Ave Maria University Catalogue 2012-2013 5050 Ave Maria Blvd. Ave Maria, Florida 34142 Telephone: (239) 280-2500 www.avemaria.edu July 2012 Ave Maria University All Rights Reserved Volume X, Number I 2 3 WELCOME TO AVE MARIA UNIVERSITY As the new President of Ave Maria University, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to one of America’s youngest and most dynamic institutions of higher education. Launched a decade ago in Ypsilanti, Michigan as Ave Maria College by its founder, Chancellor Thomas S. Monaghan, the institution’s vision was to start as a liberal arts college and evolve into a comprehensive university. This new and evolving collegiate institution was to offer baccalaureate and graduate degrees in a broad spectrum of disciplines, feature pre-professional and professional specializations, focus on teaching and research, and faithfully serve the Magisterium of the Church. Today, Ave Maria University features small classes, is academically rigorous, and provides students with the tools they need to become critical thinkers, competent writers, and lovers of learning. These initiatives are the responsibility of a well-qualified and dedicated faculty, 94 percent of whom possess earned doctorates in their chosen academic disciplines. The University currently offers 21 majors, including programs in business administration and psychology, as well as pre-professional programs in medicine and law, and a creative business certificate program that allows students to combine liberal arts majors with business courses to enhance career opportunities. The University’s Core Curriculum is one of the strongest in America. Graduates of the Class of 2012 were admitted to major law and medical schools and other graduate programs of distinction. In spite of our young history, an Ave Maria education has been a spring board for many to promising careers and vocations. A number of our graduates have entered the seminary or religious life, while others have been called to married life – often with a fellow Ave classmate! We believe that university life should provide an environment where young men and women can mature into responsible adults who celebrate their faith in Jesus Christ and apply their knowledge to the challenges of the 21st century. While attendance at Mass on Sunday is not mandatory, it is expected, and the moral climate in our dorms allows our students to maintain the values instilled in them by their parents. This will be my second year as the new President of Ave Maria University. My wife and five children moved with me to beautiful, sunny Southwest Florida to be a part of this University’s future because we believe its mission is vitally important. It is clear to me that what our founder, Tom Monaghan, envisioned is coming to fruition, and that the Lord is honoring His Holy Mother by blessing us with a record enrollment this fall. Put simply, Ave Maria is unique, affordable, and authentic. In October 2012, The Most Revenend Frank J. Dewane, Bishop of Venice, formally recognized Ave Maria University as an official Catholic university. I hope you will enjoy reading about Ave Maria University and visiting our website at www.avemaria.edu. If possible, I invite you to visit our beautiful campus, one of America’s newest and most modern, and see for yourself why Ave Maria is attracting some of the country’s finest scholars and students. If you are a student using this Catalogue as a tool and guide, I wish you every success and invite you to seek further assistance from our well-qualified and student-oriented staff and faculty. With kindest regards, H. James Towey President 5 Table of Contents Academic Calendar 2012-2013 6 I. INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL INFORMATION 9 Mission Statement, History and Catholic Identity 9 Library & Technological Learning Services 1 3 Ave Maria University Branch Campus in Nicaragua (AMU-LAC) 1 4 II. ADMISSION TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES 1 7 III. FINANCIAL INFORMATION 25 Student Financial Aid Programs 26 IV. STUDENT LIFE 39 V. PHILOSOPHY OF THE CURRICULUM 48 VI. UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS & COURSE DESCRIPTIONS 5 1 Core Curriculum, Student Learning Goals and Outcomes, and Bachelor of Arts Degree Requirements 5 1 Academic Policies 55 Academic Honor Code 64 Undergraduate Majors, Minors, and Course Descriptions 70 VII. GRADUATE PROGRAMS & COURSE DESCRIPTIONS 179 M.A. & Ph.D. in Theology 180 Institute for Pastoral Theology: Master of Theological Studies 198 VIII. DIRECTORIES 215 IX. INDEX 205 6 Academic Calendar 2012-2013 Fall Term 2012 Aug. 23-26 Thursday-Sunday New Undergraduate Student Orientation Aug. 27 Monday Academic Year Begins – First Day of Classes Aug. 31 Friday Fall Formal Academic Convocation, 5pm Sept. 3 Monday Labor Day – Classes in Session Sept. 4 Tuesday Last Day to Add Courses Sept. 11 Tuesday Last Day to Drop Courses Sept. 17 