Registrar
The Office of the Registrar
The primary function of the Registrar’s Office is to maintain academic records. We serve students in a number of ways:
- Class registration, including helping students navigate cross-registrations
- Disability Policy
- Courses that meet the Church in the World degree requirement
- Course list on the UPSem Jenzabar SONIS portal
- Ordering transcripts or enrollment verifications
- Providing academic plans (also known as graduation audits)
- General advising (specific advising should come from the student’s faculty advisor)
- Scheduling class room space
- Posting lists of textbooks on Blackboard
- Ensuring student privacy in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
- Ensuring additional protections of privacy for students enrolled in distance education courses
- Providing access to Union Presbyterian Seminary’s inclement weather policy for the Charlotte and Richmond campuses
- Providing access to Academic Calendars, Catalogs and Handbooks (The catalogs contain the academic calendars for all campuses, UPSem academic policies, and other academic year information)
Loan Deferments
The Registrar’s Office processes loan deferments. Enrolled students may submit their academic loan deferment forms or veteran benefit forms to the Registrar’s Office for completion.
Transfer Credit Policy
Upon request of the Admissions Office, the Registrar will initiate the transfer credit assessment process for applicants whose files are complete. Currently enrolled students should contact the Registrar directly.
A limited number of transfer credits for M.A.C.E., M.A.P.T., and M.Div. students may be accepted for work completed within the past eight years at institutions accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, or at institutions offering graduate-level work accredited by one of the nationally recognized regional accrediting agencies in the United States. Union Presbyterian Seminary reserves the right to deny transfer credit for courses taken at institutions that do not meet its accreditation standards. Transfer students are encouraged to contact the Registrar’s Office for further details.
In assessing the transferability of credits earned at other institutions, the Registrar’s Office, in consultation with the Academic Dean, will examine only official transcripts. As needed, the Registrar’s Office will consult faculty members in departments related to the areas in which courses have earned these credits. If approval is given to the transfer of credits, the Registrar’s Office will notify the student (or applicant, if a person requests this information in considering whether to apply for admission to our seminary). At the student’s request, and with written information, the Registrar’s Office will release this information to other entities such as denominational credentialing bodies and Veterans Affairs. The Registrar’s Office will maintain these records as part of the seminary’s institutional records.
Students who receive transfer credit for all required courses in any competency area are ordinarily required to take at least one elective course in that area (biblical studies, theology, ethics, history, education, and practical theology). Transfer students must earn at least half of the credits required for their degree at UPSem, including at least six credit hours in supervised ministry for M.Div. students.
Students transferring into the M.Div./ M.A.C.E. dual degree program or the M.Div./M.A.P.T. dual degree program must spend a minimum of three years enrolled in the program in order to receive both degrees.
Students transferring into the M.A.C.E./M.A.P.T. dual degree program must spend a minimum of two years enrolled in the program in order to receive both degrees.
Some denominationally required courses that are offered online may be eligible for credit. Richmond and Charlotte students are to contact the Academic Dean.
Union Presbyterian Seminary considers for transfer credit only those distance-learning courses for which it can be established, in the judgment of the appropriate academic dean in consultation with the appropriate departments, that peer and student-faculty interaction meet or exceed standards maintained in UPSem courses. Credits that have already been applied toward an earned degree cannot ordinarily be transferred.
No credits may be accepted from a conferred degree. Degree requirements for prior credit students are specified in the UPSem academic catalog.
Differing Abilities Policy
Policy Concerning Students with Differing Abilities
Union Presbyterian Seminary recognizes differing abilities as an aspect of diversity, the inclusion of which is vital to the seminary community and to the world. The Academic Dean provides appropriate accommodations for students with qualifying disabilities intended to make the learning environment accessible and inclusive. Students with differing abilities can begin the collaborative process of accessibility by contacting the Academic Dean to develop a partnership that includes the student and course professor(s), generate solutions, and implement reasonable accommodations while maintaining the seminary’s academic standards.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities. The seminary’s Academic Dean shall serve as the institution’s compliance officer for student issues with students with disabilities.
STEPS/PROCEDURES
It is the responsibility of the student to self-identify as having a diagnosed disability and initiate the request for accommodations whether in person or with the Academic Dean.
The student shall submit appropriate documentation to the Academic Dean.
Accommodations are handled on a case-by-case basis. The Academic Dean will discuss whether reasonable accommodations are deemed appropriate with the student and review course expectations.
The Academic Dean will draft a memo with approved accommodations (that does not include the reason) to be shared with the student and each professor.
The student should meet with each professor at the beginning of the term to discuss the approved accommodations.
Documentation: Medical or Health Needs
When medical or health—physical, psychological, or emotional—needs and/or reasons are cited for failure to comply with institutional policies and deadlines or for failure to make due academic progress or for failure to honor or practice community norms, the student may be required to provide official statements from medical and/or health professionals of such form, nature, and detail as the seminary considers necessary in order to establish a sound basis for subsequent academic and community decisions. All such information will be treated respectfully and accessed on a need-to-know basis only by those involved in the care, response, and decision process. UPSem reserves the right to require such documentation, to determine the adequacy or lack thereof of documentation, and to determine the implications of the documentation for its decision.
ADA Compliance
Ken McFayden, Academic Dean, Watts 104, (804) 278‑4230, kmcfayden@upsem.edu
United Methodist Information
Union Presbyterian Seminary has a consortium agreement with Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC which allows UPSem students to take courses at Wesley. Registration information can be found at the Wesley Theological Seminary website or from Stan Hargraves’ office located in Watts 307, phone 804-278-4379. You can also go directly to the form by going here. Before you submit your application you will need to see Stan Hargraves for a special code that will bypass your needing to have transcripts or recommendations. After submitting your application you will also need a verification letter from the UPSem registrar or dean that you are in good standing.
Because different United Methodist conferences may have different requirements, we have provided you links to specific conference information. Please check with the appropriate United Methodist conference office for the specific requirements of your conference and Dorothee Tripodi United Methodist Advisor.
Western North Carolina Conference
You can download a listing of Wesley and UPSem courses that meet common United Methodist requirements for ordination. Please note that travel seminars may or may not meet the mission requirements of a particular conference. Additionally a preaching course is not mandated by the Discipline so not all conferences will require preaching.
UPSem courses will apply to Wesley’s course prerequisites if there are any. Also both seminary’s policies state that students may not take supervised ministry and another course. However students can set up their supervised ministry contract to possibly allow one course as long as they do not overlap.
The Registrar's Office can also help you obtain information about:
- Extension Requests for Charlotte students
- Exception Requests for Richmond or Hybrid Program students
- Extension Requests for Hybrid Program and Richmond students
- Exception Requests for Charlotte students
- Directed Studies
- Hybrid Courses
- Travel Seminar Schedule
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact Susan Blanchard, Registrar (1-800-229-2990 ext. 379 or 804-278-4379) or Glenda Blackwell, Assistant to the Registrar (1-800-229-2990 ext. 233 or 804-278-4233).
Registrar Office Hours
Monday – Friday
8:30 am to 5:00 pm.
