Peter Bouteneff
Hee-Gwone Yoo
Assistant Professor of
Dogmatic Theology
Senior Librarian, Slavic Department
St. Vladimir’s Orthodox
Theological
New York Public Library
Seminary
Alexis Klimoff
Robert McHugh, Site Visit Coordinator
Chair & Professor,
Department of
Associate in Higher Education
Russian Studies
NYS Education Department
Vassar College
Office of
College and University Evaluation
Prior to the visit the team
members reviewed a self-study prepared by the Seminary to assess its compliance
with the standards for institutional accreditation by the Regents and the
Commissioner of Education. On site,
the team members observed classes in all major disciplinary areas; inspected
academic facilities, with a focus on the library; talked with students, faculty,
administrators and a trustee; and examined student and faculty folders,
administrative records, course syllabi, graded student papers, and complaint
records.
Team
Recommendation: Accreditation. The team recommends that the Board of
Regents renew the accreditation of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary for seven
years.
Introduction and Summary of
Recommendations
Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary has held degree-granting powers since 1948
and has been accredited by the Regents since that date. The Seminary offers a five-year program
in Theology leading to the Bachelor of Theology (B.Th.) degree. The Seminary also conducts a summer
program in Liturgical Music leading to a Certificate. In the fall 2006 semester the Seminary
had an enrollment of 31 students and a faculty of 10 full-time and 6 part-time
members. All students are male.
General
Observations
Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is the single institution of the Russian
Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) for the preparation of students for the
priesthood and other leadership roles in that Church. The Seminary draws on students from
throughout the world, including the former Soviet
Union. It shares
facilities with the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville but has a separate
building for classrooms, library and administrative activities. Following the prior accreditation review
in November 2001, the Seminary promptly complied with the two conditions
attached to its subsequent accreditation by the Regents for a period of five
years. The conditions were a need
to conduct certified annual audits and publish a complaint policy. The October 2006 team concluded that the
Seminary continues to conduct its programs of study in an academically sound way
within a context of changing Church conditions.
The Seminary has undertaken several initiatives, as an evolving
institution, to strengthen academic structure and practices. It is becoming less embedded
structurally in its monastic community, with the decision of Church authorities
in the fall of 2006 to establish a separate Board of Trustees for the
Seminary. The Seminary has much
enhanced its standing as a resource for research on the history of the Russian
Orthodox Church through sponsorship of an annual international conference on
Church history. It has renewed its
faculty, drawing on scholars from Germany, Russia and the United
States.
It is actively extending its sources of support for institutional
development, for example applying for grants from more than 20 organizations in
the past several years for specific improvement purposes and developing an
annual giving program.
The context for the
Seminary’s changes has been the invigoration of ROCOR, the Seminary’s parent
organization, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the vigorous growth
of religious expression in Russia. The Seminary has, in response,
undertaken great efforts to forge links with Russia’s resurgent Orthodox Church, a
body with which the émigré-dominated ROCOR had refused to deal during the Soviet
period. Today, several of Holy
Trinity’s current faculty are recent graduates of Russian theological
seminaries, and the yearly scholarly colloquia that the Seminary has been
sponsoring have regularly featured the participation of recognized church
historians, theologians, and philosophers from Russia. This new openness, which has
simultaneously included friendly contact with other Eastern Orthodox bodies and
institutions in the U.S., such as St. Vladimir’s Orthodox
Theological Seminary, has created some tension and strain within a Church long
used to virtually complete isolation.
The initiatives of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary were regarded by the
team as a salutary support for a Church-in-exile that is increasing its
engagements with the world-wide community of the Russian Orthodox
Church
Summary of
Recommendations
·
Review ways to assure
satisfactory language competence in both Russian and English as a support for
quality in student learning and development for all students, and implement
changes deemed appropriate and effective for this end.
·
Examine and apply best
practices for effective teaching through peer reviews, collaboration among
colleagues on technology-based and other teaching methods, workshops on
pedagogy, and other professional development activities.
·
Include, in professional
development activities, administrative services and institutional leadership to
provide additional backup and depth in these areas.
·
Continue initiatives to
broaden the Seminary’s base of financial support, as
planned.
·
Continue initiatives to
enhance the accommodations and services for the archives and library.
Institutional Mission
The
institution shall have a clear statement of purpose, mission, and goals that
shall be reflected in the policies, practices, and outcomes of the institution.
Findings. Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary
states its mission as the preparation of students for service in the Russian
Orthodox Church Outside Russia. To
this end it offers a single degree program in Theology for the B.Th. degree,
which prepares students for service to the church as clergy, deacons, choir
directors, iconographers and lay leaders.
Its policies, practices and outcomes embody and reflect this mission.
Recommendation:
None. The Seminary meets the
standard.
