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ARTICLE VI
CRITERIA OF MEMBERSHIP STANDARDS REQUIRED FOR
MEMBERSHIP IN THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BIBLE
COLLEGES AND SEMINARIES
The main purpose of an association is for the
purpose of setting up and maintaining acceptable
academic standards and securing
recognition of those standards. Therefore, standards
in curricula, faculty, and administration, as well
as doctrine, must be considered.
Standards for membership shall be subject to
revision and change as process warrants.
Section 1. Legal Constitution
All institutes must be legally established as
non-profit institutions and be so operated.
Section 2. The Objectives
- The institutions should have clearly defined
objectives and purposes for the institution as a
whole and for each educational
department or program. It is only by this means
that an institution can be correctly evaluated.
These objectives should be consistently carried
out in its program.
- Some institutional objectives should be as
follows
- To develop a vital
Christian experience and a mature,
wholesome personality.
- To give each student a
comprehensive knowledge of the Bible and an
understanding of the Christian faith.
- To broaden the general
education of the student as a Christian citizen
and Christian worker.
- To arouse a keen
realization of his responsibility to present
Christ to a lost world.
- To prepare students to
serve in some sphere of Christian service.
- To develop the
abilities of the student to express the message
of God by word and life.
- To foster Christian
culture in terms of refinement and social
attitudes and skills.
Section 3.
Doctrine Standards
- All
institutions holding membership in this
association shall officially subscribe in
writing annually to the Doctrinal Statement set
forth in the Constitution of this association.
Section 4.
Standards-based Program of Education
- A common course numbering system should
exist
- 100 – 400
undergraduate courses
- 500 – 800
graduate/post-graduate courses (includes M.Div.
& D. Min. programs)
- 900 – 1000 advanced
post-graduate courses
- Two basic types of programs would be
represented in the Association:
- Church-based programs
- Independent (not
connected to a church’s ministry)
- Degrees should not include Arts or Science
nomenclature without the general education
component, the approval of the institution’s
State Department of Education or its equivalent
and a religious modifier; consider the following
examples:
- Without “Arts” or
“Science”: “Bachelor of Biblical Studies”
- With approval for
“Arts” and “Science”: “Bachelor of Religious
Arts” or “Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies.”
- Specific program outlines need to be
developed based on structure (the following are
only examples); suggested program hours with
courses consisting of either general education,
core, or elective dependent on level:
1. One-year program:
- 30 semester hours
- 48 quarter hours (1.6
quarter hours = 1 semester hour)
2. Two-year program:
Associate of…..
- 60 semester hours
- 96 quarter hours
3. Third-year program: Diploma of…..
- 90 semester hours
- 144 quarter hours
4. Fourth-year program: Bachelor of…..
- 120 semester hours
- 182 quarter hours
5. Graduate Level programs have some flexibility:
- MCC,
MTS, M.Min. = 36 semester hours
-
Theology (Th.M.) = 48 – 60 semester hours
- M.Div.
= 90 semester hours (one exception is military
chaplaincy which approves 72 semester hours)
6. Suggested post-graduate
program hours (continued):
- D.Min.
A) With M.Div. or Th.M. = 36
semester hours
B) Without = 60 semester hours
- Th.D.
= 60 semester hours
- Ph.D.
with D.Min. or Th.D. = 30 semester hours
Section 5. Entrance
Requirements
The institution should have clear statements as to
its requirements for admission. For undergraduate
admissions there should be the requirement of a high
school diploma, or its equivalent. For graduate
admissions there should be the requirement of a
baccalaureate degree.
For post-graduate admissions there should be the
requirement of a master’s degree.
Section 6. Transfer of Credits
The prescribed policy is:
- From
regionally or nationally accredited institutions
recognized by the United States department of
Education and from certified
members of IABCS. Credits may be accepted for
relevant subjects or on the basis of equivalency
for work of “C” grade or higher at the
undergraduate level and work of “B” grade or
higher at the graduate and post-graduate levels.
- From candidates and associate members of
IABCS or
non-accredited institutions. Credits should be
accepted on the basis of
validation. Credits should be accepted on the
basis of validated by examinations or a period
of probationary study.
Section 7. Graduation Awards
- Institutions offering a two-year course of
study shall award an associate degree.
- Institutions offering a three-year course of
study shall award a diploma.
- Institutions offering a four-year course of
study above high school may award the
baccalaureate degree, when so authorized by law
or provided for in their charter.
