2.7.1 Grading System

The Lee University graduate programs use the following system of grading and quality points for all graduate-level courses. These letter grades are assigned grade point values as follows:

  • A   4.0 quality points
  • A-  3.7 quality points
  • B+ 3.3 quality points
  • B   3.0 quality points
  • B-  2.7 quality points
  • C+ 2.3 quality points
  • C   2.0 quality points
  • F   0.0 quality points
  • I Indicate the student’s work was incomplete
  • P Passing Credit (no quality points)
  • IP In Process
  • W Student officially withdrew from the class without penalty

A grade of “I” indicates the student’s work is incomplete. The grade becomes “F” if the work is not completed within six weeks after the end of the semester unless a written extension has been approved by the Vice President for Academic Affairs. A grade of “I” is given only to students who encounter some personal difficulty such as a severe illness or an extreme family emergency near the end of the semester. The “I” grade is not given in order to allow students additional time to complete assignments.
A grade of “W” (withdrawal) is assigned to a student who, for any reason, officially withdraws or is withdrawn by the official semester date. This “W” is assigned without a quality point penalty to the student.
The quality point system allows for computing of the academic standing of the student by multiplying first the quality points obtained in a course by the respective number of semester hours of the respective course and then by dividing the total number of quality points obtained by the total semester hours attempted by the student. The grade point average will be based on the following scale: 4.0 - 3.5 excellent; 3.49 – 3.0 good; 2.99 -2.0 (average).

2.7.2 Grade Reviews and Academic Probation

Scholastic records of each student are reviewed at the end of each semester by the Dean. Students falling below the 3.0 GPA will be notified and may be placed on academic probation. Students who have not submitted all the required work at the end of the first academic year may be warned and prevented from taking further classes until all outstanding work has been submitted.

2.7.3 MA-Thesis Policy

Both programs require a thesis as a demonstration of the student’s research, writing, and critical thinking skills. Once the thesis has been read and evaluated by two readers two bound copies, shall be submitted to ETS by the end of June with an electronic copy sent to Lee.
Graduate students at ETS in both MA programs will sign up for the 3 US credit hour thesis credit module in January of the year they graduate.

Thesis Content

MA Pentecostal-Charismatic Theology

The choice of topic must be agreed upon with the Program Coordinator who will assign a tutor to oversee the research and writing process. The deadlines below must be adhered to. The style may be Turabian or Chicago.

MA Marriage and Family Studies

  1. The core of the thesis is a full description of three related interventions addressing marriage and family needs within a church, a community organization, or a non-profit/NGO. The interventions should be empirically supported by substantial research, but customized for the specific community, culture, and population that you wish to serve. As part of each intervention, you must include a clear and comprehensive description of outcome measures that will be used to evaluate the success of the interventions. This section will be a minimum of 40 pages with at least 30 references from the professional literature.
  2. A feasibility/sustainability chapter that will discuss the costs of the interventions, possible sources of initial funding, and possible sources of ongoing funding.
  3. An integration chapter describing your approach to integrating faith and science (minimum 10 pages).
  4. The style used for the thesis is APA.

Deadlines for Theses

The following deadlines will be strictly followed for the thesis. Failure to meet any deadline will postpone graduation to the following year.
N.B: In each month, you will receive feedback by the 15th.

  • January: Sign up for the thesis course. A one-page proposal must be submitted to the thesis coordinator at ETS. For the MSc, listing your three related empirically supported interventions that you plan on customizing to the appropriate context will be due by January 31st. Also include a brief description of the community/population that you intend to serve with these interventions. Include one core reference for each intervention that you propose.
  • February: An annotated bibliography is due by February 28th. This annotated bibliography will list each of your references, along with a paragraph of relevant material that you are taking from that source. The paragraph is NOT an overview or an abstract of the source, but specifically the useful parts of the source that you need for your paper. Write each paragraph in such a way that it can easily be modified and incorporated into your thesis.
  • March: A rough draft is due by March 31st of your three related interventions.
  • April: By April 31st, you should turn in your corrections to the interventions section along with your initial chapters for integration and feasibility/sustainability.
  • May: A final version of your complete thesis must be submitted to the tutor by May 31st.
  • June: By June 30th, two bound copies of your thesis must be submitted to ETS, with an electronic copy sent to Lee.

2.7.4 Transcripts

A transcript of academic credits will be issued by the Office of Records upon written request of the student. Forms are available in the Office of Records or online at www.leeuniversity.edu (Current Students, “Request a Transcript”). By law, the transcript cannot be released until the office has received the student’s signature granting permission to release his/her record. If requesting a transcript to be sent to another institution or other authorized person or agency, an official transcript is required. Official transcripts cost 10€/$5 each. Requests for transcripts, diplomas, and/or verification of degrees will be fulfilled only when all the student’s financial obligations to the university are met.

2.7.5 Cheating and Plagiarism

As a Christian community of scholarship, we at Lee University are committed to the principles of truth and honesty in the academic endeavor. As faculty and students in this Christian community, we are called to present our academic work as an honest reflection of our abilities; we do not need to defraud members of the community by presenting others’ work as our own. Therefore, academic dishonesty is handled with serious consequences for two fundamental reasons: it is stealing – taking something that is not ours; it is also lying – pretending to be something it is not. In a Christian community, such pretense is not only unnecessary; it is also harmful to the individual and community as a whole. Cheating should have no place at a campus where Christ is King because God desires us to be truthful with each other concerning our academic abilities. Only with a truthful presentation of our knowledge can there be an honest evaluation of our abilities. To such integrity, we as a Christian academic community are called.

2.7.6 Diploma

A diploma is conferred after the successful completion of all courses, thesis, or examinations whether academic or practical. A student is cleared for Graduation when all fees have been paid, all Library materials returned and a cumulative G.P.A of 3.0 or above has been earned. A transcript will accompany the Diploma; a Diploma Supplement will be issued by ETS to confirm the status of the degree in the European context.

2.7.7 Evaluation

Students are required to evaluate individual teachers before the end of each intensive course. These evaluations will be summarized, and the teacher and Dean of the program informed.
Each individual course syllabus outlines the Learning Outcomes expected to be attained by students. These are examined annually by the Program Coordinator at Lee University against the established Program Outcomes.