Assessment of Student
Achievement
The
institution shall prepare and continuously implement a plan for the systematic
assessment of its effectiveness in promoting the quality of student achievement
and development. Such assessment
plan shall include but need not be limited to: graduation rates and, as
pertinent to institutional mission and programs, state licensing examination
results and job placement rates.
The institution shall provide to the department on request and in all
applications for accreditation and renewal of accreditation, evidence of its
implementation of the plan and its effect on the quality of student achievement
in relation to its mission and goals.
The institution shall
annually submit:
(i)
timely and accurate statistical information as prescribed by the
commissioner;
(ii) additional
specified reports, including data related to persistence and graduation rates,
state licensing examination results, job placement rates, and other evidence of
the quality of student achievement;
(iii) record of
compliance with its program responsibilities under HEA Title IV (including
student default rate data, and the results of audits and program
reviews);
(iv) record of student
complaints and their outcomes; and
(v) other
information pertaining to an institution's compliance with the standards
prescribed in this Part, as determined by the department.
Findings. The Seminary continuously
assesses, through its tight, structured multiple internal controls, its
effectiveness in providing quality in student achievement and development. The Seminary submits its completed
annual data reports and periodic review reports in a timely
way.
Recommendation:
None. The Seminary meets the
standard.
Curriculum
Integrity of
credit
(i)
Each course offered for credit by an institution shall be part of a
general education requirement, a major requirement, or an elective in a
curriculum leading to a degree or certificate.
(ii)
Credit toward an undergraduate degree shall be earned only for
college-level work. Credit toward a
graduate degree shall be earned only through work designed expressly for
graduate students. Enrollment of
secondary school students in undergraduate courses, of undergraduates in
graduate courses, and of graduate students in undergraduate courses shall be
strictly controlled by the institution.
(iii) The
institution shall assure that credit is granted only to students who have
achieved the stated objectives of each credit-bearing learning
activity.
Curricular goals and
objectives
(i)
Institutional goals and the objectives of each curriculum and of all
courses shall be carefully defined in writing.
(ii) Each
curriculum shall show evidence of careful planning. The content and duration of
curricula shall be designed to implement their purposes.
(iii) Course
descriptions shall clearly state the subject matter and requirements of each
course.
Assessment of success in
achieving goals and objectives
There shall be a written
plan to assess, no less than every five to seven years, the success of faculty
and students in achieving institutional goals and curricular objectives and to
promote improvement. Such
assessment shall include systematic collection, review and use of quantitative
and qualitative information about educational programs, including at least some
information that directly addresses learning outcomes, and shall be undertaken
for the purpose of improving student learning and
development.
Program length, credit, and
other requirements for degrees
For each curriculum, the
institution shall assure that courses will be offered with sufficient frequency
to enable students to complete the program within the minimum time for degree
completion for each degree level identified in this paragraph.
(i)
Associate degree programs shall normally be capable of completion
in two academic years of full-time study, or their equivalent in part-time
study, with an accumulation of not less than 60 semester
hours.
(ii) Baccalaureate
degree programs shall normally be capable of completion in four academic
years of full-time study, or, in the case of five-year programs, five academic
years of full-time study, or their equivalent in part-time study, with an
accumulation of not less than 120 semester hours.
(iii) Master's
degree programs shall normally require a minimum of one academic year of
full-time graduate level study, or its equivalent in part-time study, with an
accumulation of not less than 30 semester hours. Research or a comparable occupational or
professional experience shall be a component of each master's degree
program. The requirements for a
master's degree shall normally include at least one of the following: passing a
comprehensive test, writing a thesis based on independent research or completing
an appropriate special project.
(iv) The
master of philosophy degree shall require completion of all requirements for
the degree of doctor of philosophy except the dissertation, and shall require
that the student have been admitted to candidacy in a doctor of philosophy
curriculum offered by the institution conferring the master of philosophy
degree.
(v)
Doctoral programs shall require a minimum of three academic years
of full-time graduate level study after the baccalaureate degree, or their
equivalent in part-time study.
Doctoral studies shall include the production of a substantial report on
original research, the independent investigation of a topic of significance to
the field of study, the production of an appropriate creative work, or the
verified development of advanced professional skills.
Findings. Curricular Organization. The Seminary’s program leading to the
B.Th. degree extends over five years of full-time study. The highly structured curriculum covers
the following areas: 1) Languages (Russian, English Composition, ESL, Church
Slavonic, and New Testament Greek); 2) Russian Literature; 3) History (Russian
History, Church History, Russian Church History, and overview of World
Civilization); 4) Philosophy; 5) Music (liturgical music courses offered during
the academic year and in the summer program); and 6) Theology (Old and New
Testaments, Patrology, Dogmatic Theology, Apologetics, Canon Law,
Homiletics). The curriculum is
supplemented by continuous practical training for ministerial responsibilities
through student service in the church choir, service at the altar, and
participation in other activities which graduates are likely to encounter in
Church life. Practical training is
also provided by the Monastery’s printing press that publishes periodicals in
both Russian and English and to which students contribute as writers,
translators, or editors.
