Student Development

• Office of Student Development
  • Standards of Conduct for Traditional Students
  • Dress Code
  • Traditional Student Organizations
  • Intercollegiate Athletics
  • Health and Insurance
  • Food Services and Housing for Traditional Students
  • Counseling Services
• Spiritual Life for Traditional Students
• Campus Safety Department

Office of Student Development

The Office of Student Development is responsible for those aspects of campus life other than academic and athletic matters. These include intramurals, lifestyle guidelines, new student orientation, campus counseling, residence hall living, student activities, Land Fitness Center, student conduct, student government, and student organizations and clubs.

New students can access the student handbook online when they enroll. They are expected to read the sections dealing with policies and are responsible for knowing the information. Prospective and enrolled students who feel they need clarification of printed regulations have opportunity to discuss these matters with the Student Development staff.

Standards of Conduct for Traditional Students

In keeping with the philosophy of the university and the Church of the Nazarene, the following standards are expected of all students:

Christian principles of morality should govern every personal relationship. The use of alcoholic beverages, tobacco, illegal drugs, profane language, obscene content in any form, and gambling are not permitted. Stealing or abuse of the university’s or other people’s property is not tolerated, and disorderly assembly or disruptive activity of students is prohibited. Students are expected to exercise self-discipline and sound judgment and to manage their conduct both on and off the main campus in a manner consistent with agreements made upon application and with the university catalog and the student handbook.

No code of conduct, no matter how lengthy, could list all the matters about which choices and decisions must be made. What has been attempted here is to give students a generalized overview of what will be expected of them. A more comprehensive description of the Standards of Conduct can be found in the student handbook by going to the disclosures section, under handbooks on the MNU website.

Dress Code

MidAmerica Nazarene University seeks Christian simplicity, modesty, and propriety in dress and appearances in harmony with biblical principles. Specific guidelines with regard to dress and appearance may be found in the Student Handbook, accessible on the MNU web page.

Traditional Student Organizations

Each student is a member of the Associated Student Government (ASG) of MidAmerica Nazarene University.

Associated Student Government The entire student body is recognized as contributing members of the student government association. The affairs of the association are managed by an executive cabinet. The executive cabinet serves the campus community by providing opportunities for spiritual development, leadership development, meaningful social exchange, and service opportunities via student led initiatives.

Intramural Program The intramural program makes an outstanding contribution to the school spirit and campus morale. An important objective of the intramural program is to provide extensive program activities that capture the interest of every student on campus. The various sports and social activities in the intramural program are organized for both men and women. Recognition for outstanding efforts includes awards for individual championships as well as team sports.

Clubs and other student groups organized in tandem with the Intramural Program are also available. Listed below are several popular clubs open to participation from any student. A more comprehensive list is available upon request. Students interested in starting or joining a club should seek assistance and approval from the Director of Student Life. Students who wish to organize clubs or organizations sponsored by athletic or academic departments should speak with the corresponding director or department chair/associate dean for more information.

Intercollegiate Athletics

MidAmerica Nazarene University includes the following sports and activities for traditional students in its intercollegiate athletics program: Men’s - football, basketball, baseball, soccer, cross country, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, golf, and weightlifting; Women’s - volleyball, softball, basketball, soccer, cross country, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, golf, and weightlifting; Co-ed - Cheer. MidAmerica Nazarene University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC).

Health and Insurance

All students living in student housing must either provide written documentation of the meningitis immunization or sign a waiver to indicate they have been informed about the disease and vaccine and have chosen not to be immunized. International students who have never been immunized against polio need the IVP shot and a TB skin test within the last 12 months in addition to the above listed requirements.

Residential students are also encouraged to obtain renters insurance from the provider of their choice as the University is not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged personal property.

Food Services and Housing for Traditional Students

MidAmerica Nazarene University is committed to the concept of being a residential campus. Because of the benefits to the student and to the university, all unmarried students under 22 years of age, not living with parents or legal guardians and taking twelve or more hours, are required to live on campus and participate in the food service program.

