Specific information on the College’s academic policies can be found in all undergraduate and graduate catalogs. Catalogs can be obtained on-line from the Springfield College Home Page (www.springfieldcollege.edu under the Office of the Registrar in the Academics Section). Faculty members should review and be familiar with the following policies:

• Academic Advisement: Mission, Philosophy and Goals
• Academic Progress Policy for Undergraduate Students in ASPS, HPER, HSRS and Interdisciplinary Programs
• Academic Progress Policy for Undergraduate Students in PCS
• Academic Progress Policy for Graduate Students in ASPS, HPER, HSRS, and SSW
• Academic Progress Policy for Graduate Students in PCS
• Academic Grievance Procedure for Students
• Academic Honors
• Academic Progress
• Academic Standing
• Catalog Year
• Change of Major
• Class Cancellation
• Closed Course
• College Withdrawal/Leave of Absence
• Course Withdrawal
• Credit by Arrangement (normally, these are not approved after the drop/add period)
• Credit by Exam (CLEP)
• Dean’s List
• Degree Requirements
• Degree Requirement Waivers
• Grading Policies including Audit, Incomplete, P/F, Repeat Course, Grade Changes
• Non-Registered Students in Class
• Outcomes Assessment Guidelines and Instructional Assessment Plan
• Registered Students Not Attending Class
• Schedule Changes/Drop-Add Registration
• Student Registration
• Transfer Credit
• Transfer Credit for Current Students

Policy for Meeting Federal Credit Hour Standards
Adopted May 2, 2012

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Federal Credit Hour Definition:

The U.S. Department of Education has created a series of new regulations for institutions that wish to retain their title IV financial aid eligibility. One regulation requires that institutions develop and adopt guidelines to ensure that all courses offered by the institution meet newly stated federal credit hour regulations. The federal regulation defines the credit hour as follows:

A). Credit hour is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates not less than:

1. One hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out of class student work each week for approximately 15 weeks for one semester hour of credit, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time, or:
2. At least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other academic activities as established by the institution including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.”

As part of their regular review of institutions, accreditation agencies will be responsible for ensuring that such institutional policies exist and that they are used to ensure that the institution’s award of credit meets these standards.

Credit hour Equivalencies for Different Teaching Formats:

In the new federal definition of the credit hour, the formula is quite specific in determining the numbers of hours of direct instruction required plus the hours of student work needed beyond direct instructional hours in order to earn academic credit.

Converting the new definition into a table, the hours required are:

Springfield College recognizes and adheres to these Federal Guidelines. In doing so, faculty members are expected to adhere to the following guidelines on contact hours for the following types of course formats:

Web-Supported Classes, i.e. traditional classes:

These are the traditional, face-to-face classes where the full credit hour equivalent is achieved through faculty-student class meetings (1 hour per week per credit) and out of class assignments completed by students (2 hours per week per credit). These classes are offered in a traditional classroom format and Moodle is used as part of the course pedagogy to increase student engagement, to provide students with convenient access to digital course materials, and to enhance interaction among students. In a web- supported instructional format, the faculty member should not replace regularly scheduled class meetings with faculty-student interaction within Moodle.  On the rare occasions when a faculty member must cancel class due to illness, they must still follow the Faculty Handbook policy indicating that they should not cancel a class without the prior notification and approval of their Chair/Dean.  On some occasions, but only if approved by the Chair/Dean, the faculty member may be able to replace class meeting time with activities that provide direct faculty-student interaction using Moodle.

Web-Enhanced Classes:

These are classes where the full credit hour equivalent is achieved through faculty- student interactions that occur through a combination of a specific number of regular class meetings and a specific quantity of faculty-student interactions completed via Moodle.  Currently, in the School of Professional and Continuing Studies, the 8 hour class meeting times on 4 weekends per term provides 32 hours of direct faculty-student interaction, with the balance of the hours required for each 3 credit course provided via a series of School defined learning activities appropriate for students within the school. In similar fashion, any program that proposes to move to a web-enhanced format would need to document in their proposal how the required direct faculty instructional hours would be completed through a combination of a defined number of regular class meetings and specifically identified hours that would be completed via appropriate Moodle activities. Individual faculty members who are providing instruction in a web- enhanced program will teach in the format approved for that program.