The team found that the
curriculum is well designed to implement its objectives. The team visiting in 2001 suggested
that, because of the Seminary’s small size and relatively isolated location, it
would be desirable to increase the exposure of students to additional
perspectives and scholarship. This
has been accomplished through such activities as invitation of guest lecturers
whose talks are integrated into the Seminary’s curriculum, the sponsorship of
academic colloquia and use of faculty from more varied backgrounds, advanced
study at other institutions by Seminary faculty, and continuing revisions in the
curriculum. Recent modifications to
the curriculum include addition of a foundations course in philosophy,
strengthening of the Greek language component, and use of iconographic art in
teaching language.
There is a standard program of study for each of the five years of the
curriculum. Students can take
advanced courses only upon successful completion of lower-level courses. The academic standing of entering
students with prior college-level education in pertinent areas is determined on
the basis of placement exams and official transcripts from other institutions of
higher learning.
The main curriculum-related issue noted during the visit was that,
because of the more varied nationalities and the monolingual backgrounds of some
entering students (particularly because of the recent admission of more American
students), there may be a need of either more English or more Russian language
instruction for particular students to be comfortable with the language of
instruction and even to persist in study.
While student papers may be written in either Russian or English
throughout the program, the team suggested that a specific level of
second-language competency might be required for admission and/or that a Russian
(or English) intensive language course be required of monolingual freshmen prior
to the first year of instruction.
This question of language, including, over the longer term, the degree to
which the curriculum must be offered in Russian language, reflects the
cross-currents for persistence and change within the Church itself.
Student Assessment. All classes are small in
size (four to ten students), allowing the instructor to maintain a strong sense
of student progress and involvement in learning. All courses have detailed syllabi
outlining course goals and requirements.
The team also noted extensive use of handouts, visual aids, and other
supplementary instructional materials designed to facilitate the learning
process.
The assessment of student
work and progress is consistently rigorous. In order to assure maintenance of an
appropriate academic level, instructors submit drafts of final examinations for
their courses to the Dean for review.
In addition to the final examination, a term paper based on critical
analysis of primary and secondary sources is required for the majority of
non-language courses. As a
graduation requirement, all students must take a comprehensive exam and also
present a thesis. The team noted
that several of the recent final papers and theses they examined resembled
master’s-level work in quality and length.
The high assessment standards at the Seminary are also evident in the
grading system described in the catalog, in grades on examinations reviewed by
the team, and in student transcripts.
There is no tendency toward inflation of grades.
The team concluded that the focus and scope of the curriculum, rigor in
course requirements, instructional quality, and provisions for quality assurance
at the Seminary all meet and exceed college-level expectations.
Recommendation:
·
The Seminary meets this
standard. However, the team recommended that the Seminary review ways to assure
satisfactory language competence in both Russian and English as a support for
quality in student learning and development, and implement changes deemed
appropriate and effective to this end.
Faculty
Competence and
credentials
(i)
All members of the faculty shall have demonstrated by training, earned
degrees, scholarship, experience, and by classroom performance or other evidence
of teaching potential, their competence to offer the courses and discharge the
other academic responsibilities which are assigned to
them.
(ii) At
least one faculty member teaching in each curriculum culminating in a bachelor's
degree shall hold an earned doctorate in an appropriate field, unless the
department determines that the curriculum is in a field of study in which other
standards are appropriate.
(iii) All faculty
members who teach within a curriculum leading to a graduate degree shall possess
earned doctorates or other terminal degrees in the field in which they are
teaching or shall have demonstrated, in other widely recognized ways, their
special competence in the field in which they direct graduate
students.
Adequacy to support
programs and services
(i)
The faculty shall be sufficient in number to assure breadth and depth of
instruction and the proper discharge of all other faculty
responsibilities.
(ii) To
foster and maintain continuity and stability in academic programs and policies,
there shall be in the institution a sufficient number of faculty members who
serve full-time at the institution.
(iii) For each
curriculum the institution shall designate a body of faculty who, with the
academic officers of the institution, shall be responsible for setting
curricular objectives, for determining the means by which achievement of
objectives is measured, for evaluating the achievement of curricular objectives,
and for providing academic advice to students.
(iv) The ratio
of faculty to students in each course shall be sufficient to assure effective
instruction.
Evaluation and professional
responsibilities
(i)
The teaching and research of each faculty member, in accordance with the
faculty member's responsibilities, shall be evaluated periodically by the
institution. The teaching of each
inexperienced faculty member shall receive special supervision during the
initial period of appointment.
