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Candidacy
Graduate-level students must achieve candidacy in order to be eligible to graduate. Students’ colleges determine the candidacy
requirements associated with their program.
COC
: Admission to candidacy in the Master of Arts in Counseling program is a checkpoint to ensure that students are
progressing appropriately in their professional skills, academic understanding, and personal and spiritual development in
order to continue toward their internship and graduation. Details of the application process for candidacy are found in the COC
Student Handbook. All undergraduate psychology prerequisites need to be successfully completed and credits transferred to
CIU before candidacy can be granted. Students are responsible for submitting their application to candidacy to the COC
director of training and internship.
COE
: See the COE section of this catalog.
CICS
: There is no formal candidacy process for students studying in the CICS. The CICS faculty will monitor student progress
throughout their program.
SSM
: Approximately halfway through a degree program the faculty of CIU’s SSM and the student evaluate the student’s
progress in achieving seminary objectives related to personal development in the areas of spiritual maturity, biblical and
theological knowledge, and ministry skills. Admission to candidacy indicates that the student is making progress in each of
these areas and is approved to proceed toward graduation. Candidacy must be achieved prior to a student’s final semester.
Achieving candidacy indicates that the faculty expects the student will be qualified to graduate when all requirements are met.
(For more information, see the Entrance Requirements within the SSM section.)
Classification of Students
The undergraduate student body is divided for class organization on the basis of academic classification:
Freshman: a high school graduate or one who presents satisfactory scores on equivalency examinations
Sophomore: a student who has completed 30 to 62 semester hours
Junior: a student who has completed 63 to 94 semester hours
Senior: a student who has completed at least 95 semester hours
Commencement Participation
All requirements for graduation must be met before the student may participate in the commencement exercises. Attendance
at commencement is expected of all resident students who have applied for a degree to be conferred at the end of the Spring or
Fall term. Since commencement is held only twice per year, August graduating students may participate in May
commencement if they demonstrate their intention to complete all degree requirements by the end of the Summer session as
per the requirements listed below:
Undergraduate-level
: If an undergraduate student has no more than nine credits outstanding at the time of a commencement
ceremony and can demonstrate how those credits can be completed before the next awarding of the degree, the student may
petition to participate in a commencement ceremony with work outstanding.
Graduate-level
: Students who are completing their internship during the Spring semester may request to participate in
December’s commencement if their internship is not in a local placement. All internship and practicum requirement plans
must be approved by April 15 of the year in which the student applies to participate in Spring commencement or November 1
for December commencement. All registrations must be completed, internship or practicum tuition paid, and all requirements
(including written reports and evaluations) must be completed by the last day of the term following the commencement in
which the student participates.
See “Graduation” for additional information.
Competency/Proficiency Examinations
Competency examinations at the undergraduate level correspond to proficiency examinations at the graduate level.
Undergraduate-level:
A student, when authorized by the student’s advisor, the instructor of record, and the dean, may prove
competency in the knowledge and/or skills of designated courses within the curriculum, similar to the structure established
for CLEP or DSST. If the student passes the instructor’s comprehensive “competency” exam with a minimum of a 2.0 (“C”)
grade or above, the student may either accept the credit for the course based on established proficiency or have the course
waived so that a more advanced course or an Faculty Directed Study may be substituted within the program. For a list of
qualified courses students should contact their academic dean’s office. Students will pay a testing fee whether or not they are
granted credit. All examination scores and documentation must be submitted to the Office of the University Registrar before
credit can be granted. No credit can be earned through a competency examination if the student has started a designated
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