- Institutions
offering graduate programs may award masters or
doctorate degrees, when so authorized by law or
provided for in their charter.
Section 8.
- Faculty The faculty should be persons of
mature Christian character who have professional
skill in teaching and thorough preparation in
their teaching fields.
- Each faculty member should be in accord with
the institution’s doctrinal standards, its moral
standards, and its academic principles.
- Each faculty member teaching in a Bible
college should have at least a baccalaureate
degree. Those teaching in the seminary should
have at least a Master’s degree for teaching the
major required subjects. It would be to the
credit of the institution for their teachers to
have or at least be working toward a doctorate
in their major field.
- A faculty member should be selected in
agreement with sound ethical practices. Before
selection, it should be made clear to the
person being appointed the institution’s
religious beliefs and practices, its ethical
standards and rules, so that the faculty can be
in full accord with and enthusiastic about the
purpose of the institution.
Section 9.
- Information Resource Center (IRC) All
institutions, members of this Association, shall
maintain an adequate IRC, properly cataloged,
adapted to the needs of the students pursuing
the regular course taught. These information
resources should be in a separate room from
classrooms, with accessible chairs and tables
for quiet and study.
- The IRC should be included in the budget and
all money collected as fees and allocated to the
IRC should be spent in the maintenance and
improvement of the IRC. A number of periodicals
related to the fields of study should be
received regularly and made available to the
students through the IRC.
- A qualified director should be responsible
for maintaining the IRC.
Section 10. Administrative Control
Administrative lines of authority and areas of
responsibility should be defined.
- All member
institutions should operate under management of
responsible trustees, directors, or board
members in accordance approved administrative
and business practices. All such members should
be of approved Christian character and with
sound business judgment.
- he main purpose of the
Board of Directors, or Trustees, should be to
carry out, as representatives, the purposes of
the institution as indicated by its founders,
benefactors, alumni, and in the case of a
denominational institution, that of the
sponsoring denomination.
- Its relation to the
President should be to exercise its control
through the President, who is the executive
officer of the institution. It is
the duty of the board to select and, when
necessary, replace a President. Then it is their
duty to support, encourage, and work through
him.
- Its financial function
is to conserve and develop financial resources.
They are the legal custodians of the property
and are responsible for the maintenance of the
plant. They manage investment, authorize
budgets, and raise funds, individually and
collectively. However, members of the board have
no power as individuals to make decisions
affecting the institution, except as that right
has been assigned to them.
- Administrative Officers might include:
- President, who has
overall supervision and gives leadership and
executive direction to the institution as a
whole.
- Academic Dean, who
gives leadership to the educational program as a
whole, including the curriculum, the faculty and
the students.
- Registrar, who
registers students, maintains scholastic
reports, issues transcripts, analyzes and
reports registrations to proper officials,
complies grade distributions, certifies students
for graduation, makes semester annual reports,
and files and preserves
records of all former students.
- A Business Manager may
be appointed and be under the general
supervision of the President, whose duties may
be purchasing,
collecting, payment of bills and accounts,
preparation of financial reports, bookkeeping,
and supervision of financial student activities.
However, the functions of handling cash
receipts, control of the ledger, bank
reconciliation, purchasing and procurement and
disbursement should be distributed among
individuals, so that such functions may be
subject to review and checked by another person.
This is only fair to the person on whom this
responsibility rests.
Sound administration
requires careful keeping of records and reporting of
operations. There should be:
- Minutes of all board
and faculty meetings.
- Careful preservation
of all records, reports and minutes.
- All institutions must
provide secure fireproof protection for all
scholastic records.
Section 11.
Finances and Resources
This Association shall not seek to enforce any
standards, plans, or practices in the matters of
finance and resources, except to the end that true
Christian stewardship should be followed, which we
believe will include the following:
- That a sound financial plan suitable to the
particular institution be followed.
- That all business of the institution be in
harmony with the highest standards of Christian
ethics.
- Proper receipting for all contributions
should be issued and complete record kept of all
business transactions.
- That obligations be met as promptly as
humanly possible.
- That funds be used for the purposes for
which they were raised or contributed, and that
no unwholesome methods of fund-raising are used.
- A clear definition of refund procedures
should be published by the institution in its
official documents.
Section 12.
Stability
A diploma or degree is as good, and only as good as
the institution by which it is granted; therefore,
all member institutions shall give
evidence of stability, by continuing operation and
ability to follow its regular advertised courses and
curricula.
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