NBTS

NBTS Student HandBook

ACADEMIC REGULATIONS

Absence from Class

The Seminary assumes students will attend all assigned class periods, and in most classes, participation in class discussion serves as a basis for a professor’s evaluation of a student’s work. A professor will ordinarily establish a standard for class attendance. In any case, a student who does not attend two classes in any term (A, B, Summer) or four classes in a semester (Fall, Spring) will be dismissed from the class. The dean will inform the student of the dismissal and the registrar will record a failing grade for the course. A student who exceeds the allowable number of absences due to circumstances beyond her/his control, such as serious illness, may petition the Academic Affairs committee requesting permission to withdraw from the course without prejudice. A student anticipating an absence should inform her/his professor in advance.

Absence from Classes for Educational Programs

No student will be excused from classes to participate in an off-campus program of educational value without first making a written application to the Academic Affairs Committee. Upon receiving committee approval, the student must secure written approval for the absence from the professors in whose classes the student is enrolled, and submit this written approval to the Dean of the Seminary.

The Academic Semester

So that all students may be placed on an equal footing, regardless of full-time or part-time status, the calculation of grade point averages (GPA) will be made on the basis of an academic semester rather than a calendar semester. An academic semester consists of 16 credit hours of course work. Computation of a student’s GPA to determine academic probation or eligibility for prizes will be based on the academic semester.

Adding or Dropping Classes

Once a student has registered, in order to add or drop a course, a student must complete an add/drop form and submit it to the Registrar.

A student wishing to add a class must do so prior to the second meeting of the class. Only one class session may be missed before a class is added.
A student wishing to drop a class must do so prior to the third meeting of the class.
No more than two class sessions may be attended before a class is dropped.

The exact dates for the Add and Drop periods are given in the academic calendar included on the last page of this Handbook. Although it is possible to drop a class within the “drop period” without penalty, a student will be responsible to pay tuition for the class on a pro-rated basis. The schedule for tuition refunds is determined and administered by the Office of Finance and Administration and printed in the “Refund Policy” section of this Handbook. The student is liable for tuition even in the event of a failing grade or for any course discontinued without notice to the Registrar. The add/drop form notifies the Office of Finance and Administration of the official date for calculating tuition refunds, if any, for dropped courses. Add/drop forms are available in the Registrar’s office.

Advanced Standing Credit for M.Div. Students

Advanced standing credits, whether awarded through an assessment of transcripts or from completion of a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education, may not be used to exempt a student from required courses, including requirements for specific electives (i.e., in Old Testament, New Testament and Pastoral Care). A student may receive a maximum of 12 Advanced Standing credits, in any combination. This includes the total number of credits received on the basis of the submission of an advanced degree in a relevant field. This policy differs from the transfer of academic credit from another theological seminary.

Advanced Standing by Examination

A student in the M.Div. program may be granted credit by examination in up to four required courses. Students wishing to take examinations must apply in writing to the professor at the time of registration for the semester in which the course is offered. An application form is available from the Registrar. This form must be completed and an examination fee paid before the test is administered. The Dean of the Seminary must approve all such applications. Results of the examination will be one of the following: pass, with credit; pass, with credit, but with a requirement to take another course in the same discipline; failure.

Advanced Standing by Life Experience

No academic credit for life experience will be granted, regardless of date of matriculation, effective immediately.

Advanced Standing by Transcript Evaluation

A student in the M.Div. program who has earned 30 credit hours in a graduate program other than the M.Div. may submit a written request to the Assistant/Associate Dean of the Seminary asking that advanced standing be granted on the basis of a transcript review. When warranted by relevance to M.Div. work, up to 12 hours of advanced standing will be given. Courses graded “B” (3.0) or higher may be accepted for advanced standing. Any transcript that is older than 15 years will not be considered. The Academic Affairs Committee will consider an exception to this limitation only when the student has continued to work or study in the given field. Advanced standing through transcript evaluation differs from the transfer of academic credit from the M.Div. program of another institution.

Advanced Standing for Clinical Pastoral Education (C.P.E.)

A student in the M.Div. program may apply to receive 6 academic credits and 2 supervised ministry units of advanced standing for one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). A student may take only one (1) unit of CPE for advanced standing. A student does not register for CPE as a regular course. When a student has completed CPE, he/she must provide an original copy of the final CPE report to the Professor of Pastoral Care for evaluation. The Professor of Pastoral Care will notify the Registrar if advanced standing is to be granted. A student may also choose to receive Supervised Ministry units for their CPE. In that event, the Director of Supervised Ministry will inform the Registrar of the number of units granted.

Advanced Standing for M.A.T.S. Students

Students in the M.A.T.S. program may receive up to 28 credit hours of advanced standing on the basis of an evaluation of transcripts for previous relevant graduate study. This evaluation will be done by the Assistant/Associate Dean of the Seminary based on the official transcripts submitted with the student’s application. Courses graded “B” (3.0) or higher may be accepted for advanced standing. Any transcript that is older than 15 years will not be considered. The Academic Affairs Committee will consider an exception to this limitation only when the student has continued to work or study in the given field.

Auditing

All auditors must use the Limited Enrollment from for registration. The Seminary permits the auditing of regularly scheduled classes with instructor or the Dean’s approval, in the case of an adjunct. The audit fee is one half of the regular class fee times the number of credits plus a $30.00 non-refundable registration fee. Payment is due upon registering and audits will not be processed without payment. Only classes with space available below the cap will be opened to auditors.

Automatic Withdrawal

Automatic withdrawal may be granted to new students in their first semester who register but never attend any classes. Automatic withdrawal may also be granted to continuing students on an extreme exception basis such as may be caused by the sudden onset of illness that makes it impossible for a student to attend classes or complete the required paperwork to "drop" a class or classes. In such cases, students must provide appropriate documentation to the Academic Affairs Committee through the Assistant/Associate Dean. See also "Withdrawal from Enrollment" and "Adding or Dropping Courses."

Class Cancellation

The Seminary reserves the right to cancel a class when fewer than 5 students have registered for the class. In such an event, the student is not penalized financially if another class is not taken.

Change of Schedule see Adding and Dropping Classes

Changing a Grade

Students who believe they have received a mistaken grade should consult the professor who reported the grade. If the professor agrees to change the grade, the new grade will be submitted to the Registrar. If the professor does not agree to a grade change, a student may submit a request for grade change to the Dean of the Seminary indicating the reasons for the request, and providing all supporting documentation. Based on this information, and in consultation with the professor, the Dean of the Seminary will make a decision, and inform both the Registrar and the student making the request.

Class Standing in the M.Div. Program

A student’s class standing in the M.Div. program is determined on the basis of the number of academic credits earned. A student having earned 32 or fewer credits has junior standing. A student having earned more than 32 credits, but fewer than 65 credits has middler standing. A student having earned 65 credits or more has senior standing.

Continuation in the M.A.T.S. PROGRAM

All requirements for the M.A.T.S. degree must be completed within two years after the student has completed twenty-four (24) credits of NBTS courses, and no more than five (5) years after a student has entered the program. Once the twenty-four (24) credit residence requirement has been met, a student will be charged a continuation fee of $275.00 for each semester that work remains incomplete. This continuation fee will not be charged when a student is engaged in making revisions as required by his/her M.A.T.S. project or thesis advisor(s), providing that these revisions are completed within the next term.

Course Load

Each semester consists of 15 weeks of instruction. A student intending to complete the M.Div. degree in three years must take 32 academic credits per year. While students usually should not carry a credit load of more than 16 hours per semester, the faculty may grant permission to take additional credits. Only students with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better with no grade lower than “C” may apply for permission to carry a course load exceeding 16 hours per semester. Students wishing to take additional credits must petition the faculty through the Academic Affairs Committee, which will review the applicant's academic history. The committee may also request a personal interview with the student before making a recommendation to the faculty. Students employed for 20 hours or more per week should not register for more than six credits per semester. Limited enrollment students may register for a maximum of 6 hours of course work per semester, and a total of 12 credits. When limited enrollment students have completed 12 credits of coursework, they must either apply for matriculation in an academic program, if qualified, or end their Seminary studies. Special students may enroll for up to 12 hours per semester. When special students accumulate a total of 18 credit hours, exclusive of Ministeriums, they must either apply for matriculation in an academic program, if qualified, or withdraw from the Seminary.

Cross-Registration (General)

See also under headings in this Handbook "Registration for Courses at…"

Students wishing to take courses at Princeton, Rutgers, or St. John's University must register for these courses at NBTS. In the case of St. John's, students must also register at St. John's.
Procedures for registering at each specific institution are more fully defined in this Handbook under "Registration for Courses at…" and in the Seminary Catalog.
Students who take courses at any of the institution listed above but do not register at NBTS must have an official transcript sent from the appropriate school to the seminary's Registrar. These courses will be counted as transfer credit.

E-Mail

E-Mail accounts are provided to all students. It is expected that all students will make use of the seminary’s e-mail system, either directly or via connection to a student’s regular e-mail account, as required for course work and general communication between the Seminary and students.

English Language Dictionary Use During Examinations

Use of English language dictionaries during in-class exams is permitted for a student for whom English is a second language. The dictionary must be presented to the professor before examination.

English Proficiency

Graduate theological study presupposes proficiency in the use of English. Therefore, in the first year of study, all students for whom English is their first language must take an examination assessing proficiency in written English. When indicated by test scores, a student will be required to enroll in a Theological Writing Course. The student is responsible for expenses incurred in instruction to improve their English writing skills. Failure to complete the Theological Writing Course will limit registration in the ensuing years.

English as a Second Language Students

All students for whom English is a second language, as part of the process of admission, are required to have their English skills evaluated. No student will be admitted who does not have a TOEFL score of 550. In addition, the student’s English language skills will be evaluated through the ESL programs at Rutgers or St. John's Universities. Enrollment status will depend on the results of the evaluation. A level of 4.1 is required from PALS, plus successful completion of ESL Theological Writing I and II in order to matriculate and take other NBTS courses. A student who has more than five (5) years of English education may test out of these courses.

Fitness for Ministry

As an agent of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America (RCA), New Brunswick Theological Seminary evaluates the suitability of students for ordination to the ministry of word and sacrament in the RCA. A Certificate of Fitness for Ministry testifies to a student's readiness for ministry. No classis of the RCA can ordain a candidate without this certificate. The Book of Church Order requires that a candidate file for ordination in the RCA who wishes to receive the Certificate of Fitness for Ministry must have a Form V at least 27 months prior to his/her anticipated graduation date. When a RCA student who is applying for admission to the M.Div. program is already under the care of a Classis, the Classis should submit Form V (Application for the Certificate of Fitness for Ministry) to the Admissions Office on behalf of the student. RCA students who have not submitted Form V after the completion of 24 cre dits will not be permitted to continue in the M.Div. program. No Provisional Certificate of Fitness for Ministry will be granted until after the student has completed at least one unit of Supervised Ministry.

Although the Seminary does not grant Certificates of Fitness for Ministry to students from churches other than the Reformed Church in America, the faculty does evaluate all candidates for the professional degree of Master of Divinity to determine their suitability for ministerial leadership in the church. The faculty will not recommend a student for this degree who, although academically qualified, does not exhibit the moral, spiritual and personal qualities or skills for ministry. The faculty may also consider the ordination requirements of the church of which the student is a member in decisions concerning the awarding of the M.Div. degree.

Full-Time/Part-Time Status

The minimum credit load necessary to maintain full-time status is 12 credits per semester. The minimum credit load necessary to maintain half-time status (part-time status for financial aid purposes) is 6 credits per semester.

Grading System

Grade	Description	GradePoints
A	Excellent	4.0
B	Good	3.0
C	Average	2.0
D	Poor	1.0
TF	Temporary Failure	0.0
F	Failure	0.0
IP	Work in Progress (M. Div. [honors] and M. A. Thesis)
P	Pass
I	Incomplete
NC	No Credit (i.e., failure; used for courses graded Pass/Fail)
W	Withdraw

A plus (+) adds 0.3 to the grade point value, while a minus (-) reduces the grade by the same amount. A student may receive an A+ on work completed within a class, but may not be granted an A+ for the course. “IP” indicates work in progress and is limited to the M.Div. (honors) and M.A. Thesis. Upon completion of the work the professor will submit a grade for the course. "I" designates the grade Incomplete and "TF" denotes a temporary failure. After four weeks, a "TF" becomes an administrative "F." Pass/fail grades are limited to elective courses. The decision to invoke the pass/fail option must be made before the end of the first two weeks of the term within which the course is taken.

