2011-2012 Graduate Academic Catalog

Page 5 2011–12 Graduate Catalog Introduction Experience Admissions Academic Info. Financial Info. Campus Services M.Ed. M.S.N. Course Descriptions Appendix The Cedarville Graduate Experience Community Covenant The Cedarville University community, as brothers and sisters in Christ, covenants together to uphold the following core values as an important part of the mutual support and accountability that we extend to one another. We do not view these core values as matters of mere convenience or personal preference. We believe they are essential marks of lives transformed by God’s grace. As a community of born-again believers, we commit ourselves to the pursuit of these marks of spiritual growth and maturity so that God may be glorified on our campus. • We covenant together to express our love for God through our obedience to the authority of His Word, our practice of spiritual disciplines, and regular expressions of worship and Christian service. • We covenant together to express our love for others through acts of kindness, wholesome and uplifting speech, redemptive expressions of confrontation and forgiveness, merciful acts to those in need, and loving proclamation of the Gospel. • We covenant together to be people of integrity and self- control, truthful in our speech, honest in our conduct, and morally pure in both thought and action. • We covenant together to pursue excellence in all that we do as an expression of our gratitude to God and our desire to be good stewards of all God’s gifts, including our talents, time, and resources. • You may access these guidelines online at cedarville.edu/gradstudentlife Standards of Conduct At Cedarville University, we believe that the principles found in the Bible should govern our daily lives. We recognize that our appearance, words, and actions are a manifestation of our relationship to Christ and a testimony to believers. In addition, we believe that regular attendance and involvement in a local church is evidence of a maturing relationship with Christ. All graduate students are expected to adhere to the guidelines below. You may access these guidelines online at cedarville.edu/ gradstudentlife . • As a community of born-again believers, we believe that pleasing and glorifying God in all that we do and say is an expression of our gratitude to God’s grace and love in our lives (1 Cor. 10:31; 2 Cor. 5:9). We believe it is important to be people of integrity who are truthful in speech and honest in conduct. Therefore, all should seek to serve Christ in an atmosphere free from attitudes of distrust, dishonesty, selfishness, damaging criticism, disrespect, favoritism, unethical conduct, and irreverence (Psalm 15; Matt. 5:33–37; Prov. 15:4; Rom. 13:9–10; Col. 3:8–9; James 2:1–13; Gal. 3:26–29; Rom. 13:1–2; I Tim. 2:8). • The University affirms its belief that our interpersonal relationships are to reflect the biblical principle that all people are made in God’s image and are equal in value. We believe it is important to express our love for others through acts of kindness as well as wholesome and uplifting speech (I Peter 5:5; Eph. 5:21; Phil. 2:3–11; Rom. 14:1–23; I Thess. 4:9; Col. 3:12–13). Therefore, it is the expectation that all forms of harassment (which include racial/ethnic, and sexual- and gender-based harassment) are prohibited. In addition, we believe threatening, intimidating, coercing, using abusive or vulgar language, violence or violent threats, or interfering with the performance of other students or employees are neither God-honoring nor acceptable behaviors within or outside the work place and classroom.. • Because of our commitment to moral purity in both thought and action (2 Cor. 7:1; 1 John 3:3), all acts of sexual immorality are viewed as unacceptable behavior (I Cor. 6:18–20; 1 Thess. 4:3–8). • Because of our commitment to moral purity in thought and action (2 Cor. 7:1; 1 John 3:3; Matt. 5:27–28), accessing, possessing, and distributing or downloading pornography is prohibited. • We believe that God has given the gift of intimacy to marriage (Hebrews 13:4). Therefore, we believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should occur outside of marriage. We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; I Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22–23). • Based on our commitment to moral purity and the gift of intimacy in marriage, we believe that all acts of sexual immorality are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex, i.e., homosexuality, lesbianism, incest, fornication, adultery (Rom. 1:21–27; I Cor. 6:9; Gen. 2:24; Eph. 5:31). Therefore, engaging in, living a lifestyle characterized by, or promoting a lifestyle that is in contradiction to this biblical position is prohibited. Graduate students living on campus will have additional standards of conduct expectations as a member of the Cedarville University residential community. Behavior that is not in compliance with the above standards of conduct or that are a felony violation of state or federal law can result in corrective action up to and including expulsion from the University.