GTE Academic Policies

Academic Integrity

EMU faculty and staff care about the integrity of their own work and the work of their students. They create assignments that promote interpretative thinking and work intentionally with students during the learning process. Honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility are characteristics of a community that is active in loving mercy, doing justice, and walking humbly before God. EMU defines plagiarism as occurring when a person presents as one’s own someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source (adapted from the Council of Writing Program Administrators, 2005, http://wpacouncil.org/). 

For full policy see general graduate program policies at GRADUATE CATALOG.

Advising/Mentoring Process

Upon acceptance into the program, the director and/or the assistant director of the Master of Arts in Education will serve as advisor(s).  The director will oversee the advising process.  Upon admission to candidacy and before the completion of EDCC 551 Action Research in Educational Settings, the candidate will be assigned to a mentor who will guide the candidate through the action research phase of the program.  Request to change a mentor should be made to the director of the program.

Attendance

Because of the interactive nature of graduate classes at EMU, we believe that candidates who miss class for the equivalent of six 50-minute periods or four 75 minute periods (300 minutes in a 3-semester hour course, 200 minutes for a 2-semester hour course, 100 minutes for a 1-semester hour course) have not fulfilled necessary requirements to receive an “A” in the graduate class. Grades may be lowered for absences of less time at the instructor's discretion.

Distance Education (Online)

Select courses are offered online in various formats (e.g. – synchronous, asynchronous, hybrid).  Standards of academic quality for these courses are equivalent to those for on-campus courses.  Resources, including online library access and Help Desk support, are available to students in online courses.  Online pedagogy promotes a relational online learning environment.  

Grievance Procedures

The grievance procedures are applicable to all students, faculty and staff of Eastern Mennonite University as well as applicants for faculty, staff or student status. These procedures comply with the requirements of Title IX of the Federal Health, Education, and Welfare procedures and the general employee grievance policy of the Mennonite Education Agency.

The main concern in any grievance procedure is to bring reconciliation and growth in ways that enhance community. To implement this goal, the American Council on Education definition of grievance is adopted: "Grievable issues are those in which there is the possibility of an error in the institutional policies (or lack of them), in its prescribed procedures for carrying out the policies, in the administration of those procedures, or in varying combinations of these." If it is determined that an institutional error has occurred, the second function of the grievance procedure is to provide a process to determine appropriate redress for the grievant.

The first approach to any grievance should be non-adversarial and open, undertaken with careful attention to fostering understanding, problem-solving attitudes. The expectation is that the majority of grievances can be resolved through a flexible process of conflict resolution. These procedures are based on the understanding that differences can be resolved within the institutions of the church without adopting adversarial positions and that the resources of the wider church community are available when mediation is requested. A complete copy of these procedures is available upon request from the President's Office.

Explanation of the course numbering system and course prefixes

All course numbers for the Graduate Teacher in Education program are at the 500 and 600 levels to designate graduate level courses. Undergraduate courses at EMU are listed at 100-400 levels.

EDCC             designates a core course.

EDCI               designates a curriculum and instruction course.
EDCT              designates a classroom technology course.
EDDA             designates a course in the Trauma and Resilience in Ed. En. concentration area.
EDDS              designates a special education course.
EDSL              designates a Teaching English as a Second Language related course.
EDLA             designates a literacy related course.
EDPC              designates a course in reflective practice.
EDRJ               designates a Restorative Justice in Education course.

EDTR              designates a course that is cross cultural.

EDI                  designates an institute course offered as an elective or special offering.
EDIU              designates a Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 course.

INSTITUTES

EDAI              Anabaptist Learning Institutes

EDIC               Curriculum courses

EDID              Diverse Needs courses

EDIL               Literacy courses

EDIT               Technology courses

EXTRA COURSES

EDSP 599       Special Topics

EDSP 699       Directed/Independent Studies

Enrollment

Persons pursuing personal or educational development may enroll in graduate education courses, special institutes, or site-based curricular offerings without being admitted into the MA program. Persons may take up to nine hours without being admitted into the program.

Candidates may enroll in up to ten hours within a term (fall, spring, or summer) without written permission from the director.

Candidates who have been admitted to the program, but decide to change their concentration or want to add an endorsement must submit a letter of request to the director of the MA in Education program.

Program Evaluation

Online course evaluations are given at the end of each course. Candidates are asked to complete an exit interview as part of the evaluation at the completion of their degree. Follow-up surveys are given one, two, and three years after completion of the program. Surveys are given to the alum’s school administrator as well.

Schedule for Completing the Program

All course work, research and practica for the master's degree shall be completed within six calendar years of the first registration as an admitted graduate student. Classes are offered in weekend and evening formats during fall and spring, while the summer sessions provide intensive weeklong courses. A full-time student can complete the program in two years. Most teacher practitioners graduate in 2-4 years by taking 10-12 semester hours per year.

Candidates must be registered for EDPC 611 Action Research Project before participating in graduation ceremonies. In addition, candidates who prolong the completion of their final Action Research Project over one year from the initial registration date must register for a thesis extension course.

Transfer Credit

Candidates may request to transfer up to nine hours of graduate-level course work for a M.A. in Education Degree, and three hours of course work for a Graduate Certificate from other regionally [WU1] accredited colleges or universities Only six credit hours can be transferred into the M.A. in Education concentration area.

Requests for transfer credit approval are subject to approval by the program director and will be considered on a course by course basis as applicable to the particular concentration area or certificate. Continuing Education Units (CEU) courses are not accepted as transfer graduate credit. A candidate must submit a completed transfer credit request form, an official transcript from the university that awarded the graduate credit, and an official course description.

Two exceptions exist: (1)With program director approval, candidates may transfer up to twelve hours of course work previously taken under the supervision of EMU graduate faculty, i.e. EMU Teacher Education Program institutes or site-based courses. (2) With program director approval, candidates may transfer 12 hours of graduate studies in English as a Second Language including the concentration area if those hours meet the Pennsylvania requirements for the ESL certificate.

All transfer credit must meet the following criteria: 1) course work was completed within five years of admission to the EMU program; 2) credit must reflect applicability to EMU’s MA in Education concentration area goals and program purposes; and 3) all transfer work must have a grade of A or B from regional accredited colleges or universities.

Transfer of credits completed at EMU to another institution is at the discretion of that institution. Candidates should check with the institution to which they wish to transfer regarding the transferability of EMU credits.