Online Classes:

These are classes where the full credit hour equivalent is achieved through faculty student interactions that occur via Moodle. Online courses can only be offered with the approval of the Chair/Dean by faculty members who have completed specialized training and received certification as on online instructor. Faculty members teaching an online course will document how the direct faculty instructional hours required to meet federal guidelines would be provided. In addition, any program that proposes to provide more than 50% of the program requirements online must be approved by the NEASC in advance and must show evidence that all necessary academic, administrative and student services support for students can be provided via the College’s portal system.

Identifying Direct Faculty Instructional Activities:

The key element in the credit hour definitions is the requirement that a full 15 hours of direct faculty instruction is required for each credit hour regardless of how that instruction is provided to the student. Work done by the student on their own by reading assigned materials or completing course projects with other students does not qualify as faculty instructional time. So, while these types of activities are necessary, and should provide a full 30 hours of student learning activities for each credit hour of the course, faculty members should be clear about the Moodle activities needed to replace an hour of class time with an hour of “Moodle time”.

The table below shows how standard assignments for students completed with Moodle would be classified in terms of the credit hour definition. The table is by no means meant to reflect the only options available. You will notice two key distinctions between the types of activities in the different columns. First to be considered to be direct faculty instruction, the activities should be related directly to the objectives of the course, should have some direct oversight or mediation by the faculty member and should in some form be equivalent to the types of instructional activities conducted in the classroom. Second, direct faculty instruction may not be considered to be focused on time that the student spends accomplishing homework assignments or other tasks.

Other Teaching Formats:

While regularly scheduled classes at the College will be taught in one of the formats described above, there are special situations where there may be more flexibility in meeting credit hour requirements.  These situations include:

• Independent Study Classes:

These are classes where the student is expected to engage in a unique independent learning/research experience, although one still guided by the instructor to ensure the student meets the educational objectives and expected outcomes of the course. To maintain the academic integrity of these courses, the student is expected to complete a similar number of total instructional hours per credit hour, as defined above. Due to the nature of these experiences, the instructor will have the flexibility and discretion to negotiate the specific format and hours of direct contact, in a manner appropriate for the project or experience.

• Courses by Arrangement (CBA):

By definition, these are classes that exist to fulfill a unique and individualized student need in exceptional circumstances and are not to be standard offerings. To maintain the academic integrity of these courses, the student is expected to complete the total number of instructional hours per credit hour, as defined above. As for independent studies, flexibility is needed in CBA courses in terms of the ratio of direct faculty contact hours to total instructional hours. However, instructors are expected to meet regularly with the student throughout the semester/term to ensure he/she meets the course educational objectives and expected student outcomes.  Faculty members may achieve this balance by following the guidelines for a web- enhanced format of instruction. Students may not register for CBA courses after the normal add/drop period.

Proposals for New Course or Program Formats:

Over the past two academic years, the School of Professional and Continuing Studies piloted the first online course offerings at the College using Moodle. As part of this program the College pilot tested a faculty certification program and an online course template, and developed a clear understanding of the support services and systems required for online instruction.

As part of the College’s academic planning process, and the results of the online pilot program, a small number of additional programs may be identified that would be appropriate to be offered in either a web-enhanced or online format. If a department wishes to have one or more of their programs considered for one of these formats, they should discuss this with their Dean early in the program planning process. Faculty members should be clear that changes in format cannot be made by individual faculty members or departments.  Ethical standards require that students who are admitted to programs with a particular teaching format, cannot be forced to enroll in courses in different formats. At present, the expectation is that all current courses in our “traditional schools” will continue to use a web-supported format with class meetings scheduled by the Registrar’s Office.

Guidelines for Internships and Field Experiences at Springfield College
Approved February 20, 2015

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Introduction:

The new Federal Credit Hour requirements make it clear that each institution must have a consistent way of awarding academic credit for both classroom based and experiential learning experiences. Springfield College has adopted such guidelines for classroom based courses, identifying 15 hours of direct faculty instruction and 30 hours of additional student work for a total of 45 instructional hours as the basis for each credit hour awarded to a student in “regular” classes, (see page 104 of the Faculty Handbook). The federal guidelines indicate that these same standards must also be applied to non- classroom experiences, so that students completing an internship or fieldwork experience complete at least an equivalent amount of work in order to receive equivalent academic credit.

