Policies

What if ... ? (questions, absences, course drops, etc.)

Logistical Questions

Address questions about course logistics to the FCCWL staff, not to your conversation partner. FCCWL language courses each have a staff member assigned as the course organizer for the course. The course organizer for all Spoken Arabic courses is Theo Hull. They are the person to contact about issues such as difficulties purchasing or accessing materials, scheduling problems, evaluation scheduling, and questions about meeting course requirements. They can be contacted at fcmlp2@umass.edu or 413-542-5264.

Scheduling and Attendance Policies

  • Absences: Students are graded on attendance. If you are ill, have a job or graduate school interview, a religious holiday, or some other school-sponsored activity, you can be excused from the session so that you are not penalized for missing a session. A student who needs an excused absence should e-mail the FCCWL staff AND his/her conversation partner. A student who misses a session will NOT get a makeup session and needs to arrange to spend more time on the material on his/her own.
  • Extended absences due to health or personal emergencies: Students who experience serious health problems or other personal emergencies need to consult with home campus health services and/or deans. If an extended absence is necessary, the program director will work with the student and appropriate deans to determine the best course of action.
  • Permanent changes to the regular meeting time: Conversation groups may change to a different regular meeting time during the semester if the conversation partner and all students in the group agree upon a new meeting time that works well for all involved. Requests to change to a new time must be communicated to the Center office by the conversation partner. The program staff will only approve the change after verifying with the conversation partner and each individual student that the change in time will work.
  • Final evaluation dates are on your syllabus: Do not make travel plans (such as buying a plane ticket) until you know the exact date and time of your final evaluation. Graduating seniors, please remind the office of your senior grade deadline!

Other Important Policies

  • Drop and course repetition policies: Drop policies differ by home campus. The drop policy for your campus will be stated on the course contract you will sign when you register for the course. A student who receives a grade below a B- for the course or who has repeated absences from conversation sessions will not be allowed to enroll in future Five College Center for the Study of World Languages (FCCWL) courses. FCCWL courses cannot be repeated to replace a failing grade or to improve a grade.
  • Accommodations: The University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Five College Center for World Languages are committed to providing an equal educational opportunity for all students. If you have a documented physical, psychological, or learning disability on file with Disability Services (DS) at UMass or on your home campus, you may be eligible for reasonable academic accommodations to help you succeed in your FCCWL course. If you have a documented disability that requires an accommodation, please notify the program director within the first three weeks of the semester so that appropriate arrangements can be made.