Academic Policies

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, The Seattle School will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified students in order for them to get the most from their The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology experience. Students seeking accommodation should request assistance from the Manager of Accessibility, Daniel Tidwell-Davis (dtidwell@theseattleschool.edu). All requests for accommodation require a formal diagnosis of a disability (including [ADD] attention deficit disorder & [AD/HD] attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder). Students are required to submit documentation to verify eligibility. It is the student’s responsibility to notify the instructor of a course if he/she has an approved disability accommodation.

There are two types of accommodations: ongoing and as-needed. Ongoing accommodations should always be implemented in your course. As-needed accommodations are those that students must request from you by email, based on changing needs (e.g. symptom flare-ups, etc.) throughout the term. Additional information about the implementation of as-needed accommodations may be found in the academic procedures section.

The attendance policy at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology is student-centered and rooted in transformational learning. We believe learning happens in community. To be part of The Seattle School as a student or as a member of the instructional team means one is a vital contributor to our learning collective. Your membership in our co-created learning community invites active engagement, preparedness, collaboration, discussion, and faithful presence. Whether on-campus or online, active engagement necessitates personal and focused presence in scheduled synchronous classes and labs. Individual courses may also include participation and/or engagement in grading rubrics as it relates to course learning outcomes. Please see individual course syllabi for the specifics pertinent to each class. Please see individual course syllabi for the specifics pertinent to each class. (Please note that lab courses (i.e. IDS 520/521, IDS 503/504/505, CSL 530/531, CSL 553, RLM 530/531, etc.) have particular attendance policies). 

To confirm registration for the purposes of the Registrar and Student Financial Services, the instructor or the Assistant Instructor will take attendance via Populi during the first class. This information is shared with the Student Financial Services office to ensure that all registered students have commenced attendance in the course.

Information about how to take class attendance in Populi can be found on the Populi Knowledge Base, here.

Recordings of online and on-campus lecture courses will be made available only to students who need them as part of an academic accommodation. Recordings of classes, regardless of modality, will not be made available to the general student population. This policy aligns with the Course Attendance & Presence policy which encourages “live” attendance at all courses with the exception of emergencies. Students may not record any class lectures or sessions without written permission from the course instructor(s).  This linked video provides a reminder tutorial of how to set up course recordings for students with accommodations.

In the event that an emergency, crisis situation, or other extenuating circumstances require a student to miss class, this form may be given to the student in order for them to request one-time access to a class recording. Requests for recording access due to scheduling issues or mundane illnesses (i.e., the common cold), etc. will not be approved. In these cases students are encouraged to connect with classmates and/or instructors to catch up on what is missed. Please note that this only applies to classes that are already being recorded. Lab classes are never recorded.

The Seattle School follows a policy for electronic reserves endorsed by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and a number of others. Complete copyright law can be accessed at

https://www.copyright.gov/title17/.

In practice, this is defined as one article per issue of a journal (periodical) and up to one chapter or 10% of a book can be scanned and uploaded, WHICHEVER IS LESS.

Credit Hours and Course Workload (Universal Seat Time) Courses at The Seattle School consist of both instructional time led by faculty and outside course work that learners do independently. Per accreditation requirements, we define instructional hours as 15 hours per credit and outside coursework time as 30 hours per credit. Rooted in our belief that learning happens in community, all courses across modalities include synchronous elements that bring instructors and learners together for live engagement. Each course, regardless of modality, provides a minimum 30%, up to 100%, of course instructional time through synchronous teaching. 

The following defines the aims of instructional time and outside coursework time. Requests for exception to this policy should be submitted in writing to the Dean of Teaching & Learning. 

Instructional Time constitutes proactive interaction between instructors and learners, wherein information delivery, guided engagement, and dialogue are structured toward the achievement of course learning outcomes. 

Examples of Synchronous Instructional Offerings: 

• Guided small group and class-wide activities 

• Live lecture

• Video viewing and discussion

• Breakout discussion groups with curated questions 

• Non-graded exams and quizzes 

• Peer Review activities 

Examples of Asynchronous Instructional Offerings 

• Asynchronous lecture 

• Asynchronous lessons 

• Asynchronous activities corresponding to instructional content 

• Faculty moderated Discussion Board posts and replies 

• Directed critical response questions/reading guides for assigned texts 

A minimum 30% of instructional time for each course, regardless of modality, should be offered through synchronous (live) instruction. 

Outside Coursework Time constitutes the work learners do on their own to be prepared for instructional time and to complete assignments. 

Examples of Outside Coursework: 

• Assigned readings, films, podcasts, informational videos, and other media (not required lectures) 

• Written assignments: essays, research papers, case studies, reports, etc. 

