Special Needs of Theological Students

Policy

Pacific School of Religion (PSR) shares a responsibility with the ordaining and commissioning agencies of churches and other religious communities for the determination of a person's fitness for professional religious leadership. This special needs policy and process involves, in part, the School's exercise of this responsibility. Master of Divinity students and other students preparing for ministry agree by their enrollment at PSR to accept the policy and procedures described below as part of their education and to be bound by them. These standards do not preclude the School's application of other policies such as those pertaining to the occupancy of school housing, academic discipline, and student conduct.

Definition: Special Needs

A "special need" refers to any situation or condition that brings into question the personal and professional development of a student and that appears to make necessary consultation and/or intervention which may go beyond the teacher-student or advisor-advisee relationship. This process is designed to assess the need for and possibility of professional development for ministry and whether and how that development is feasible. It is not meant to address matters that are more properly concerns of student conduct policies.

Examples of possible special need situations include but are not limited to: personal and professional difficulties arising from field placement; matters of character, self-understanding or integrity that raise questions about the student's fitness, competencies, readiness or effectiveness for religious leadership; short or long term emotional difficulties that significantly impact the student's ability to attend to personal and professional development.

The primary purpose of this process is to identify needs relevant to the appropriate preparation for ministry, and resources to meet those needs for students in the professional degree programs. Where it does not appear that a student can appropriately attend to those needs, the policy may lead to limits on the range of the student's participation in PSR classes and other activities up to and including temporary removal from classes or permanent expulsion.

Procedures

Complaints

A special need situation is identified by the student himself/herself, other students, faculty or staff, a field education supervisor, or others with whom the student associates, and communicated in writing to the dean of the faculty.

Information Gathering Phase

  1. The dean or the dean's designee will gather preliminary information from relevant sources and decide if the situation warrants the special needs process.
  2. The dean will notify the student's advisor of the special needs situation and meet with him/her and one other member of the PSR faculty or staff (e.g., the DCPC chair or the Director of Academic Advisement), selected by the dean, within five business days following determination of a special needs situation.

Consultative Phase

  1. The information gathering phase leads to a consultation with the student, her or his advisor, and the member of the faculty or staff selected by the dean. A course of action is outlined that defines and deals with the special need.
  2. If the proposed course of action is accepted by the student, a written statement of the proposal, together with a statement of the student's assent, is placed in the advisor's file, the dean's office, and a copy is sent to the student.

Committee Phase

  1. If the proposed course of action is not accepted by the student, or if the dean determines that the course of action is not being followed by the student, the dean shall then convene the special needs subcommittee within 10 business days. The student shall be notified in writing of the convening of the subcommittee.
  2. The special needs subcommittee shall consist of three faculty members appointed by dean for the academic year. The dean will serve as an ex officio member.
  3. The subcommittee shall review the special need, the steps taken to date, and any documentation that is considered relevant. The subcommittee shall choose a chair for its work with each particular student. The dean serves as recorder/secretary. The subcommittee will set a place, time, date within ten business days for an informal hearing with the student.

Hearing of the Special Needs Subcommittee

  1. The student will be informed in writing of a time, date and location for the informal hearing with the special needs subcommittee, at least four business days in advance.
  2. These proceedings may be conducted in the absence of a student who fails to appear after proper notice.
  3. The special needs subcommittee, together with the student's advisor, shall meet with the student in an informal hearing. Formal rules of evidence will not be used. Any person who disrupts the hearing may be excluded.
  4. The student shall have the privilege of presenting to the subcommittee written statements from others with knowledge of pertinent facts or of presenting other pertinent materials.
  5. If a professional psychological evaluation has been requested by the subcommittee, the professional who prepared the evaluation may be requested to appear at the informal hearing and to respond to relevant questions, upon request of any party, if the chair of the subcommittee determines that such participation is essential to the resolution of the case.
  6. The subcommittee may require the attendance of persons from the PSR community. The committee may also request persons from outside the community to be present whose participation is deemed to be necessary to the adjudication of the case.
  7. The student may choose to be accompanied by no more than one person, such as a family member, a duly authorized mental health worker, a member of the faculty or staff, or a fellow student. The student may consult with but not be accompanied by a lawyer. The student shall communicate to the subcommittee chair the name of the person who will accompany him/her to the informal hearing two days in advance of the hearing.
  8. The informal hearing may be tape recorded by the dean or designee. This recording will be available only to the student, the subcommittee and, if needed for appeal, to the president. The president shall store this tape for an appropriate period of time following the resolution of the matter.
  9. When the committee determines by majority vote that it has received all information necessary to its determination, it shall terminate the process and, in private session, render its decision with respect to the matter under consideration.

