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Academic Policies
The University's official
Undergraduate Academic Policies are updated and published each year in
Undergraduate Rights and Responsibilities, and distributed
to every student. All students are expected to obtain copies of these
regulations and familiarize themselves with the content, since failure
to be aware of a provision does not excuse a student from adhering to
it. On the other hand, whenever a student feels that some special circumstance
warrants an exception to a regulation, that student is encouraged to discuss
the situation with his or her academic dean who may be able to help work
out an alternative.
Some of the more important aspects of the Undergraduate
Academic Policies are summarized below; check the latest edition of Undergraduate
Rights and Responsibilities for specific details.
Classification of Students
Undergraduates may enroll
in one of five categories:
1. Full-Time Students
Students who are admitted
as candidates for a degree are normally designated as a member of a particular
graduating class and are expected to make normal progress toward graduating
with that class by carrying, at minimum, 12 or more credits each semester.
2. Part-Time Degree
Students
The category "Part-Time"
is an original admissions category as well as a category into which full-time
students may revert for purposes of continued part-time study. All academic
regulations and standards for full-time students including a 2.0 cumulative
average apply to part-time students, with the exception of the requirement
to complete 12 credits per semester. Each semester of part-time enrollment
is counted as a partial semester in applying the rule limiting students
to 10 semesters of enrollment. Students involved in part-time study must
complete their last 60 credits within five years. Part-time students are
charged tuition on a per-credit basis; fees are also assessed according
to the number of credits. To ensure part-time billing, the student must
complete a special billing card during preregistration.
3. Part-Time Non-Degree
Students
Special Student status is a limited non-degree admission
category for those who do not have a bachelor's degree and wish to enroll
in regular University courses without pursuing a degree. If a Special
Student later applies for admission to a University degree program, all
credits earned prior to matriculation
will be evaluated by the Office of
Transfer Affairs according to policies detailed in Undergraduate
Rights and Responsibilities. A maximum of 15 credits earned as a Special
Student may be accepted as resident credit if the student later matriculates
into a degree program. Credits which are accepted will be factored into
the semester count. A new grade point average begins at matriculation.
Students who withdraw in good standing from an undergraduate degree program
and who wish to enroll on a non-degree basis must notify the Registrar
of their desire to change their status.
4. Second-Major Students
A student may earn a second
major and have it recorded on the
permanent record provided that:
a) The student declares
the major as early as possible and in advance of graduation.
b) The second major is
completed concurrently with the first major within the 10 semesters allowed
for the completion of all graduation requirements.
c) An authorized representative
of the second major certifies to the Registrar that all requirements for that second major have
been completed.
d) The second major lies in the same school or college
as the first or declared major or the academic dean of the second
school or college certifies to the Registrar that all requirements for
graduation from that school or college have been satisfied.
e) Students wishing to
obtain their second major from the Isenberg School of Management must
formally apply prior to the start of their sixth
semester of full-time study (75 completed credits for part-time
students). Applications should be made through the Isenberg School of
Management Undergraduate Counseling Office.
5. Second-Bachelor's
Degree Students
Individuals interested
in pursuing a second bachelor's degree must apply through the Admissions
Office. Prior to acceptance, they must obtain the support of an authorized
representative of a department and an undergraduate dean in the School
or College of the proposed second degree.
a) Students and graduates
of this University who wish to earn a second bachelor's degree must complete
a minimum of 30 additional credits, all of which must be in residence
(i.e., students who want to work for two bachelor's degrees simultaneously
do not have to complete one and then start the other anew).
b) Graduates of other institutions
who wish to earn a second bachelor's degree at this University must complete
a minimum of 45 credits in residence at the Amherst campus, not including
enrollment through the Division of Continuing Education. (For those who
have previously attended this University, residency requirements are handled
individually.)
Modifications for Disabilities
The University is committed
to providing an accessible and equitable learning environment for all
qualified students, and offers support services through three offices,
depending on the type of disability a student has. All of these offices
are described in greater detail elsewhere in this Catalog. Disability
Services provides support for students with
physical and medical disabilities. Students with learning disabilities
receive assistance from Learning Disabilities Support Services. Students
with psychological disabilities are served by the office for Counseling
and Assessment Services. LDSS and CAS are part of the Undergraduate Advising
and Academic Support Center; Disability
Services is an agency within Student Affairs.
It is a student's responsibility to document a disability.
Documentation of a medical, physical or psychological disability must
come from an appropriate medical or other qualified professional care
provider. Learning disabilities may be documented through an Individual
Education Plan (IEP) from the student's elementary or secondary school;
a report from a State Certified Assessment Center; learning evaluations
to be interpreted through LDSS; or an assessment by an agency identified by LDSS as
able to provide such documentation.