Exceptions:

1. Students who reach their 22nd birthday prior to beginning the semester and in good academic standing.
2. Persons who are living with parent or person who has served as legal guardian in lieu of parents, in their permanent place of residence. Address must be within 45 miles of university.
3. Former students who have not been enrolled in MNU for two or more consecutive semesters and who are established in housing.
4. Persons who have not been previously enrolled in MNU and have established a household in the Kansas City area apart from parents or other family.

All resident students may participate in the Weekly 19 meal plan. Only seniors (with 88 earned credit hours) are permitted to participate in the 90 block plan. Students must have an active ID card to access the dining hall. Commuter students and other guests may purchase meals per visit or take part in one of the optional plans. Pioneer College Caterers, Inc., a professional organization which serves many colleges and universities, operates our food service. Pioneer College Caterers provides food service while classes are in session and on weekends. They are closed during Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, Spring break and Easter break.

In order to assure that all students under 22 years of age have campus housing, older students may be required to apply to live on campus. Application does not guarantee campus housing but will be accepted into review and may not be confirmed for up to two weeks after residence halls officially open. Students 21 years of age or younger desiring to live with their parent or guardian must apply with the Director of Residential Life. Students applying to live off campus must do so 30 days prior to the beginning of the semester so that housing status is known before that semester’s registration day.

Life in each of the residence halls is under the immediate direction of a Resident Educator (RE) hired by the Office of Student Development. The Resident Educators are assisted by Resident Assistants (RA).

Counseling Services

Traditional students:

The university maintains a counseling service to which students may go at no cost either by referral or at their own desire. Counseling professionals provide needed service or can help arrange additional counseling as necessary. Please go to the Student Counseling & Wellness Center page of the MNU website for more information.

Professional and graduate students:

The university maintains a counseling service to which students may go at a sliding scale cost either by referral or at their own desire. Counseling professionals provide needed service or can help arrange additional counseling as necessary. Please go to the Community Counseling Center page of the MNU website for more information.

Spiritual Life for Traditional Students

As a Christian university, MNU is committed to making the worship of God the central focus of our community. Jesus gathered his disciples from a variety of backgrounds, social classes, and political perspectives. Likewise, our students join us from various countries, family experiences, and places of faith. Students attending MNU should expect to be challenged, inspired, comforted and renewed in their journey towards God.

In the Spiritual Life Office, it is our prayer that during your time at MNU, you will belong to a community that travels together to discover God’s love & purpose for our lives. Worship of God is not something that only happens as we gather together for corporate worship, but is expressed each moment of our everyday lives. In this sense, our entire lives are opportunities to respond to the mercy of God, as seen through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Belong

As we seek to be a place of belonging, we are committed to cultivating a university modeled after the life and ministry of Jesus. Students do not have to sign a statement of faith to become a part of our family. Belonging at MNU simply means a willingness to join the community in practicing the Christian faith and openness to the movement of God in their lives.

The Spiritual Life Office facilitates opportunities for the entire campus to gather in our regular chapel services. Students, staff, and faculty all assemble in effort to listen to the voice of God together. These chapel services include times of prayer, singing our praise, listening to the Word of God, and a place where we can respond to God as a community and as individuals. Chapel provides a place of belonging as the community joins in the rhythms of faith as worship of God together.

Journey

The Spiritual Life Office at MidAmerica Nazarene University affirms Wesleyan theology in recognizing that there is a dynamic orientation to our salvation. In this sense we are both saved and being saved - that we are both holy and being made holy (Acts 20:32; 1 Corinthians 1:18). This theological truth serves as a guiding principle that forms our conviction that spiritual formation is a critical and ongoing component of a student’s experience while at MNU. As God is seeking out all of humanity, and as all of us are at differing stages of awareness of God’s love, it is our hope that MNU can serve as a sacred space where students are able to encounter God as they enter into and continue on their journey of Christian faith.

