St. Michael Academy of Eschatology Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

St. Michael Academy of Eschatology does not share the private information of students except as clarified herein.

1. Students applying for admission are subject, by virtue of our Application Contract Agreement, to verification of references, including former employers, school adminsistrators, church pastors or other references listed.
2. St. Michael Academy of Eschatology will not sell private student information to third parties.
3. Students have limited and controllable anonymity on course forums and chat, by which they may contact and interact with other students over the Internet voluntarily. It is not in the power of St. Michael Academy to limit all such activity. St. Michael Academy of Eschatology will not be held liable where such shared information takes place.
4. By default all student courses are viewable only by students enrolled in those courses. However, a limited number of courses are made available for public viewing. Where this is the case, the courses are marked clearly as "Public Access." This means that student contributions to courses may be visible to the public. It does not, however, grant, public access to private student information such as email address and phone number, unless the student decides to post such information onto a forum, or send such information by email or through chat, through our web site either to another student or in the case of Public Access courses, possibly to non-students who are either anonymous or identified visitors.
5. Students applying for ordination understand that they may be entering into a community relationship that involves a life-long commitment at the level of Holy Covenant, which by divine obligation supercedes even the highest of human laws. It is church in every sense of the word.
6. Such community relationships may result in introductions from time to time that involve the sharing of contact information, or other information in a social context, that may be more revealing than certain other web sites. As a social organization whose goal it is to reach unity and ever increasing intimacy in the love of Jesus Christ the sharing of personal information is normally by permission but somewhat normative. As a result, St. Michael Academy does not legally guarantee or accept to be bound by an overly restrictive privacy policy that would leave us bound by the human laws of any country or state, to absolutely prohibit the sharing of private information. We are happy to be subject to the spirit and reason for privacy laws under God, but not to the letter of them given by some human courts.
7. Many courses involve public posting of student assignments. This allows other students to benefit from community involvement on social forums. Most of our courses have moderators and teacher assistants, but the default is immediate publication of student posts for many courses. The student is held responsible from the posting of such information and agrees to and understands the public and social nature of the group access inherant in course posting activity.
8. St. Michael Academy of Eschatology encourages the confession of sin. Some students confess not just to ordained priests but to non-ordained priest candidates and even to other students who are not even applying for ordination. Those who receive confessions can not thus be reasonably bound by human law to adhere to an absolute level of confidentiality, given that students, particularly from Reformed traditions, are not in the habit of restricting their confessions to ordained members of the clergy, and neither are they accustomed to maintaining a professional level of confidentiality. Furthermore, the tradition of confessing sins has shifted into a quasi-psychological analysis among many Christians, rather than a simple naming and repenting of sin, and many or most of those receiving such confessions are not trained psychologists, but friends. Therefore, it is most unreasonable to expect St. Michael Academy, particularly since it is one of our stated goals to become great friends in Christ, to be bound to any asolute level of confidentiality regarding confession of sin. We will therefore, according to this Privacy Statement, disclaim and hold St. Michael Academy harmless for various indiscretions that might occur from time to time, particularly among students, but even also among ordained members of the clergy and teachers, who though they may hold a place of public trust, do not abuse such authority by claiming to offer a level of confidentiality that for practical purposes and in human weakness or by inadvertancy, they are not likely to be able to live up to.
9. The Academy web site may be used as a tool for communication between students on a peer to peer basis. St. Michael Academy does desire that students, teachers, clergy and administrators use discretion and wisdom in all of their communications with students, and does attempt to moderate discussions where possible, but nevertheless disclaims all responsibility for mishaps on the basis that the web site is a tool of peer to peer communications and a generally social environment even in the direct relationships between students and teachers.
10. Despite these enumerated disclaimers made primarily for legal protection, which is to the long term benefit of all students, St. Michael Academy holds to a high standard of professinalism by virtue of commitment before the Lord, if not to human governments, of enforcement. In Spirit we have every intention and hope of maintaining each student's privacy with all discretion, reverence, respect and care for their welfare and well being in every way. If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy, please do not hesitate to contact us.