Honors

The following schedule describes the criteria for graduation honors:

*Cum Laude*	3.4 Grade Point Average or better
*Magna Cum Laude*	3.6 Grade Point Average or better
*Summa Cum Laude*	3.8 Grade Point Average or better

Honors Thesis

An M. Div. student who has maintained a GPA of 3.0 or better through his or her first 64 credits of academic work may petition the faculty through the Academic Affairs Committee to be allowed to write an Honors thesis under the supervision of a member of the Faculty. Six (6) credit hours will be granted the student who successfully completes this research and writing project.

Inclusive Language Policy

New Brunswick Theological Seminary is a Christian community of men and women marked by racial, ethnic, and ecumenical diversity. The way we communicate in written and spoken language expresses our conviction that in Christ "there is neither Jew nor Greek . . . slave nor free . . . male and female" (Galatians 3:28). It is, therefore, the policy of the faculty of New Brunswick Theological Seminary that in our written and spoken language--in course work, worship leadership, and public and internal communication--the full diversity of the people of God be reflected. When speaking or writing about human beings, we do not use gender-specific, racist, or culturally exclusive language; when speaking or writing about God, we employ the full spectrum of biblical and theological imagery for God that includes and goes beyond gender-specific anthropomorphism.

Incomplete Work

A student who has not completed course requirements and wishes to apply for an extension of time must submit an Incomplete Contract to the professor within one (1) week following the last class session. Incomplete Contract forms are available from the Registrar. If granted, the Contract is to be submitted to the Office of the Registrar with the Term Grade Report sheet.

For semester courses (4 credits, 15 weeks), an Incomplete Contract ordinarily extends through the next semester. By appeal to the Academic Affairs Committee, the contract may be approved to extend for an additional semester. Under no circumstance will an Incomplete Contract be allowed to extend beyond two semesters. Two credit hour courses, which extend through a semester, will be regarded as semester courses. For 7.5 weeks term courses (2 credits), an Incomplete Contract ordinarily extends through the next term. By appeal to the Academic Affairs Committee, the contract may be approved to extend for an additional term. Under no circumstance will an Incomplete Contract be allowed to extend beyond two terms. The summer session will be regarded in reference to Incomplete Contracts as a semester; the winter session will be regarded as a term.

Extensions, when granted, shall be governed by the following:

Grades earned for work completed after the end of term, and for which an Incomplete Contract was submitted, shall be reduced by one third of a grade point for each month or portion thereof that completion of the work is delayed.
No extension on an Incomplete Contract may be granted beyond the last day of the following term without special action of the Academic Affairs Committee.
Failure to submit work by the date specified on the Incomplete Contract or to request an extension before that date will result in a “TF.”
At the expiration of the original Contract, or an extension Contract, an "F" will be recorded if the instructor has not submitted a grade.
If neither an Incomplete Contract date within one week after the end of the course, nor a grade is submitted after the end of a course, a “TF” will be recorded on the student’s transcript. This “TF” will become an “F” following a period of four weeks, unless the Registrar is informed of extenuating circumstances.

Incompletes for courses taken at Princeton, Rutgers or St. John’s, for which a student has cross-registered through NBTS, are subject to the deadlines and policies for incomplete work as established at the institution where the course was taken. Once these deadlines have expired, students will receive a “TF” for courses in which no grades are reported. A “TF” will become an “F” following a period of four weeks, unless the Registrar is informed of extenuating circumstances.

Independent Study

A student must secure the approval of her/his academic adviser before the student contacts a professor regarding supervising the independent study. To secure course approval, the student must demonstrate the importance of the independent study for her or his specific academic development and must have a GPA of 3.0 or better. An appropriate form, available from the Registrar, must be submitted to the Dean for approval. The Registrar will not process registration for an independent study until the signed Independent Study form is submitted.

Note the following limitations:·

Junior M.Div. candidates may not register for an independent study except by permission of the Academic Affairs Committee and a detailed reason why the student needs additional courses, same as above.
Required courses may not be taken as independent studies.
Applying more than two independent study courses to degree requirements needs the approval of the Academic Affairs Committee.
When additional credits are attached to a course and registered as an independent study at the request of a faculty member, or when a course is under-subscribed and offered as an independent study, these shall not fall under the maximum independent course study.

Late Papers

All papers submitted after the professor's due date receive a grade of "D" (if of passing quality) unless the professor granted written permission for a late submission before the due date.

Limited Enrollment Students

Limited Enrollment status will be granted only to persons who wish to take no more than twelve (12) credits total. Evidence of an earned Bachelor’s degree is required for admission as a Limited Enrollment student. Limited Enrollment students will not participate in orientation and will not be required to take the English exam. Limited Enrollment students are not eligible for scholarships or for student loans and must pay for courses prior to enrollment.

Limited Enrollment students may enroll for no more than two courses in a given semester (6 credits maximum) and no more than an additional 6 credits in a subsequent semester. Official transcripts will not be provided by the Registrar for Limited Enrollment students, although a letter indicating courses completed will be issued by the Registrar upon written request of the student. Students must take the course for a letter grade. Pass/Fail is not permitted.

Papers and Theses

Student writing assignments should follow the standards established in the most recent edition of A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate L. Turabian.

Pass/Fail

A student may request pass/fail for elective courses only. The decision to invoke the pass/fail option must be made before the end of the first two weeks of the term within which the course is taken, and must have the approval of the teaching faculty. Pass will be awarded for work at the level of Grade C or better. Credit hours will be received for courses graded Pass, but will have no effect on the calculation of the student’s GPA.

Plagiarism

In speaking or writing, plagiarism is the act of representing someone else’s work as one’s own. In addition, plagiarism is defined as using the essential style and manner of expression of a source as if it were one’s own. Likewise, any statement, oral or written, claimed as one’s own that is not documented is subject to this plagiarism policy. If in doubt, please consult the professor. Examples of plagiarism include but are not limited to:

Submitting word-for-word passages of another’s work without proper acknowledgment.
Paraphrasing another’s work containing specific information or ideas, which are not shown in quotation marks or are not properly acknowledged.
Two or more submitted papers, which contain a resemblance to the student’s own work as previously submitted, or to another student’s work, decidedly beyond the bounds of reasonable coincidence.
A paper, examination, or assignment that contains information or conclusions which, upon questioning, a student cannot explain, support, or demonstrate direct knowledge.

Faculty members are responsible to determine whether or not a student’s work is plagiarized, to speak with the student about the plagiarism, and to assign an appropriate sanction. Ordinarily, at the very least, a paper that is plagiarized, in whole or in part, is subject to automatic failure. Further, students who commit plagiarism may be dismissed from the Seminary by a majority vote of the faculty.

In cases where the original source of the plagiarism has not been identified, but there are two distinctively different writing styles, such will be considered sufficient evidence of plagiarism.

In cases where the original source of the plagiarism has been identified, the faculty member must report the plagiarism to the Dean of the Seminary by supplying a copy of the student’s paper and photocopies of at least sections of the work plagiarized. In cases where the original source has not been identified, the case may be presented by the Dean to the faculty for a confirming vote. Such confirmed cases must also be submitted to the Dean. All cases will be kept on file until the time of the student’s graduation or departure from the Seminary.

Disciplinary actions for plagiarism imposed by the faculty as a whole will remain as part of the student’s permanent Seminary record.

Potential Graduates

Listed below is the procedure for Graduates who do not have academic work completed as scheduled:

a) The Registrar will contact the Dean, informing the dean that the student’s work is not completed.
b) The Dean will contact the student and advise the student that, should the student be unable to finish the work, the student must petition the faculty for permission to walk at graduation.
c) This petition must be received no later than the Wednesday before graduation.
d) There may be a special faculty meeting to act on this (these) request(s).
e) Variations to the deadlines for work to be completed will be handled on an individual basis.

Readmission

Any student seeking readmission to the Seminary after withdrawal or dismissal (i.e., not by an approved leave of absence) must reapply to the Admissions Committee. The student must satisfy the Admissions Committee that he or she has resolved the problems relating to the withdrawal or dismissal before the committee can consider readmission.

Refund Policy

Students who wish to withdraw from the Seminary, having provided written notification and secured the requisite approval, shall be entitled to a refund (fees are non-refundable) according to the following categories:

First-time students** enrolled at NBTS who are also recipients of Title IV Federal Financial Aid are eligible for a refund if they withdraw prior to the completion of 60 percent of the semester and have submitted written notification of withdrawal. The official date of withdrawal used to determine the amount of the refund is determined by the Registrar. Refunds are calculated based on the following schedule.

Withdrawal before:

the start date of the semester 100%
the end of the first week of classes 90%
the end of the second week of classes 80%
the end of the third week of classes 70%
the end of the fourth week of classes 60%
the end of the fifth week of classes 50%
the end of the sixth week of classes 50%
the end of the seventh week of classes 40%
Withdrawal after the seventh week of classes 0%

**Note: Federal regulations define a first-time student as 1) one who has not previously attended at least one class at the institution or 2) has received a refund of 100 percent of tuition and fees under the institution’s refund policy for previous attendance at the institution. A student remains a first-time student until the student either 1) withdraws, drops out, or is expelled from the institution after attending at least one class or 2) completes the period of enrollment for which the student has been charged. All other students (first-time students not receiving Title IV Federal Financial Aid and all returning students) enrolled at NBTS are eligible for a refund if a written notification of withdrawal is submitted. The official date of withdrawal used to determine the amount of the refund is determined by the Registrar. Refunds are calculated based on the following schedule:

Withdrawal on or before one week preceding the first day of classes 100%

Withdrawal within:

first week of classes 90%
second week of classes 90%
third week of classes 50%
fourth week of classes 25%
fifth week of classes 25%
sixth week of classes 25%
Withdrawal after sixth week of classes 0%

Registration for Courses at Princeton Theological Seminary

By mutual agreement between Princeton Theological Seminary and New Brunswick Theological Seminary, with the permission of the Dean of the Seminary, students may enroll in courses at Princeton Theological Seminary for elective credit. Students pay New Brunswick Theological Seminary tuition and fees for these courses, and register at NBTS.

Registration for Courses at Rutgers University

Seminary students enrolled in a degree program may take graduate level courses at

Rutgers University and have those credits applied to the Seminary as elective courses upon fulfillment of the following:

The senior level student should choose a course from the Rutgers Graduate Catalog or the list of courses offered by the religion departments of Rutgers and Douglass College.
The Dean of the Seminary must grant the student permission to take the course.
The student must contact the Rutgers professor teaching the course to determine eligibility for the course.
Once these steps are complete, the student may contact the Seminary Registrar to register for the Rutgers course.

Rutgers University will send the student's grades directly to the Seminary Registrar who will record the grades for Seminary credit. Courses taken in this manner have no validity at Rutgers University and will not appear on a Rutgers University transcript. Students pay New Brunswick Theological Seminary tuition and fees for these courses.

Registration for Courses at St. John's University

New Brunswick Theological Seminary students may register for selected courses in the Theology Department of St. John's University for credit toward the M.Div. degree. Students must register for these courses both with NBTS and with St. John’s University. When registering for St. John’s courses, a student must record them on his or her NBTS registration form, and then must also complete the separate St. John’s University registration process. If St. John’s courses are not included on a student’s NBTS registration form, grades for these courses will not automatically be reported to the NBTS Registrar. Instead, the student will be responsible to request that a St. John’s transcript be sent to the NBTS Registrar.

The NBTS Office at St. John’s assists New Brunswick Theological Seminary with the St. John’s registration procedure. The student shall take the completed registration form, marked New Brunswick Theological Seminary, to both the Graduate and Registrar’s Office of St. John’s University to complete the registration process. Students pay tuition for these courses directly to St. John’s University. St. John's University sends grade reports directly to the Seminary Registrar who records the course for Seminary credit.

Retaking Courses

A student desiring to retake an elective or required course to raise the grade may do so. Both the original and the second grade will appear on the student's permanent record; and will be configured into the calculation of the GPA. A student may not retake a required course more than once.

Satisfactory Progress Standard

Satisfactory Progress Standard for the M.Div. Program

A student whose grade point average for any given consecutive unit of 16 credit hours of graded course work falls below 2.0 shall receive a letter of caution. After the receipt of two such cautions (not necessarily consecutive), the student will be placed on academic probation and will no longer be considered to be making satisfactory progress toward the M.Div. degree. A student who receives three cautions is subject to dismissal from the Seminary.

A student who achieves less than a cumulative grade point average of 1.6 at the end of the first two semesters (32 credit hours of graded course work), or less than 2.0 after three semesters' work (48 credit hours of graded course work) will no longer be considered to be making satisfactory progress toward the M.Div. degree and will become subject to dismissal from the Seminary.