For these reasons, MNU provides small groups for the purpose of sharing their journey of Christian faith with fellow travelers. Small group ministries are designed to create an intentional space where students can wrestle with the realities of what it means to faithfully follow Christ. In this way, we come to see that we are not the only ones who face challenges in our spiritual lives and we affirm that we need each other to become more and more like Christ.

Additionally, the Spiritual Life Office hosts spiritual life retreats each semester where students are able to step out of their regular campus rhythm and take time to reflect on their Christian walk. While each retreat has a different emphasis, students can expect to participate in times of worship in song and reading of the Word, a message from a retreat speaker, times of prayer, times of small group discussion, and intentional time spent for silence and reflection.

Discover

At MNU we are committed to God’s universal mission of redemption and restoration. In the resurrection of Jesus, we affirm that God is already in the process of rescuing the world. Yet, Jesus has also invited the people of God to join him in the renewing the world (John 20:19-23). The Spiritual Life Office intentionally creates space to discern how God is calling individuals, and the MNU community, to join the mission of God in the world, regardless of academic interest or vocational calling.

Student ministries and mission trips serve to engage our community with the world that God loves so much. These encounters challenge us to consider the ways that God is already at work in the world and the ways in which God may be asking us to participate in the plan of redemption. As Jesus offers cross-shaped love on behalf of the world, it is the prayer of the Spiritual Life Office that MNU would be a place of discovering God’s dream for how the people of God can join the rescue mission, both personally and corporately.

Spiritual Life Frequently Asked Questions

• Do I have to be a Christian (or a Nazarene) to attend MNU?
  • Students who enroll at MNU are not required to identify as a follower of Jesus. Our community is led by faculty, staff, administrations, and coaches who love God and whose lives have been transformed by Jesus Christ. Further, MNU is a university that is sponsored by the Church of the Nazarene. For these reasons, individuals attending MNU should be aware that we are a community of people working to become more like Christ. However, students who do not profess faith in Jesus are welcome among us! We look forward to living out our passion for Christ with those who are new to the Christian faith, unfamiliar with the story of God, or those who are skeptical of God.
• Why does MNU require students to attend chapel and other spiritual life activities?
  • Although we do not require students to profess faith in Christ, we do require that student participate in the rhythms of our community. Our rhythms include chapel services, small groups, student ministries, mission trips, and retreats. MNU is an institution of learning and faith. For these reasons, spiritual formation is a co-curricular part of your experience at this university. There are a variety of events on campus that are extra-curricular in nature, such as intramural sports, social life activities, and campus clubs. Spiritual formation is a part of the DNA of our campus community and is a part of what it means to attend MNU.
• What are the spiritual formation requirements & how does a student fulfill their requirements?
  • Traditional undergraduate students at MNU need to garner (or acrew) 20 Spiritual Formation Credits (SFC) each semester. 10 SFC must be completed by attending our Tuesday, Gathering Chapel. There are a minimum of 16 Gathering Chapels per semester and each one is worth 1 SFC. The remaining 10 SFC can be completed in any of our additional spiritual formation options.
  • There are approximately 120 spiritual formation credits available in the course of a semester.
• What types of spiritual formation options are available in a semester?

✦The Gathering: The Gathering chapel is a time where the entire campus community assembles for a time of prayer, worship through singing, listening to a message, and celebrating the Lord’s Supper. As students, faculty, and staff meet together, it is our hope that God would use this time to shape us into the image of Jesus, as individuals and as a group. The Gathering Chapel takes place on Tuesdays from 9:30 AM-10:30 AM at College Church of the Nazarene. Each Gathering Chapel is worth 1 SFC and students are required to receive 10 SFC from the Gathering Chapel each semester.

✦The Growing: The Growing Chapels focus on helping us develop our faith by creating space for intentional times of discipleship and dialog. Growing Chapels include our Prof. Talk series, where we interview a faculty member, a staff member, or coach from the MNU community. Growing Chapels also include our Christ and Culture series where we wrestle with how our Christian faith is lived out in the world. Growing Chapels also include 8 weeks where we will have small groups that students can be a part of to explore and deepen their faith in Christ. Growing Chapels take place Thursdays from 9:30-10:30 AM in the Bell Cultural Events Center. Growing Chapels are each worth 1 SFC.

