Student Consumer Information

Per the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), all postsecondary institutions participating in federal financial aid programs are required to make available specific consumer information to current and prospective students in order to assist consumers in making more informed decisions about their education options.

Where applicable, each section lists links where additional information is available. This information is also available by paper copy upon request. Please contact the Financial Aid office at financialaid@meridianuniversity.edu for hard copies of the information below.

General and Academic Information

Academic Program Information

Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) Annual Reporting

Note: Reporting periods and data presentation may vary depending on whether it is a statistical requirement from the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education or the Department of Education and their respective statistical requirements.

Costs and Financial Aid

Financial Aid Support and Assistance

The following links will walk you through the FAFSA and Financial Aid Process.
- youtube.com/federalstudentaid
Types of Loans and the amounts a graduate student can borrow
- studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/loans
IRS data retrieval tool and instructions:
- youtube.com/watch?v=gD4TTatm9oI&t=3s
Check the status of your loan(s) – studentaid.gov
Federal Student Aid History: NSLDS – nslds.ed.gov
Loan Repayment information/Debt Counseling
Consolidation/IBR Information – studentaid.gov/app/launchConsolidation.action
Contact the Ombudsman: studentaid.gov/feedback-ombudsman/disputes
Online Calculators goodcalculators.com/student-loan-repayment-calculator

Cohort Default Rate

Not yet applicable for Meridian

Health and Safety

Campus Crime and Fire Safety Report
Anonymous Crime Reporting Form
Missing Person Procedures
Drug and Alcohol Abuse Policy
Notice of Federal Student Financial Aid Penalties for Drug Law Violation
Violence Against Women
Sexual Harassment Policy
Vaccination Policy: Students are encouraged to be responsible for their well-being, however Meridian does not require vaccinations for its students. To learn more, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at cdc.gov.

Federal Work-Study Information

For details regarding the Federal Work-Study program, visit the

Federal Code of Regulations. Please note Meridian does not participate in the Federal Work-Study program.

Registered Sex Offender Information

The National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPW) links public state, territorial, and tribal sex offender registries from one national search site:

nsopw.gov.

Voter Registration Information

Students who have not registered to vote may do so online by visiting

vote.gov.

Consider celebrating the birthday of the United States government with

Constitution Day. Constitution Day commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787.

Questions and complaints process with the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education

Any questions a student may have regarding this enrollment agreement that have not been satisfactorily answered by the Meridian University may be directed to the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education at 2535 Capitol Oaks Drive, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA 95833 or P.O. Box 980818, West Sacramento, CA 95798-0818,

bppe.ca.gov, (888) 370-7589 (telephone) or (916) 263-1897 (fax), or (916) 431-6959 (telephone) or (916) 263-1897 (fax).

Academic Information

Online Coursework

Meridian’s online learning platform combines asynchronous learning, video conferencing, and social collaboration.

Online courses are primarily conducted asynchronously.
Allows students to engage in collaborative learning with faculty and fellow students during times that are convenient for personal schedules.
Synchronous video conferencing is coordinated based on student and faculty availability.
Online work consists of weekly lessons and projects, which result in ongoing discussions.
Students are expected to participate through posting their responses to the course readings, learning resources, and to the range of other students’ responses.

Academic Freedom

Meridian embraces the principles of academic freedom as outlined by the American Association of University Professors. Faculty, staff, and students are expected to support the expression of differences. This includes having the right to articulate and advocate positions which may be controversial, without concern for negative repercussions regarding student evaluation, discrimination, or disciplinary action. Academic freedom includes freedom of speech, writing, opinions, beliefs, research endeavors, and learning activities. Academic freedom is essential to the cultivation of self-awareness, collaboration, responsibility, creativity, and the development of vital democracy. Principles of academic freedom extend from the classroom, to research, and to the communication of learnings from one's research in the form of presentation and publications.

Any concerns regarding academic freedom are resolved through the Grievance Procedure within the Conflict Resolution Process.

Integrity Policy

Students are expected to perform with academic and personal integrity in all aspects of the graduate program. Academic dishonesty includes practices such as: plagiarism; the unauthorized use of study aids during examinations; stealing, borrowing, or purchasing another person's work; using the same paper twice for two different courses, etc. Meridian has adopted the definition of plagiarism offered in Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations, 7th ed.: "By definition, a research paper involves the assimilation of prior scholarship and entails the responsibility to give proper acknowledgment whenever one is indebted to another for either words or ideas. . . [students must acknowledge] the words and ideas of others in a paper by quoting works accurately and attributing quotations and ideas to their authors in notes. Failure to give credit is plagiarism."

All student papers are subject to plagiarism software scans. When students are found to have behaved in an academically dishonest manner or to have plagiarized, the issue will be brought to the attention of the Director of Assessment and Student Development (DASD). The Student Development Committee is authorized to take appropriate disciplinary action, ranging from requiring the student to repeat the assignment or course; requiring the student to do additional work; placing the student on Academic Probation; requiring the student to take tutorial(s); and/or to initiate administrative withdrawal from Meridian. (See Administrative Withdrawal section).