(ii) Each member
of the faculty shall be allowed adequate time, in accordance with the faculty
member's responsibilities, to broaden professional knowledge, prepare course
materials, advise students, direct independent study and research, supervise
teaching, participate in institutional governance and carry out other academic
responsibilities appropriate to his or her position, in addition to performing
assigned teaching and administrative duties.
Findings. Qualifications. Faculty are adequately credentialed and
experienced to teach their assigned courses and implement the Seminary’s
mission. There has been a notable
strengthening of faculty credentials.
In 2006, thirteen of the 16 faculty
have at least a master’s degree, compared to six of 17 with the master’s
degree in 2001. As in the past, the
team’s findings that instruction and student outcomes are clearly consistent
with standards for institutions of higher learning suggests satisfactory
underlying faculty expertise.
Since the Seminary is
closely attached to the community of Holy Trinity Monastery, a substantial part
of instruction is conducted by members of the monastic brotherhood. This adds a unique opportunity to convey
liturgical as well as theological knowledge, which comes not only from formal
academic study, but also from practical experience and the continuous study of
the Russian Orthodox faith. This
continuing immersion in the distinctive religious life of the Russian Orthodox
Church is an essential contribution to the proper understanding of theology in
support of the Seminary’s mission.
Adequacy to Support the Program. The number of faculty members is
sufficient for the Seminary’s curricular goals. The low faculty/student ratio of about
1:2 is one of the strengths of the Seminary. The residential nature of the
institution also assures that students have continuous access to faculty for
consultations outside of the classroom.
The faculty as a group, have sufficient continuity of service. Despite
the generational shift in staffing, eight of the faculty have five or more years
of service. The several visiting
professors from institutions in the U.S., Russia, Germany, and other countries
contribute much to the assurance of quality in the program.
Instruction, Evaluation, and Professional Development. Evaluation does occur continuously, for
example through the review of all final examinations before they are given and
through student course evaluations. However, the Seminary has not engaged in a
comprehensive faculty evaluation process. The team concluded, that a more formal
evaluation process is desirable, particularly in the context of professional
development with an emphasis on pedagogy.
The team members observed varied teaching styles and levels of engagement
in their visits to classes. Most
classes were carefully prepared and engaged their students, other classes
appeared not so well organized in content or thoughtful in delivery. The quality of teaching was excellent in
some instances and satisfactory overall, but mixed. Accordingly, the team concluded that
additional attention should be paid to the development of effective pedagogy for
the increasingly diverse faculty.
The team was particularly impressed by the application of technology
based pedagogy in a Russian literature class they
observed.
Several faculty members have, in recent years, advanced their
professional qualifications by enrolling in graduate programs at SUNY Albany,
St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, and other graduate institutions.
Faculty members also participate on a regular basis at theological conferences
both in the USA and abroad and contribute
actively to periodicals with a wide international
circulation.
The Seminary’s and Monastery’s production of periodicals and theological
publications also complements the theological curriculum. Many of the faculty members serve as
editing or contributing members of these publications, and several are actively
involved in research and translations for the Seminary’s journals.
To ensure that future
generations of faculty continue to provide a high academic standard, the
Seminary has the following policies:
·
All instructors in the
areas of languages and history are expected to have graduate degrees or be able
to demonstrate continuing academic work on the graduate
level.
·
Faculty members are
encouraged to participate in theological or academic conferences pertaining to
their specific field of instruction.
(Faculty members do, in fact, regularly attend and contribute to
theological and liturgical music conferences in Orthodox communities around the
world.)
·
The Seminary encourages and
supports continuing faculty education.
The team endorsed these
policies as a baseline of good practice and important components of
institutional self-assessment and renewal but recommends additional activities
to strengthen practice.
Recommendation:
·
The Seminary meets this
standard. However, the team
recommended that the Seminary examine and apply best practices for effective
teaching through peer reviews, collaboration among colleagues on technology
based on other teaching methods, workshops on pedagogy, and other professional
development activities.
Resources
Fiscal
Capacity
The institution shall
possess the financial resources necessary for the consistent and successful
accomplishment of its mission and objectives at the institutional, program and
course levels.
Findings. The Seminary has adequate
financial resources to conduct its academic program. The Seminary is steadily progressing in
its efforts to diversify and extend financial support. For example, annual giving increased
each year from $55.5K in 2002-03 to $97.8K in 2005-06. Efforts to obtain grants for particular
projects are beginning to be successful.
The establishment of a separate Board of Trustees is expected to result
in increasing annual giving as well as specific bequests. The combined net assets of the Monastery
and Seminary are about $6.5M in 2006, an increase of about 200K over
2005.
Recommendation:
·
The Seminary meets this
standard. The team recommended that
the initiatives to broaden the Seminary’s base of financial support be pursued,
as planned.
