Student Handbook
The Master of Arts in Counseling program at EMU strives to achieve the highest standards of professional excellence in providing psychologically and spiritually grounded training for counselors. We seek to create a community atmosphere within the program, a community bold with creative ideas and open with honesty, partnering in the inner work counselor training requires.
Grievances
Open Communications Policy
Eastern Mennonite University welcomes open communication from students regarding its policies and practices. Student feedback helps administrators determine effectiveness and clarify and improve processes and procedures. If a student has a complaint, such complaint should be communicated to the administrator responsible for the area of the complaint.
Staff will respond in writing to written complaints, normally within ten days. The administrator will submit copies of the written complaint and response to the president's office for filing and monitoring.
The university recognizes its obligation to ensure that students who make complaints do not suffer adverse treatment as a result of the complaint. In the event that a student alleges such treatment, the student shall be referred to the grievance procedure for resolution and reconciliation.
-Approved by President’s Cabinet, May 21, 2003
Grievance Procedures
The grievance procedures are applicable to all students, faculty and staff of Eastern Mennonite University as well as applicants for faculty, staff or student status. These procedures comply with the requirements of Title IX of the Federal Health, Education, and Welfare procedures and the general employee grievance policy of the Mennonite Education Agency.
The main concern in any grievance procedure is to bring reconciliation and growth in ways that enhance community. To implement this goal, the American Council on Education definition of grievance is adopted: "Grievable issues are those in which there is the possibility of an error in the institutional policies (or lack of them), in its prescribed procedures for carrying out the policies, in the administration of those procedures, or in varying combinations of these." If it is determined that an institutional error has occurred, the second function of the grievance procedure is to provide a process to determine appropriate redress for the grievant.
The first approach to any grievance should be non-adversarial and open, undertaken with careful attention to fostering understanding, problem-solving attitudes. The expectation is that the majority of grievances can be resolved through a flexible process of conflict resolution. These procedures are based on the understanding that differences can be resolved within the institutions of the church without adopting adversarial positions and that the resources of the wider church community are available when mediation is requested. If it is determined that an institutional error has occurred, the second function of the grievance procedure is to provide a process to determine appropriate redress for the grievant. A complete copy of these procedures is available upon request from the President’s Office.
