Special Students
A student not seeking to earn a degree from Westminster may register for courses as a Special Student. Students from other seminaries or graduate schools may also take courses as special students for transfer back to their institutions. To be classified as a Special Student, the following items must be forwarded to the Office of Admissions:
1. A completed Special Student application form
2. Application fee (see page 141)
3. A completed Church Reference form
4. Evidence of having earned a baccalaureate degree (copy of transcript or diploma)
5. Students whose native language is not English need to meet the same TOEFL and TWE requirements listed on pages 36-37.
Deadlines and late fees for Special Student applications are the same as for applications to regular programs. Applicants will be notified promptly as to their admission by letter from the Director of Admissions.
Special Student status permits the student to register for courses during one academic year. To continue studies beyond this period, admission to a regular degree program of the Seminary is required.
Auditing
A limited number of auditors are permitted in most courses. Persons desiring to audit are required to secure the permission of the Registrar, complete the necessary registration, and pay a non-refundable fee for each course audited (see page 142). Class attendance is subject to the approval of the instructor.
Persons desiring to audit an unlimited number of classes for a week are required to secure the permission of the Registrar, complete the necessary registration, and pay a non-refundable fee (see page 142). This special fee does not apply to modular, short-term (less than one-month) courses. No auditing of D.Min. modules is permitted.
Full-time students and their spouses, full-time members of the faculty and staff and their spouses and children, and part-time employees may audit courses without charge. All others pay one-half the tuition rate they would be charged to take a course for credit. Students who have previously earned a Westminster degree pay one-fourth the tuition they would be charged to take a course for credit. If the course is at or below the level of the degree they received from Westminster, there is no charge to audit. The spouses of full-time students are permitted to audit only up to the number of credit hours for which the spouse is currently enrolled. Persons desiring to audit should complete the necessary registration forms with the Registrar’s Office.
Auditing privileges include regular class attendance, copies of all printed material distributed to the class, the opportunity to ask occasional questions in class, and full library privileges. Normally, auditors will not be permitted to participate in classroom exercises or recitations or to make seminar presentations, nor will assignments or examinations be reviewed or graded by the instructor.
Occasional visitors must seek permission of the instructor for each class they wish to attend and will not have the privilege of participation in class discussion.
Independent Study Courses
Qualified students may make arrangements with available faculty to do research courses on subjects of interest and value. These courses will be conducted by means of assigned reading, a thesis, conferences with the professor, and, at the option of the professor, an examination. Such courses may be pursued only by students who are also registered for class work, unless they have previously attained in this institution a general academic standing of 2.80 or better. No more than 25 percent of credit hours for any of the M.Div. (23 hours), M.A.R. (14 hours), or M.A. (14 hours) programs may be taken by independent study courses. Distance Learning courses offered through the Institute of Theological Studies (see pages 45-46) are included in the independent study courses.
Taking independent study courses for required courses in the curriculum is discouraged, and may only be taken with the approval of the faculty member who normally teaches the course and of the Committee of Three.
If it is necessary to drop an independent study course, the normal tuition refund schedule will apply.