In order to be considered to be making satisfactory progress toward the M.Div. degree, a student must earn 16 credits per academic year in courses counting toward the degree. Courses for which a student has a valid incomplete contract that is within the statutory limit for such contracts (i.e., the end of the following term) may be counted as completed. If a student should fail to successfully complete a course for which she or he received an incomplete, the determination of satisfactory progress for that academic year will be adjusted retroactively. Courses for which the incomplete contract has been extended beyond the statutory limit, courses from which a student has withdrawn without prejudice and courses repeated for the purpose of improving the grade received may NOT be counted as completed so far as measurement under this standard is concerned.

Students who are not making satisfactory progress toward a degree become ineligible for Seminary and federally funded student aid. Determinations made under this policy may be appealed to the Academic Affairs Committee of the faculty. Such appeals must include a plan describing how the student will return to satisfactory progress, and the decision of the committee must be confirmed by the faculty.

Time limit for the M.Div. Program

An M.Div. student who has been enrolled predominantly on a full-time basis, and has not completed the degree program within five years must apply in writing for continuation in the program. An M.Div. student who has been enrolled predominantly on a part-time basis, and has not completed the degree program within eight years must apply in writing for continuation in the program.

Satisfactory Progress Standard for the M.A.T.S. Program

A student whose grade point average for any given consecutive unit of 15 credit hours of graded course work falls below 3.0 shall receive a letter of caution. After the receipt of two such cautions (not necessarily consecutive), the student will be placed on academic probation and will no longer be considered to be making satisfactory progress toward the M.A.T.S. degree. A student who receives three cautions is subject to dismissal from the Seminary.

A student who achieves less than a cumulative grade point average of 2.6 at the end of the first two semesters (30 credit hours of graded work), or less than 3.0 after four semesters’ work (60 credit hours of graded work), will no longer be considered to be making satisfactory progress toward the M.A.T.S. degree and will become subject to dismissal from the Seminary.

In order to be considered to be making satisfactory progress toward the M.A.T.S. degree, a student must earn 15 credits per academic year in courses counting toward the degree. Courses for which a student has a valid incomplete contract that is within the statutory limit for such contracts (i.e., the end of the following term) may be counted as completed. If a student should fail to successfully complete a course for which she or he received an incomplete, the determination of satisfactory progress for that academic year will be adjusted retroactively. Courses for which the incomplete contract has been extended beyond the statutory limit, courses from which a student has withdrawn without prejudice and courses repeated for the purpose of improving the grade received may NOT be counted as completed so far as measurement under this standard is concerned.

Students who are not making satisfactory progress toward a degree become ineligible for Seminary and federally funded student aid. Determinations made under this policy may be appealed to the Academic Affairs Committee of the faculty. Such appeals must include a plan describing how the student will return to satisfactory progress, and the decision of the committee must be confirmed by the faculty.

Time Limit for the M.A.T.S. Program

All requirements for the degree must be completed within two years after fulfilling the “residence” course requirements and no more than five years after entering the program. There will be a $285 charge for each semester that work remains incomplete after fulfilling residence course requirements.

Sexual Ethics

The Seminary will make participation in an educational experience concerning professional sexual ethics a requirement of its degree programs. A student may fulfill the requirement concerning sexual misconduct by electing to take the Money, Sex and Power course offered during the January Term or by attending a special seminar on Clergy Sexual Misconduct.

Snow Emergency

The President, in consultation with the Business Manager and the Dean of the Seminary, will reach a decision on day school closings by 7:00 a.m. A recorded message regarding closings is available by calling (732) 247-5241. The President will decide about closings for New Brunswick evening classes by 3:00 p.m. The above notification information also applies to evening closings. New York students may call (718) 990-6000 for a recorded snow-closing message. A list of radio stations that will announce seminary closings will be distributed in the fall semester.

Special Students

Students who have not completed a Bachelor’s degree will be considered for admission in the Special Student category. Their admission will be considered probationary until they have completed the five prescribed college courses, which the admission’s policy requires and fulfill any other requirements, which the Admissions Committee may have noted as a condition of their admission.

Special Students who have been required to take the prescribed five college level courses as a condition to their enrollment will be allowed to take no more than twelve (12) credits at the Seminary prior to the completion of these five college courses. After the completion of twelve (12) seminary credits, Special students will not be allowed to register for additional seminary courses, until they have successfully completed all five college courses.

Special students cannot qualify for scholarship or student loans until their probationary status has been lifted.

Student Records

Student Records are governed by and in accordance with provisions of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). Annually, NBTS intends to inform students of FERPA. This Act, with which the institution intends to comply fully, was designated to protect the privacy of educational records, to establish the right of students to inspect and review their educational records, and to provide guidelines for the correction of inaccurate or misleading data through informal and formal hearings. Students also have the right to file complaints under FERPA concerning alleged failures by the institution to comply with the Act. Local policy explains in detail the procedures to be used by the institution for compliance with the provisions of the Act. Copies of the policy can be found in the Registrar’s Office, NBTS. This office also maintains a Directory of Records which lists all educational records maintained on students by this institution. Questions concerning FERPA may be referred to the Registrar’s Office.

Student Representation at Faculty Meetings and on Faculty

Committees

The student society may designate students to serve as representatives of the student body at faculty meetings. Students may also participate in four standing committees of the faculty, the academic affairs, library, planning and curriculum committees, and some ad hoc committees, such as faculty search committees.

Supervised Ministry

Supervised ministry provides students with opportunities to practice ministry under the leadership of experienced supervisors/mentors in local congregations, hospitals, prisons, or summer conferences. The Seminary requires a diversity of experiences that enable the student to: learn new styles of ministry, observe different patterns of programming, engage a variety of cultures, and develop an assortment of ministerial skills. Six (6) supervised ministry units are required for the M.Div. degree. These units have no relationship to academic credits. Students may earn supervised ministry units in a number of ways. For example:

Sept-May in a church, prison, or hospital	2 units
Clinical pastoral education	2 units
A summer of full-time work in a congregation	2 units
A summer of part-time work in a congregation	1 unit

The Director of Supervised Ministry assists students in locating appropriate placements. The earlier student’s plan for a placement, the more likely they are to locate settings that best fit their educational goals. During their first semester, students should make an appointment with the Director of Supervised Ministry to discuss their educational objectives and to obtain a copy of the Supervised Ministry Handbook for Students and Supervisors

A student may not enter into a supervised ministry learning agreement without the approval of the director. All learning agreements must be approved by both the Director and the Dean of the Seminary for them to be in force. A student enrolled in a Ministerium must be in an approved supervised ministry setting. All students planning to enroll for Supervised Ministry must attend a Learning Agreement Workshop.

A student who fails to maintain supervised ministry responsibilities, as specified in the Supervised Ministry Handbook for Students and Supervisors, will receive no credit for the assignment. This determination will be made at the discretion of the Director of Supervised Ministry in consultation with the Dean of the Seminary and the student's supervisor. No credit will be given if the appropriate evaluations are not received by the Office of Supervised Ministry on the dates indicated in the Supervised Ministry Handbook for Students and Supervisors.

Supervised Ministry involves a double registration process. On the one hand, the student must arrange for the actual Supervised Ministry experience with the Director of Supervised Ministry. On the other hand, in order that the Supervised Ministry Units (SMUs) may be properly credited toward the student’s degree, she or he must also register for those units using the appropriate course numbers on a registration form submitted to the Registrar. If the student is also taking a Ministerium, he or she should register for the SMUs in the semesters when the Ministerium occurs. This is necessary because supervised ministry is a concurrent requirement for Ministeriums. If the student is not enrolled in a Ministerium, she or he may register for the SMUs in any combination of semesters during which the supervised ministry experience actually occurs.

Transcripts

The Seminary charges a processing fee of $3.50 per transcript. All transcript requests shall be in writing. The Seminary provides students with transcripts for ecclesiastical committees free of charge during their Seminary course, after which time the per item charge applies. The Seminary does not provide transcripts to students who have an outstanding debt to the Seminary or who owe fines, books or other materials to the Gardner Sage Library.

Transfer Credit

Transfer credit from M.Div. or M.A.T.S. programs at A.T.S. accredited theological institutions may be accepted towards those degrees at New Brunswick Seminary. The last 32 credits for the M.Div. and 24 credits for the M.A.T.S. of a student's program must be taken at

New Brunswick. Courses graded "B" (3.0) or higher may be accepted for transfer credit. The Assistant/Associate Dean of the Seminary decides the actual granting of transfer credit on a case-by-case basis. Any work completed more than 15 years prior to application for transfer credit will not be considered. The Academic Affairs Committee will consider an exception to this limitation only when the student has continued to work or to study in the given field.

Students who transfer from Western Theological Seminary, and who are in good and regular standing are permitted to transfer all courses, regardless of the grade received at Western.

Withdrawal from Classes

A student who wishes to withdraw from class during the term, but after the Drop/Add period, may do so only with the approval of the Academic Affairs Committee. The student must submit a request to withdraw from the class to the Assistant/Associate Dean. The request must specify the reasons for the withdrawal in sufficient detail to enable the committee to make a proper determination. If the request to withdraw is approved, the student will be awarded a “W” for the course.Students who do not withdraw officially and simply absent themselves from class will continue to be assigned a grade of “Fail” (F).

Withdrawal from Enrollment

Students who wish to withdraw from school are required to notify the Dean of the Seminary in writing. Students who fail to attend classes, complete assignments, or fail to maintain Supervised Ministry responsibilities for two weeks or more without informing the Dean of the Seminary may be dismissed.

TUITION, FEES, AND OTHER EXPENSES

Academic & Financial Information for 2004-2005

Tuition – M.Div. & M.A.T.S.	$ 300.00	Per credit hour
Tuition – D.Min.	4,500. 4,500. 1,500.	Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Application Fee	25.00	Non-refundable
Admissions Deposit	500.00	Applied toward first semester bill
Course Audit – M.Div. & M.A.T.S.	150.00	Per credit hour
Supervised Ministry – M.Div. & M.A.T.S.	300.00	Per unit
Registration Fee	30.00	Due each semester
Late Registration Fee	100.00
Student Activities Fee – M.Div. & M.A.T.S.	30.00	Per semester
Deferred Payment Plan	30.00	Per semester
Internship Fee – M.Div. & M.A.T.S.	500.00
Transcript Fee	3.50	Per transcript
Advanced Standing Examination Fee – M.Div. & M.A.T.S.	75.00	Per course
Continuation Fee – M.A.T.S. & D.Min.	300.00	Per semester
Transfer/Advanced Standing Credits Fee – M.Div. & M.A.T.S.	5.00	Per credit hour
Parking Permit	25.00	Per auto/per year

The Seminary accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express

Students who are members of the Reformed Church in America receive an automatic tuition reduction of $75 per credit hour for credits, audits and supervised ministry units. This award reflects the considerable financial support the Seminary receives from its affiliated denomination. The Seminary does not require a financial aid application from students who wish to receive only the automatic RCA tuition reduction. The only requirement is proof of membership in a member church of the Reformed Church in America.

Tuition and fee charges are due and payable in full at registration and may be paid with cash, check, or major credit card by mail, telephone, night deposit box, or in person in the Office of Finance and Administration. Creditworthy students who are unable to pay tuition and fee charges in full at registration may elect the deferred payment option.

To qualify for the deferred payment option, students must pay in advance one-third of total tuition and fees for the semester by the first class day of each semester. After making this initial one-third payment, students with the deferred payment option may make payments whenever they wish during the semester; however, at the end of the semester, they may not register for further course work or graduate until they pay in full all outstanding charges in their accounts except bookstore and housing charges less than 30 days old. When student completes a semester and still owe an overdue balance in her/his account, the Seminary will withhold grades, course credit, transcripts, registrations, diplomas, and certificates until the student pays her/his overdue balance. The deferred payment option fee is $30 per semester. Additionally, student accounts with unpaid balances more than 30 days old are subject to interest charges at the rate of 1.5% per month. Students with a history of returned checks, poor credit, or long-overdue account balances are not eligible for the deferred payment option and bookstore charge privileges. They must pay all Seminary and bookstore charges in full in advance by certified check, money order, cash, or approved credit card.

Emergency Loans

The Seminary has funds available to make small, short-term emergency loans to students. Students who find themselves in need of this assistance should contact the Director of Finance and Administration. Students negotiate repayment arrangements with the Director of Finance and Administration on a case-by-case basis.

Making Payments

Students may make payments on their accounts by mail, in person in the Office of Finance and Administration during regular business hours (8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.), by telephone for credit card payments (800-445-6287 or 732-247-5241), and by means of a night deposit box in the Office of Finance and Administration door after regular business hours.

