Formation at HSS

5. ACADEMIC FORMATION

Academic formation is carried out through Saint Paul University and the Sheptytsky Institute. Seminarians work towards civil and ecclesiastical Bachelor of Theology degrees in Eastern Christian Studies and, following their pastoral internship, Masters of Pastoral Theology. The core curriculum of these programs is designed to give a sound theological education in preparation for ministry, incorporating pastoral formation through Field Education and Seminary in-house courses.

5.1 ADMISSION AND REGISTRATION

All students must present an application for admission to the Registrar according to the regulations of Saint Paul University. Application forms are available from the Seminary or directly from the University.

Applicants must have completed one year of university studies prior to admission. If they do not, seminarians generally fulfill this requirement by following courses in philosophy at the Dominican College. Mature applicants may apply for admission as special students and, after successful completion of one year of theology, will be admitted to the Bachelor of Theology program.
All applicants should be proficient enough in English to be able to follow lectures, participate in discussions and write essays.

After admission to the University, students must register for courses at the beginning of each session. The course selection of all seminarians must be approved first by the Rector and then by a consulting professor of the Sheptytsky Institute.

Advanced standing can be granted for courses completed at another university when such courses are deemed equivalent to those offered by the Faculty. Consideration of a request for advanced standing requires the submission of official transcripts as well as course descriptions taken from the calendar of the institution in question.

5.2 GENERAL NORMS

Students are primarily responsible for their own program of study. They are to plan carefully their program taking into account the availability of courses, timetabling, the years they have available for study, etc.

Students must attend the lectures in all their courses and must participate in all class activities. A student who is shown to have been absent from more than twenty percent of the lectures in a course will not be allowed to take the final examination. Students must also complete all assignments before being allowed to take the final exam.

An average course is three credits which represents 45 hours of classroom activities and 90 hours of personal study. Students are normally required to take five courses per semester. Full-time students must take at least four courses a semester. Seminarians may be allowed to enroll in six courses per semester with the permission of the Rector and the Faculty of Theology.

In a given course the teaching and learning activities may include lectures, seminars, assigned readings, group discussion, written reports and other exercises.

The professor communicates to the students during the first week of classes of each session the specific nature of the assignments upon which the final grade will be based, the dates when the assignments are due and the percentage of the final grade attributed to each assignment.

Each course normally includes a final examination, oral or written, as determined by the professor. The final mark is a composite of the marks given for the final examination and the other learning activities according to the proportions determined by the professor and communicated to the students.

Students found guilty of fraud, attempted fraud or complicity of fraud in any examination or academic work will be liable to sanctions.

1030 Baseline Road - Ottawa, Ontario - K2C 0A6
Telephone: (613) 727-1255 - Facsimile: (613) 727-1573 - E-mail: admin@hsseminary.org