Student Handbook: Student Services

Student Support

Signum University has a Student Support Team available to assist enrolled students as they pursue educational growth with the institution. The Team is available to answer basic questions, offer preliminary academic advice, organize degree plans, guide students to resources, provide academic support, serve as a liaison between you and staff, handle complaints, and offer emergency assistance. The Student Support Team can be contacted via [email protected].

Communications and Questions

Signum students are always welcome and encouraged to communicate with and ask questions of Signum faculty and staff. Credit students should maintain contact with their Signum Advisor as an immediate resource. Auditors are encouraged to contact their instructors, the Doorward, and/or technical assistance with questions and concerns. An Academic Mentor is also available for specific Literature or Language content-area questions and information about professional academia. For course-related questions, please contact your Preceptor. For non-course-related questions, please contact the Student Support Team at [email protected].

Grievances and Resolutions

Signum University’s Code of Conduct lists out examples of misconduct, which among other functions is meant to empower members of our community with the knowledge of what Signum defines as misconduct when it comes to grievances and resolutions. Signum strives to uphold its Code of Conduct, but we also hope the members of our community will feel supported with that knowledge freely to report misconduct when they observe it. The well-being of the community is the first priority at Signum University, and Signum appreciates everything its members do to help make that community thrive.

Members should feel free to speak up at any time if there is a problem, and Signum encourages students to speak with their Student Advisor about any problems they encounter during their time at the University. It is always our preference to see conflicts, complaints, or problems resolved informally, amicably, and to the satisfaction of everyone involved. Should a student still desire, after initial attempts to address the situation, to file a formal grievance, they are encouraged to so by the following process.

Filing a Grievance

Grievances are filed using the grievance form available on the Signum University website. Grievances will receive an immediate automated response, followed by a personal response from the Grievance Facilitator. The Grievance Facilitator is a member of Strategy Council, Signum’s leadership team; currently, the Grievance Facilitator is Sharon Hoff, Dean of People. Should the Strategy Council deem that a conflict of interest necessitates Dean Hoff to recuse herself from a particular Grievance procedure, Malcolm Harden, Dean of Stewardship, will serve as the Grievance Facilitator in her stead.

The Grievance Facilitator will correspond with the student immediately and will set out to determine whether the grievance should be taken to mediation, if mediation has been requested, or to investigation, if the complaint warrants that procedure. The Facilitator’s determination of the appropriate course of action will be complete within one week. If the grievance refers to another student or to a faculty or staff member, that individual will be alerted and given one week to respond. The grievance itself may be forwarded to the individual concerned so that he or she may provide any relevant information.

If the grievance requires an investigation and additional information is necessary to properly address the grievance, the University will send the person who filed the grievance a request for information and, where relevant, to other concerned parties. The student is required to respond within 7 days of the information request. If a response is not received within that time, the investigation may be discontinued.

After all initial information is received, a timeline will be set for the investigation of the grievance, not to exceed 15 days. When the investigation is concluded, a decision will be made regarding how the grievance will be addressed, and the student who filed the complaint and any other involved parties will be notified of the decision. If misconduct has been found that involves state and federal law, the appropriate authorities will be contacted, and the University will comply with all state and federal requirements. If any misconduct has been found, the offending party will be notified of the disciplinary action that will be taken.

Students and any other involved party can appeal an investigation’s decision within 7 days of receiving the decision by contacting [email protected]. Appeals are only to be made on the grounds that due process in the original grievance evaluation was not followed, or that new evidence has since emerged. The Chair of Signum’s Board of Directors will receive any appeals, and he will adjudicate the grounds of the appeal, notifying the appellant of his judgment within 7 days. The current Chair of Signum’s Board is Dr. Matthew DeForrest. Should Dr. DeForrest deem there to be sufficient grounds for an appeal, he will convene a Judicial Committee of the Signum Board, who will hear and judge the appeal within 15 days of the initial adjudication of the grounds for appeal.

Grievance Form

Expressing Concerns About Signum’s Compliance

Any student who has a concern about Signum University’s compliance with federal or state laws, or with the standards upheld by the Higher Education Commission of the state of New Hampshire, may submit a complaint to the Commission. We recommend that any such complaint first be submitted through our internal Grievance procedure outlined above. Signum would like to address any concern or complaint you have directly, and the Higher Education Commission will almost certainly recommend that you pursue internal resolution first.