Facilities
Facilities, equipment, and
supplies
(i)
The institution shall provide classrooms, administrative and faculty
offices, auditoria, laboratories, libraries, audio-visual and computer
facilities, clinical facilities, studios, practice rooms, and other
instructional resources sufficient in number, design, condition, and
accessibility to support its mission, goals, instruction, programs, and all
other educational activities.
(ii) The
institution shall provide equipment sufficient in quantity and quality to
support administration, instruction, research, and student
performance.
Findings. The facilities of the Seminary are
adequate in number, kind, and condition.
Though basic in number and furnishing, classrooms and offices in the main
academic facility are adequate to support the Seminary’s mission. As noted in the following section on
“Library”, the Seminary’s facility priority is a new or expanded library. Expansion of this space will free up
spaces for teaching and academic services.
Recommendation:
·
The Seminary meets this
standard. The team encourages
continued initiatives to enhance the accommodations and services for the
archives and library.
Library
Library and information
resources
(i)
The institution shall provide libraries that possess and maintain
collections and technology sufficient in depth and breadth to support the
mission of the institution and each curriculum.
(ii)
Libraries shall be administered by professionally trained staff supported
by sufficient personnel. Library services and resources shall be available for
student and faculty use with sufficient regularity and at appropriate hours to
support the mission of the institution and the curricula it
offers.
Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary’s library
is well organized and frequently used by the Seminary’s students and faculty
during business hours. The online
catalogue has been updated to be searchable anywhere via the Internet, following
the recommendation of a previous review team in 2001. The Seminary’s library enthusiastically
participates in and provides materials for the academic program and
international conferences.
Collection. The library of Holy Trinity Orthodox
Seminary is comparable to similar theological seminaries in the Greater New York
Metropolitan area in terms of the size of its collections, variety of reference
materials, online catalogue system, and physical facility. When specific collection gaps are
identified by faculty, requested materials are purchased and put on the
shelf. Faculty of the Seminary
report being satisfied with the library’s provision of class textbooks each
semester. The Seminary’s library
has approximately 50,000 volumes, including 325 periodical titles, microfilms
and microfiches. The library
currently subscribes to approximately 100 scholarly and theological
journals. It also holds strong
retrospective reference collections related to religious and academic themes
(e.g., Pravoslavnaia entsiklopediia
[Orthodox Encyclopedia], or Russkii
biograficheskii slovar [Russian Biographical Dictionary]). Team members suggested, however, that in
the areas of contemporary English translations of Church Fathers and books by
contemporary Orthodox theologians, there were some gaps or
limitations.
Collection
Development. When specific collection gaps are
identified by faculty, the materials are regularly purchased. In order to regularize its collection
development, the Library now has a contract with an outside vendor - the
Rudomino Library of Foreign Literature in Moscow - to provide the Seminary with
lists of new publications in Russian relevant to the Seminary’s curriculum. For the English and Russian émigré
collection improvement, the Library has also contracted with publishers and
vendors in the USA. In 2005, the Seminary library
acquisitioned ca. 350 titles. All
texts for each semester are provided by the Seminary’s library to seminarians at
the start of classes; the faculty report being satisfied with this system. Duplicate items are exchanged with other
libraries.
The Monastery has rich
archival holdings of rare books, printed Bibles, and periodicals, some of which
are imperial association copies from various Russian royal libraries. A copy of the Chetveroevangelie [The Gospels] printed
in 1564 is one of its greatest rarities.
However, these valuable materials have been stored improperly due to
space shortage. Seminary students
have had limited access to these archival resources, but are beginning to help
identify and classify them.
The Seminary’s own archives
are located on the third floor of the Seminary building. This collection totals more than 400
linear feet of documents and personal archives. Among its rarities are original
photographs from the Russian Imperial family. One faculty member has worked part-time
to manage these archival sources.
An inventory of archival lists has been developed, and some materials
have been rehoused in acid-free boxes.
However, many of the archival collections are embrittled and in poor
condition, and require conservation and proper storage
conditions.
Equipment and Staffing.
The previous review team recommended that the Seminary’s library place a
link to the catalog on the Seminary’s home page. Today, the Library’s Online Public
Access Catalogue includes over 75 percent of the Seminary’s library collection,
searchable through computers anywhere.
For example, when a reader types the words “Orthodox Eastern Church” as a
subject search in the online catalogue, records for 375 items are
retrieved. The Seminary is a member
of The Central New York Library Resources Council, known as CLRC, which makes
inter library loan available to seminarians. In addition, through OCLC’s WorldCat
database within FirstSearch (a union catalog for libraries), students and
faculty are able to conduct advanced searches nationwide for possible
interlibrary loan.
Nine computers are available for use by students and faculty at the
Seminary’s reading room. Printers
and photocopy machines are also provided in the library. Personal laptops may be connected
through the library’s Ethernet ports in the reading room.