Overdue Accounts

All students are responsible for the timely payment of tuition, fees, bookstore charges and housing rents. In the event a student fails to pay tuition, fees, bookstore charges, housing rents or other amounts owed to the Seminary, the student will be responsible for attorneys' fees, prejudgment interest and other costs of suit incurred by the Seminary in connection with collection of amounts due. Outstanding balances on student accounts over 30 days old are subject to interest charges at the rate of 1.5 percent per month or 18 percent per year.

Returned Checks

Writing a check to an account with insufficient funds to cover it is a crime in New Jersey, punishable by fines or imprisonment, or both. When this happens, and the check is returned by the bank, the Seminary charges a $40 per check processing fee, and may require the student to replace the check with cash. The Seminary reports habitual bad check writers to the appropriate authorities.

Seniors' Financial Obligations

Graduating seniors must meet their financial obligations to the Seminary before commencement, including bookstore charges, Seminary loans, and the return of all on-loan library materials. The Seminary will not grant diplomas (and Certificates of Fitness for Ministry for RCA students) to seniors who have not satisfied these obligations.

Student Housing

For more complete information concerning campus housing please consult the Director of Student Services.

ADDITIONAL SERVICES AND POLICIES

Bookstore

The Seminary operates a bookstore as a service to students, faculty and staff. The bookstore offers a 10% discount on cash purchases for textbooks. Bookstore customers with approved Seminary credit may charge purchases to their Seminary account; however, the 10% discount does not apply to charge purchases. The bookstore accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express

On-Campus Parking

All New Brunswick campus students must register their vehicles with the Office of Finance and Administration. The Seminary will provide students with parking tags at a cost of $25 per car each year. To prevent unauthorized use of Seminary parking spaces, the Seminary strictly enforces parking policies. Cars parked on Seminary property that do not display a current parking decal will be towed at the owner’s expense. The towing company charges about $60 to release a towed vehicle. The parking lot behind Zwemer Hall is available for staff and students in the New Brunswick evening program. During day classes, student commuters may park in the upper lot behind Zwemer Hall. The lower lot is reserved for staff employed during the day. The lot on the Kooy House side of Zwemer Hall is reserved for Scudder Hall residents. The George Street parking lot serves One Seminary Place and Kooy House residents. Parking is prohibited in front of Scudder Hall, One Seminary Place and Kooy House; these areas are reserved for loading and unloading only.

Seminary Supplies and Equipment

Equipment and supplies in Seminary offices are for the exclusive use of Seminary staff. A coin-operated copy machine is available in the library for student use. The Seminary provides hymnals and Bibles in the Chapel for community worship. Please do not remove these resources from the Chapel. Students may buy their own hymnals and Bibles in the Seminary bookstore. The Seminary owns audio/visual equipment to make recordings of special lectures, programs and events at the Seminary. The Seminary does not loan its equipment for use at weddings or other private functions.

Seminary Calendar

Before scheduling a meeting or program that involves the use of Seminary facilities, students must clear the date and event with the President's office. The administrative assistant to the President will place the event on the Seminary calendar to avoid scheduling conflicts.

Zwemer Hall Use

Zwemer Hall, the main administration and classroom building, is open during daily office and class hours. On days when no evening classes occur, security personnel lock the building at about 5:00 p.m. or about =10:30 p.m.when evening classes occur. At all other times, Zwemer Hall is closed. When the building is closed, access is available to students only for approved and supervised work-study projects with the permission of a work study supervisor or the Director of Finance and Administration.

GARDNER A. SAGE LIBRARY

The Gardner A. Sage Library exists to support general research and study for Seminary course work, the practice of ministry, and specialized faculty scholarship. Currently, the collection contains over 150,000 books and bound periodicals, and over 300 current periodical subscriptions. Library cooperatives, which afford Seminary students and faculty borrowing privileges in several excellent area academic and theological libraries, permit faculty and students to carry out research beyond the "walls" of Sage Library. The library can obtain resources not available at local libraries through a national inter-library loan program through a bibliographic network in which Sage Library participates. Please inquire at Sage Library to obtain access to area libraries or for interlibrary loans. To contact the Library with questions regarding hours of access, please telephone the Circulation Desk at 732-247-5243. The Library online catalog may be accessed through the Seminary’s webpage at http://www.nbts.edu . Click on the link to Sage Library from this page.

Gardner A. Sage Library Hours

School Year*	Monday - Thursday	10:00 am	to	10:00 pm
Fall & Spring Terms	Friday	10:00 am	to	8:00 PM
	Saturday	11:00 am	to	9:00 PM
Summer** During term	Monday – Thursday Saturday	10:00 am 11:00 am	to to	8:30 PM 5:00 PM

Summer** Outside of term	Monday -- Friday	10:00 am	to	5:00 PM
	Saturday and Sunday	closed

The Library is closed for the following Seminary holidays: New Year’s, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Please contact the library for hours around these holidays.

Circulation

The library has "open stacks" which means that most materials do circulate, with these exceptions: rare books, reference resources, art books with loose plates, current and bound periodicals, whole sets, reserve books (as outlined above). Under normal circumstances, the library limits each student's borrowing to sixty (60) books at one time.

Computers

Nine (9) computers are available for student use in the Library Information Center. These computers provide access to the library catalogs of the Seminary and Rutgers University, the Internet, a variety of computerized reference resources, and word processing software.

In the following cases ONLY, students are permitted free use of printers:

copies of papers for Seminary courses;
printouts from computer reference databases, e.g. ATLA journal index or Sage Library catalog;
Groupwise email; and
Seminary worship services.

The charge for all other printing is $0.10 (ten cents) per page, including Internet resources, e-journal articles, e-reserves and personal word processing documents. Ask the library staff at the desk if there are questions.

Due Dates

All books, regardless of the check out date, circulate until the end of the current semester. Patrons may renew their books anytime before the date due. The library may recall books after two weeks in circulation for use by another patron.Student borrowers who do not return library materials at the end of the semester will not receive grades, transcripts, a professorial certificate or diploma, and will lose library borrowing privileges until they return borrowed items and pay any outstanding fines.

Fines

Fines are charged only for overdue reserve materials at the rate of $0.10 per hour for items on 3-hour reserve, and $1.00 per day for items on 7-day reserve. A maximum fine of $25.00 per item will be charged. Recalled items must be returned within one week to avoid a fine of $5.00 per day starting a week after a notice has been sent.

Library Cards

All students will be issued a Library card the first time they use the Library. In order to borrow any materials, students must present their Library cards. If the card is lost, a replacement card can be obtained for $5.00.

Lost Books

If a borrower loses a book, he/she must pay the actual cost of replacement, plus a $7.50 processing fee. In cases where the lost book is out of print, the borrower must pay $32.00 for the replacement cost, plus a $7.50 processing fee.

Reserves

Each semester all members of a particular class will need access to certain materials. To insure fair access to these high-demand items, professors may place them on "reserve" in the library. Materials will be placed on three-hour in-house or seven-day circulating reserve. Professors may extend borrowing periods for reserve books at their own discretion. Reference materials and journals are not placed on reserve and can be found at their regular shelf locations.

STUDENT SOCIETY OF INQUIRY

The Student Society of Inquiry considers all students at the Seminary members of the society. The Society is the advocate of the student body. We express student problems and concerns to the administration. We also appoint students to serve on various seminary committees. The Student Society promotes fellowship through many activities such as dinners, parties, athletic activities and forums. We effect communication within the student body through a newsletter, flyers and other forms of communication. The Society is committed to mobilizing the student body to serve the greater community. We encourage everyone to get involved with the Student Society in accordance with the gifts God has given to us, to serve God and each other within, and without our community.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

Association of Black Seminarians

This student organization is primarily composed of matriculated and non-matriculated students of African decent. It addresses issues concerning students at the New Brunswick and New York campuses. AOBS is the only student organization that has established an emergency scholarship fund for AOBS members in crisis. It is the first student organization that has granted a student scholarship under this criteria. AOBS hosts annual events, which include: seminars with focus on the African-American church and community, a Koinonia fellowship and Women in Ministry Seminars.

Korean Students Association

Korean students at NBTS live in lively communion unified by a common faith and tradition. Throughout the calendar year, the Korean Student Association organizes several programs that focus on worship, fellowship and study.

Presbyterians at New Brunswick (PAN)

PAN meets throughout the year to provide support and encouragement to Presbyterian students! Whether you are an inquirer or a candidate, we invite you to connect with other Presbyterians here at New Brunswick Theological Seminary. Our usual format is to gather for a shared meal and to have a discussion on a topic of special interest to Presbyterian students. In the past, we have focused on such topics as: Preparing for Ordination Exams, Working with Your CPM, the Northeast Career Center, Being Examined by Your Presbytery, etc. We invite YOU to be part of our Presbyterian Fellowship. Watch the NBTS calendar for future meeting dates.

Seminary Retreats and Community Worship

Spiritual formation is a vital aspect of preparation for ministry. Seminary retreats and evening chapel services provide important opportunities for spiritual growth through participation in community. The Seminary expects all students to participate fully in these events. Students who want to arrange for spiritual direction with a trained spiritual guide should speak with the faculty chair of the Worship and Spiritual Life Committee.

Special Lectures and Colloquies

From time to time the lectureship program hosts special lectures on campus. Additionally, various committees of the faculty and student body frequently host colloquia, usually in concert with a noontime or evening meal. All members of the Seminary community benefit from attendance at these events.

CAMPUS HOUSING INFORMATION

Please consult the Director of Student Services

FINANCIAL AID POLICY

Financial Aid Standards The financial aid program at New Brunswick Theological Seminary exists to help students finance their educational preparation for ministry. To this end, the Seminary provides financial aid from resources in its custody and offers access to the Federal Family Education Loan Program to qualified students regardless of race, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, handicap, or denominational affiliation.

The financial aid program at New Brunswick Theological Seminary embodies the following standards:

The design and implementation of the financial aid program shall uphold the integrity of the Seminary and the dignity of students who apply for financial aid.
The Seminary shall make every reasonable effort to minimize tuition and fee charges, without sacrificing the high quality of its academic programs or student services, and to raise funds for operating costs and student scholarships.
Students seeking financial assistance shall make every reasonable effort to adjust their lifestyles and spending practices to minimize their expenses while attending Seminary and shall provide resources to finance a share of their educational expenses by undertaking remunerated employment, expending a portion of any savings or assets, and pursuing other sources of support such as parents, families and friends, home congregations, denominations and other ecclesiastical judicatories, and foundation or corporate grants and loans.
The Seminary shall assist qualified students to secure Federal Family Education Loans according to the laws and regulations governing the federal loan programs.
For financial aid from resources in the Seminary's custody, the Seminary shall use the federal methodology that is based on data collected on the United States Department of Education’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form to determine fairly each student's financial need and establish an unbiased standard of allowable expenses.
To equitably distribute financial aid from resources in the Seminary's custody, the Seminary shall consider FAFSA-calculated need and allowable expenses in conjunction with other variables like degree program, enrollment status, funds availability, academic potential or progress, and individual extenuating circumstances when determining the annual award level guideline for student grants or making individual student awards.
Financial aid awards from resources in the Seminary's custody shall not exceed the total cost of tuition, fees and books, except when donor stipulations or verifiable extenuating circumstances dictate otherwise.

Financial Aid Administration

The Scholarship Committee The Scholarship Committee is a joint committee of the faculty and administration that includes in its membership at least the persons holding the following Seminary positions: Dean of the Seminary, Admissions Committee Chairperson, Director of Supervised Ministry and the Director of Student Services. The scholarship committee shall:

monitor and evaluate the general viability of the financial aid program to ensure that the program meets its goals and objectives;
monitor financial aid program policies and procedures to ensure compliance with adopted program standards for student aid from resources in the Seminary's custody; initiate or evaluate proposed changes to program standards or financial aid policies for student aid from resources in the Seminary's custody, and recommend standards or policy changes to the faculty and administrative council;
establish annual award level guidelines for student aid from resources in the Seminary's custody;
evaluate student requests for consideration of extenuating circumstances in determining financial aid awards and, in cases involving documented extenuating circumstances, authorize all deviations from established financial aid policy, award level guidelines or procedural norms;
grant financial aid awards from prerequisite scholarship funds in compliance with donor conditional criteria; and
arbitrate student appeals of scholarship awards or interpretations of financial aid program standards, policies and procedures [Exception: the President shall arbitrate student appeals arising from a decision or action of the Scholarship Committee.]