✦ The Going: Our Go Group ministries are opportunities for students to go serve in a variety of places around the Olathe and Kansas City area. MNU students visit the elderly, help at-risk youth with homework, and mentor children and teens. These ministries take place on a variety of days and times throughout the week. Sign-ups to be a part of these ministries take place at the beginning of each semester. Go Group ministries are worth 1 SFC each time a student attends.

✦Kingdom Come: Kingdom Come is a service where we gather to sing our prayers and praises to God and hear from MNU students. Once a month we’ll gather from 9:30-10:30 p.m. in Weatherby Chapel.

✦Spiritual Life Retreat: Each year, students are invited to be a part of our weekend-long spiritual life retreat. These retreats offer an opportunity to get off campus, spend time in prayer, worship through singing, reflect and recharging with friends. Spiritual life retreats typically cost between $25-$50 and include transportation, food, lodging, and a time to step away from campus. Students who attend a spiritual life retreat will earn 3 SFC. For more information, see our spiritual life retreat page.

✦Pioneer Trek: Each year MNU offers several opportunities for students to participate in a 1 to 2-week long mission trip. The locations of trips change each year but students have recently traveled to Ecuador, Czech Republic, Nigeria, India, Haiti, Guatemala, Africa, and Arizona. Students who complete the pre-trip training and participate on the mission trip will receive 4-6 SFC.

• Where can I see a schedule of the spiritual life opportunities?
  • A calendar with the dates, times, locations and a brief description of the event is located at mnuspirituallife.com.
• How do I register my attendance at one of the spiritual life opportunities?
  • Students register attendance by downloading the iAttend App on their smart phone or tablet. At each event/service students will be provided with a QR code to scan into the event/service and a QR code to scan out. Once this has been completed, their attendance at the event/service will immediately be recorded with their iAttended App on their smart phone. In order to receive credit for attending an event/service a student must arrive within 5 minutes of the beginning of the event/service and stay for the duration of the event/service.
• Is there any way to have my spiritual formation requirements reduced or waived?
  • Reductions in spiritual formation requirements are not based on individual circumstances but are based on a student’s academic requirements. Being of a different faith, living off campus, work schedules, or other extra-curricular involvement do not qualify a student for a reduction in their requirement. From time to time, academic requirements prohibit students from being able to attend enough of the Gathering Chapels. In this instance, students may qualify for a reduction in their spiritual formation credits for a semester. Students who have a reduction for academic reasons do not have to apply for this reduction. The reduction will be made in the 2nd week of the semester, based on the specific courses a student is enrolled in.
• How do I check how many spiritual formation credits I have received?
  • Students can check how many spiritual formation credits they have by accessing the iAttended App on their smart phone, or by going to www.iAttended.com.
• If I attend a church on Sunday, can it count toward my spiritual formation requirements?
  • We encourage MNU students to join a local church, but participating in a church service doesn’t count toward meeting your spiritual formation requirements. Our spiritual formation rhythm is intended to gather our whole community together and is a unique aspect of what it means to attend MidAmerica.
• What happens if I don’t earn all of my spiritual formation requirements?
  • Students who fail to garner their required amount of spiritual formation credits from the roughly sixty credits available in a semester will receive a fine. Spiritual formation fines are intended to hold students accountable to their commitment to be a part of the MNU community. At the conclusion of each semester, if a student fails to meet their spiritual formation requirement they will be assessed a twenty-five dollar fine for each missed spiritual formation credit, in addition to being placed on probation the following semester. If a student does not meet their full requirement in the following semester,the student may be suspended from college in the next semester.
• If I receive a spiritual formation fine, is there any way to have the fine waived or reduced?
  • Yes, students may have their fine eliminated or reduced by participating in our spiritual life fine program. This one-time opportunity is available to individuals who are returning to MNU in the semester after they have received their fine. Students can sign-up for this program by going to mnuspirituallife.com and clicking on the Spiritual Formation Requirements tab.