• Group projects

• Individual Projects 

• Graded exams or quizzes 

• Unmoderated Discussion Board posts and replies (“Meet your classmates” etc.) 

• Viewing asynchronous recorded peer presentations 

Guidelines for Instruction and Coursework Estimates 

To support instructors’ course design and to help frame student expectations, this list of course time-per-credit outlines the general guidelines for course workloads. Page counts stand in for estimated time spent as it correlates to project work/viewing time, etc. 

• Writing is inclusive of papers, formal Discussion Board posts, presentations, final exams, etc. 

• Reading is inclusive of assigned coursework media: course texts, films, podcasts, etc. 

One credit hour 

• 15 hours of instructional time; Minimum of 5 hours synchronous “live” instruction 

• 30 hours of outside coursework time 

• Writing: 10-15 pages written 

• Reading: 500 – 700 pages 

Two credit hours 

• 30 hours of instructional time; Minimum of 10 hours synchronous “live” instruction 

• 60 hours of outside coursework time 

• Writing: 15 -20 pages written 

• Reading: 750 – 1050 pages 

Three credit hours 

• 45 hours of instructional time; Minimum of 15 hours synchronous “live” instruction 

• 90 hours of outside coursework time 

• Writing: 20-25 pages written 

• Reading: 1050 – 1400 pages 

Purpose Statement:

Administration, faculty and staff are committed to providing a Christian educational environment wherein individuals are free to pursue academic pursuits unencumbered by conflicting interests and inconsistent dual relationships. The school is committed to maintaining legal, ethical, moral, and personal integrity in relationships, thereby protecting individuals from manipulation, exploitation, coercion, and loss of professional objectivity. A dual relationship is one in which the faculty/staff member has both a professional and a secondary non-professional relationship with a student or learner. This includes but is not limited to the following relationship types: family, household members, pastoral, romantic, sexual, therapeutic, business, etc. This includes relationships which are, or appear to be, mutually consensual. An inconsistent dual relationship is any secondary relationship with a learner outside of the faculty/staff member’s official role which is, or has the potential to: 

• harm the learner;

• take advantage of or exploit the learner;

• impair the instructor’s ability to be effective, unbiased and fair; or

• have the appearance of any of these. 

The inherent inequality of power between learner and faculty/staff creates an unacceptable conflict of interest between the supervisory, educational, or advisory context and secondary non-professional relationships. For this reason, dual relationships outside of the official professional roles between faculty/staff and learners who participate in the same learning context, such as the same class or small group, are generally considered inconsistent and are specifically prohibited. 

Dual relationships may constitute a real or perceived compromise of educators’ or supervisors’ impartiality and evaluative capacity, may exploit a student’s trust, result in an abuse of authority, and may lead to perceptions of favoritism for the student involved in the relationship by other students. Faculty (core and adjunct), practicum leaders (PL), Listening Lab facilitators (LLF), assistant instructors (AI), administrative staff, and The Allender Center and Center for Transforming Engagement staff must be aware of their position with respect to their students, learners, and participants. It is incumbent upon the employee to recognize that dual relationships and other potential conflicts of interest may put the individual faculty or staff member, student, and school at risk. 

Policy:

Counseling and Therapeutic Relationships:

1. Per the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code F.10.e and the American Psychological Association (APA) Code E 3.05, Counselor Educators should not serve as counselors to graduate school students currently enrolled in a counseling or related program over whom they have power and authority. This code prohibits anyone on the Instructional Team of the graduate school from serving as counselor, clinical supervisor, or consultant to any student currently enrolled in any of our graduate school programs.

2. If an educator or supervisor becomes aware of a therapeutic dual relationship with a student or a student’s family member, it is incumbent on them to inform their supervisor of this conflict while maintaining client/student confidentiality. The educator should then be removed or re-assigned to classes where no such conflict exists. 

Other Types of Dual Relationships:

3. Other types of dual relationships include but are not limited to the following relationship types: family, household members, pastoral, romantic, sexual, business, etc. If any dual relationship exists, meaning an employee with a supervisory, evaluation, consultation, or grading oversight of a learner, has or is engaging in a second non-professional relationship with that learner, that employee must disclose the name of the person and nature of the relationship to their supervisor(s) as soon as the dual relationship is identified by the employee. The supervisor(s) will work with the employee to make the necessary arrangements to evaluate, terminate, and/or modify the relationship, depending on the nature of the relationship. Supervisor(s) and employee together will determine a course of action by assessing these areas: 

• Is this non-professional relationship consistent with, or inconsistent with, the primary professional relationship?

• How might this relationship impact the employee’s ability to objectively evaluate this learner?

• How might this relationship potentially harm the learner? 

