Handbook | Academic, Research, and Teaching Support Services

7. Academic, Research, and Teaching Support Services

For academic consultation, the first person that you should contact is either your academic adviser or your Graduate Program Director. Other resources listed below will also provide you with general assistance for your academic needs.

a. Library System
The library system offers a variety of resources and services to support graduate studies and research through collections stored in the 28-story W.E.B. Du Bois Library, the Integrated Sciences and Engineering Library, and the Music Reserve Lab. The W.E.B Du Bois Library houses materials in the social sciences and the humanities as well as the Government Documents and Patents Collection, the Map Collection, and Special Collections and Archives; the repository of the papers of noted African American scholar W.E.B. Du Bois and other scholars. The science collection is found in the Integrated Sciences and Engineering Library (ISEL) in the Lederle Graduate Research Center, which brings together the disciplines of agriculture, astronomy, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, food science, geosciences, mathematics and statistics, physics, polymer science, and wood technology.

Reference librarians offer research consultations, assist students in the use of the collections, and provide course-related library instruction. Semester loans are available to doctoral students. Through a service called Library Express , students may request delivery of articles or books from the library collections for a fee. In addition to the materials in the UMass Amherst library system, students are entitled to request materials from the other four libraries in the Five College Consortium. A Five College automated library system allows on-line computer access to the catalog records of each library; provides information on circulation status, periodical holdings, and titles currently on order; and permits direct borrowing from the five libraries. A free interlibrary loan messenger service also operates between the Five Colleges. A current UMass Amherst ID serves as a library card at all libraries in the Five Colleges. For more information, see the library website at www.library.umass.edu or call 545-0414 (library hours) or 545-0150 (Reference).

b. Computing and Telecommunications Services
The University offers centralized computing and telephone services through the Office of Information Technologies (OIT). More information about OIT and its services, including answers to frequently asked computing questions, can be found on the OIT Web site ( www.oit.umass.edu ).

OIT Accounts are available at no charge to the UMass Amherst students, faculty, and staff. All students enrolled in credit courses are required to activate their OIT Account and use their OIT email (a.k.a. UMail) to receive official University communications. Some departments on campus offer email accounts to their students. These departmental email addresses are not considered official.

The following services are included with every OIT Account:

1. Access to the internet on campus via Ethernet from all public classrooms, all OIT computer classrooms, and most campus buildings. An ever-growing number of buildings on campus also have wireless access. To access the campus network from off-campus, use OIT's 56K dial-up service.

2. Email service is provided through OIT's IMAP-based UMail system. Features of UMail include enhanced security, access to email via a browser (UMail on the Web), and spam filtering.

3. Personal web sites are available to all students, faculty, and staff. These sites have 100 MB of file space that may be used to store web pages or other files.

4. Free anti-virus software is available for installation on computers. OIT strongly recommends that you download and use this software. To help protect the campus network and your computer we also scan incoming email for viruses and block infected messages.

5. Access to computers in our public computer classrooms and email kiosks. Classrooms and kiosks are located in LGRC, the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, and other buildings across campus.

6. Access to UMass WebCT courses. An OIT Account provides students with access WebCT, a popular course management tool.

7. Remote access to library databases. An OIT Account provides access from off-campus to the extensive collection of online databases and journals provided by the library.

Telecommunications services do not require an OIT Account. OIT Telecom maintains the campus phone system and provides support for people using campus telephones, the voicemail system, long distance service, and cellular communication services. Details about telecommunications services are available at: http://telecom.oit.umass.edu/

Getting Help
The OIT Help Desk is the first point of contact for all OIT clients with computing-related questions or problems. Help Desk Consultants are available for walk-in and telephone consultations and are backed up by a "trouble-ticket" system that tracks your requests and ensures that they are resolved. Access the Help Desk online through http://www.oit.umass.edu/help.html.

For help with telecommunications services, see http://telecom.oit.umass.edu/students/

c. Book Stores
The Textbook Annex is the campus source for textbooks, servicing most University courses. The Textbook Annex is located at 360 Campus Way, on the top floor of the Physical Plant Building. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and they are closed on holidays. Extended hours are posted at the beginning of each session/semester.

