Dual Credit
(Policy 2.45)
Blue Mountain Christian University offers coursework at area high schools, on the BMCU campus, or via distance learning in which students receive both high school credit and college credit. BMCU differentiates dual credit and dual enrollment in compliance with the guidelines established by the State of Mississippi for its Institutions of Higher Learning and adheres to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC) Policy on Dual Enrollment. A Dual Enrollment student is defined as a student who is enrolled in the University while enrolled in high school and receives college credit for the coursework. A Dual Credit student is defined as a student who is enrolled in the University while enrolled in high school and receives both high school and college credit for the course. Blue Mountain Christian University will not teach more than 49% of the coursework required for a degree as dual credit in the secondary schools. A Memorandum of Understanding must be in place before the University will offer dual credit at any secondary school.
Admissions
Dual credit students are admitted under the exceptions to the University’s published admissions policies, which are listed below. These exceptions follow the recommendations of Mississippi IHL in admissions for dual credit students.
Academic Eligibility-Blue Mountain Christian University offers a Dual Credit/Enrollment Program whereby early admission may be granted an applicant who has completed the sophomore year in high school and has a favorable recommendation from a teacher and/or a high school counselor. In addition, the applicant must meet at least two of the following requirements:
1. a GPA of 3.0 or above
2. a consistently proficient score in the state testing program
3. an ACT score of 20 or above
4. a class rank within the top 10% of his/her class
5. proficiency in Cambridge International Examinations or the International Baccalaureate Curriculum
Career and Technical Eligibility-In some cases, the University will allow students in a career and technical program to take dual credit courses. The requirement for admissions includes the following:
1. a minimum GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale
2. proficiency in the ACT work-keys certification
Course Requirements
1. All academic standards of Blue Mountain Christian University apply to college level courses offered by Blue Mountain Christian University whether on-campus, off-campus, online, or at secondary schools.
2. All dual credit courses offered at the secondary school must duplicate the course offerings of the University including course content and course requirements.
3. The courses offered at the secondary school must employ identical or comparable assignments and grading criteria for those offered on campus.
4. All courses offered at the secondary school must have the same level of academic rigor and comparable standards of evaluation as courses delivered on campus.
5. All courses must be approved by the Chair/Dean of the Department in the appropriate discipline at the University to include the syllabus, textbook, teaching methodology, and student assessment strategies.
6. All students enrolled in dual credit/dual enrollment classes will be administered a course evaluation through the Learning Management System.
Faculty
1. SACSCOC defines an “instructor of record” as the faculty member qualified to teach the course. This person has responsibility for the development and implementation of the syllabus and for issuing grades. The faculty member will provide direct instruction for the course.
2. Faculty teaching dual credit courses at the undergraduate level must have the doctorate or master’s degree in the teaching discipline or master’s degree with a concentration in the teaching discipline (a minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline). The teaching discipline may not necessarily be determined by the course prefix, but rather what a reasonable person would conclude as a requisite background for the course’s instructor based on the student learning outcomes.
3. Full-time faculty teach and/or provide appropriate oversight for the courses in order to ensure quality and integrity of the courses. In addition, oversight of the full-time faculty ensures the rigor of the courses and quality of instruction.
Institutional Effectiveness
1. Dual credit students are included in the administration of course evaluations.
2. The provision of library/learning resources is evaluated by dual enrollment students.
3. Student support services are evaluated by dual enrolled students.
Library and Learning Resources
1. The library staff of Blue Mountain Christian University will train the secondary school media specialists in the use of all Guyton library resources.
2. The secondary school may ask the University librarians to do a training session with faculty and students.
Academic and Student Support Services
Blue Mountain Christian University will provide orientation to dual credit students at each of the secondary schools. During this orientation students will be advised regarding the collegiate curriculum and will receive information regarding FERPA and the University’s published complaint policy and procedures. In addition, students will receive instruction in how to withdraw from the dual credit course and how to request a transcript. All transcripts for dual credit students will indicate university course credit in the exact same way as for all other university students.