NEW THIS YEAR (2009-2010)

We are very pleased to announce that in May of this year we received approval from our accreditation agency, the Association for Biblical Higher Education (abhe.org), to offer a 4 year bachelor degree program. The Bachelor of Theology degree program (B. Th.) with a major in Pastoral Ministries is completed via Distance Education. Nine of the required 123 credit hours must be completed on Summit Pacific College's Abbotsford campus or in another approved "face to face" context. Students may enroll in this program immediately. Students who are already accepted in diploma or certificate programs will need to apply for a change of program. Paper work needed to accomplish this is available for download at the college's web site or on request from the Distance Education office.

We need to clarify one point. The age restriction for programs applies only to our Pastoral Ministries Diploma Program and our new Bachelor of Theology degree program (B. Th.). There is no age restriction for the RoMER Certificate or the Leadership Certificate Programs.

The area of interest to everyone every year, of course, is cost. This year there are no increases in tuition for Distance Education. However, the grandfather clause, which allowed students enrolled prior to September 2007 to pay a lesser tuition amount, has now expired and so as of October 31, 2009, everyone will pay $430 per course for tuition.

Although there are no tuition increases this year, we are introducing shipping charges. We have up until now paid shipping in lieu of providing discounts on textbooks. This has become prohibitive due to cost. Students may contact the Distance Education office via email when they are ready to place a course order to determine actual shipping costs. Alternately, we have provided a check box on our course order form which indicates that the student wishes us to add shipping charges to the course order. This is effective October 31, 2009.

As part of the process leading to our new degree program, every aspect of our Distance Education program was examined and evaluated. One area which we have been asked to address is that of confirming the identity of students enrolled in courses and programs. Consequently we are introducing a new form as a requirement for enrollment in studies with Summit Pacific College Distance Education. This form is similar to the declaration form used when applying for passports. Students will be required to have a sponsor or reference fill in the form attesting to how long they have known the prospective student and validating their identity.

Since students who have been accepted into programs (RoMER Certificate, Leadership Certificate, Pastoral Ministries Diploma) have already provided us with three references, they will not be required to submit this additional form. However, students who are enrolled as special students (just taking a few courses without intending to complete a program) will need to submit this new form. New students applying for admission to programs will also need to submit this form.

Summit Pacific College's Hudson Memorial Library now provides access to extensive on-line study resources. These may be accessed at www.summitpacific.net. This is a publicly accessible resource.

Summit Pacific College subscribes to EbscoHost ATLA Index (over 250 full text articles in philosophy and religion) plus ATLA Serials (1,646 full text journals). (ATLA = American Theological Library Association.) Students registering for courses receive the information required to access this resource.

Hudson Memorial Library has also recently subscribed to Net Library. This resource provides access to almost 400 full text books in the area of theology and Bible. This is a restricted resource. Distance Education students will receive information on accessing this resource each time they order a new course.

While it may appear that every year there are a few more changes in our methods of operation, I do hope you understand that these changes add to the overall credibility of our program and thus to the value for you the student.