The Annex sells new and used books and operates an extensive textbook buyback program. The Annex also operates a book donation program, which provides libraries and schools worldwide with thousands of needed books each year. For more information, call 545-3570 or visit the website at www.umass.bkstr.com. Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, Discover, and the UCard are gladly accepted at the Textbook Annex and its web ordering site.

The University Store in the Campus Center is another source for purchasing general books, including best sellers, study aids, and reference books. Also available for purchase are stationery and office supplies, toiletries, photo supplies and film developing, greeting cards and gift-wrapping materials, posters, and clothing.

For students in social and behavioral sciences, humanities, and fine arts, there are several very good book stores in the area where you can buy, sell, and trade brand new as well as used books. For more information about the bookstores in the area,

.consult local newspapers, the web or telephone directories. Books may also be purchased via the web on such sites as amazon.com.

d. Counseling and Assessment Services
Counseling and Assessment Services (CAS) provides a broad spectrum of clinical and skills-related services to all students at the University.

CAS is staffed by professional psychologists, a neuropsychologist, a psychotherapist, and supervised advanced graduate students in psychology. Services are available to students in the areas of psychological counseling and therapy, diagnostic assessment, career counseling, biofeedback, and stress management. In addition, workshops on motivation, improving academic achievement, career concerns, time management, and stress reduction are scheduled each semester.

CAS provides academic support services to students with documented psychological disabilities. Calls concerning this should be made to 577-2457. Case managers work with individuals to assess the need for and request accommodations in courses and other educational activites. Case management includes academic support; informal needs, skills, and mental status assessments; assistance in setting academic and personal goals; referrals to other appropriate support services; and liaison with other mental health providers. Staff also provide consultation, education, and training to University staff on issues related to psychological disabilities.

CAS provides a range of diagnostic assessment services for students who are referred on the basis of academic and learning problems. Comprehensive test batteries designed to assess the presence of learning disabilities, attention-deficit-disorder, and a variety of psychological disorders that can interfere with learning are available to students at the University. The diagnostic assessment report that each student receives is complete with individualized recommendations that are specifically relevant to the campus and its resources. Fees for these assessments are covered under the University's Student Health Insurance Plan; a variety of additional payment options are also available.

All students who might benefit from these services should either call 545-0333 or come to Room 123 Berkshire House to make an appointment for intake services, available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Students with questions regarding CAS services are encouraged to visit or call.

e. English As a Second Language
The ESL Program offers English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses for nonnative speakers of English (undergraduate, graduate, and exchange students) as well as for Visiting Scholars and Five-College students.

The Program was created in 1974 by faculty from Foreign Languages, English, and Communication. Mandated by the Faculty Senate, the courses provide undergraduate credits. Courses are offered during the fall and spring semesters and are part of the Day Program, not Continuing Education. ESL faculty members are English language training specialists with graduate training in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). ESL teaching is informed by research findings in Second Language Acquisition (SLA), Applied Linguistics (AP), and Neuroscience literature.

ESL courses offered at this time are designed for students already at an advanced level of language proficiency, demonstrated by a minimum TOEFL score of 213. The goal is for students to build upon what they already know to attain a superior level of proficiency, demonstrated by a TOEFL score of 263-300.

The Program's mission is to help students meet the expectations and demands of the academic community and the professional workplace. The ESL courses focus on the development of writing, reading, speaking and listening skills as well as on grammatical mastery and vocabulary expansion. Emphasis is placed on critical inquiry and cross-cultural investigation. Course content is enriched not only by literary and expository writing of multilingual writers, but also by authentic texts of a variety of genres.

Graduate students should be advised that their enrollment is on a space available basis. The English As a Second Language Program is located at 308B Bartlett Hall. For more information, call 545-4210, email esl@acad.umass.edu, or visit their website at http://www.umass.edu/esl/.

f. Research Services
The Office of Research Services provides support facilities for the University research community. Research Services includes the following facilities:

The Microscopy Facility  offers training and assistance to researchers with projects involving ultrastructural analysis, principally of biological specimens.

