Section I of the Board of Trustees Handbook includes an Introduction to MTSA, the History of the School, Mission, Vision, Core Values, History & Heritage, and Christian Seventh-day Adventist Legacy.
A distinctive feature of higher education in America is its form of governance. An important legacy in American higher education is the use of lay governance. Because centralization of power is a threat to the public good and because education is of vital concern to the public interest, lay governance fosters a system of checks and balances for accountability – checks on the power of administration and faculty, and checks on undue influence of government and other bodies on the School. In the situation of distinctly Christian institutions, checks and balances must be maintained between the community it serves and the role and function of its board members.