Chapel Attendance

Daily chapels are held for the Emmaus students, staff, and faculty. Chapel provides an opportunity for the Emmaus community to come together daily for a devotional thought, worship, prayer, and communication of information. All full-time students are required to attend daily chapel, floor devotions, and Growth Groups. This includes resident, nonresident, and continuing education students. Attendance at all chapel periods is recorded by means of swiping the student ID card at the beginning of the chapel period. Failure to swipe your card will be charged as a skip. (Please see the Student ID Card Replacement Policy if your student ID card is lost or damaged.) Resident Assistants and Growth Group leaders are responsible for attendance at floor devotions and split chapels for resident students. Tardiness for chapel is handled in the following manner: Five minutes is considered late. Three late offenses in the span of two weeks are calculated as one skip. Ten minutes late is recorded as a skip. 

If a full-time student needs exemption for attending chapel due to an emergency, family situation, or other personal issue, s/he must secure permission from Student Development as soon as possible. Semester-long exemptions may also be granted at the beginning of the semester by securing permission from Student Development. Forms are available at the front desk.

If a student exceeds 10 skips per semester, s/he will fail chapel. Chapel attendance is recorded on student transcripts as Pass/Fail. STUDENTS MUST PASS CHAPEL EACH SEMESTER OF FULL-TIME ATTENDANCE IN ORDER TO GRADUATE. Students who do not pass Chapel for any given semester may contact Student Development to complete a make-up assignment to change their grade from Fail to Pass. Please note that make-up assignments are not to be used as a substitute for your attendance in chapel. Regular chapel attendance is encouraged and expected. Students with two chapel failures on their transcripts will not be allowed to begin classes in the semester following until make-up assignments for both chapel failures are submitted and approved for grade change from Fail to Pass.

Growth Groups

In order to foster spiritual growth and fellowship within the student body, Emmaus provides a small group ministry for all students called Growth Groups. Growth Groups meet every Tuesday as part of the Chapel program. Each semester, Growth Groups choose a book or topic for study with approval from the Director of Spiritual Life. 

Servant-Leader Training (SLT)

Through its academic programs, Emmaus purposes to develop servant-leaders, equipped for service, ministry, and vocation. The SLT program provides each student the opportunity to develop as a servant-leader through engagement in service to the church and the community. Students are encouraged to participate in regularly-scheduled service opportunities in church and para-church settings (e.g., Sunday School teaching, AWANA, Friday Nighters, etc.) and in the broader community. All SLT activities must be approved by the SLT Director.

Each student must complete a minimum of 30 SLT hours a semester, 10 of which must be in service to the broader Dubuque community (e.g., Maria House, Clarity Clinic, Multicultural Center).

A unit of SLT (.5 credits) equals 30 hours. For a Bachelor of Science degree, the SLT requirement is 7-8 units (3.5-4 credits). For an Associate of Arts degree, the SLT requirement is 4 units (2 credits). For the Certificate in Biblical Studies or the Continuing Education Certificate in Biblical Studies programs, the SLT requirement is 2 units (1 credit). With permission from the Director of Servant-Leader Training, students may complete 2 units of SLT in one semester. Transfer students are required to complete 1 unit of SLT for each semester at Emmaus (a minimum of 4 units are required). As long as transfer students meet a minimum credit requirement of 124 credits, they do not need to make up any remaining SLT credits. Students taking 6 or more credits in any given semester must register for SLT unless SLT unit requirements are met. Students who complete degree programs one course at a time must complete the required units of SLT.

Bible Reading

All certificate and degree graduates must complete the Bible-reading requirement, a reading of the entire Bible during one academic year. This is usually accomplished through completion of required reading in Old Testament Survey 1 & 2 and New Testament Survey. Bible reading must be completed by the first day of finals.

English Composition Requirement

Degree-seeking students must earn a minimum grade of C- in English Composition (ENG 101), or equivalent in the case of transfer students, to pass this course. Ordinarily, the course will be completed within the student’s initial 30 credit hours at Emmaus. Course withdrawal is rarely granted, and only when a formal request with written documentation of extreme hardship is provided to the VP/Dean for Academic Affairs.

General Graduation Requirements

The following requirements must be met in order to graduate from Emmaus University:

• Passing grades in all required courses
• Passing grades in chapel for each semester of full-time attendance
• Completion of a minimum of 124 credit hours (varies by program)
• Minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 (2.5 for Teacher Education and Music Education graduates)
• Completion of the Bible reading requirement
• Completion of required units of Servant Leader Training (SLT)
• Demonstration of consistent Christian character as articulated in the Student Handbook
• Payment of all financial obligations to the university