A number of specialized fieldwork experiences at the College already follow guidelines for the award of credit, faculty supervision and faculty workload that are mandated by a Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognized accreditor or by a state agency, (e.g. student teaching practica; clinical fieldwork in accredited programs, etc.). These guidelines are not intended to supersede those accreditors, who are also required to meet federal credit hour policies and utilize a Clinical rather than an Internship Affiliation Agreement. Instead, these guidelines are designed to provide guidance for students and faculty in non-clinical programs where there are not such recognized external standards. The guidelines describe how the College’s existing credit hour policy should be implemented in the design of internships or field experiences at the undergraduate and graduate level related to the award of credits, the approval for off campus sites, and the supervision provided by faculty members.

Because these guidelines are designed to apply to experiences in a variety of disciplines, they have been informed by the position statement on internships developed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers to ensure that an experience is educational in nature by meeting the following standards:

• The experience must be an extension of the classroom and provide a learning experience that provides for applying knowledge gained in the classroom. It must not be simply to advance the operations of the employer or be work that a regular employee would routinely perform.

• The skills and knowledge learned by the student during the experience must be transferable to other employment situations and/or employers.

• There are clearly defined learning objectives/goals for the internship related to the professional goals of the student’s academic program.

• There is clear supervision of the student by a professional with expertise and educational and/or professional background in the field of the experience.
• There is routine feedback by the experienced supervisor.
• There are resources, equipment and facilities provided by the host employer that support the student’s learning objectives and goals.

Based on these standards and the College’s Policy for Meeting Federal Credit Hour Standards, internships and field experiences should meet the following guidelines:

Award of Credit Hours:

Recognizing that institutions cannot award credit simply for hours worked, students completing internships and field experiences can only earn academic credit if their experience meets the following guidelines:

• The student’s participation in the experience must be pre-approved by their faculty supervisor; students in some programs may need to meet certain eligibility requirements to participate;
• The internship or fieldwork site must be pre-approved by either the sponsoring Department or by the Career Center; some sites may not be appropriate;
• Internship experiences completed for 1-3 credit hours will require the student, at minimum, to complete regular reports to the faculty supervisor, and a final assignment that requires critical thinking and reflection; evaluations from the on- site supervisor will also be required and considered as part of the student’s evaluation;
• Internship experiences completed for more than 3 credit hours must meet the requirements outlined above, and include a substantial additional course assignments as designed by the departments that is completed on site and is evaluated by both the faculty member and the on-site supervisor;
• The credit hours earned for the internship or fieldwork experience will depend on the academic work completed (see above) and the completion of adequate time on site. For each credit hour awarded, the student must complete a minimum of 45 hours on site or on campus working with their faculty supervisor on work related to the internship.
• Students must register for the internship and complete the entire internship experience during the semester for which they registered. Summer session internships require summer registration and cannot be included as part of the student’s fall or spring course load if the internship work will be completed during the summer session.

Approved Internship Sites:

Students seeking to complete an internship or fieldwork experience may only complete this academic work at an approved internship or fieldwork site.  Approved sites will:

• Meet the standards of the College as expressed in the College’s Internship Affiliation Agreement, (see Faculty Resources section in PrideNet). If a site will not agree to these standards, students should not be placed at that site without the written agreement of the VPAA.
• Ensure that there is a specific on-site supervisor who will be responsible for ensuring that the student’s experience meets the educational goals determined by the faculty supervisor and will provide feedback to the faculty member as part of the evaluation of the student’s work.
• Be described and listed in materials available to students in their departments and be on file with the Career Center.

External Funding for Grants and Sponsored Research: 

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External Funding for Grants and Sponsored Research: Springfield College encourages and facilitates efforts to seek external funding for initiatives that align with its mission.  Internal approvals are required prior to submitting a grant application or proposal to any external funder.  These approvals are required for letters of intent, pre-applications, potential subawards, and full applications that involve Springfield College, including its students and campus resources.  The approval process is multi-step and is as follows:

Intent to Apply:  As soon as a funding source is identified and a proposal concept can be articulated, contact the Director of Grants and Sponsored Research (DGSR), Dr. Linda Marston, via email (lmarston@springfieldcollege.edu) or phone at x3654 to review the grant submission and approval process.  Typically, several weeks of advance notice is necessary.  Complete the portion of the “Grants Protocol Form” that declares your Intent to Apply to a particular funder.  Scan and attach the form to an email requesting approval to proceed, addressed to your department chair, your Dean, and the DGSR. 

