Academy of Polygraph Science

Policies

ADMISSIONS POLICY

The Center recognizes that those who intend to be academically, technically, and ethically qualified polygraph examiners should attend an institution that is both accredited and recognized. To this end, the Center maintains a rigorous admissions policy that will be enforced by the Center's school administrators and faculty. The Center's administrators have established this admissions policy so that its attendees benefit fully from its curriculum and instruction. The Center does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, gender, or national origin, physical limitations, or sexual orientation. Student approval is also based on availability of space. The Center for Polygraph Science is open to all qualified persons.

Specific admission requirements are:

Shall complete the course’s application fully and accurately.
Shall be at least 20 years of age, or greater if a higher minimum age is required by the state Polygraph Examiner licensing law in the student’s state.
Shall not have been previously convicted of a felony. The Center may also deny admission to those who have been convicted of a misdemeanor which resulted in imprisonment.
Shall be of verified good reputation as documented by professional references. The Center may deny admission to those applicants who have been refused admission to or expelled from any professional organization.
Shall provide the authorization from the sponsoring agency.
A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university (if required by the state you plan to practice in) and/or an appropriate background of training and experience as confirmed by the Center's Director.

-OR -

Shall have a minimum of three years of investigative, law enforcement, military, interviewing, or treatment (Psychological or Counseling fields) experience.
Satisfactory completion of an oral interview demonstrating the student’s genuine interest in and aptitude for Polygraph. The student’s ability to meet this requirement is at the discretion of the Director of the Center.
Shall be accompanied to the course with a laptop, and have administrative rights to that laptop.

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

Written Examinations- To graduate from the Center for Polygraph Science, students must achieve at least a minimum of 70% on written examination administered to them. For the Basic Course, these are History, Law, Ethics, Psychology, Physiology, Test Data Analysis, Polygraph Techniques, and the Final Examination.

Academic Probation for the Basic Course- Any student who fails to achieve the minimum

requirement will be placed on academic probation for a period of two weeks. Failure to achieve the

minimum requirement on a re-test will result in the student being dismissed.

Post-residency Requirement for the Basic Course- Each student must complete and submit ten

examinations, along with accompanying recordings, score sheets, and charts in the techniques taught during the basic course. These examinations must be completed and submitted to the Center within twelve months of the completion of the basic course. The final graduation certificate will be awarded to each student upon successful completion of the post-residency requirement. In addition to this requirement, students must complete a research paper about a topic approved by by the director.

Collected Chart Time for the Basic Course- Students must complete and submit a minimum of 60

minutes in chart time from laboratory examinations completed during the residency portion of their

training.

Attendance- A student may be excused from class due to illness, family emergency or court

testimony. Excusal must be granted in advance by the Director. If an unexpected closure occurs due to uncontrollable issues (i.e. inclement weather, etc.) each student will be notified as soon as possible by telephone. The student must be physically present at the Center for not less than 288 hours (90% of 320 hours) of actual classroom instruction time. Absence in excess of 10% (32 total hours for the Basic Course) of the total class time must be made up by each student in order to meet minimum graduation requirements. Tardiness will not be tolerated and may subject the student to dismissal. Classes will generally be held eight hours per day, five days a week. Attendance records will be appropriately recorded on a daily basis. Late arrivals will be noted on the attendance records. The only holidays observed by the school are New Years Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

ACADEMIC PROGRESS POLICY

Written examinations will be administered to students to monitor their grasp of the subject matter.

The results of these examinations will be documented in the student’s file. These written

examinations will cover material found in presentation slides, reference materials, and lectures

provided to each student.

Grades on these written examinations are determined as follows:

A: 90-100% 4

B: 80-89% 3

C: 70-79% 2

D: 60-69% 1

F: 0-59% 0

Following the student’s satisfactory completion of all course requirements, a diploma will be awarded attesting to the student’s achievement. The Center will maintain permanent records of each student’s progress within the course including all scores achieved, conduct, etc. Further, the student will receive guidance and progress reports on approximately a weekly basis throughout the entire course of study. The student may also be given special counseling sessions either student or Director initiated, as circumstances dictate.

SUSPENSION AND DISMISSAL POLICY

Each student is expected to exercise professionalism throughout the course. Any acts of moral

turpitude or dishonesty may result in suspension or dismissal from the course. Examples of such act are criminal behavior, disruption, harassment, acts of threats or violence, cheating, theft, damage or destruction, and falsification of application.

RE-ADMISSIONS POLICY

Considering the rigorous nature of these courses, some students may be unable to complete it with their initial attempt and, for these students, on a case by case basis and at the discretion of the Director, re-admission in a subsequent course may be available. In order for a previous student to be re-admitted into a course, the applicant must prepare a letter explaining the reason for re-admission, and detailing any corrective actions the applicant has taken in order to mitigate previous reasons for being dismissed from training.

LEAVES OF ABSENCE

If a student has a medical or family emergency that causes an extended period of absence, the

following policy will prevail. For the Basic Course, if the absence is less than 40 hours, instructors

will assist the student in making up the curriculum missed. Absences in excess of 40 hours will be

evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine if the student is able to continue in the training. In the event that the student is dismissed, the refund policy will be adhered to as described in this document.

TARDINESS

Attendance records will be appropriately recorded on a daily basis. Late arrivals will be noted on

their attendance records. The student will be charged as follows:

1. There is no dismissal for tardiness if a suitable explanation is given.

2. An hour will be charged for any fraction of an hour basis lost from class.

3. A student may be dismissed for excessive absence with no valid reason.

CONDUCT

Professionalism is expected of every student during the duration of the course. The Director may

dismiss from the course any student involved in acts of dishonesty or questionable moral turpitude.

Download School Catalog

Academy of Polygraph Science School Catalog, PDF Download