Financial Aid Policy

Financial Aid from Resources in the Seminary's Custody Gifts from donors for Seminary operating expenses, along with endowment and auxiliary enterprises income, limit the student's share of educational expenses to a fraction of the total cost of providing each student's seminary education. Additionally, generous contributions from churches, foundations, corporations, and individuals provide endowments and restricted funds designated for student financial aid. The Seminary draws from these resources to assist those qualified students who demonstrate that they lack sufficient financial resources to pay the student's share of the cost of a seminary education. The Seminary may, at its discretion, require students who receive financial aid from resources in the Seminary's custody to write acknowledgment letters to individual donors or organizations providing funds to underwrite the Seminary's financial aid program.

The Seminary provides need-based awards from undesignated scholarship funds for need-based general assistance grants. Need-based Seminary awards may apply to a particular semester or session, or to an entire academic year. Rarely do these awards extend beyond one academic year. Consequently, qualified students must apply for need-based financial aid each year. To be eligible for need-based financial aid from Seminary resources, a student must:

be enrolled at least half-time (6 credit hours per semester) in an eligible degree program (M.Div., M.A.T.S.).
demonstrate financial need as determined by analysis of the FAFSA or substantiate extenuating circumstances that obviate or modify the financial need criterion (need-based scholarship only);
provide all documentation required by the Seminary to complete the verification process; and
maintain satisfactory academic progress as defined by the Seminary's satisfactory progress standard.

Federal Family Education Loan Program. Strict guidelines govern access to federally funded student financial aid programs. The Seminary participates in the Federal Stafford Loan Program. This program offer students government-guaranteed loans with low variable interest rates that are disbursed through the student's bank. The Federal Stafford Loan Program offers need-based (subsidized) loans and non-need based (unsubsidized) loans. Subsidized loans do not accrue interest while the student is in enrolled; unsubsidized loans accrue interest from the date at disbursement.

In general, to be eligible to participate in the Federal Stafford Loan Program, a student must:

be a US citizen or national, or a permanent resident of the USor one of its territories;
be enrolled at least half-time (6 credit hours per semester) in an eligible degree program (M.Div. or M.A.T.S.)
provide all documentation required by federal laws and regulations to support the Seminary's certification of the student's loan eligibility; and
maintain satisfactory academic progress as defined by the Seminary's satisfactory progress standard.

Due to the financial circumstances awaiting most seminary graduates, the Seminary advises students to restrict borrowing to an absolute minimum. Debt repayment becomes onerous when a student (or student and spouse) accumulates a combined undergraduate and graduate education debt that exceeds one year's expected family income after graduation. The Seminary's Office of Student Financial Planning is available to discuss family budgeting and provide informal debt counseling.

Financial Aid Application

Standard Documents Required From all Financial Aid Applicants. The New Brunswick Theological Seminary Student Financial Aid Application and the U. S. Department of Education Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) are the core documents for determining a student's eligibility for financial aid. The Seminary annually distributes these forms to students. The FAFSA form is also available at high school guidance offices and at college financial aid offices. All students requesting financial aid must also submit a signed copy of their most recent federal income tax return, or a letter indicating that the student was not required to file, and any other documentation that the Office of Student Financial Planning requests to substantiate student-reported financial data. Some forms of financial aid require additional documentation in support of a student's application. A description of some of the additional documentation required appears in the Types of Financial Aid section below.

Application Deadlines. Each March, the Office of Student Services mails financial aid application packets to returning Seminary students. The filing deadline for returning scholarship recipients is March 31 for the new academic year. New students who wish to apply for financial aid must do so approximately 3 months prior to the Fall or Spring Semesters. The Director of Student Services will first review applications that are received by the priority deadline date. Financial Aid applications received after the deadline date will be reviewed on a funds availability basis. A timely application for financial aid will enhance the student’s ability to plan finances for the upcoming school year.

	New Admit Financial Aid Deadlines
Fall Admissions		Spring Admissions
FAFSA (June 1^st)		FAFSA (November 1^st)
FileCompleted (August 1^st)		File Completed (January 1^st.)

Indirect Seminary Assistance. The Seminary strongly encourages students to pursue outside sources of support such as parents, families and friends, home congregations, denominations and other ecclesiastical judicatories, and foundation or corporate grants and loans. The Office of Student Financial Planning and Seminary and

Rutgers University libraries often have reference books available that list sources of indirect seminary assistance. At the student's request, the Director of Student Financial Planning will write to prospective sources of indirect seminary assistance documenting the student's financial need. Faculty members and administrators are also available to write letters of reference or recommendation for qualified students seeking indirect seminary assistance.

Truth or Consequences. The student's Financial Aid Application, FAFSA form, and supporting documentation constitutes the basis for determining awards from resources in the Seminary's custody and for certifying a student's eligibility for federally funded student aid programs. The Seminary's ability to equitably distribute financial aid to its students and to comply with federal laws and regulations governing the Federal Stafford Loan Program depends on students being candid and truthful when preparing this important documentation in support of their requests for financial assistance.

A student who acquires financial aid from resources in the Seminary's custody by giving incorrect information will be required to pay it back. When the Scholarship Committee determines that a student intentionally provided false or misleading information to obtain Seminary financial aid, the Seminary will cancel the student's financial aid package and prohibit the student from further participation in the financial aid program.

Federal law stipulates that a student who acquires federal aid by giving incorrect information will have to return the money, and may also have to pay fines and fees. A student who obtains federal aid by intentionally providing false or misleading information may be fined $10,000, receive a prison sentence, or both. In instances of student dishonesty in requests for financial assistance, the faculty will take such behavior into account in determining a student's fitness for ministry.

Confidentiality of Financial Aid Documents. Access to student financial information is limited to scholarship committee members and the Office of Student Financial Planning staff. Other Seminary faculty, administrators and staff receive access to this information only as appropriate to their professional responsibilities and established need to know. The Seminary will not release financial information to any other source without the student's written authorization.

Student Need Analysis

Determining Educational Costs. To ensure an equitable distribution of financial aid funds, the Seminary employs the federal methodology that is based on data collected on the FAFSA form and measures the student's ability to pay his or her educational costs. The Seminary also develops annual student aid budgets from established standards of allowable expenses for attending seminary. These budgets include the actual costs of seminary attendance (tuition, fees, and book allowance) and averages for other education-related expenses based on consumption budget norms for New York and northeastern New Jersey developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The annual student aid budgets determine the standard educational cost that the Seminary uses in all financial aid calculations. These budgets do not purport to reflect the actual living expenses of individuals and families; rather, they isolate the total cost to a student and his or her family directly attributable to the decision to attend seminary. These education-related expenses establish a student's eligibility for financial aid except when the scholarship committee determines that substantiated extenuating circumstances warrant adjustments to the standard of allowable expenses. For federally funded student aid programs, federal laws and regulations govern what, if any, adjustments the Seminary may make to the standard of allowable expenses to accommodate documented extenuating circumstances.

Determining the Total Family Contribution. On the basis of the student's reported income and other financial resources, the FAFSA analysis determines the amount that the student must pay from his or her own resources (work earnings, savings, etc.) towards their educational expenses. This amount is the total family contribution. For independent students, the student's and spouse's (if applicable) financial information determines the expected family contribution (EFC).

Determining a Student's Need. A student's need is the difference between the educational costs from the appropriate student aid budget and the FAFSA-determined total family contribution (Student Aid Budget - Expected Family Contribution = Student's Need). When a student's expected family contribution exceeds the student aid budget, the student is not eligible for need-based financial aid. When a student's expected family contribution does not exceed the student aid budget, the student is eligible for need-based financial aid equal to the dollar-amount difference between the student aid budget and the expected family contribution.

Funding a Student's Need. Working together, the Office of Financial Aid and the student secure funding for the student's demonstrated need according to the following order of priority: Indirect Seminary Assistance (parents, families and friends, home congregations, denominations and other ecclesiastical judicatories, and foundation or corporate grants and loans); Seminary Grants; Prerequisite Scholarship Funds; and Federal Stafford Loans.

Annual Award Level Guideline. Each year, the scholarship committee estimates the funds available from scholarship resources in the Seminary's custody and projects aggregate student need for financial aid. Using this information, the committee determines what portion of each student's demonstrated unmet need (for example, 10% of unmet need) the Seminary can afford to finance from Seminary resources. Each student who qualifies for financial aid from Seminary resources will receive a total award not exceeding the larger of that fixed percentage of total unmet need (10% in the example above) or the sum of tuition, fees and book allowance.

The award level guideline applies uniformly to all awards from Seminary resources except when donor stipulations for a prerequisite scholarship forbid this limitation, verifiable extenuating circumstances obviate or mitigate the requirement, or the scholarship committee assigns a unique guideline to a specific type of financial aid.

Student Need and Award Adjustments. A student's projected course load for the academic year is an important factor in determining financial aid awards. Financial aid recipients must continue enrollment at the course load for which the Seminary originally granted or certified student aid. Course load reductions may require a decrease in or loss of grant assistance from funds in the Seminary's custody and may also reduce or eliminate a student's eligibility for loans from the Federal Stafford Loan Program. A student should not reduce his or her course load without first consulting the Office of Student Financial Planning to ascertain the effects of the reduction on the student's financial aid package.

Award adjustments may occur when students receive Indirect Seminary Assistance (outside scholarships) other than those reported on the financial aid application. The adjustments may require a decrease in or loss of grant assistance from funds in the Seminary’s custody and may also reduce or eliminate a student’s eligibility for loans from the Federal Stafford Loan Program. Students should inform the Office of Student Financial Planning when they become aware of Indirect Seminary Assistance awards. The Director of Student Financial Planning will recalculate the student’s award(s). If the additional Indirect Seminary Assistance would reduce the Seminary funded award by $150 or less, no reduction will be made to the Seminary funded award. Federal regulations governing the Federal Stafford Loan Program will dictate any and all reductions to be made to the Federal Stafford Loans.

STUDENT AID BUDGETS FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2003-2004

Category I: Student Residing in Campus Housing

Category II: Student Residing Off Campus

Category III: Student Residing With Parents/Relatives

Expenses	Full-Time Student	Part-Time Student
Tuition	$6,840	$3,420
Student Fees	120	120
Housing	2,767	2,767
Food	2,412	2,412
Books	840	420
Miscellaneous Personal	3,216	3,216
Transportation	1,953	1,953
Total Budget**	$18,148	$14,308
Expenses	Full-Time Student	Part-Time Student
Tuition	$6,840	$3,420
Student Fees	120	120
Housing	3,906	3,906
Food	2,412	2,412
Books	840	420
Miscellaneous Personal	3,216	3,216
Transportation	1,953	1,953
Total Budget**	$19,287	$15,447
Expenses	Full-Time Student	Part-Time Student
Tuition	$6,840	$3,420
Student Fees	120	120
Room & Board Allowance	1,500	1,500
Books	840	420
Miscellaneous Personal	3,216	3,216
Transportation	1,953	1,953
Total Budget**	$14,469	$10,629

**Students who borrow through the Federal Stafford Loan Program will have the cost of insurance and origination fees that are deducted from the loan (3% of the amount borrowed) added to their total budget.

Types of Financial Aid

RCA Tuition Remission. Students who are members of the Reformed Church in

Americareceive an automatic tuition reduction of $75 per credit hour for credits, audits and supervised ministry units. This award reflects the considerable financial support the Seminary receives from its affiliated denomination. The Seminary does not require a financial aid application or any other form of financial documentation from students who wish to receive only the automatic RCA tuition reduction.

Indirect Seminary Assistance. The student assumes primary responsibility for securing financial aid from sources outside the Seminary. When appropriate, the Seminary will assist students in this endeavor with references, recommendations, and certifications of need. Because indirect seminary assistance takes precedence over financial aid from resources in the Seminary's custody and federally funded loan programs, students should secure funding commitments from these sources early in the annual financial aid award cycle. Students who plan to request only indirect seminary assistance, and who do not require Seminary certification of need to secure this funding, are not required to file a financial aid application or provide any other form of financial documentation. Students requiring certification of need must file with the Office of Student Financial Planning the standard documents required from all financial aid applicants.

Prerequisite Scholarship Funds. Certain gifts of endowments and restricted funds, designated for student financial aid, carry conditional prerequisites that define which students may receive such financial aid. Students applying for financial aid from a prerequisite scholarship fund must file with the Office of Student Financial Planning the standard documents required from all financial aid applicants. Students should carefully read the published descriptions of the prerequisite scholarship funds and write a letter of application to the scholarship committee that clearly indicates how the student meets the donor's established prerequisites. If desired, students may attach additional documentation to their letters of application (a faculty member's recommendation, for example) in support of their qualifications for a prerequisite scholarship.