Monday Constitution Day Observed – Classes in Session Oct. 8 Monday Provisional Grade Reports Due Oct. 18-21 Thursday-Sunday Fall Term Break – No Classes Oct. 26-27 Friday-Saturday Parents Weekend Nov. 1 Thursday All Saints Day – No Classes Nov. 5-16 Monday-Friday Advising and Registration Period Nov. 19 Monday Last Day to Withdraw from Courses with a “W” Nov. 22-25 Thursday-Sunday Thanksgiving Break – School Closed Dec. 6 Thursday Last Day of Classes Dec. 7 Friday Examination Reading Day – No Classes Dec. 8 Saturday Immaculate Conception Dec. 10-14 Monday-Friday FINAL EXAMS Dec. 17 Monday Grade Reports Due Spring Term 2013 Jan. 7-8 Monday-Tuesday New Undergraduate Student Orientation Jan. 9 Wednesday First Day of Classes Jan. 16 Wednesday Last Day to Add Courses Jan. 23 Wednesday Last Day to Drop Courses Jan. 25 Friday March for Life – Classes in Session Feb. 18 Monday Provisional Grade Reports Due March 2-10 Saturday-Sunday Spring Break – No Classes March 13-27 Wednesday-Wed. Advising and Registration Period March 28-April 1 Thursday-Monday Easter Break – No Classes April 1 Monday Classes resume at 5:30pm on Easter Monday April 8 Monday Feast of the Annunciation – Classes in Session April 8 Monday Last Day to Withdraw from Courses with a “W” April 25 Thursday Last Day of Classes April 26 Friday Examination Reading Day – No Classes April 27-May 2 Saturday-Thursday FINAL EXAMS May 4 Saturday Commencement May 6 Monday Grade Reports Due Summer Term 2013 May 7 Tuesday First Day of Summer Term May 10 Friday Last Day to Add Courses May 14 Tuesday Last Day to Drop Courses May 24 Friday Provisional Grade Reports Due May 27 Monday Memorial Day – School Closed June 17 Monday Last Day to Withdraw from Courses with a “W” June 26 Wednesday Last Day of Classes June 27-28 Thursday-Friday FINAL EXAMS July 1 Monday Grade Reports Due 7 Latin American Campus (AMU-LAC) Academic Calendar 2012-2013 Fall Term 2012 Aug. 17 Friday Student Life Orientation Aug. 20 Monday Academic Orientation Aug. 22 Wednesday Academic Year Begins – First Day of Classes Aug. 24 Friday Last Day to Add or Drop Courses Sept. 14-15 Friday-Saturday Central American Independence – No Classes Sept. 19 Wednesday Last Day to Withdraw from Courses w/o Penalty Sept. 20 Thursday Academic Honors Convocation Oct. 11 Thursday Provisional Grade Reports Due Nov. 1 Thursday All Saints Day Nov. 22-25 Thursday-Sunday Thanksgiving Holidays Dec. 4 Tuesday Purissima Celebration Dec. 7 Friday Last Day of Classes Dec. 10-14 Monday-Friday FINAL EXAMS Dec. 14 Friday Grade Reports Due Spring Term 2013 Jan. 11 Friday Student Life Orientation Jan. 14 Monday Academic Orientation Jan. 16 Wednesday First Day of Classes Jan. 18 Friday Last Day to Add or Drop Courses Feb. 15 Friday Last Day to Withdraw from Courses w/o Penalty Feb. 21 Thursday Academic Honors Convocation Feb. 25 Monday Provisional Grade Reports Due Mar. 25 - Apr. 1 Monday-Monday Holy Week and Easter Break – No Classes May 1 Wednesday Labor Day in Nicaragua – No Classes May 8 Wednesday Last Day of Classes May 9-15 Thursday-Wednesday FINAL EXAMS May 16 Thursday Grade Reports Due May 18 Saturday Commencement Summer I Term 2013 May 27 Monday First Day of Classes June 3 Monday Last Day to Add and Drop Courses June 10 Monday Last Day to Withdraw from Courses w/o Penalty June 28 Friday Last Day of Classes July 1 Monday Grade Reports Due Summer II Term 2013 July 8 Monday First Day of Classes July 10 Wednesday Last Day to Add and Drop Courses July 15 Monday Last Day to Withdraw from Courses w/o Penalty July 19 Friday Nicaragua Holiday – School Closed August 9 Friday Last Day of Classes August 9 Friday Grade Reports Due 9 I. Introduction and General Information The University is a place of concourse, whither students come from every quarter for every kind of knowledge. ... It is a place where inquiry is pushed forward, and discoveries verified and perfected, and rashness rendered innocuous, and error exposed, by the collision of mind with mind, and knowledge with knowledge. —John Henry Cardinal Newman, The Idea of a University Ave Maria University Mission Statement Founded in fidelity to Christ and His Church in response to the call of Vatican II for greater lay witness in contemporary society, Ave Maria University exists to further teaching, research, and learning at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the abiding tradition of Catholic thought in both national and international settings. The University takes as its mission the sponsorship of a liberal arts education curriculum dedicated, as articulated in the apostolic constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae, to the advancement of human culture, the promotion of dialogue between faith and reason, the formation of men and women in the intellectual and moral virtues of the Catholic faith, and to the development of professional and pre-professional programs in response to local and societal needs.