Atlantic Union College

AUC has a strict code of moral and academic integrity which includes, but is not limited to, the following definition of plagiarism:

• Intentionally or knowingly presenting as your own the concepts, ideas, creations, designs, or words of another
• Improper use or omission of quotation marks and citations
• Failure to provide citations for any borrowed materials, including paraphrased material.

A record of each student's seminar performance is kept as part of the evaluation of the unit begun (or in the case of graduating students, ended) at the seminar.
The evaluation notes:

1. Attendance and quality of work done in minicourses.
2. Attendance at a designated number of presentations.
3. Attendance at other scheduled seminar events.
4. Any exceptional or irregular aspects of the student's work.

Students who receive an unsatisfactory grade for a seminar mini-course must take two mini-courses the following seminar. If the unsatisfactory grade was for Literacy Techniques I or II, the course must be repeated the following seminar.

If a unit is not completed after one and one-half years, and a special extension is not recommended, the study supervisor may choose to grade the portion of the unit completed if it is no less than 1/4 unit. If less than 1/4 of the unit is completed, a grade of W will be recorded for the unit. The student may choose to attend the next seminar and begin a new unit of study.

Students who wish to withdraw from the Adult Degree Program must inform the ADP Committee in writing. Students may also be withdrawn from the program by vote of the ADP Committee if

1. any given unit has not been completed after one and one-half years,
2. a special extension is not recommended or granted, and
3. the student has not contacted ADP to request special consideration for an extension.

Students must withdraw from the college officially in writing to be eligible for a refund. If this is done during the first two weeks, there will be a charge of $150 a week. After the opening seminar through the third month, there will be a two-thirds refund. After the third month, there are no refunds. Any student carried by a study supervisor through the entire unit, even if the student does no work at all, will pay the full tuition for the incomplete unit.

A pro-rata refund calculation is required for any ADP student who is enrolling in the program for the first time, and withdraws on or before the 60% point of the enrollment period. Federal law defines the appropriate amount that must be returned to any financial aid program(s) before any refund distribution is made to the student. Priority for any financial aid refund is given to loan programs followed by Pel1 Grant. Alternative refund calculations will be used for students who withdraw prior to the end of an academic term.

Records and Transcripts are ketp at the Registrar's Office.

ADP students come to the campus for a seminar at the beginning of each unit of study. Because so much else within the program is flexible and individual, attendance at the seminars in January and July is mandatory. Students spend a part of each seminar in discussion in highly concentrated courses that run for two hours a day, and in library work that involves them in the kind of study they will be engaged in during the following six months.

The courses are designed to help individuals who have been away from college for a time return to the study process, to give students who will otherwise be working in a solitary way an intensive group experience, and to open up ideas and topics that will suggest valuable areas of study to them.

The seminars give ADP students the opportunity to discover their own strengths and decide whether they can pursue an external degree successfully, and they give the faculty, who will work with students after they leave the campus, a chance to understand the students they will supervise. Students who are planning twelve-month units need not attend the seminar in the middle of their units.

Entering students come to a twelve-day seminar. Some of the continuing students come to campus for a nine-day seminar. The exception will be education students working toward certification who need either the Introduction to Teaching or the Measurement and Evaluation minicourse. Such students need to plan to be on campus for a full eleven days. Graduating students attend for one week.

A record of each student's seminar performance is kept as part of the evaluation of the unit begun (or in the case of graduating students, ended) at the seminar.
The evaluation notes:

1. Attendance and quality of work done in minicourses.
2. Attendance at a designated number of presentations.
3. Attendance at other scheduled seminar events.
4. Any exceptional or irregular aspects of the student's work.

Mandatory seminars are always toward the beginning of January and July. Specific dates of each seminar will be posted. On-campus hours and requirements are listed on this page.

ALL Students
Registration for seminar: Monday from 1:00 to 5:00 pm
Opening convocation: Monday from 6:30 to 7:30 pm

Education Majors: Measurement and Evaluation and Introduction to Teaching classes are held Monday through Friday for 5 days each week during the seminar.

Hours listed on this page may vary somewhat depending upon selected mini-courses, presentations, and scheduled appointments.

Entering students are required to take a placement test. This test may be taken on-line through ABLE Institute ($30.00) or at the AUC campus at 1:00 pm, the Sunday before seminar registration (no charge).

First week.
Tuesday through Thursday from 8:00 am to 8:30 pm,
Friday from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm.

Second week
Monday through Thursday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Registration of unit work proposal is Thursday from 1:00 to 5:00 PM.
After successful completion of registration entering students are free to leave.