Students' calculated need and award level guidelines govern the amount of assistance a student may receive from a prerequisite scholarship fund unless the donor's conditional criteria dictate otherwise. Generally, awards from prerequisite scholarship funds do not apply to a period longer than one academic year. Students must reapply each year, unless the award notice indicates that the award is automatically renewable.

General Assistance Grants. General assistance grants are by far the most common type of financial aid that the Seminary awards from resources in its custody. Students applying for these grants must file with the Office of Student Services the standard documents required from all financial aid applicants. These are outright need-based awards that the Seminary credits directly to the recipient's account. The annual award is proportionately disbursed at the beginning of each semester based on the student's projected enrollment reported in the Student Financial Aid Application. In addition to the basic general assistance grant there is one other special form of the grant that is described below:

Hageman Scholar Awards. Hageman Scholar awards honor the memory of The Reverend Doctor Howard G. Hageman who held the office of President at New Brunswick Theological Seminary from 1973 until 1985. Hageman Scholars receive a renewable grant of tuition remission to study full-time at the Seminary. Applicants for a Hageman Scholar award must meet the following criteria:

Evidence a strong academic background, with a minimum grade point average of 3.0 from previous undergraduate or graduate studies; (continued)
Evidence exceptional potential for ministry and for leadership in the Seminary community;
Demonstrate characteristics and experiences indicating that the applicant would enrich the classroom environment;
Enroll full-time at the Seminary (32 credit hours per academic year); and
Interview successfully with the Scholarship Committee (new students)

Hageman Scholar awards are renewable for three consecutive years, up to a maximum of nine consecutive terms. The recipient must maintain at least a 3.0 cumulative grade point average and a credit hour load of at least 32 hours in each set of three consecutive terms. The Scholarship Committee may, at its discretion, approve exceptions to the conditions for award renewal when documented extraordinary circumstances warrant.Each year, the Scholarship Committee shall establish guidelines for apportioning Hageman Scholar awards among the various categories of applicants and students. In establishing these guidelines, the Scholarship Committee shall consider the diversity of the communities the Seminary serves and seek to represent that diversity in the student body. The Scholarship Committee must approve all Hageman Scholar awards and shall inform recipients of their awards in a timely manner.

Multiple Awards and Award Limits. Students may receive a financial aid package that includes one or more of the grants described above. Except for Hageman Scholar awards, students' calculated need and award level guidelines govern the total amount of assistance a student may receive. Students' combined awards of all types of financial aid from resources in the Seminary's custody will not exceed the greater of the total cost of tuition, fees and book allowance or the student's FAFSA-calculated unmet need, or apply to a period longer than one academic year, unless the scholarship committee makes an alternative award based on its determination that substantiated extenuating circumstances exist. Since these awards do not normally extend beyond one academic year, qualified students must apply for need-based financial aid each year unless the award notice indicates that the award is automatically renewable. Hageman Scholar awards do not exceed full cost of tuition and are renewable provided recipients continue their eligibility. Hageman Scholar awards may be granted in conjunction with other types of financial aid from Seminary resources.

Seminary Financial Resources for Student Aid. The Seminary makes scholarship awards from two types of financial resources in its custody: restricted donations and endowment earnings. Some donors give scholarship-restricted gifts to the Seminary and direct the Seminary to award those gifts as student financial aid. When the donor names a student to receive the scholarship, the gift is deposited in the Designated Student Aid Fund and immediately credited to the named student’s account. This is an example of Indirect Seminary Assistance. When the donor does not name a student to receive the award, the gift is deposited in the Student Aid Fund to be awarded later as a need based Seminary grant or fellowship. Other donors make scholarship-restricted gifts to the Seminary and direct the Seminary to invest the gift, using the income it earns to make scholarship awards. These are endowment funds. Endowment income finances Prerequisite Scholarships and most of the General Assistance Grants.

Federal Family Education Loans. Students applying for a Federal Stafford Loan must file with the Office of Student Financial Planning the standard documents required from all financial aid applicants. These loan programs also require the student to provide:

any additional documentation required when the federal government selects the student for verification (a random federal audit).
Additionally, students who borrow through the Federal Stafford Loan Program are required to attend entrance and exit student loan counseling sessions.

The Federal Stafford Loan Program is a combined need based (subsidized) and non-need based (unsubsidized) program that provides up to $18,500 a year. (At least $10,000 of this amount must be in unsubsidized Stafford Loans.) Students who demonstrate financial need receive a subsidized loan, (maximum $8500 depending on need), where the government pays the interest charges while the borrower attends school on at least a half-time basis (6 credit hours per semester). Unsubsidized loans are not based on financial need and accrue interest while the borrower is attending school. The borrower begins repayment six months from the date he or she ceases to be enrolled at least half time.

Federal Stafford loans are granted for up to one academic year and are not automatically renewable. Since students may only apply for government loans to meet current academic year expenses, a student cannot use this type of student aid to pay for unpaid account or rent balances incurred in a previous academic year. Students must reapply for Federal Stafford loans each year.

In compliance with federal statutes, students who are currently in default on a federally funded loan or owe a refund on a federally funded grant received for attendance at any institution will not receive or be certified for a Federal Stafford loan through the Seminary unless they can provide proof that they have rectified the aforementioned default. Additionally, no Federal Stafford loan will be awarded to students who are not making satisfactory academic progress toward their degrees.

POLICY CONCERNING SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

Adopted November, 1993; Revised June, 1995

PREFACE

New Brunswick Theological Seminary serves the sovereign God who in Christ, by the power of the Spirit, is redeeming the creation, reconciling a divided humanity, and establishing righteousness on earth. God calls the church of Jesus Christ to discipleship: to proclaim the gospel, to provide ministries of compassion, and to pursue justice and peace. The Seminary's mission is to prepare men and women for educated and faithful leadership in the church, particularly in congregations, and also in specialized ministries serving church and society.

-- from the Seminary's Mission Statement

As Christians, we affirm and give thanks for the goodness of God's creation, including specifically the created goodness of our human sexuality. God has made us male and female, clothed us with bodies, and given us to one another to live in love even as God in Christ loves us. Our sexuality is as vital to our identities as human beings and Christians as is every other aspect of our personalities. We believe that God has created us to live in intimate relationships, and that our intimate relationships--as much as our professional lives--are contexts for proclamation of the gospel, ministries of compassion, and the pursuit of peace and justice.

We believe that healthy, creative, and responsible intimate relationships are marked by mutual nurture and tender regard for one another, respect for individual integrity, shared power, faithfulness, and interdependence. In theological terms, that interdependence is what the Apostle Paul describes as the willing restraint of freedom for the brother or sister for whom Christ died (see 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1). In order for an intimate sexual relationship to seek and maintain these qualities, there must exist within it a relative balance of personal and social power that ensures each individual equal freedom to make choices and to maintain personal integrity.

Particular professional relationships of trust--between employers and employees, between teachers and students, between pastors and parishioners, between supervisors and seminarians, between therapists and clients, and so on--are by definition relationships in which such social and personal power is not in balance. In such relationships one person willingly relinquishes personal and social power to another for the sake of a particular goal: employment, education, spiritual nurture, healing. Because of this dynamic of unbalanced power, itself a potentially healthy and even life-giving dynamic, behaviors which normally belong in intimate sexual relationships cannot be healthy in such contexts and are rather potentially destructive in the extreme.

Even in relationships between peers--in the Seminary community, those between students, between faculty members, between administrators, and so on--in which social and personal power is theoretically balanced, individuals can also sometimes use sexuality and sexual behaviors to exert power, manipulate, or coerce one another, thus encroaching on one anothers’ personal integrity. These, too, are situations, which are potentially destructive.

This policy statement seeks to address both sorts of situations in the Seminary community and to create a context within which right relationships between individuals are nurtured and protected. Its goals are (1) to delineate professional sexual ethics for members of the NewBrunswick Theological Seminary community, (2) to describe the Seminary's institutional commitment to nurture development of those ethics in individuals, and (3) to provide for a just and compassionate process for addressing situations in which those ethics may have been transgressed. This policy applies to behavior in relationships created by virtue of persons' participation in the life, work and programs of New Brunswick Theological Seminary.

I. DEFINITIONS

Sexual misconduct includes the following:

1. Sexual transgression is defined as behavior, which transgresses or crosses the proper boundaries established by professional relationships of trust. Thus, sexual transgression entails engagement, in the context of a ministerial or professional relationship of trust, in behaviors which normally belong in intimate sexual relationships, with the result that trust is broken.

2. Sexual harassment is defined as any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, when:

a. submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment, faculty or administrative status, or academic status;

b. submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as the basis for decisions affecting an individual's employment, faculty or administrative status, or academic status; and/or

c. such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's performance as an employee, administrator, faculty member, or student, or with an individual's educational experience; or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work or educational environment.

3. Child sexual abuse is defined as any adult sexual contact whatsoever with any person under 18 years of age, where the difference in age is more than two years, and as provided for in the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice 2C:24-4, Endangering the Welfare of Children; or 2C:24-7, Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent Person, or in the New York Penal Code 130.55, 130.60, 130.65, Sexual Abuse of a Child; or 130.67, 130.70, Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child; or 260.10, 260.25, Endangering the Welfare of a Child or Incompetent Person.

4. Rape or sexual contact by force or coercion is defined as provided for in the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice 2C:12-10 (Stalking) and 2C:14-2, 3, 4 (Sexual Assault, Criminal Sexual Contact, Lewdness), or in the New York Penal Code 130.20 (Sexual Misconduct); or 130.25, 130.30, 130.35 (Rape); or 240.25, 240.26, 240.30, 240.31, 120.13, 120.14, 120.15 (Harassment and Menacing (“stalking”)); or 245.00, 245.01 (Public Lewdness and Exposure).

II. THE SEMINARY'S COMMITMENT

New Brunswick Theological Seminary, through this policy of the Board of Trustees, commits itself institutionally to provide an environment, which nurtures and protects individuals and their right relationships with one another. To that end:

1. The Seminary will publish this policy in the Student, Faculty and Administration, Staff, and Supervised Ministry Handbooks.

2. The Seminary will provide biennial educational experiences for faculty, administrators, staff, and supervisors, which raise the issues of sexual misconduct and offer constructive and theologically informed ways to discuss them.

3. The Seminary will make participation in an educational experience concerning professional sexual ethics a requirement of its degree programs, beginning with students admitted in the 1994-95 academic year.

4. Because language can either create an environment in which all persons are valued equally, or undermine such an environment, with important consequences for a climate that inhibits or supports sexual misconduct, the Seminary's inclusive language policy is an important part of this commitment. It is published regularly in the Seminary's Student, Faculty and Administration, Staff and Supervised Ministry Handbooks.

New Brunswick Theological Seminary is a Christian community of men and women marked by racial, ethnic, and ecumenical diversity. The way we communicate in written and spoken language expresses our conviction that in Christ "there is neither Jew nor Greek...slave nor free...male and female" (Galatians 3:28). It is, therefore, the policy of the Faculty of New Brunswick Theological Seminary that in our written and spoken language--in course work, worship leadership, and public and internal communication--the full diversity of the people of God be reflected. When speaking or writing about human beings, we do not use gender-specific, racist, or culturally exclusive language; when speaking or writing about God, we employ the full spectrum of biblical and theological imagery for God that includes and goes beyond gender-specific anthropomorphism (action #88-04, adopted February, 1988).

5. The Seminary will provide procedures for resolving complaints of sexual misconduct as defined in section I., "Definitions."

III. PROCEDURES FOR RESOLVING COMPLAINTS OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

A. APPLICABILITY

1.   The following procedures and standards are to be followed in cases of complaints concerning behaviors defined as sexual misconduct in section I., "Definitions."

2.   The following procedures and standards apply to the behavior of trustees, faculty (permanent and adjunct), supervisors and members of lay committees in seminary-affiliated supervised ministry settings, administration, staff and students of New Brunswick Theological Seminary.

3.   The following persons have standing to bring a complaint under this policy: trustees, faculty (permanent and adjunct), supervisors in seminary-affiliated supervised ministry settings, administration, staff, and students of New Brunswick Theological Seminary for themselves and on behalf of their minor children, and the spouses and adult children of students, alumni/ae and other former members of the Seminary community, and members of congregations in which Seminary students are engaged in supervised ministry approved by the Seminary.

4.   Where the Dean of the Seminary is the object of a complaint, the designated grievance officer (see below) shall take the Dean's role as provided in the policy.

