LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 419

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UNIVERSITY EDUCATION
of the Synod (or a designee) shall review and verify that nominees
are qualified to serve as stated above.
3.69.6.3
The presidents (including interim presidents) of Synod’s
colleges and universities in good standing shall, along with two
nonvoting members designated by the Concordia University System
Board of Directors Commission for University Education, comprise
the Concordia University System Institution Advisory Council. The
Institution Advisory Council shall, as specified elsewhere in these
bylaws and upon request, provide advice, consultation, and access to
information as necessary to facilitate Concordia University System
Commission for University Education ecclesiastical review, on the
Synod’s behalf, of the schools’ Lutheran identity and mission
outcomes under the Standards (Bylaw 3.69.6.1 [a] and 3.69.6.4). It
shall also, as bylaws elsewhere specify and upon request, advise
Concordia University System the Commission for University
Education in its responsibilities as they relate to programs leading to
candidacy for commissioned ministry and to seminary enrollment.
Lutheran Identity and Mission Outcomes Standards, Ecclesiastical
Visitation
3.69.6.4
The Concordia University System Board of Directors
Commission for University Education shall, after input from its
Institution Advisory Council, define and adopt the Lutheran Identity
and Mission Outcomes Standards (“Standards”), a regularly
published policy document containing standards for ecclesiastical
visitation and affirmation of institutions and of programs leading to
candidacy for commissioned ministry or to preparedness for
seminary study.
(a) The Standards shall express the Synod’s expectations for its
college or university, including fidelity of campus curriculum and
culture intended to propagate the faith, strong theology and
campus ministry programs having positive and intentional
interaction with the entire faculty and student population and with
all curricular programs, and success in preparation of church
workers for the Synod and of Lutheran laypeople for distinctively
faithful lives of service to church and neighbor and in conveying
to all students a clear understanding of the essentials of the faith,
generally and in specific relation to their particular vocations.
(b) The Standards shall be elaborated to support both formative
and summative functions. They shall engender local development
and provide for outside monitoring of formative processes,
engaging all institutions fully in intentional and measurable
programs intended to advance their expression of Lutheran
identity and accomplishment of mission outcomes. They shall
also enable the drawing of summative conclusions, concretely
identifying strengths and weaknesses in institutions and
programs, ultimately to provide clear rationale for decisions
about continuation or termination of affirmation.
(c) In addition to the standards with institution-wide
applicability, the Concordia University System Commission for
University Education shall develop and maintain supplemental
program standards specific to each type of program intended to
result in candidacy for one of the Synod’s categories of
commissioned ministry or in preparedness for seminary study.
Such program standards shall specify, for example, the
instructional and practical curricular requirements expected to be
satisfactorily completed prior to qualification for first call or for
granting of credit by a seminary for pre-seminary studies. The
Concordia University System commission shall develop preseminary curricular standards after input from the seminaries of
the Synod.
(d) The Standards shall be made publicly available on the
Synod’s website and as otherwise determined by Concordia
University System Commission for University Education.
3.69.6.4.1 Synod colleges and universities shall undergo Synod
visitation with respect to the Lutheran Identity and Mission

419

Outcomes Standards, both comprehensively as institutions and with
regard to the specific requirements of each implemented program
intended to result in candidacy for one of the Synod’s categories of
commissioned ministry or in preparedness for seminary study.
(a) Ordinarily each college or university shall receive a formal
institutional and program visitation at least once in each Synod
national convention cycle. These regular, formal visitations shall
attend to both formative and summative elements, evaluating
present performance relative to the Standards but also fostering,
monitoring, and advancing initiatives in pursuit of the Standards.
A focused review of a specific alleged breach of the Standards,
however, may be initiated by Concordia University System the
Commission for University Education at any time.
(b) Concordia University System The commission may, if a
regular or focused review finds that an institution or program is
at risk of not fulfilling the Standards, place the institution or
program under a notice of concern, which may, at Concordia
University Systemthe commission’s option, be made public.
Concordia University System The commission may lift the notice
at any time it determines the risk has been satisfactorily
addressed.
(c) Concordia University System The commission may, upon
finding an institution to be in breach of the Standards, either on
the basis of a regular visitation report or a focused review, place
the institution on probation for up to a two-year period. If
Concordia University System the commission determines that
substantial progress has been made and that verifiable plans and
resources are in place to bring the institution into compliance,
then Concordia University System the commission may extend
probation once for one year, but to no more than three years total.
Concordia University System The commission may lift the
probation earlier if the institution is brought into compliance. An
institution not in compliance at the conclusion of the probationary
period is no longer affirmed by the Synod, can no longer declare
graduates qualified for placement, and is no longer commended
by Concordia University System the commission to the church.
(d) Concordia University System The commission may, upon
finding a church work preparation program to be in breach of the
Standards, either on the basis of a regular visitation report or of a
focused review, place the program on probation for up to a oneyear period. If Concordia University System the commission
determines that substantial progress has been made and that
verifiable plans and resources are in place to bring the program
into compliance, then Concordia University System the
commission may extend probation once for up to one year, but to
no more than two years total. Concordia University System The
commission may lift probation earlier if the program is brought
into compliance. A program not in compliance at the conclusion
of the probationary period is no longer affirmed by the Synod and
therefore its graduates cannot be declared as qualified for initial
placement and the program cannot be commended or
acknowledged as a suitable program of pre-seminary preparation.
(e) An institution or program under probation has not lost
affirmation but is not “in good standing with the Synod” for
purposes of these Bylaws.
3.69.6.4.2 After input from its Institution Advisory Council, the
Concordia University System Board of Directors Commission for
University Education shall implement and maintain policies
governing, and shall supervise, the process of formal visitation for
the Synod’s colleges and universities on the basis of the Lutheran
Identity and Mission Outcomes Standards.
(a) In preparation for visitation and affirmation review, each
institution and church work program shall provide, on the basis
of a thorough self-study, a written report evidencing compliance
with the criteria and core components of the Standards, as
evaluated by the stated measurable factors, as well as indicating

2026 Convention Workbook