements add to the amount of work necessary, in which case up to three units may be required.

A number of areas do not list majors (biology, mathematics, chemistry, etc.) because of the difficulty of the work through an external degree program. However, when, in individual cases such majors may be possible, the departments involved will outline a program for the student which will be submitted to the ADP Committee for approval. The approved program will then be submitted to Academic Records.

General Education Requirements
ADP students are engaged in a program of study that is based upon liberal arts concepts. Although courses or subject areas are not specified, all degrees require the equivalent of one unit's work in each of the liberal arts areas: humanities, social science, science and mathematics, and religion.

Majors
In addition to the general education requirement in liberal arts, each student selects a major from those listed in this bulletin. (Some majors available in on-campus programs are difficult to pursue in an external degree program.) A minimum of two units (and up to three for some majors) must be completed in the area of the major. A few students may prefer a broad inter-departmental major, such as humanities or social science. Majors other than those listed must be arranged individually with the Adult Degree Program Committee, and will depend on the expertise and willingness of available faculty to supervise them.

• B.S. in Behavioral Science
• B.S. in General Science
• B.S. in Personal Ministries
• B.S. in Psychology
  
• B.A. in Accounting
• B.A. in Art
• B.A. in Business Administration
• B.A. in Communication
• B.A. in English
• B.A. in History
• B.A. in Religion
• B.A. in Theology

Interdisciplinary Majors

• B.A. in Liberal Arts
• B.A. in Humanities
• B.A. in Social Science

Minors
Although minors are not required for graduation, they are available for those who request them from most departments offering majors through the Adult Degree Program. In most cases, a minor consists of one and one-half units, developed by student in consultation with the department concerned.

Education Minors
Note: Acceptance into the Adult Degree Program does not guarantee acceptance into the Teacher Education program.

• Early Childhood Education
• Elementary Education
• Secondary Education

Two ADP Seminar mini-courses will be taken: Introduction to Teaching, whichis offered during the January Seminars and Measurement & Evaluation, which is offered during the July Seminars. The student must complete 125 clock hours of documented field-based classroom experiences prior to the student teaching experience. Students will apply for acceptance into teacher education after completion of one unit of study and the mini-course Introduction to Teaching. Acceptance info the Adult Degree Program does not guarantee acceptance into the teacher education program. Applicants who have already earned a baccalaureate degree will be required to complete licensure/certification requirements only.

Requirements for the secondary license/certificate are two or more units of work under advisement by the Education Department, including work in the following areas: educational and developmental psychology, teaching exceptional children, methods of teaching, philosophy of education, health, religion and student teaching at the secondary level in the area for which licensure/certification is being sought.

In addition, the student must also complete a teaching major in the discipline for which licensure/certification is being sought. Two ADP Seminar mini-courses will be taken: Introduction to Teaching, whichis offered during the January Seminars and Measurement & Evaluation, which is offered during the July Seminars. The student must complete 125 clock hours of documented field-based classroom experiences prior to the student teaching experience. Students will apply for acceptance into teacher education after completion of one unit of study and the mini-course Introduction to Teaching. Acceptance info the Adult Degree Program does not guarantee acceptance into the teacher education program. Applicants who have already earned a baccalaureate degree will be required to complete licensure/certification requirements only.

A major part of the time during a seminar is spent in outlining a proposal for six months of study. Each six-month study project is called a "unit" and is equivalent to a full semester's work. Generally, a unit consists of 16 credits. However, a few professional areas are facilitated with units of 1 5- 1 8 credits. A unit usually has a coherent, unified subject matter.
No unit may be equivalent to more than 18 conventionally scheduled semester hours. Students may register for full units or half units. Within certain professional areas, the ADP committee will allow a unit to include up to 18 semester hours.
However, such must receive the departmental recommendation.

When students enter ADP, the program administration evaluates their past academic experience and determines the number of units required to complete a degree.

Each unit's work begins with a serninar. The possibilities within a unit are open and flexible in most cases. Many students organize units of study that relate their theoretical study to their work or other experience. Some combine travel and study. The fact that they are not limited to courses being offered allows students to explore areas of academic significance that they would not be able to study in a more conventional program.

Study units may involve reading and research, practical on-the-job experience, or creative work. There are, however, agreed-upon standards for both substance and quality within the work of the units, which must be composed of intensive, college-level work requiring at least 20 hours a week during the six-month period of time. The work must result in evidence of extensive and well-handled subject matter. Faculty supervisors expect students to be able to read and to discuss difficult books intelligently and to write artiuulately. They also expect that individuals in the program will know how to use library and other resources and will have such resources available to them as they study.

Having planned the unit, students return to their homes to work under the direction of their study supervisors. They keep in touch with their supervisors by mail, by tape recording, by phone, by e-mail, by fax and, wherever distances are not too great, by personal conferences. Free from the detailed breakdown of required courses, students are responsible for organizing large areas of study about which they genuinely want to learn. However, they must be self-disciplined enough to set deadlines and to find resources for themselves without relying on directives from their supervisors. They may look at the study from many perspectives, find resource material, and look for interrelationships among academic disciplines as they pursue their study. Working as individuals under the direction of individual supervisors, they can relate what they are studying to their distinctive interests, needs and backgrounds.

After the six-month period, when students have finished their proposed units of work, they once again return to the campus for a seminar. At the seminar, continuing students will make either a group presentation, a fair exhibit of materials collected during their unit, or a 45-minute formal presentation. At least one formal presentation is required before graduation. Each student then chooses another study area, is assigned a new study supervisor, and begins planning the next unit.

Students must submit 75% or more of their work not later than three weeks prior to the beginning of the next seminar so study supervisors may grade the work and submit at least minimum grades in time for Academic Records and Financial Aid to verify both qualitative and quantitative satisfactory academic progress which determines the student's eligibility to register a new unit.

In addition to a letter grade, a 50- 75-word evaluation of the student's work is written by the study supervisor. A unit is evaluated as outstanding, acceptable or marginal, and an appropriate letter grade is applicd. In addition, the grade is recorded on the student's transcript.

Final authority for determining grades lies with the individual teacher. If a student believes that an error has been made in a grade, he or she may discuss the situation first with the teacher, then with the department chair, and finally, if necessary, with the Vice President of Academic Administration, within six weeks after the grade is received.

In addition, any student who requests review of a graded unit will be charged a fee for such review.