5.   Where the President is the object of a complaint, the President's role in these procedures shall be taken by the Moderator of the Board of Trustees.

6.   Where a trustee or supervised ministry supervisor is the object of a complaint under this policy, the President shall appoint a trustee or supervisor (respectively) to the Hearing Board in addition to its regularly appointed members. (continued)

B. COMPLAINT RESOLUTION PROCEDURES

1.   INFORMAL RESOLUTION OF A COMPLAINT

      The complainant may seek informal resolution of her/his complaint by confronting directly, and discussing with, the alleged harasser her/his feelings about the unacceptable behavior, with the object of ending the misconduct informally and privately. If the complainant finds it desirable, she/he can request the Dean of the Seminary, or the designated grievance officer (see Note below), to assist in the informal resolution of the complaint, by naming a competent advocate to accompany the complainant in confronting the alleged harasser. This advocate should be appointed within three working days of the complainant first notifying the Dean of the Seminary or grievance officer. At the time that the complainant requests this action of the Dean of the Seminary or grievance officer, that individual shall inform the complainant of his/her options under this policy. The fact that a complainant claims this option for informal resolution of the complaint in no way restricts his/her right to pursue the formal complaint process outlined in the rest of this policy.

      [NOTE: The President, with the approval of the faculty, shall designate each academic year from among the faculty, administrators, or staff members holding Administrator IV status a grievance officer who is of the other gender from the Dean.]

2.   PROCESS FOR FORMAL RESOLUTION OF A COMPLAINT

a. Initiation of the Process

    The complainant may initiate a formal hearing process by submitting a signed complaint in writing to the Dean of the Seminary or the grievance officer. Ordinarily the complainant should present the complaint as promptly as possible after the alleged harassment or misconduct occurs; however, in cases when circumstances clearly prevented prompt action, the complaint will be received. Upon receipt of such a signed, written complaint the Dean of the Seminary or grievance officer is obliged without exception to forward the complaint to the Chairperson of the Hearing Board within three working days. At the same time the recipient of the formal complaint (whether Dean of the Seminary of grievance officer) shall inform the complainant of their options under this policy, and will provide a copy of the complaint to the charged party immediately.

b. Appointment of Advocates

    Within one week of receiving the written complaint, the recipient (Dean of Seminary or grievance officer) shall appoint an advocate of the complainant's choosing for the complainant and an advocate of the charged party's choosing for the charged party. These advocates shall assist the complainant and charged party in representing themselves in the hearing process. The advocates shall be members of New Brunswick Seminary's faculty, administrators, staff, students, trustees, supervising pastors and their spouses. Although the charged party may consult with an attorney, in no case shall attorneys be permitted to appear as advocates.

c. The Hearing Board

    The Hearing Board is a standing committee of the Seminary. It consists of one faculty member (and an alternate) elected by the faculty, one administrative staff member (and an alternate) elected by the Administrative Council, one support staff member (and an alternate) elected by the support staff, and one student member (and an alternate) elected by the Student Society. The term of office is one case. Members will be elected in the spring for the following academic year. The Board will elect its own chairperson after being composed in the spring. If no member of the Hearing Board is a counseling professional, the Hearing Board shall have the benefit of such a professional as a consultant. Likewise, the Hearing Board shall have the benefit of the seminary's legal advisor as a consultant.

d. Procedures to be Followed by the Hearing Board

(1) The Hearing Board will begin meeting within twenty-one days of receiving the complaint, and report its finding and recommendation for action to the President within ninety days of the submission of the complaint. A copy of its finding and recommendation will be supplied to both the complainant and the charged party.

(2) The charged party will be called upon in writing to appear and defend him/herself.

(3) The complainant and the person charged with misconduct shall both have an opportunity to present whatever evidence and witnesses they deem relevant to the charge and to respond to evidence and witnesses presented by the other party, including cross-examination.

(4) The burden of proof (by the preponderance, i.e., the greater weight, of the evidence) shall rest upon the person(s) bringing the charges.

(5) At any point during the process, the Hearing Board may recommend psychological counseling for either of the parties involved.

(6) Either party shall have the right to challenge the presence of any two members of the Hearing Board on a peremptory basis, or any member for cause. Those persons shall then be replaced by their alternates.

(7) Any person involved in adjudicating a case under this policy who believes that they may not be able to decide the case impartially, or believes that it would appear to others that they are unable to decide the case impartially, may request that the President excuse them from their duties. In the event that the President judges that the person's request for excuse should be granted, he or she shall be replaced by their alternate.

(8) A record of the evidence presented and considered by the Hearing Board must be established and kept. This record shall include a written summary of the evidence and arguments presented to the Hearing Board, audio tapes of all oral argument and evidence presented to the Board, and all written submissions of argument and evidence. This entire record shall remain confidential.

(9) Confidentiality will be respected in all these procedures. The procedures will be private.

(10) After hearing the evidence, the Hearing Board will render a finding. The finding is to be based only on the evidence in the record. On the basis of this finding a recommendation for action will be made as well. Prior to determining its recommendation for action the Hearing Board shall consult with the aggrieved party.

(11)    The finding and recommendation of the Hearing Board shall be approved by three quarter vote and shall be final, subject only to review by the President to assure that proper procedures were followed. If the President finds material procedural errors, the entire matter is to be referred back to the Hearing Board for rehearing

(12)    The President may not change the finding of fact of the Hearing Board, but she/he may modify the recommendation for action. When the recommendation for action proposes steps that require the action of the faculty or trustees, the President, in collaboration with the report writer, shall present the recommendation to those bodies.

(13) If new evidence comes to the President, she/he must refer the case back to the current Hearing Board for a new finding and recommendation. The President must make her/his decision within two weeks of receiving the finding.

C. DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE

1.   A FINDING OF UNSUBSTANTIATED CHARGES

      If the finding is that sexual misconduct did not take place, the President, in consultation with the person falsely charged, shall take steps to remove or alleviate adverse consequences resulting from an accusation, in ways appropriate to the particular case.

2.   A FINDING OF SUBSTANTIATED CHARGES

a. Disciplinary action can be recommended through these penalties or others deemed appropriate. When reporting to the President, the Hearing Board, based on their knowledge of the facts and findings of the case, and in consultation with the victim, shall make a recommendation concerning an appropriate course of disciplinary action, which may include one or more of the options listed below. In addition, the Hearing Board shall make a recommendation concerning the placement of an open notation in the charged party’s personnel file, or in the case of a student, on the transcript, to the effect that confidential disciplinary action was taken under this policy, and that the charged party’s permission is required for detailed disclosure. Further, the Hearing Board may recommend that for a specific time period (e.g. one year, two years, indefinitely) prospective employers be informed of such a notation.

(1) ADMONITION: An oral statement by a representative of the Seminary to the offender that explains what about his/her conduct was wrongful, and that reflects the nature of the offense. This statement should also name expectations for changed behavior. Where the finding in the case concludes that the misconduct arose because the parties involved operated from different cultural assumptions the President may elect, in recording the substantiated charges as provided below, to append a statement in both the open and the sealed record that this was judged due to cultural differences.

(2) WARNING: A notice to the offender in writing that failure to discontinue objectionable conduct forthwith will result in penalties under options (3)-(7) below.

(3) PROBATION: The offender will report to a supervisor within the seminary on a regular basis for a specified period of time. During this time a program of psychological counseling may be either recommended or required, at the offender's own expense.

(4) RESTITUTION: The offender will be required to pay the costs of needed psychological counseling for the complainant for a period of up to two years, but not to exceed a total of $10,000. This option is not intended for use as a sole sanction, but is intended for use in combination with other sanctions listed here.

(5) SUSPENSION: Exclusion from classes or employment or other participation in seminary activities for a definite period of time. The conditions for readmission shall be stated in the order of suspension, including possible psychological counseling for the complainant and/or offender, at the offender's expense.

(6) EXPULSION: Termination of status or employment. This may also involve the withholding of a degree or certificate in the case of students.

(7) REFERRAL TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES: Any substantiated complaint that involves behavior which appears to violate the criminal laws of the State of New Jersey or New York shall be reported to the appropriate law enforcement authorities by the Seminary.

b. The President will receive the finding and recommendation from the Hearing Board, make a determination on procedural correctness, and impose a penalty within two weeks of receiving the finding and recommendation, and under the restrictions noted above.

c. Where the offender, by virtue of ordination or participation in a formal process of ministerial preparation, has accountabilities to denominational authorities and/or a governing body, or is officially engaged by the Seminary to serve on a lay committee in a seminary-affiliated supervised ministry setting, the President shall inform the appropriate denominational authorities and/or the appropriate governing body(ies) that charges have been sustained against the individual in question. The President shall also discuss with the victim and offender the possibility that denominational and/or other policies and disciplinary procedures may apply in addition to the Seminary's policy.

d. If the finding is that the charges are substantiated, and no appeal is filed, a sealed record of the charges and their disposition shall be placed in the charged party's file. Upon the recommendation of the Hearing Board and concurrence of the President, an open notation may be made in the charged party's personnel file, or in the case of a student, on the transcript, to the effect that confidential disciplinary action was taken under this policy, and that the charged party's permission is required for disclosure. The Dean of the Seminary or other personnel officer will inform prospective employers of such a notation according to the terms specified by the President as part of the penalty imposed.

D. APPEAL PROCEDURE

1.   After the President has reviewed the procedural correctness of the hearing process and imposed a penalty where the charges have been substantiated, either party may appeal a decision of the Hearing Board to the Trustees of New Brunswick Theological Seminary. Written intent of appeal must be submitted to the Moderator of the Board of Trustees within two weeks of the President's decision, stating the grounds of appeal. The written submissions for or against the appeal itself must be filed within 30 days of the President's decision. These are to be filed with the Moderator of the Board of Trustees.

2.     The Moderator of the Board shall appoint and convene a committee of the Trustees to review the finding and the records of the original hearing procedure, as well as the written submissions for and against the appeal. The Trustee Committee may either sustain the finding without a hearing or grant a hearing. This Committee will meet within 30 days of the Moderator of the Board of Trustees having received the written submissions for and against the appeal, and shall decide whether to sustain the finding or grant a hearing within two weeks of this meeting

3.     If a hearing is granted, the Moderator of the Board of Trustees shall notify the parties in writing of the date and place of the appeal hearing, which shall be at least two weeks, but no longer than four weeks, from the date of the written notification concerning the hearing. The purpose of this hearing is to receive from both parties oral arguments concerning the appeal.

4.   The appeal is to be based on the record developed before the Hearing Board. The Trustee Committee may review the matter for material procedural errors, may substantively review the finding of the Hearing Board on the merits, and may review the appropriateness of the penalty imposed by the President. The Trustee Committee shall have discretion to remand the matter to the Hearing Board with instructions, or to modify or reverse the decision of the Hearing Board as well as the penalty imposed, if any. If, on appeal to the Trustee Committee, the appellant claims to have come across newly discovered evidence, and if the Trustee Committee is satisfied that the newly discovered evidence is material and could have affected the outcome, the matter shall be remanded back to the Hearing Board for presentation of the newly discovered evidence.

5. A record of the arguments presented and considered by the Trustee Committee must be established and kept. This record shall include a written summary of the arguments presented to the Committee, audio tapes of all oral argument presented to the Committee, and all written submissions of argument. This entire record shall remain confidential.

6.   Confidentiality will be respected in all these procedures. The procedures will be private.

7.   The Moderator of the Trustees shall send written notice of the Trustee Committee's decision to the parties within three working days of the hearing of the appeal.

8.   The decision of the Trustee Committee is final, subject only to review by the Board of Trustees to assure that proper procedures were followed. Such review will be conducted by the Board only upon the request of the complaining or accused party, providing such request is filed with the Moderator of the Board of Trustees within three weeks of the Trustee Committee rendering its decision on the initial appeal. If the Board finds material procedural errors that could have affected the outcome of the proceedings, the entire matter is to be referred back for a new hearing procedure at the lowest level of the process at which the errors were found.

9.   In the case where charges have been substantiated against a General Synod Professor of Theology, and a penalty of dismissal has been imposed, once the appeals provided for in this policy have been exhausted, the professor retains his/her right of appeal to the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America (Book of Church Order, Part IV., Article 8., Section 5.).

10. If no appeal from the decision of the Trustee Committee is made, the Trustee Committee will report to the full Board only that they have heard the case and reached a conclusion.