Transcript Requests

Signum is happy to provide a transcript listing of all classes a student has taken, either as an auditor or for credit. To request a transcript, send an email to [email protected] or use the online contact form. Put “Transcript Request” in the subject line, and be sure to include any other relevant information in the body of the message.

Library

Signum University offers a convenient online library that features subscriptions to the Project Muse Humanities Collection and JSTOR’s Literature and Language Collection, as well as a set of research guides.

The Project Muse Humanities Collection contains over two hundred high-quality, peer reviewed journals to support research in the humanities. Journal categories include Literature; Language and Linguistics; Philosophy; Religious; Music; Art and Architecture; Film, Theater, and Performing Arts; Social Science; Creative Writing; and Social Sciences. Journal highlights include Tolkien Studies, Chaucer Review, Arthuriana, and Shakespeare Quarterly. Project Muse is accessible through course classes for faculty and students with an active Signum login.

The JSTOR Literature and Language Collection contains a collection of over fifty high-quality, peer-reviewed journals in areas of study relevant to Signum’s M.A. in Language & Literature program. Some of the journals included in the collection include Modern Philology, The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association, Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Feminist Studies, Nineteenth-Century Literature, and The German Quarterly, among others.

Signum University’s library also provides a set of research guides to direct faculty and students to trustworthy online sources. Guides include links to open access databases of journal articles and books, Tolkien and Inklings websites, history and literature websites, language and philology websites, modern genre websites, and other helpful online resources. These research guides are accessible to faculty, students, and the general public.

Writer’s Forge

Signum University offers a writing tutorial program to help individuals who want to improve their academic writing skills. This program is open to all members of the Signum community, including current credit students, auditors, and participants in any of our public programs like Signum Symposia or the Mythgard Academy. In all of our courses, Preceptors are available to provide feedback on individual papers (and other assignments) and work with students on their revisions. However, in the event that you need help with more fundamental writing skills not directly related to the course content, the Preceptor for the class may recommend that you make an appointment with a tutor.

Assistance offered through the writing tutorial program includes (but is not necessarily limited to):

Strengthening sentence structure, stylistics, and standard writing conventions
Clarifying logic and argumentation
Addressing pervasive, recurrent issues with syntax, diction, organization, specificity, and quote integration
Reviewing sources and citations in academic writing

Signum’s Student Support Division will work with interested writers to set up a one-on-one video chat and to share their work with their tutor through Google Docs. Both writer and tutor will thus be able to see the document and read it over together as they talk through the writing process, and the writer will be able to mark it up, ask questions, and make suggested revisions alongside the tutor. The fee for Signum’s writing tutorial program is $30 per half hour. You may make an appointment with a tutor at the Writer’s Forge.

Community Hearth

Signum University’s Community Hearth features numerous discussion forums and chat rooms where students can find answers to their questions, discuss their classes, or simply hang out.

Community Hearth forums include:

General Community Hangout
Meeting of the Minds
Student Lounge
Creative Writing Group
Polyglots’ Corner
Student-led Discussions for current classes

Community Hearth is accessible at forums.signumuniversity.org.

Work-Study Program

At Signum University, we work hard to keep our tuition as low as possible, but we understand that many people can still benefit from further financial assistance.

Work-study students receive tuition remission for one course per term in exchange for a total of forty hours of work over the course of the semester. Please note that students new to our Graduate Program must complete the application and be accepted for admission to the program before enrolling in courses for credit. People who are not interested in taking our courses for credit are welcome to apply their tuition remission towards auditing a course.

If you are accepted as a work-study student, you will be placed in one or more of our staff teams based on your skills, interests, and experience and are matched with a coach or mentor who will be responsible for supporting and overseeing your work. If you complete your work for the term satisfactorily and would like to continue in the program for future terms, you will be welcome to do so.

Work-Study Eligibility

Prospective work-study participants should be aware of the following legal matters:

You will need to provide evidence that you are legally able to work in your country of residence.
You will need to submit some legal paperwork to Signum University before you can take part in the work-study program.
For certain roles within the University, we may be obligated to perform a background check in accordance with University policy, with your consent (denying consent may render you ineligible for certain work-study roles).

Updated July 2022

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