Procedures Section 1 I. Associate Membership A. Associate members are institutions in the United States and Canada which have met the criteria for associate membership prescribed by the Association, have been recommended for associate membership by the Commission on Accrediting, and have been elected by a two-thirds majority of the accredited members of the Association present and voting at a meeting of the Association.
Associate membership is granted for a term of five years.
The term may be renewed by action of the Commission. B. Criteria for associate membership 1. The school shall demonstrate that it meets the ATS constitutional requirements for institutional membership in the Association. The school shall have operated long enough, typically three or more years, for at least one group of students to have earned all necessary credits and to have graduated with the Master of Divinity degree, or first theological degree offered by the school. The school shall demonstrate that it has an adequate number of properly qualified professors working full time at post-baccalaureate theological education.