Accreditation Procedures
Table of Contents

Introduction
The accreditation process consists of three phases. These are as follows:

Candidacy
Provisional Accreditation
Membership

Candidacy
During the candidacy phase an institution will complete a comprehensive self-study, based on the foregoing standards and using the guidelines that are provided in section V that follows. Applications for candidacy may be received by contacting the Secretary-Treasurer of the Association of Reformed Theological Seminaries. The completed application, together with the application fee ($ 100), should be sent to the Secretary-Treasurer of the Association. Once the completed application has been received and reviewed by the Association, the institution may be invited to enter Candidacy status and begin the institutional self-study. An institution is allowed one year after notification of acceptance into Candidacy status in which to complete the self-study and submit it to the Association. Requests for extension must be made in writing within that period.

Provisional Accreditation
When the self-study has been reviewed by the Association, a determination will be reached whether to receive the institution to a status of provisional accreditation. Provisional accreditation means that the self-study has been approved, indicating preliminary agreement on the part of the institution with the accrediting standards of the Association, and a level of initial satisfaction of those standards sufficient to allow the process of accreditation to go forward. If the self-study is not approved upon initial review, it will be returned to the institution with notations. The institution then has another six months in which to satisfy the requirements of candidacy.

During the period of provisional accreditation the Association will assign a visitation team, comprised of representatives from member institutions, to visit the candidate institution for further clarification of the self-study, inspection of operating procedures, observation of classroom activities, and interviews with staff, board, faculty, students, and other members of the institutional community. The visitation team will also meet with the Board of Directors of the institution in order better to familiarize itself with institutional leadership. Expenses for the visitation team are the responsibility of the candidate institution. The visitation team then reports its recommendations to the Association. Those recommendations can be one of the following:

Approval for Membership
Extension of Provisional Accreditation
Return to Candidacy
Termination of Application

Approval for Membership involves moving the institution to a full membership status (see on, p. 25). Extension of Provisional Accreditation indicates that the visiting team found discrepancies or inconsistencies with what was indicated in the self-study and recommends certain steps be taken to correct these before membership status is granted. Follow-up of these recommendations will be conducted according to the preference of the Association. Return to Candidacy indicates that the visitation team believes the institution to be so far out of accord with its self-study that the self-study needs to be revised and resubmitted. Termination of Application is recommended only in those situations where the visitation team determines that there has been a deliberate attempt to mislead the visitation team and the Association or where a persistent lack of cooperation with the visitation team was in evidence. An institution whose application is terminated must wait one year before it reapplies.

Membership
An institution admitted to full membership can advertise that it has achieved accreditation with the Association of Reformed Theological Seminaries. Membership involves the following ongoing responsibilities:

Membership Fees
Nominations to the Association
Ongoing Annual Assessment
Five-Year Reviews
Ten-Year Visitation

Membership Fees
Institutional membership fees are $500, and are established annually by the Board of Directors of the Association. These fees help to cover the operating expenses of the Association. They also entitle member institutions to free use of the library resources of the Association, as well as a copy of any reports, memoranda, circulars, or other Association publications.

Nominations to the Association
Member institutions nominate members of their board, staff, faculty, or support community to serve on the Association. Three member terms are allotted to each institution, each consisting of three years. Association members shall be ruling or teaching elders or their equivalent. At least one institutional representative must be nominated from outside the ranks of institutional board, staff, or faculty. Association members are organized into classes. Nominations must be submitted by member institutions as the terms of their representatives expire. Nominations are received and members are elected at the annual meeting of the Association. Members may serve an indefinite number of terms. Nominees who are elected to the Association must be available to participate in the ongoing review of member institutions and to attend the annual meeting of the Association. Member institutions are expected to cover the expenses of their representatives to the Association. Further details concerning Association membership are provided in the Working Procedures section that follows.

Ongoing Annual Assessment
Member institutions submit to ongoing annual review in the following areas:

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