Proposal Development:  After initial approval, the DGSR will work with you to develop a schedule to meet all application requirements and the submission deadline.  The DGSR will assist with proposal and budget development, and arrange for any required institutional documents.  After reading the funder’s grant application instructions, provide an overview of the proposed project to the DGSR, including a proposed budget outline of grant funds to be requested.  As allowed by the funder, commitments of College resources may include faculty members’ time, student workers, use of campus facilities, and department supplies.  The GSR Director will determine the appropriate levels of fringe benefits and indirect costs (aka F&A or overhead) to be included in the budget.

Prior to obtaining final college approval, your Department Chair and School Dean must approve your proposed budget, especially if it includes any workload or other college resource commitments. 

NOTE:  For NIH and NSF applications, there are new requirements for Financial Conflict of Interest reporting and training.  The DGSR will provide additional information as needed.

Unit Approvals of the Proposed Project and Budget:  One full week prior to the submission deadline, obtain final Unit Approvals of the Proposed Project and Budget to complete the Grants Protocol Form.  When the proposal narrative and budget are finalized and deemed by the DGSR to meet the funder’s and the College’s guidelines, the DGSR will obtain the required final campus approvals and submit the proposal to the funder on behalf of the College. 

Award Decisions - Negotiations, Acceptance, and Post-award Administration:  The DGSR should be notified when a funding decision is received, whether it is a successful award or not.  (Reviewers’ comments can be helpful in strengthening a proposal for resubmission.)  If funded, the DGSR will review the award conditions, obtain College approval to accept the award, assist in media releases, and provide guidance on grant administration toward successful completion of the funded project.  The DGSR also will supply you with the form to Request a New Grant Account.  Grant Accounts are set-up by project Start and End Dates, not fiscal year.  Project Directors work directly with the Accounting Office, often through their department or school, to manage financial reporting.

The DGSR is your central contact for all grant questions both before you submit and after you receive a grant.  For more information and resources - including a link to the Grants Protocol Form - see the Grants & Sponsored Research homepage on PrideNET, under the link for Academics, then Academic Affairs.

Copyright Policy:

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Copyright is a very complicated issue. It is a form of legal protection for authors of original works and intellectual products. Historically, the well known symbol © designated copyrighted materials. However, this traditional symbol does not need to be placed in a work for copyright protection. Section 106 of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 gives the creator of the material copyright and exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

1. Reproduce copies of the work.
2. Prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted work.
3. Distribute copies of the work by sale, rental, lease, or lending.
4. Publicly perform the work (if it is a literary, musical, dramatic, or choreographic work or a pantomime, motion picture, or audiovisual work).
5. Publicly display the work (if it is a literary, musical, dramatic, choreographic, sculptural, graphic, or pictorial work - including the individual images of a film - or a pantomime).

The copyright owner retains these rights, however there are circumstances when works can be used without permission. The Fair Use limitations to the copyright are those that are most applicable to faculty at Springfield College.

Fair Use: The Doctrine of Fair Use, embedded in section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, is designed to balance the needs of scholars and students with those holding the copyright by mitigating the rights of copyright ownership. However, what constitutes fair use is expressed in the form of guidelines rather than explicit rules. Examples of fair use include use for personal reasons, quotations, criticisms, parodies, news reporting clips, spontaneous classroom use, scholarship, and research. There are four factors that are used to determine fair use:

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether the copied material will be for nonprofit, educational, or commercial use.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work, with special consideration given to the distinction between a creative work and an informational work. For example, photocopies made of a newspaper or newsmagazine column are more likely to fall within fair use than copies made of a musical score or a short story. Duplication of material originally developed for classroom consumption is less likely to be a fair use than is the duplication of materials prepared for public consumption. For example, a teacher who photocopies a workbook page or a textbook chapter is depriving the copyright owner of profits more directly than if copying one page from the daily paper.
3. The amount, substantiality, or portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole. This factor requires consideration of 1) the proportion of the larger work that is copied and used, and 2) the significance of the copied portion.
4. The effect of the use on the potential market of the copyrighted work. This factor is regarded as the most critical one in determining fair use; and it serves as the basic principle from which the other three factors are derived and to which they are related. If the reproduction of a copyrighted work reduces the potential market and sales and, therefore, the potential profits of the copyright owner that use is unlikely to be found a fair use.