The Glassblowing Laboratory  provides scientific glassblowing services for all research needs.

The Microanalytical Laboratory  provides for the analytical testing of materials for their elemental constituents.

The Cartographic Information Research Services  assist in locating various kinds of maps and other cartographic information, including aerial photographs and space images.

The Environmental Analysis Laboratory provides water analysis services.

Office of Geographic Information and Analysis (OGIA)  assists the campus in its efforts to use geographic information services (GIS) technologies in teaching, research, and public service.

For additional information, contact the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, 239 Whitmore Administration Bldg., tel. (413) 545-5270.

Political Economy Research Institute (PERI)
The mission of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) is to initiate, organize, and provide both resources and a location for policy-relevant research, in the areas of domestic and international macroeconomics, labor economics, economic development, the environment, and global integration. Students and faculty from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and visiting scholars, including postdoctoral fellows, come to the Institute to undertake research in the defined areas. Issues such as increasing income and wealth inequality, problems facing low-wage workers, underemployment, environmental deterioration in the United States and abroad, and problems created by speculative financial flows within and between countries are among the topics that Institute researchers study. The Institute is located at Gordon Hall, 418 N. Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01002, tel. 545-6355. Co-Directors: Gerald Epstein, Professor of Economics, tel. (413) 577-0822, email: gepstein@econs.umass.edu; Robert N. Pollin, Professor of Economics, tel. 577-0819, email: pollin@econs.umass.edu.

Donahue Institute
The University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute is the public service, outreach, and economic development unit of the University of Massachusetts President's Office. Established in 1971, the Institute maintains offices throughout the Commonwealth. The Institute's staff of over 120 work cooperatively with faculty and staff from the University's five campuses, other institutions of higher education, and the public, private and non-profit sectors to provide a valuable bridge between theory and innovation, and real-world business applications.

Supporting the University President's Office in numerous systemwide initiatives, the Donahue Institute is currently one of the state's largest and strongest providers of management development programs, client-oriented training and technical assistance, applied research and evaluation, and integrated information technology and economic development initiatives. Staff also have extensive experience in workforce development, organizational restructuring, and the creation of strategic alliances.

In collaboration with client organizations, the Donahue Institute has developed more than 400 books, reports, surveys, guides, manuals, newsletters and other publications of use to the public. In its more than 30 years of service to the citizens of Massachusetts, the Donahue Institute has generated over $100 million in grants and contracts.

The Institute's Amherst office is located in Room 220, Middlesex House, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003; tel. (413) 545-0001; fax: (413) 545-3420; email: info@donahue.umassp.edu; Website: www.donahue.umassp.edu.

Labor Relations & Research Center
The Labor Relations and Research Center conducts a variety of research on work, the labor movement, and labor relations. This research is funded by the labor movement and state and federal agencies, as well as private foundations. Recent research includes the implementation of living wage ordinances, community responses to plant closings, strategic bargaining campaigns, union organizing, and family and work issues. The Center also provides educational services to trade unionists across the Commonwealth, including a variety of short courses and seminars as well as larger conferences. The M.S. degree is also offered in a limited-residency format for trade union staff and officers nationwide.

Marine Station
The Marine Station is an interdisciplinary research facility located on the coast in Gloucester, approximately 35 miles north of Boston. The station is equipped for a wide range of marine biochemical, biological, and chemical studies in laboratories with modern research equipment, and it also has a small library. Both basic and applied research are conducted by faculty and graduate students from the Amherst campus. For further information, write to: University of Massachusetts Marine Station, Box 7128, Gloucester, MA 01930.

Environmental Institute
The Environmental Institute (TEI) and its associated centers promote environmental research and scholarship on campus. Activities span academic disciplines in the life sciences, natural resources, engineering, public health, and social sciences. TEI's goal is to promote collaborations to better understand the environmental problems and challenges confronting society and to develop the tools and methods to address these challenges. Its mission is fourfold: to encourage high-quality, high-impact environmental research addressing important environmental issues; to serve as a gateway for information on environmental research and education on campus; to coordinate and foster scholarly environmental activities; and to facilitate collaborations between University researchers and public agencies and private and non-profit groups.