A professional librarian has been recently hired to work approximately 35
hours per week at the library, with responsibility for both copy and original
online cataloging, as well as staffing the reference desk. In addition, a member of the monastic
community is in charge of all routine computer duties, such as management of
interlibrary loans with other institutions, upgrading the web-site and hardware,
and monitoring the e-mail listserv for Slavic librarians (Slavlibs).
While adequate to support the Seminary’s curriculum, the library and
archives, taken together, need more and improved space for preservation and for
use as a resource for students, faculty and the international scholarly
community. The team strongly
endorsed the Seminary’s initiatives to obtain grants for archival preservation,
organization, and use.
Recommendation:
·
The Seminary is in
compliance. However, see
Recommendation under Facilities.
Administration.
Responsibilities.
i.
Responsibility for the
administration of institutional policies and programs shall be clearly
established.
ii.
Within the authority of its
governing board, the institution shall provide that overall educational policy
and its implementation are the responsibility of the institution's faculty and
academic officers. Other appropriate segments of the institutional community may
share in this responsibility in accordance with the norms developed by each
institution.
iii.
Academic policies
applicable to each course, including learning objectives and methods of
assessing student achievement, shall be made explicit by the instructor at the
beginning of each term.
iv.
The institution shall
provide academic advice to students through faculty or appropriately qualified
persons. The institution shall assure that students are informed at stated
intervals of their progress and remaining obligations in the completion of the
program.
v.
The institution shall
maintain for each student a permanent, complete, accurate, and up-to-date
transcript of student achievement at the institution. This document will be the
official cumulative record of the student's cumulative achievement. Copies shall
be made available at the student's request, in accordance with the institution's
stated policies, or to agencies or individuals authorized by law to review such
records.
Published
policies.
The institution shall
establish, publish and enforce explicit policies with respect
to:
vi.
academic
freedom;
vii.
the rights and privileges
of full-time and part-time faculty and other staff members, working conditions,
opportunity for professional development, workload, appointment and
reappointment, affirmative action, evaluation of teaching and research,
termination of appointment, redress of grievances and faculty responsibility to
the institution; and
viii.
requirements for admission
of students to the institution and to specific curricula, requirements for
residence, graduation, awarding of credit, degrees or other credentials,
grading, standards of progress, payment of fees of any nature, refunds,
withdrawals, standards of conduct, disciplinary measures and redress of
grievances.
Findings. Responsibilities and Published
Policies. The requirements for this standard are
met, within the context of the distinctive organization and mission of the
Seminary. Academic advice is
provided to students, transcripts are maintained and provided, and policies are
published. As noted elsewhere, the
Seminary is developing a Board of Trustees separate from the governance
structure of the Monastery which has been deemed satisfactory in the past for
purposes of compliance with this standard.
The Development of a separate Board is expected to assist in broadening
the Seminary’s base of financial and other support and is regarded as salutary
by the team.
Responsibility for the administration of the Seminary rests principally
with the Dean and Assistant Dean.
These officers have been remarkably effective in leading a substantial
transition in scope of activities, staffing, and student body, while maintaining
fidelity to the Seminary’s central mission and tradition. The team expressed concern that, as a
small institution, it has vulnerability to changes in key personnel,
particularly in the position of Dean and Assistant Dean, and noted the
importance of backup training and planning for continuity in the capable
leadership the Seminary has enjoyed.
Recommendation: The Seminary meets the standard. The team suggests that, the Seminary’s
professional development activities include administrative services and
institutional leadership to provide additional backup and depth in these
areas.
Admissions and Support
Services
(1) The
admission of students shall be determined through an orderly process using
published criteria that shall be uniformly applied.
(2)
Admissions shall take into account the capacity of the student to
undertake a course of study and the capacity of the institution to provide the
instructional and other support the student needs to complete the
program.
(3) Among other
considerations, the admissions process shall encourage the increased
participation in collegiate programs at all levels of persons from groups
historically underrepresented in such programs.
The institution shall
assure that whenever and wherever the institution offers courses as part of a
curriculum it shall provide adequate support services, taking into account its
mission and the needs of its students.
Findings. Admission is based on the Seminary’s
mission of preparing students for service to the Russian Orthodox Church. The essential admissions test is an
applicant’s commitment to this service.
The Seminary also has clear academic standards for admission, including a
high school diploma. Team reviews
of students’ folders found satisfactory documentation and adherence to
admissions standards. In practice,
many students enter the Seminary with substantial prior study in institutions of
higher education in the United States and elsewhere.
As an institution of religious education, the Seminary provides intensive
personal counseling to all students.
The academic progress of all students also is carefully monitored by
individual instructors and academic administrators. In a small monastic community no student
is “lost.”
Recommendation:
None. The Seminary meets this
standard.