If there is any question about whether a situation is covered by fair use, it is always best to obtain permission from the copyright holder. Not understanding the copyright law is not a legal defense under fair use. There are several departments on campus that can assist faculty in this area including the Print Shop, Media Services, Information Technology Services (ITS), and the Library.

Digital arena: The copyright law most familiar to faculty, staff, and students is the law related to print materials established by the 1976 copyright law. More recently this law has been supplemented by laws designed for issues that have arisen in the digital arena.

The ease of digital reproduction has greatly complicated the issue of copyright. The Digital Millennium Copyright Law of 1998 and the TEACH Act of 2002 have added to the complexity of complying with copyright law. In fact, it is not unfair to say that the technology which allows digital reproduction is evolving much faster than the U.S. Congress can pass laws.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998
This law makes it a crime to circumvent any anti-piracy measures built into commercial software. It outlaws the manufacture, sale, or distribution of code-cracking devices used to illegally copy software. It does provide some exemptions for nonprofit libraries, archives, and educational institutions from anti-circumvention provisions under certain circumstances. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) limits internet service providers from copyright infringement liability for simply transmitting information over the Internet. It does, however, require them to remove material from websites that appears to constitute copyright infringement. In addition, the DMCA heightens the penalties for copyright infringement on the internet but limits liability of nonprofit institutions of higher education - when they serve as online service providers and under certain circumstances - for copyright infringement by faculty members or graduate students.

TEACH Act of 2002
The TEACH Act sets forth conditions under which government bodies and accredited nonprofit educational institutions can use copyrighted works in distance education courses conducted over the Internet. The act contains a variety of procedural safeguards to ensure that the interests of the copyright owners are not harmed. For example, e- reserves and course management systems require a limitation to small portions of copyrighted works such as a single article or chapter. This is not to be used as a substitute to purchase of materials and requires that these items be accessible only to registered students in the class. Additionally, these digital materials must be taken down at the end of each term.

Copyright Compliance: Springfield College participates in a variety of contractual arrangements that require licensing fees to copyright owners in exchange for the use of their content. Faculty are expected to be aware of and in compliance with these as they relate to copyright law. Listed below are examples of College policies in existence that address copyright issues. Details on these policies are available from the department that oversees the service. This is not an exhaustive list.

• Responsibility Use of Technology Policy - ITS and Human Resources
• Software licenses for College-owned computers and technology - ITS
• Photocopying and reproducing course related materials - Printing Services
• VHS to DVD transition for library owned materials - Library and Media Services
• VHS to DVD transition policy -  Educational Technology and Media Services
• Database full-text licenses limited to current students and staff - Babson Library
• Copyright Ownership Policy - Human Resources

Additionally, the following notice should be posted at all public photocopiers, printers, computers, digital recorders, scanners, microform printers, etc., that are used to make copies in an unsupervised setting:

The Copyright Law of the United States (title 17, U.S.C.) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopying or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

The College reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfilling of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

“Notice: Making copies may be subject to copyright law.”

Support: Periodically workshops are held to assist faculty in the understanding of their responsibilities and the options available to comply with current copyright laws. The digital arena is particularly confusing and faculty should not hesitate to ask for help.

Students are often not aware that they are violating copyright and it is important that faculty members model appropriate behavior. Babson Library, Media Services, ITS, and Educational Technology staff are always available to assist faculty with questions concerning copyright.

Logo and Seal Use:

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Springfield College, the Springfield College seal, and the Springfield College logo are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may not be used or reproduced without permission. Springfield College owns and controls the use of its logos, insignias, seal, symbols, service marks, trade names, depictions of campus buildings used commercially, and other trademarks, including Athletics trademarks, collectively called “trademarks,” which are associated with the College and/or any of its campuses, whether registered or not. The use of any College trademark must be reviewed and approved by the Office of Communications to ensure College-wide consistency and appropriate usage.