Reporting

  1. The subcommittee's decision shall be given to the student in writing by the dean or designee within five business days after the completion of the informal hearing. The written decision should contain a statement of reasons for the subcommittee's determination. In the case of a decision for expulsion, the student should be advised as to when or whether a petition for reinstatement would be considered, along with any conditions for reinstatement. The student should also be advised of his/her right of appeal.
  2. If the subcommittee makes a decision not affecting the student's tenure, it shall initiate a process of consultation and/or action which it considers appropriate to meet the student's need. Examples of appropriate action include, but are not limited to the following: special training in study skills; the requirement of additional course work in writing or academic research skills; an appropriate term of psychological counseling; removal from or change of field education or internship placement; specified medical treatment; etc.
  3. When in the judgment of the subcommittee a process has met the student's need, no further action is needed. A brief report shall be made to the faculty, enclosed in the student's file, and destroyed at graduation.
  4. If the subcommittee makes a decision affecting the student's tenure, that is, recommends expulsion or a conditional or non-conditional leave of absence, the chair shall present at the following executive faculty meeting as full a report as needed to inform the faculty of the case. The faculty may accept the report or, if presented with new substantive information, ask the subcommittee to reconsider its decision within 30 days.

Professional Evaluation

  1. After initial review of the situation and at any time during these proceedings, the special needs subcommittee may refer a student for appropriate professional evaluation. For example, a student may be referred to a mental health counselor approved by the School if the subcommittee members reasonably believe that the student has engaged or threatens to engage in behavior which poses a danger of causing physical or emotional harm to self or others, impedes the academic or other lawful activities of others, or would cause significant property damage. Students may also be referred to appropriate medical professionals for evaluation of learning disabilities or other medical conditions. Results of all professional evaluations will be made available to the subcommittee.
  2. Students referred for professional evaluation shall be informed in writing and shall be given a copy of these standards and procedures. The evaluation must be completed within ten business days from the date of the referral letter, unless an extension is granted by the dean in writing. Legal representation will not be permitted during any professional evaluation.
  3. The cost of the professional evaluation is the responsibility of the student.

Immediate Interim Suspension

  1. An interim suspension may be implemented immediately if the dean determines that a student's behavior poses an imminent danger of causing serious physical or emotional harm to the student or others; substantially impeding the academic and other lawful activities of others; or causing significant property damage.
  2. The dean shall determine whether the student will be suspended from classes, campus and/or housing.
  3. A student subject to an interim suspension shall be given written notice of the suspension and shall be given a copy of these standards and procedures.
  4. The student shall then be given an opportunity to appear personally before the members of the special needs subcommittee (or substitute faculty members, if necessary), within five business days from the effective date of the interim suspension, in order to review the following issues only: the reliability of the information concerning the student's behavior; whether or not the student's behavior poses a danger of causing imminent, serious physical or emotional harm to the student or others, substantially impeding the academic and other lawful activities of others, or causing significant property damage; whether or not the student has completed a professional evaluation, in accordance with these procedures.
  5. The student has the right to present a current professional psychological evaluation relevant to any and all of the issues listed above.
  6. When appearing before the special needs subcommittee the student may be accompanied by a family member, appropriate mental health worker, a member of the faculty or staff, or another student.
  7. The student will be allowed to enter campus to attend hearings, or for other necessary purposes, as authorized by the dean.
  8. A student on interim suspension will remain suspended unless and until the suspension is reversed by this subcommittee (defined below).
  9. The dean will notify the student in writing of the decision of the special needs subcommittee.

Appeals

  1. The student may appeal the decision of the special needs subcommittee to the president within ten business days after the dean's written communication of the decision to the student.
  2. The president may consult with the special needs subcommittee and any other persons of his/her choosing. The president shall have access to the tape recording of the proceedings of the informal hearing (if any exists) as well as any documentation pertinent to the case. The president may then meet with the party or parties involved in the complaint. If the president chooses to meet with them, the student or students involved may be choose to be accompanied by a family member, appropriate mental health worker, faculty member, staff member or another student. Students may not be accompanied by an attorney. Students must communicate the name of the accompanying person two business days in advance of the meeting.
  3. The president may affirm the decision of the subcommittee, overrule the decision, or return it to the subcommittee for further consideration and resubmission with appropriate time limits set by the president. The president's decision shall be final and conclusive and not subject to appeal within the institution.
  4. If the matter before the subcommittee is one in which the president is directly involved, then the president shall delegate the review powers described herein to a member of the faculty, administration, Board of Trustees or third party unaffiliated with PSR who is not otherwise involved in the matter.

Confidentiality

Except as legally required, all papers, tape recordings and other documents are confidential and to be kept in the president's office separate from general student records.