Consumer Information and
Advertising
The following information
shall be included in all catalogs of the institution:
(1) Information
shall be provided on financial assistance available to students, costs of
attending the institution, the refund policy of the institution, and the
instructional programs and other related aspects of the institution. Information shall include programs of
financial assistance from State, Federal, institutional and other
sources.
(2) Cost of
attending the institution for each of the cost categories listed below shall be
provided. Estimates, so indicated,
may be used where exact figures are unavailable or inappropriate. Where summary information is provided,
an institutional office where detailed information can be obtained shall be
identified.
(i)
Tuition and fees. Information shall be provided on all assessments
against students for direct educational and general purposes. A brief description of the purpose of
any mandatory fee shall be included if the purpose of such fee is not apparent
from its name. Course fees and lab
fees shall be clearly identified.
Conditions under which nonmandatory fees need not be paid shall be
clearly stated.
(ii)
Books and
supplies. Estimated costs of textbooks, books,
manuals, consumable supplies and equipment, which a student should possess as a
necessary corollary to instruction, shall be provided. Separate estimates shall be provided for
major program categories for which such costs vary more than 25 percent from the
average for the entire institution.
(iii) Room and
board. Costs of housing and
food services operated by the institution shall be provided where such services
are available. Estimated costs of
similar accommodations available in the community shall also be provided. These figures shall be consistent with
estimated student budgets prepared by the institution's financial aid
office.
(iv) Other
living expenses. Estimated cost
of personal expenses applicable to students devoting primary efforts to pursuit
of educational objectives shall be provided. This estimate shall be consistent with
similar figures defined by the institution's financial aid
office.
(3) The
instructional programs of the institution shall be described
accurately.
(i)
Degree, certificate and diploma programs. A list of degree, certificate and
diploma programs shall be provided.
The list shall be consistent with the inventory of registered degree and
certificate programs maintained by the Department. The list shall contain at least the
official approved program title, degree, HEGIS code number, and shall be
preceded by a statement that enrollment in other than registered or otherwise
approved programs may jeopardize a student's eligibility for certain student aid
awards.
(ii)
Program descriptions.
Each degree, certificate or diploma program shall be described in terms
of both prerequisites and requirements for completion.
(iii) The
academic year in which each instructional offering (course) is expected to
be taught shall be indicated.
(iv) Program
related facilities. A general
description of instructional, laboratory and other facilities directly related
to the academic program shall be provided, in addition to general information
describing the total physical plant.
Narrative and/or statistical information shall be provided about library
collections and facilities, student unions, and institution-operated
eating-places. Hours of operation,
including holiday and vacation schedules, shall be
provided.
(v)
Faculty and other instructional personnel. Regular resident faculty shall be listed
by rank, with the highest degree held by the faculty member and the institution
by which such degree was granted, and department or major program area to which
such member is assigned. An
estimated number of adjunct faculty and teaching assistants in each department
or major program area shall be provided.
(vi)
Recruiting and admission practices. The process and criteria for the
recruitment and admission of students to the institution and to specific
curricula, as required by subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (f)
of this section and by subdivision (h) of this section, shall be published.
(vii) Academic
calendar. The academic calendar
of the institution, and of specific curricula, if different, shall be
published.
(viii)
Grading. The grading
policy of the institution, and of specific curricula, if different, shall be
published.
(ix) Student
retention and graduation.
Information on student retention and graduation rates shall be provided
based on a summary of the most recent cohort survival statistics (e.g.,
percentages of those students enrolled at the end of the spring term,
percentages of freshman classes that graduate in four, five and six years)
available to the institution for at least full-time undergraduates. Statistics shall be computed in a manner
consistent with data reported to the department through its higher education
data system.
(x)
Outcomes for former students. Summaries of employment outcomes,
advanced study, and student professional and occupational licensing examination
results compiled by or provided to the institution shall be provided. The student cohort year or years, or
date of examinations shall be included.
Data displays on employment outcomes shall be by major or discrete
curricular area.
Advertising
(i)
Advertising conducted by or
on behalf of an institution shall not be false, misleading, deceptive, or
fraudulent and shall be consistent with the provisions of Article 22-A of the
General Business Law. Advertising
and promotional material shall not leave false, misleading, or exaggerated
impressions of the institution, its personnel, its facilities, its courses and
services, or the occupational opportunities of its
graduates.
(ii)
The primary emphasis of all
advertisements and promotional literature shall be the educational services
offered by the institution. Such
advertising and promotional literature shall clearly indicate that education,
not employment, is being offered by the institution.
(iii)
Statements and
representations in all forms of advertising and promotion shall be clear,
current, and accurate. To the
extent that statements of facts are made, such statements shall be restricted to
facts that can be substantiated.
Materials to support statements and representations in advertising and
promotion shall be kept on file and shall be available for review by the
Department.
(iv)
Any endorsement or
recommendation shall include the author’s identity and qualifications and shall
be used only with the author’s consent.