First week.
Tuesday through Thursday from 8:00 am to 8:30 pm
Friday from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm.

Second week.
Monday and Tuesday from 8:00 am to 8:30 pm.
Registration of unit work proposal is Tuesday from 3:00 to 5:00 pm.
After completion of registration continuing students are free to leave.

Continuing students unable to complete their unit work proposal Tuesday must remain to complete the requirements necessary to register their proposal.

First week.
Tuesday through Thursday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 noon and
Friday from 8:00 to 2:30.

Graduation is at 10:00 am Sunday morning after which time graduates are free to leave.

English courses from non-English speaking countries are not transferable.

Credit for non-remedial, college-level courses completed with a grade of C- or higher in any accredited college may be transferred to Atlantic Union College.

Official copies of supporting records must be submitted.

No credit will be given for transfer credit or correspondence work taken after starting in the ADP unless prior permission in writing is obtained from the ADP office.

Credit may also be given to matriculated students for learning acquired through professional experience, or applied experience of many kinds, especially if it has been accompanied by study. The student applying for such credit will prepare a portfolio that will describe precisely the nature and extent of learning. (Guidelines for preparing such a portfolio can be obtaincd at the semi-annual seminar.) A maximum of three units may be earned through prior learning experience.

Prior learning portfolios must be submitted to the ADP office prior to registering for the final unit of study. If you intend to graduaie in the summer, your portfolio must be submitted by the middle of November, or by the middle of April if you intend to graduate in the winter.

Another way of acquiring credit in the ADP is by CLEP (ColIege Level Examination Program) or other challenge exams.
An adult who has not been in college for some time, but who has been reading, conversing, and making critical judgments may have learned a considerable amount. CLEP exams are one way of assessing that kind of learning.
Official CLEP transcripts must be provided.

Students must notify the ADP Committee of their intention to take such tests, naming the tests. Notification will enable the committee to warn them before they spend money on tests for which they can receive no credit. A maximum of four units may be earned through CLEP exams or other tests verifying academic achievement.

Six hours of credit will be given for scores above the 70th percentile on the CLEP general examinations. Scores below the 70th percentile will not be given credit. Transfer students with more than 24 semester hours of college work will not be given credit for the CLEP general examinations. No credit will be counted toward major requirements. Credit will be given toward General Education requirements for up to half of the requirements in any single area. The remaining hours earned through CLEP will count as elective credit. Credit will not be awarded if the course has been taken previously (even if failed) or if the examination has been taken previously. (CLEP tests cannot be repeated.)

Credit will be awarded for scores above the 50th percentile on CLEP subject examinations and ACT examinations, unless the course has been taken previously. No credit will be given for Bible correspondence courses.

 Please see the ADP Unit for more information on how to earn credits this way.

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.

To qualify for graduation, at least two final units, including a half unit in the major and, if applicable, one quarter unit in any minors, must be taken within the Adult Degree Program. Students wishing to earn an additional major after receiving a degree or to add an additional degree must complete at least one additional unit of work. Credits awarded for prior learning experience may not be used to satisfy these requirements. The equivalent of eight 16-credit units are required for graduation from the Adult Degree Program.

Graduation takes place in January, May and July. Only students who have completed all requirements for graduation will take part in the graduation service. This includes attendance and participation in a one-week graduation seminar.

The responsibility for meeting the requirements for graduation rests primarily upon the student.

In addition, the following regulations must be met:

1. Formal application for graduation must be fiIed on a fom provided for this purpose at the time of registration for the final unit.
2. Official transcripts for high school and transfer credit must be received within six months after admission into the program.
3. A 45-minute Formal Presentation is required at least 6 months before graduation. In order to present, the student's study supervisor must determine him/her to be sufficiently prepared for the presentation. Following the presentation, the ADP Committee will vote the presentation outstanding, acceptable, or unacceptable (in which case an additional formal presentation must be made at a later seminar).
4. Participation in the graduation service is expected. Petitions for graduation in absentia should be made in writing to the Records Office not later than four weeks before commencement. Such a request will be granted only in a case of clear necessity. All financial obligations to the college must be met prior to the expected date of graduation.

Students will be awarded their degrees with the following honors distinctions when they have attained the appropriate grade-point average.

Cum laude (with distinction) ............................3.50 - 3.74
Magna cum Iaude (with great distinction) ........3.75 - 3.89
Summa cum iuude (with highest distinction) .....3.90 - 4.00

Departmental honors 3.5 in major fields

All transfer credit or courses taken at AUC must have a minimum overall GPA of 2.75