TEI includes eight centers and affiliates: the National Environmental Technology Institute, the Massachusetts Water Resources Research Center, the Office of Geographic and Information Systems, the Environmental Analysis Laboratory, the Earth Sciences Information Center (the Massachusetts branch of the U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Science Information Center), the Cooperative Marine Research and Education Program (a partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the Office of the Massachusetts State Geologist (housed in the University's Geosciences Department), and Archaeological Services (located in the Department of Anthropology). Center-sponsored research projects and educational activities involve faculty and students from many different colleges and departments across campus. TEI is a unit of the Vice Chancellor for Research. Its director is David A. Reckhow, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. TEI is located in Blaisdell House; tel. (413) 545-2842, email: tei@tei.umass.edu, and website www.umass.edu/tei.

The Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies
The Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies is a research institute available to graduate students.  Besides holding graduate courses at the Center, there is a collection of manuscripts and rare books published before l700. This collection is the largest and most comprehensive in the Valley and is available for student use as well as a research library of 20,000 monographs in all fields of study.  The Center also sponsors scholarly lectures, conferences, seminars, and special events to which graduate students are invited without charge. Each term there is the New England Graduate Student conference to which any student may submit a talk. There is a MFAFest, a Sonnetfest, and a series of Shakespeare performances annually.  Our events are listed on our website www.umass.edu/renaissance. The Center can be reached by phone at 577-3600 or fax at 577-3605. 

g. Biostatistics Consulting Center
The Biostatistics Consulting Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (BCCUMA) operates within the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Program in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences.  It provides short-term consulting on the use of statistical data analysis methods and software, as well as long-term consulting in study design, data management, analysis planning, quality control and statistical support for funded research. You can visit the website at: http://www.umass.edu/bccuma/.

h. University Translation Center
The University Translation Center provides a full range of cross-cultural communication services for students, staff, faculty, and members of the community. Services include translation, interpretation, summaries of foreign language texts, multilingual word-processing, and design.

The University Translation Center locates translators with expertise in the field in question, whether it is business, law, medicine, science, computers, politics, or literature. Documents translated include diplomas, transcripts, letters, faxes, medical records, operation manuals, newspaper articles, government documents, videos, academic essays, and books. Fees range from 15 to 43 cents per word, depending upon the language, with surcharges for technical texts, lesser-known languages, and rush service.

The University Translation Center is in 19 Herter Hall. For more information call 545-2203; fax, 577-3400; e-mail: transcen@hfa. umass.edu or visit their website at http://www.umass.edu/transcen/contact.html.

i. Animal Care Office
The Animal Care Service staff members provide specialized husbandry and veterinary care for laboratory animals used for teaching and research. The staff also serves as a resource for training or for information about the handling, care, and use of laboratory animals. A production service for monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies is available to investigators. Help in submitting animal use protocols to the federally mandated Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)-required for any teaching or research using vertebrate animals-is available at the Animal Care Office, 1 st Floor, Research Administration Building, 70 Butterfield Terrace, 545-0668; e-mail: anicare@resgs. umass.edu. Additional information can be found at the website: http://www.umass.edu/research/aco/index.html.

j. Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
The University's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is a federally mandated committee composed of research and teaching faculty, veterinarians, animal care personnel, and community members. The IACUC reviews all protocols involving the use of live vertebrate animals in teaching and research to ensure that all federal and state laws and University guidelines are followed. The committee also conducts semi-annual reviews of the animal care facilities and program, animal procedure laboratories, and associated support areas. The University's IACUC Animal Use Protocol forms and related information are available from the Animal Care Office.