No remuneration of any kind for any such endorsement or recommendation
shall be paid for such endorsement or recommendation.
(v)
References to the New York
State Board of Regents in any advertisement or promotional literature shall
comply with the requirements of Section 13.11 of this title and subdivision (m)
of this Section [§4-1.4 of the Rules of the Board of
Regents].
Findings. Consumer information is
satisfactorily provided in accordance with the Seminary’s mission, policies and
practices. The Seminary does not
advertise; its literature accurately describes the institution’s mission,
policies and practices.
Recommendation:
None. The Seminary meets this
standard.
Student
Complaints
(1) The
institution shall establish, publish, and consistently administer internal
procedures to receive, investigate, and resolve student complaints related to
the standards prescribed in this Part.
(2) The
institution may have informal means by which students can seek redress of their
complaints.
(3) The
institution shall have a formal complaint procedure that shall include, but need
not be limited to: steps a student may take to file a formal complaint;
reasonable and appropriate time frames for investigating and resolving a formal
complaint; provision for the final determination of each formal complaint to be
made by a person or persons not directly involved in the alleged problem; and
assurances that no action will be taken against the student for filing the
complaint.
(4) The
institution shall maintain adequate documentation about each formal complaint
and its disposition for a period of at least six years after final disposition
of the complaint. Assessment of the
disposition and outcomes of complaints shall be a required component of any
self-study required by this Part and shall be a consideration in any review for
accreditation or renewal of accreditation.
Findings. All student complaints are
individually assessed. There is a
structured appeal process in accordance with the requirements in the Regents
standards and a policy of maintaining a record of complaints for at least six
years.
Recommendation:
None. The Seminary meets this standard.
HEA Title IV Program
Responsibilities
(1)
Information provided to the department by the Secretary concerning the
institution's compliance with its HEA Title IV program responsibilities,
including but not limited to annual student default rate data, financial or
compliance audits conducted annually by the Secretary, and program reviews
conducted periodically by the Secretary, shall be a consideration in a review
for accreditation or renewal of accreditation, or in an enforcement review.
(2) An
institution shall have a procedure in place to ensure that it is in compliance
with its program responsibilities under Title IV of the HEA and shall maintain a
record describing such procedure.
(3) An
institution shall maintain a record of its compliance with its program
responsibilities under Title IV of the HEA over the previous 10 years, unless
the department determines that there is good cause for a shorter records
retention period. This record shall include: student default rate data provided
annually to the Secretary by the institution; financial or compliance audits
conducted annually by the Secretary; and program reviews conducted periodically
by the Secretary. The institution
shall submit information from this record of compliance to the department on a
periodic basis as determined by the department.
Findings. Not applicable.
Recommendation:
None.
Teach-Out
Agreements
Any teach-out agreement
that an institution has entered into with another institution or institutions
shall be submitted to the department for approval. To be approved, such agreement
shall:
(1)
between or among institutions that are accredited or pre-accredited by a
nationally recognized accrediting agency;
(2)
ensure that the teach-out institution(s) has the necessary experience,
resources, and support services to provide an educational program that is of
acceptable quality and reasonable similar in content, structure, and scheduling
to that provided by the closed institution;
(3)
ensure that the teach-out institution(s) can provide students access to
the program and services without requiring them to move or travel substantial
distances.
Findings. Not applicable.
Recommendation:
None.
Public Disclosure of
Accreditation Status
An institution that elects
to disclose its accreditation status shall disclose such status accurately and
include in its disclosure the specific academic and instructional programs
covered by that status and information identifying the commissioner and the
Board of Regents as its institutional accrediting agency. Such information shall include the
address and telephone number of the department.
Findings. The Seminary accurately discloses
its accreditation by the New York State Broad of Regents.
Recommendation:
None. The Seminary meets this standard.
Attachment B
Rules of the Board of Regents
Subpart 4-1,
Voluntary Institutional Accreditation for Title IV Purposes
§4-1.2 Definitions.
As used in the Subpart:
(a) Accreditation means the status of public
recognition that the Commissioner of Education and the Board of Regents grant to
an educational institution that meets the standards and requirements prescribed
in this Subpart.
(b) Accreditation action means
accreditation, accreditation with conditions, probationary accreditation,
approval of substantive changes in the scope of accreditation, and denial,
revocation, or termination of accreditation.
(c) Accreditation with conditions means
accreditation that requires the institution to provide reports and/or submit to
site visits concerning issues raised in a review for accreditation, provided
that such issues do not materially affect the institution’s substantial
compliance with the standards and requirements for accreditation.
(d) Adverse action or adverse accreditation action means
suspension, withdrawal, denial, revocation, or termination of accreditation or
preaccreditation.
(q) Probationary
accreditation means accreditation for a period of time, not to exceed two
years, during which the institution shall come into compliance with standards
for accreditation through corrective action.