At times, students may find themselves in the uncomfortable position of having knowledge of another student's academic dishonesty. In such cases, it is the student's ethical responsibility to take steps towards the resolution of the issue. Ethical steps would involve supporting the student who acted dishonestly to disclose their actions, and if this is unsuccessful, to report the issue to the DASD, who will conduct an inquiry.

Evaluation of Students

Meridian's approach to evaluation emphasizes self-awareness, empathy, and collaboration in the learning process. At Meridian, students do not receive traditional letter grades; instead, students are assigned one of the following at the end of each course: Pass (P), Low-Pass (LP), Incomplete (INC), and No-Credit (NC).

This grading policy results from the school's commitment to Transformative Learning, where standardized grades are viewed as oversimplifying the language used by faculty and students to talk about student learning and student achievement. At Meridian, it is understood that traditional grades or point systems provide a single hierarchal ranking-scale, representing learning in terms of a single set of letters or numbers that are static, discrete, and linear. However, learning is a dynamic, continuous, and non-linear process. In the school's assessment process, grades do not serve learning and are viewed as obscuring how learning is represented, i.e., traditional grading systems miss who students are and what they are capable of. As such, there is no need to grade students in ways that do not accurately convey their learning nor the range and diversity of their skills, strengths, and further development of their capacities.

At Meridian, student evaluation takes place in the context of in-class transformative learning activities, transformative practice assignments, writing assignments, the quality of student posts (for online coursework) and exams that are assessed collaboratively by the student and their colleagues; all of these constitute a rich and multidimensional picture of student learning.

The Student Development Committee assesses student progress on a quarterly and annual basis through academic reviews. At the summer Quarterly Academic Review, students who are in good academic standing are cleared to register for the following academic year.

Diversity Statement

Meridian maintains its commitment to creating a pluralist learning community through promoting and encouraging a diversity among its students, staff, and faculty. Meridian considers this commitment essential to being a reflexive organization. Meridian's ongoing intention is to develop and nurture a learning community in which students and faculty can learn together in an atmosphere of mutual respect, and where differences in age, economic status, race, ethnic background, religion, origin, gender, sexual orientation, physical challenge, political views, personal characteristics, and beliefs are welcomed.

At the core of Meridian's emphasis on Transformative Learning is the deep and abiding commitment to three principles: pluralism of individual viewpoint, the importance of expressing difference, and the necessity for individual and group differences to not be denied, disavowed, suppressed, or trivialized, but rather, to be deeply recognized and engaged. In accordance with these principles, Meridian fosters a learning environment that encourages expression of difference on the part of all constituents of Meridian's community: its staff, faculty, board, and students.

If a student or faculty believes they have been subjected to any form of unlawful discrimination, they may submit a written complaint to the Administrative Director (see grievance procedures).

Conflict Resolution Process

Conflict is essential to learning, individuation, and the creative process. The process of working through conflict supports and deepens our relationships and our creativity. Meridian's Conflict Resolution Process seeks to satisfactorily resolve conflict through an informal approach based on psychologically aware conversation.

When conflict arises, a focused and face-to-face attempt should be made to resolve issues directly with the people involved. Occasions of conflict can be a time to draw on skills and capacities essential for psychological work. Significant healing and closure can come from sincere, psychologically aware conversation. Working through conflict while maintaining psychological awareness during moments of disagreement, struggle, and anger can be a profoundly transformative experience. Learning to have these conversations effectively is an important aspect of Meridian's graduate curriculum. Meridian faculty and staff are available to provide assistance if the student would like help to create a context in which a conversation can take place.

When the above informal approach is not effective, the student has the option of initiating a formal grievance procedure by submitting a statement of grievance addressed to Meridian's Administrative Director. This statement of grievance should include all the relevant specifics about the issue. The Administrative Director conducts an inquiry to assess the validity of the grievance and to determine the appropriate remedies. Further detail on the grievance procedure may be found in the Student Handbook.

Additional Resources

Budgeting Your Money

practicalmoneyskills.com – Money management portal
stretcher.com – The Dollar Stretcher, lots of ideas
smartmoney.com – Tools, investments, news

Estimating Cost of Living

CNN Money Cost of Living Calculator: http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/
Economic Policy Institute's "Family Budget" Calculator: http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/

Understanding Credit

jeanchatzky.com – Award-winning journalist and best-selling author
myfico.com – Information about your FICO Score
consumercredit.com – Credit counseling
annualcreditreport.com – Free annual credit report

Scholarships

fastweb.com – Free scholarship search engine
collegeanswer.com – Free scholarship search engine
Remember – Watch out for financial aid scams . You should never be asked to pay for scholarship applications.

Additional Resources for Students with Disabilities

"MoneyGeek.com aims to help students make smarter financial decisions for their lifestyle. Living with a disability can alter a person's lifestyle drastically, which is why our team has been working hard to build a helpful set of easy-to-use resources for students with disabilities." These guides include information about scholarships and financial aid for students and understanding ADA laws and rights of workers. You can view them here:
- MoneyGeek.com: Scholarships & Grants for Students with Disabilities
- MoneyGeek.com: Workers with Disabilities & the ADA