Specific information on required student participation in courses involving animal use is available through the appropriate departmental office.

k. Institutional Review Board
The Human Subjects Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a federally mandated committee composed of faculty, staff, students, and community members. The IRB works to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects participating in research conducted by, or under the supervision of, University Amherst faculty, staff and students. Reviews are conducted in accordance with federal and institutional regulations and policies. Education and training in the protection of human research subjects is a federal requirement. Training is required of all investigators, including faculty, staff and students, who are engaged in the planning, conduct or analysis of research that is sponsored by a funding agency that includes the use of human subjects.

Local Review Boards, where established, review unfunded research following the University human subjects policy. The IRB also reviews unfounded research if a local board is not available. More information on the local review boards, training requirements, human subject forms, and other related information is available from the Office of Research Affairs.

l. Center for Teaching
The primary goal of the Center for Teaching (CFT) is to promote excellence in teaching and learning. The CFT's activities are wide-ranging: consultations, department and campus-based workshops, annual campuswide events, instructional resources, and funded teaching development grants. The CFT offers the following professional development opportunites for teaching assistants: individual confidential teaching consultation and assessment services, teaching portfolio development, and the Teaching Documentation Program (TDP). The TDP offers graduate students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst an early opportunity to develop evidence of attention to teaching. Additionally, the CFT offers an annual full-day TA Orientation, a funded teaching development program, a campuswide workshop series, and an introduction to college teaching seminar. The CFT distributes the Handbook for Teaching Assistants and other print and video resources. The CFT is located in 301 Goodell, 545-1225, http://www.umass.edu/cft/index.htm.

m. Foreign Teaching Assistant Orientation, SPEAK/TSE Test
As a public institution, the University serves the needs of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Undergraduate students expect to and should be taught by those who can communicate with them.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst has sponsored a Foreign Teaching Assistant Orientation program since 1987. TAs participate in a week-long orientation before fall registration. During the week TAs have opportunities to practice their presentation skills, to view their teaching on videotape, to receive critiques of their performances, and to attend sessions on the responsibilities of the teaching assistant. For more information on the Foreign Teaching Assistant Orientation Program, please contact Nigar J. Khan, FTA Training Program Coordinator and Assistant Dean of the Graduate School, 545-5278.

Students who are awarded a teaching assistantship and whose native language is not English are required to demonstrate oral English proficiency. Students may do this either by passing the Test of Spoken English administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) before their arrival on campus and at their own expense or by passing the SPEAK test upon arrival on campus at no cost to them. A score of 50 or above is required to pass the TSE or SPEAK test. Information about the ETS may be obtained online at www.toefl.org or by writing to: TOEFL Program Office, Educational Testing Service, P.O. Box 6155, Princeton, NJ 08541-6155.

If the teaching assistantship is awarded, the test result has no bearing on the funding of the teaching assistantship. Students who do not pass the test are assigned responsibilities corresponding to their level of proficiency in spoken English and asked to enroll, at no cost to them, in the spoken English Communication Instruction classes offered by the Graduate School.

This requirement may be waived upon the Graduate Program Director's request for students in the following categories:

•  students who have taken and passed a test with similar purpose at another U.S. university;
•  students who have an undergraduate degree from a U.S university;
-or-
•  students whose entire education has been in the United Kingdom, Ireland, English-speaking Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Commonwealth Caribbean, or the United States.

n. Division of Continuing Education
The Division of Continuing Education meets the educational needs of more than 15,000 people per year with a variety of programs including evening credit courses during the fall and spring semesters; University summer and winter session courses; access to specialized on- and-off-campus undergraduate and graduate degree programs; professional development programs and workshops; certificate programs; independent study courses and internships; highly specialized courses; noncredit workshops (in the areas of English as a Second Language, personal enrichment, and career development); and online courses. Academic advisers are available to help students with degree programs or courses related to their life and career objectives. Categorical waivers, including senior citizen waivers, are not applicable to Continuing Education courses. For information on their degree programs, please visit their website at https://www.umassulearn.net/ or call (413) 545-2414.

Four graduate degree programs are offered online through the Division of Continuing Education. Courses in the online degree programs are taught by resident University faculty and meet the same academic requirements as traditional on-campus courses. The courses are located at the University's virtual campus: www.umassonline.net.