Campus Safety Department

The Campus Safety Department is located in the Land Gymnasium building at 2140 E. Pioneer Blvd., Olathe, KS 66062, (mailing address: 2030 E. College Way, Olathe, KS, 66062) and the emergency telephone number is 913-971-3299. Office hours are Monday through Friday, except holidays, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Campus Safety can be contacted 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by dialing 3299 from any campus phone or by dialing (913) 971-3299 from any other phone.

Campus Safety officers have full authority on university owned property, as well as the adjacent College Church owned property. The Campus Safety Office is not a certified law enforcement agency and officers do not have the authority to arrest. Officers are responsible for a full range of public services, including all crime reports, investigation, non-injury traffic accidents, enforcement of university rules regulating alcohol, possession of controlled substances, weapons, traffic regulations, and all other incidents requiring security assistance. Furthermore, Campus Safety Officers provide security escorts and motorist assist services, including jump starts.

The Campus Safety Department’s purpose is to serve the university community by providing a safe and secure atmosphere where learning can be accomplished. This can be achieved by various services and activities such as traffic and parking enforcement, crime prevention patrol, crowd control at special events, building access, escorts, unlocking doors, fire alarm response, and participation in the university’s Emergency Operation Plan (EOP), plus many other functions. All Campus Safety officers are CPR and AED (automatic external defibrillator) certified.

Major crimes and incidents are reported to the Olathe Police Department. The Campus Safety Department fully cooperates with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in the exercise of their responsibilities.

A permit to have and operate any motorized vehicle on the campus is a privilege, not a right. If a student gets excessive parking violations, they may lose their parking privileges. Any fines assessed and collected go into the General Fund of the University. Vehicle regulations are published annually and are available at the Campus Safety Department. The university reserves the right to tow vehicles parked on campus that have lost parking privileges and/or are parked in a place that endangers others; i.e., fire lanes, driveways, and building entrances and exits. Vehicles not normally used for transportation of individuals (e.g., boats, trailers, campers) are not permitted to be parked on university property without special permission from Campus Safety.

Parking Permits

Every vehicle brought on the campus must be registered and must properly display a parking permit. During the first two weeks of class, the permit is FREE. Permits obtained after that period will be $5.00.

The State of Kansas requires all vehicles operated in Kansas to have proof of insurance in the vehicle.

MNU Campus Alert System

MidAmerica Nazarene University has established an emergency Campus Alert System messaging service for members of our community. This method of notification is a supplement to the university’s methods of issuing timely warnings in the event of a security threat on or near our campus. In addition, this messaging service will only be used in the event of an emergency; or to advise of changes in scheduling due to severe weather; or to perform periodic testing of the system. Students, employees, and families can enroll at https://www.getrave.com/login/mnu.

Employees can also access it directly from the MNU portal home page by clicking on Campus Safety Dept. on the left-hand side then clicking on MNU Emergency Messaging listed under Campus Safety helpful links.

Students, employees, and families are strongly encouraged to enroll their cell phone number, in addition to their e-mail, to receive emergency alert notifications via e-mail and cell phone texts.

NOTE: The MNU.edu e-mail address of all students, faculty and staff is automatically entered into the system, but you must still take action to enroll yourself and further to register and activate your mobile phone (or alternative e-mail addresses). If it’s your first time entering the system and you have not already established a password, you will need to do the following:

• Log in entering your full MNU e-mail address, then click on “forgot password”.
• A link will be sent to your e-mail which will let you reset your password.
• Once your password is reset, go back to the login page and enter your full MNU e- mail address and password.
• Add your mobile number. A 4-digit code will be texted to you.
• Enter the 4-digit code to confirm your cell phone number and proceed with the instructions given to complete the validation process.

Family of students may also register for emergency notifications by clicking on the “Register” button and filling out the information, including your registration E-mail address utilizing the e-mail address of choice and following the prompts. If you have any questions the Campus Safety Department can be reached at (913) 971-3299, 24 hours a day.