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LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 453

(b) review and approve new implementations of and 
discontinuance, whether actual or constructive, of programs of 
study leading to professional church work in the interest of the 
institution(s) and the Synod; 
(c) facilitate, together with respective boards of regents, the 
processes of president selection (Bylaw 3.10.6.8.2) and prior 
approval for appointments to theology faculties of Synod 
colleges and universities (Bylaw 3.10.6.9.2); 
(d) create and maintain a Model Operating Procedures Manual 
for Faculty and Administration Complaints and Appeal of 
Termination: Colleges and Universities , subject to approval by 
the Commission on Constitutional Matters, regarding the 
handling of faculty and staff complaints and dispute resolution by 
college/university boards of regents, to include notification of 
any relevant ecclesiastical supervisor, and monitor compliance 
with such; 
(e) monitor, inquire into, and report to the President of the Synod 
regarding the ongoing faithfulness of Synod’s colleges and 
universities to the doctrine, practice, and objectives of the 
Constitution of the Synod (Const. Art. II and III); 
(f) monitor—after input from the Office of National Mission; the 
Department of Rosters, Statistics, and Research Services; the 
Council of Presidents; and the Synod’s seminaries— and report to 
the Synod on the enrollment, graduation, placement, and 
retention rat es in programs leading to candidacy for 
commissioned ministry or to seminary enrollment and advise the 
schools on the Synod’s worker needs and opportunities for 
coordination; 
(g) receive, revise, and recommend to conventions of the Synod 
for approval any proposals for creating, essentially revising, or 
renaming programs of study and certification for commissioned 
ministry; 
(h) in addition to providing its own report, review and respond 
in each Synod convention Workbook  to a detailed triennial 
strategic report prepared by the Institution Advisory Council, 
summarizing the state of and outlook for church worker 
preparation and confessional Lutheran lay education, campus , 
and ethos; 
Assistive and coordinative roles: 
(i) assist the Synod and its colleges and universities in 
articulating and advancing the schools’ unified public confession 
and application of the church’s doctrine and practice, and, in 
coordination with the Board of Directors of the Synod, assist in 
advancing the common defense of their rights to the free exercise 
of our confession under the Constitution of the United States and 
other applicable laws; 
(j) develop and administer, on behalf of the Synod and subject to 
policies of the Board of Directors of the Synod, financial 
resources designated to assist the schools in their pursuit of the 
Standards, in strengthening of churchly identity , and in their 
achievement of mission outcomes; 
(k) regularly convene the college and university presidents and, 
as needed, other leadership to facilitate the schools’ coordination, 
cooperation, and consolidation of operations, in part or in whole, 
wherever prudent and practically feasible, while not itself  
assuming any operational or financial responsibility for such 
efforts; 
(l) after input from the President and Secretary of the Synod, the 
Institution Advisory Council, and the boards of regents of Synod 
colleges and universities, serve as a resource for the recruitment 
of highly and variously qualified potential regents, offering in 
nomination (e.g., as in Bylaw 3.12.3.4 [c]) and suggesting for 
appointment those suitably qualified; 
(m) serve as a resource for regents’ development of and 
mandatory training in governance skills, especially as they relate 
to the carrying out of the mission of the Synod’s colleges and 
universities within the mission of the church, and foster regents’ 
growth in aspects of governance related to the expectations of the 
Standards; 
(n) serve as a resource for the development of lists of potential 
teaching and administrative personnel; 
(o) together with districts, congregations, local boards of 
regents, and national efforts, promote student recruitment for 
both professional church work and lay higher education; and 
(p) participate with the Board of Directors, Council of 
Presidents, and respective board(s) of regents in determinations 
to consolidate, relocate, separate, or divest a college or university 
(Bylaw 3.10.6.5–3.10.6.5.2). 
3.69.6.2 The 
Board of Directors of Concordia University System 
Commission for University Education shall be composed of ten 
voting members and six nonvoting members (no more than two 
members elected by the Synod shall be from the same district, and 
no voting member shall be a regent, executive, faculty, or staff 
member, as defined in Bylaw 1.5.1.1 of a Synod college or 
university): 
Voting Members: 
1. Two ministers of religion—ordained elected by the Synod 
2. One minister of religion— commissioned elected by the Synod 
3. Two laypersons elected by the Synod 
4. Four laypersons appointed by the  elected members listed 
above, after consultation with the President of the Synod and the 
Institution Advisory Council; at least two of the four must have 
background experience in higher education administration or 
accreditation 
5. The President of the Synod or his representative 
Nonvoting Advisory Members: 
1. One district president appointed by the Council of Presidents 
2. One representative designated by the Board of Directors of the 
Synod 
3. One representative designated by the Commission on 
Theology and Church Relations 
4. The Chief Mission Officer of the Synod or his representative 
5. One university president  who is designated by, and is a 
member of, the Institution Advisory Council, and whose 
institution is in good standing, as defined in Bylaw 3.69.6.4.1 (e) 
6. One university board of regents chair who is designated by the 
Institution Advisory Council and whose institution is a college or 
university presently in good standing, as defined in Bylaw 
3.6.6.4.1 (e). 
The advisory university president and university board of regents 
chair shall be drawn from different institutions. Neither the advisory 
university president nor the advisory board of regents chair shall 
participate in the work or the sessions of the board as they relate to 
the ecclesiastical visitation of any individual college or university.
  
3.69.6.2.1 Persons elected or appointed to the Concordia University 
System Board of Directors Commission for University Education 
should have demonstrated familiarity with and support of  Synod 
colleges and universities, shall strongly and demonstrably articulate 
and support the confession and doctrinal positions of the Synod, and 
shall have demonstrated a high degree of  two or more of the 
following qualifications  or background experiences : theological 
acumen, an advanced degree, higher education administration, 
higher education accreditation, professional church worker 
education, administration of  or legal counsel to  complex 
organizations, religious nonprofit law, higher education law,  or the 
strengthening of the mission of the Synod’s congregations and 
schools. The President of the Synod (or a designee) and the Secretary 
2026 Convention Workbook
418 UNIVERSITY EDUCA TION