The University does not waive requirements for students
with disabilities, but allows reasonable modifications in programs and
courses for students with documented disabilities. Degree and course requirements
have been implemented for important educational reasons, and the University's
goal is to provide the assistance necessary, through the support agencies,
to enable students with disabilities to meet these requirements and fully
participate in the educational experience that they encompass. This includes
modification of the foreign language and global education requirements
of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences,
for students with learning disabilities and students with hearing
impairments, to allow these students to meet the intent of the requirement
through a method tailored to their individual circumstances.
Students must also request modifications sufficiently
in advance to allow the support agency
and the department or instructor time to cooperatively come to
necessary arrangements. Particularly in the case of the foreign language
requirement, students need to make arrangements
for modifications as early as possible following admission. The
University strongly encourages students with disabilities to take advantage
of the support services offered.
Academic Grievances
The University of Massachusetts has established an
academic grievance procedure for the purpose of providing undergraduate
students with a fair, reasonable, and efficient method of addressing their
academic grievances. The procedure stresses informal conciliation and
encourages participation by the Ombuds Office. A copy of the Procedure
may be obtained from the Ombuds Office, the office of the Student Government
Association, or the Student Center for Educational Research and Advocacy.
Academic Honesty
The University requires
honesty of all its members in their academic work. Honesty is necessary
to the learning process, and is integral to the
atmosphere of genuine inquiry and intel-lectual curiosity which
the University seeks to foster. Academic
dishonesty contradicts the expectations of a community whose central
purpose is the pursuit of intellectual endeavor, and is prohibited in
all programs of the University.
Academic dishonesty violates the Univer-sity's Academic Honesty Policy, and any
student who commits an act of academic dishonesty may be punished. Extensive
examples of academic dishonesty are included in a memorandum
from the Ombuds Office found in Undergraduate Rights and Responsibilities, as is the entire policy and discipline and appeal
procedure. The following are brief definitions of some of the most common forms of academic dis-honesty:
Plagiarism is the failure to acknowledge the source
of all information gathered in the preparation of class and written work.
It includes direct quotation, paraphrase, and the "borrowing" of information
or facts which are not common knowledge, without acknowledging the source
through footnote, adequate means of citation, or proper quotation structure.
Students are encouraged to learn the style most accepted in their disciplines.
Cheating is the intentional use or attempted use of
materials, information, or study aids other than those specifically authorized,
in an attempt to claim credit for learning not one's own. Under University
policy, this can include unauthorized collaboration with others in conducting
research or preparing work; the unauthorized use of commercial term paper
companies; improper use of computer file, program, user-name, or password;
use of books, notes, calculators, or discussion with others during an
examination unless specifically authorized; falsification of signatures
or initials; and repeated use of all or substantial portions of the same
work without specific prior approval.
Fabrication includes the "invention" of information
in any laboratory or other academic exercise without prior notice to and
permission from the instructor; alteration and resubmission of returned
academic work without prior notice and permission; and misrepresentation
of the actual source from which information is cited.
Facilitation of dishonesty is knowingly helping or
attempting to help another commit an act of academic dishonesty.
If an instructor finds that a student has violated
the University's Academic Honesty Policy, the instructor has the right
to lower the student's grade, or to fail the student for the course. Students
have the right to appeal such a grade penalty by an instructor. The University
Academic Honesty Board, composed of faculty
members and undergraduate and graduate students, reviews all student appeals.
The Board may sustain or recommend modification of the instructor's grade
penalty. The Board may also consider
a recommendation by the instructor to suspend or expel the student
from the University, and may recommend sanctions for offenders who have
committed multiple violations of the Academic Honesty Policy but who have
not appealed the instructors' decisions. Any student wishing to appeal a grade penalty imposed by an instructor for alleged dishonesty
should contact the Ombuds Office, which facilitates appeals and provides
administrative assistance to the Board.
Absences for Religious Reasons
The University has established policies in order to
comply with Massachusetts law concerning religious observance. The following
is a portion of this policy:
"Any student who is unable to attend classes or to
participate in any examination, study, or work requirement, because of
religious observance, is to be provided with an opportunity to make up
the said examination, study, or work requirement. Students have the right
to make up examinations, study, or work requirements that they miss because
of absence from class for religious observance, but they also have an
obligation to inform the course instructor as to the days on which they
may be absent for religious reasons. Students should inform the course
instructor in writing of the days they will be absent as early as possible
in the semester and always prior to the day(s) the student will
be absent for religious reasons. If they feel it is important for course
planning, instructors have the right to require students to provide a
written list of days they will be absent for religious observance within
one full calendar week after the student's enrollment in the course, provided
the course instructor lists this requirement and corresponding deadline
on the course outline or other handouts. In the event of a dispute between
a faculty member and a stu
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