11. After all appeals have been exhausted, if the finding is that the charges are substantiated, a sealed record of the charges and their disposition shall be placed in the charged party's file. Upon the recommendation of the Hearing Board and the concurrence of the President, an open notation may be made in the charged party's personnel file, or in the case of a student, on the transcript, to the effect that confidential disciplinary action was taken under this policy, and that the charged party's permission is required for disclosure. The Dean of the Seminary or other personnel officer will inform prospective employers of such a notation according to the terms specified by the President as part of the penalty imposed.

SMOKING POLICY

Adopted by the NBTS Board of Trustees on April 30, 1994

Effective June 1, 1994

A Committee to Formulate a Smoking Policy was established December 21,1993 at the request of the Student Society and the Administrative Council. Based upon a 95% response from faculty and staff, and from open discussions among residential and non-residential students, the majority response was that: Zwemer Hall, One Seminary Place (with the exception of the two faculty apartments), Kooy House, Beardslee House and the Sage Library become smoke free environments, and that said policy, upon adoption by the NBTS Board of Trustees at its April 29-30 meeting take effect on June 1, 1994

SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION POLICY

Adopted by the NBTS Board of Trustees on June 20, 1992.

Substance abuse is a modern-day tragedy that imperils the quality of life in our nation and the world. The dimensions of this problem are enormous, with every segment of the population at risk. Substance abuse wastes human potential and amounts to a rejection of God's good gift of life. New Brunswick Seminary is not exempt from either the negative effects of the abuse of drugs or the responsibility to share in preventing this tragedy.

In accordance with the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Amendments of 1989, New Brunswick Seminary is committed to maintaining an environment conducive to promoting the wellness and positive self-development of its students, allowing every member of the community -- students, faculty, administration, and staff -- to study and work free of problems and risks associated with the unauthorized use and abuse of alcohol and the illegal use and abuse of drugs.

Policies on Alcohol and Illegal Drugs on Campus

Students and employees of New Brunswick Seminary are strictly prohibited from unlawful manufacture, distribution, possession, or use of controlled substances on the campus or as part of any Seminary activity.

No person under 21 years of age shall possess, purchase, or consume alcohol on campus.

No person at the Seminary shall offer, give, or sell alcoholic beverages to anyone under 21 years of age.

Students and employees of New Brunswick Seminary are strictly prohibited from consuming alcohol in the workplace or classroom, or reporting to work or attending class under the influence of alcohol or unlawful controlled substances.

Disciplinary Sanctions Violations of the above policies will result in disciplinary action according to the appropriate informal and formal processes outlined in the Faculty and Administration Handbook, the Staff Handbook, or the Student Handbook. Mandatory participation in and successful completion of an approved drug or alcohol abuse rehabilitation program may also be required.

Applicable Legal Sanctions -- Alcoholic Beverages In New Jersey, a person under the legal age of 21 may not purchase or consume alcoholic beverages on premises licensed for retail sale of alcoholic beverages. Likewise, misrepresenting a person's age to purchase alcoholic beverages is unlawful. These provisions constitute a disorderly persons offense which carries a fine of not less than $100. The court may also suspend the person's driver's license for six months and require participation in an alcohol education program. (NJSA 33:1-81)

Obtaining a false I.D. or loaning one's ID card to a person under the age of 21 to assist him or her in the purchase of alcohol is punishable by a fine of up to $300 and imprisonment of not more than sixty days. (NJSA 2C:33:81.7)

Knowingly offering or serving alcoholic beverages to a person under the legal age of 21 or enticing an underage person to drink alcoholic beverages is a disorderly persons offense which carries a fine of up to $1,000 and may require participation in an alcohol education program. (NJSA 2C:33-15)

Anyone under the legal age of 21 who consumes or possesses alcohol in a public place is a disorderly person and will be fined not less than $100 and may be required to participate in an alcohol education program (NJSA 2C:33-15)

A person under the legal age of 21 in possession of or consuming any alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle will be fined not less than $100 and may have his or her driving privileges suspended for 30 days (NJSA 2C33-15). Any person consuming an alcoholic beverage while operating a motor vehicle, or while a passenger in a motor vehicle, will be fined $200 (NJSA 39:4-51a). Operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor (or with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10%), or permitting such a person to operate a motor vehicle, carries a minimum first offense penalty of $250 and 12 hours detainment, loss of driving privileges for at least six months, participation in an alcohol education program (with an $80 fee plus a $50 per day charge), and a $100 surcharge (NJSA 39:4-50; 4-50.8). Any driver operating a motor vehicle on any public road in New Jersey is deemed to have given his or her consent to a breathalyzer test (NJSA 39:4-50.2).

Applicable Legal Sanctions -- Controlled Dangerous Substances Possession of less than 50 grams of marijuana is a disorderly persons offense and carries a fine of up to $1,000 and a jail term of up to six months. Possession of 50 grams or more of marijuana is a crime of the fourth degree and may carry a fine of up to $15,000 and an 18-month jail term (NJSA 2C:35-10).

Possession of a controlled dangerous substance, including cocaine, LSD, heroin, morphine, mescaline, psilocybin, methadone, methamphetamine, or opium is a crime of the third degree and could result in a maximum $25,000 fine and a jail term of three to five years (NJSA 2C:35-10). (For a complete list of controlled dangerous substances see New Jersey Statutes Annotated 24:21-5 through 24:21-8.1.) Possession of an anabolic steroid without a prescription is a crime of the fourth degree and may result in up to an 18-month prison term (NJSA 2C:35-10.1).

Using or being under the influence of any controlled dangerous substance described above, including marijuana, is a disorderly persons offense punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and a jail term of up to six months (NJSA 2C:35-10). Possession or use of drug paraphernalia (all equipment used to plant, manufacture, test, package, inhale, ingest, or otherwise introduce into the human body a controlled dangerous substance) is a disorderly persons offense (NJSA 2C:36-2).

Manufacturing, possessing with the intent to distribute, or distributing an imitation controlled dangerous substance is a crime of the third degree and may result in a fine of up to $100,000 and a jail term of three to five years (NJSA 2C:35-11). Manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, or possessing with the intent to distribute or dispense any of the controlled dangerous substances described above, including marijuana, is unlawful. Most violations carry a mandatory minimum three-year prison term, a mandatory Drug Enforcement Fund assessment, and a mandatory forfeiture of driving privileges (NJSA 2C:45-6, 35-15, 35-16).

Heroin or cocaine in a quantity of five ounces or more or LSD in a quantity of 100 milligrams or more is a crime of the first degree which may result in a fine of up to $300,000 and a ten-to-twenty-year prison term. Heroin or cocaine in a quantity of one-half ounce to five ounces, or LSD in a quantity of less than 100 milligrams, or methamphetamine in a quantity of one ounce or more, or marijuana in a quantity of five pounds or more, or one ounce or more of mescaline, or one ounce or more of psilocybin is a second degree offense punishable by a five-to-ten-year prison term and subject to a fine of three times the street value.

Heroin or cocaine in a quantity of less than one-half ounce, or methamphetamine in a quantity of less than one ounce, or less than one ounce of mescaline, or less than one ounce of psilocybin is a third degree offense which may result in a $50,000 fine and a three-to-five-year prison term.

Marijuana in a quantity of one ounce to five pounds is a third degree offense, which may result in a fine of up to $15,000 and a jail term of three to five years. Marijuana in a quantity of less than one ounce is a fourth degree crime subject to an 18-month jail term. (NJSA 2C:35-5.1).

In addition, distributing, dispensing, or possessing with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance within 1,000 feet of elementary or secondary school property or a school bus is a crime of the third degree and a prison term of one to three years will be imposed (NJSA 2C:35-7). Distributing, or possessing with intent to distribute, drug paraphernalia is a crime of the fourth degree subject to an 18-month prison term (NJSA 2C:36-3). Any person under the age of 18 who delivers drug paraphernalia to a person under the age of 18 commits a crime of the third degree punishable by a three-to-five-year prison term (NJSA 2C:36-5).

Health Risks. While drugs have saved lives, greatly reduced human suffering, and improved the quality of life, they may be misused or abused. Psychoactive drugs act on the central nervous system. They may increase activity (stimulants), decrease activity (depressants), or cause hallucination (hallucinogens). Every drug has multiple effects that depend on the properties of the drug and the dosage taken. When two or more drugs are taken together or in sequence, their effects may be stronger than their additive sum.

The effects of alcohol abuse include automobile accidents; blackouts; gastritis; cirrhosis of the liver; mouth, throat or liver cancer; heart disease; and birth defects in the children of women who abuse alcohol during pregnancy. Below is a partial list of the common health effects of drug use and abuse.

Cannabis (marijuana and hashish)

Signs of Use:

Difficulty concentrating

Euphoria

Short-term memory loss

Dilated pupils

Loss of depth perception

Disciplinary problems

Increased appetite

Effects of Abuse:

Fatigue

Paranoia

Impaired memory

Possible psychosis

Damage to lungs and heart

Reduced immunity

Reproductive difficulties

Stimulants (cocaine and amphetamines)

Signs of Use:

Increased alertness

Excitation

Euphoria

Increased pulse rate

Increased blood pressure

Loss of appetite

Insomnia

Dilated pupils

Effects of Overdose:

Agitation

Increased body temperature

Hallucinations

Convulsions

Paranoia

Anxiety

Brain damage

Coma or death

Depressants (barbiturates)

Signs of Use:

Slurred speech

Disorientation

Drunken behavior

Impaired judgment

Drowsiness

Effects of Overdose:

Shallow respiration

Cold and clammy skin

Weak and rapid pulse

Convulsions

Coma or death

Narcotics (opium, morphine, heroin)

Signs of Use:

Euphoria

Drowsiness

Respiratory depression

Constricted pupils

Nausea

Effects of Overdose:

Slow and shallow breathing

Clammy skin

Convulsions

Coma

Possible death

Counseling, Treatment and Rehabilitation Resources Employees and students covered by the Reformed Church in America Health Benefit Plan may receive benefits for reasonable and customary charges for treatment for an alcohol, drug or chemical addiction, as provided in the current benefit plan contract. Students or employees covered by other plans should contact their insurance provider to determine policy benefits available to them.

Facilities specializing in drug abuse and addiction treatment are listed in the yellow pages under the heading "Drug Abuse and Addiction - Information and Treatment." The Seminary encourages students and employees seeking drug abuse and addiction treatment to consult with their advisors or supervisors respectively for help selecting an appropriate treatment facility. There are also a number of self-help and constituency groups that provide drug abuse and addiction information and referral services:

*Adult Children of Alcoholics* *P. O. Box* *190* *Rutherford, NJ 07070* *201-777-2277* *800-321-7912*	*Ala-Call (toll-free hotline)* *Division of CONTACT 609* *1050 North Kings Highway* *Cherry Hill, NJ 08034* *800-322-5525*
*Al-Anon/Alateen Family Groups* *Information* *Service* *Center* *116 White Horse Pike* *Haddon Heights, NJ 08033* *609-541-0855*	*Alcoholics Anonymous Groups of NJ* *1878 Springfield Avenue, Room 3* Maplewood, NJ 07040 201-763-1415**
*National Black Alcoholism Council* *New Jersey* *Chapter* *525 Orange Street* *Newark, NJ 07107* *201-242-7406*	*NJ Hispanic Commission on Alcoholism* *P. O. Box* *2172* *Edison, NJ 08818* *908-242-7406*
*NJ Task Force on Women and Alcohol* *87 East Front Street* *Red* *Bank, NJ 07701* *800-322-5525*	*Women's Referral Service* *NJ Division of Women, CN 800* *Trenton, NJ 08625* *800-322-8092*

STATEMENT ON CAMPUS SAFETY PROGRAM

NBTS is concerned about the safety and welfare of all campus members and guests. It is the policy of the Seminary to take appropriate measures to identify and guard against hazards to the safety of its people and property. Each person working or studying at the Seminary is asked to be alert to hazards and emergencies. During workdays and evening classes, each department head of professor shall report such hazards to the Office of Finance and Administration, and/or, if warranted to the City Fire or Police Department.

In student residences, the Resident Assistants shall be responsible for notifying the Director of Student Financial Planning and/or the Fire or Police Departments.

All buildings are properly equipped with fire alarms and extinguishers. Staff members, students and the Maintenance Department, in particular, shall promptly report to the Director of Finance and Administration any unusual conditions or acts. The Maintenance Supervisor shall make intermittent inspections of the buildings to assure compliance with safety standards.

The Director of Finance and Administration shall be responsible for review of accidents and measures to prevent them. She/he shall interview persons involved, verify claim forms and take appropriate measures to avoid future accident or loss.

As required in the College and University Security Act of 1988 and the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act of 1990, the Seminary reports annually to its students and employees the incidence of crime on campus. Additional copies of the report are available from the Office of Finance and Administration.