• How might this relationship contribute to an abuse of authority over this learner? 

• How might this relationship result in the exploitation of a learner's trust of a faculty or staff member in their role as a faculty or staff member?

• How might this relationship lead to a perception of bias, either for or against, of the individual learners by other learners? 

For example, a course of action might range from finding a substitute grader for the learner to reassignment of the employee to another course, depending on the nature of the dual relationship. In a case where a faculty or staff and their supervisor together are unsure if a situation could lead to or would indeed be considered a dual relationship, they are required to consult Human Resources. In the case of an employee’s failure to disclose a dual relationship, The Seattle School may take disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that affords parents the right to have access to their children’s education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records. When a student turns 18 years old, or enters a postsecondary institution at any age, the rights under FERPA transfer from the parents to the student (“eligible student”).

2022 Annual FERPA Training

STATEMENT OF INTENTION: This policy serves as a guide unto wise and disciplined use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). This AI technology is evolving rapidly and will play an increasingly important role in scholarship and professional life. As such, disciplined learning to leverage and steward generative AI tools with integrity is an emergent skillset. Students are engaged in graduate studies to become people of wisdom, who can practice, embody, and inculcate their disciplined knowledge contextually with individuals, groups, and within the locale(s) they serve. Machine learning will not lead their groups, sit with clients, or expose oppression. Course assignments at The Seattle School are designed for students to develop ways of being (often described as the “the life of the mind”), equipping them to serve God and neighbor through transforming relationships. As such, a student’s goal is never to simply complete an assignment but to participate in the holistic process of becoming the kind of person who can thoughtfully engage the learning prompts. The school’s expectation is that students will employ the use of generative AI tools in service of their personal and professional development, not so that AI tools can complete their learning engagements. 

STUDENT POLICY: Student use of ChatGPT and similar large language model AI content generators does not automatically equate to academic misconduct at The Seattle School. However, these technologies may not be used to generate content for assignments that is then presented as student work, without proper citation, under any circumstances. This is considered academic misconduct (i.e. plagiarism and/or cheating) on the part of the student. If generative AI is used for an assignment, it should be properly cited and the extent of its use should fall within the parameters stated in the course syllabus. With the exception of academic misconduct, the use or prohibition of generative AI tools is a course-level decision. It is the student’s responsibility to read the syllabus for each course and understand the particular expectations of the instructor. Instructors should note that generative AI output (e.g. content created in response to a prompt) can and should be seen as distinct from AI assistive writing tools which may aid in brainstorming, thesis-building, and some technical aspects of writing and research. 

Additional resources in support of appropriate use of generative AI in the classroom may be found in the Teaching Resources > Teaching Philosophies & Best Practices section of the Academic Hub.

The Seattle School will reimburse reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by individuals in the conduct of The Seattle School business activities, subject to the limitations set forth in the Non-Travel Expense Policy. More information pertaining to non-travel reimbursement policies and limitations may be viewed here.  Please connect with the Dean of Teaching & Learning (Dr. Winzenried; mwinzenried@theseattleschool.edu) for pre-approval of the expense before completing a reimbursement form.  

If you have been issued a Seattle School credit card, this should be your primary form of payment for all approved expenses. Approved travel expenses paid by cash, personal check, or personal credit card will be reimbursed following submission of the Employee Reimbursement Form with all receipts attached: 

One Time Pay & Reimbursement Forms

Title IX Coordinators: Kartha Heinz and Becca Shirley (2023)

Mandatory Reporting by Employees of any sex-based discrimination, sexual harassment, or sexual misconduct involving students 

The Seattle School wants to stop and respond effectively to instances of sex-based discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual misconduct involving its students. Therefore, any employee receiving any information about any alleged or possible sex-based discrimination, sexual harassment, or sexual misconduct involving students, must report that information to the Title IX Coordinator or the Vice President of Human Resources (each a “Complaint Officer”). Employees who are statutorily prohibited from reporting that information are exempt from this reporting requirement, including any licensed counselor who receives the information in their capacity as a licensed counselor. After receiving a report of alleged or possible sex-based discrimination, sexual harassment, or sexual misconduct, the Complaint Officer will evaluate the information received and determine what further actions should be taken. The Complaint Officer will follow the procedures described in the Discrimination Grievance Procedures. The Complaint Officer will take steps, either directly with the complainant or through a reporting employee, to provide information about the Discrimination Grievance Procedures, as well as available health and advocacy resources and options for criminal reporting (if applicable).

For full policy details please see the Employee Handbook.

All instructional staff are provided a licensed zoom account during the terms in which they are teaching. Licenses are reassigned between terms. For questions pertaining to Zoom licensure and logins, email help@theseattleschool.edu.