Accommodations

The University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Five College Center for the Study of 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 language course. If you have a documented disability that requires an accommodation, please notify the program director as soon as possible and no later than the third week of the semester so that appropriate arrangements can be made.

Academic Honesty Policy

Students must adhere to all University of Massachusetts Amherst and Five College policies regarding professional conduct and ethics, including policies covering non-discrimination, sexual harassment, and academic honesty. University of Massachusetts Amherst Academy Honesty Policy: Since the integrity of the academic enterprise of any institution of higher education requires honesty in scholarship and research, academic honesty is required of all students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  Academic dishonesty is prohibited in all programs of the University.  Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to: cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and facilitating dishonesty.  Appropriate sanctions may be imposed on any student who has committed an act of academic dishonesty.  Instructors should take reasonable steps to address academic misconduct.  Any person who has reason to believe that a student has committed academic dishonesty should bring such information to the attention of the appropriate course instructor as soon as possible.  Instances of academic dishonesty not related to a specific course should be brought to the attention of the appropriate department Head or Chair.  Since students are expected to be familiar with this policy and the commonly accepted standards of academic integrity, ignorance of such standards is not normally sufficient evidence of lack of intent.  More information about the Academic Honesty Policy and Procedures may be found online here: http://www.umass.edu/honesty/.

Importance of Communication

Practice communication skills similar to what you would need in a professional work or internship situation: check e-mail twice per day; read e-mail carefully and respond in a timely manner; contact the office by e-mail or phone about questions or issues; take a proactive approach to solving any problems or issues that come up. Save fcmlp2@hfa.umass.edu in your address book to help ensure that important messages about your course do not end up in your spam folder.

Schedules and Schedule Changes

Each student will be assigned regular weekly tutorial and conversation session times. Any temporary or permanent changes in these times must be worked out with the director of the Five College Center for the Study of World Languages, who maintains the master schedule of all tutorials and conversation sessions. E-mail questions related to schedules to your course organizer. Do not ask your mentor directly for changes because s/he may not be aware of other scheduling issues affected by the change. The mentors have been instructed to refer anyone who requests schedule change to the program office.

Students who miss tutorials or conversation sessions will not be provided with make-up opportunities. Students who know ahead of time that they will need to miss a future session, should clear the absence with the program director or associate director at least a week ahead. If sufficient notice is given, it may sometimes be possible for a student to attend an alternative conversation session or tutorial, although such arrangements cannot be guaranteed.

In the event that the mentor or conversation partner has to cancel a session due to illness or another emergency, every effort will be made to provide an appropriate make-up session or substitute.

Snow emergencies and snow days: Winter snow emergencies occasionally cause delays and cancellations of Five College bus service, early closings of campuses, or snow days being declared on one or more campuses. Because we do not want any students or mentors to get stranded away from their home campus, we will generally cancel tutorials and conversation sessions if 1) the National Weather Service has issued a warning for severe winter weather for the time period of the sessions; and 2) the students and or mentors affected would have to travel to other than their own campus. We will not cancel if the mentor and the students involved live on the same campus, unless that campus has cancelled classes for the relevant time period. If a snow day has been declared in the morning, tutorials and conversation sessions may still take place late in the late afternoon or evening if the weather has cleared and the buses are running. Cancellations due to weather will be sent by e-mail. If you have weather related questions, e-mail your course organizer or call the office at 542-5264.