UMass Boston

Download or review the Curriculog Proposal Guidelines. Please take a look at the Syllabus Components Guide on page 19. (Please note: some of the links in the Syllabus Components Guide are out-of-date. For the most current recommended language and links for syllabi specifically on topics of accommodations, academic integrity, health, wellbeing, and success, please review our Syllabus Language Recommendations.)

Yes, you can use the GSC Syllabus Template for graduate course planning. 

Use Curriculog for all course proposals and changes: umb.curriculog.com. See the Curriculog Proposals Guidelines at Course & Program Governance and at Curriculog Proposal Guidelines. When composing course descriptions, be sure to follow the “WISER course description style guide” on page 22 of the latter document.

These courses are intended to be one-time-only trials. After that trial, the course should be proposed as a permanent course with its own unique course number. If the course proposal is currently undergoing the governance approval process, then the Special Topics version can be offered a second time.

Comprehensive guidelines are available for class attendance. Your syllabus should clearly state your class attendance policy. Students who never attended and did not drop or withdraw from the class will be subject to an NA grade and are financially responsible for the course. Faculty may submit an NA by the designated deadline, usually during the first month of the semester.

The Dean of Students provides many services, including helping students with personal and family emergencies, navigating complex problems, and referrals to other offices. Visit the Dean of Students website or call 617.287.5800.

The Dean of Students Office can also advise faculty about various non-academic student problems, such as a student not attending class or how to navigate student policies, especially in complex cases.

You can file reports to help students in distress. Submit a Case Care Management Form to the Dean of Students’ office: 

Refer students in these situations:

• Significant changes in academic performance or changes in activities, work, or social activities
• Significant life events such as the death of a family member or friend
• Acting withdrawn, volatile, or unexpectedly tearful
• Disruption to an administrative, teaching, or learning environment
• Difficulty concentrating or carrying on a normal conversation
• Verbal or written threats about themselves or others

If a student is in need, you can direct them to the U-ACCESS page.

You can also submit a U-ACCESS referral form.

Please visit the Academic Integrity website for guidance and educational resources.

The most basic step is to make expectations for academic integrity clear in the syllabus. That includes providing a link to the UMass Boston Code of Conduct. 

You can also reference Appendix B: Academic Honesty in the Code of Conduct, which has helpful information. 

The Academic Integrity website provides faculty guidance for addressing academic integrity errors.

Please note:

• If you decide to impose any sanction, the violation must be documented and reported properly so that the student has due process. Do not simply accuse a student and issue a sanction without following the appropriate process.

• To report an academic integrity violation, go to the faculty guidance page above. Click the link near the top that says, “Submit Incident Report Form to Maxient.” This report must be sent within 10 business days of discovering the violation.

This particular form is specifically for academic integrity violations. 

Yes. The process can be found in Appendix B: Academic Honesty. Look for Section II: Academic Dishonesty Procedures.

Contact the Ross Center for Disability Services.

Read the policy on the Registrar's website.

The procedure is to fill out and sign the Incomplete Contract Form, then send it to the student for signature. Then, send the signed form to your Department Chair, who signs it and sends it to the Registrar. All this is best (though not necessarily) done via DocuSign.

Email your Department Chair to request the grade change. Include the student’s name, ID, and email; course number and semester; previous grade and new grade; your name; and reason for the change. The Chair will approve and send the request to the Registrar, with a copy to you. You do not need a grade change form.

Go to the Faculty & Staff page of the Registrar's website. Scroll to where it says “Faculty information about scheduling,” and click on “Final Exam Rubric.”

Log into WISER. Go to Faculty/Advisor Center, then go to Advisor Center. Look at “My Advisees.”

Go to the “Remove Advising Hold in Wiser” knowledge base article for step-by-step instructions.

If students have a Past-Due Balance Hold, they should visit The One Stop website or the office in the Campus Center (Upper Level).

If they have an Immunization Hold, they should go to the “My Health Beacon Portal” or contact University Health Services.

Degree Audits (DAs) are reports that tabulate all progress a student has made toward their degree, including all credits, grades, and requirements for their major and General Education. It’s important for faculty to learn how to read a DA, as it’s an essential tool for advising. Remind students to bring their DA to any advising session. It’s good for them to practice generating DAs.

You can run a DA for a student as follows:

• Go to the WISER login page, scroll down to DA login, and log in there.
• Click “Students.”
• Enter student ID or name and press “Search.” Student info will appear below.
• Click the arrow on the “Select” button corresponding to the student.
• Click “Run current programs”
• Click “View Audit.”
• Click “Download PDF audit,” under the pie chart.

The “Run a Degree Audit for a Student” knowledge base article provides more complete technical instructions for obtaining DAs.

Review the university’s Course Repeat Policy.

The basic rule is that a student may repeat up to four different courses taken at the university and may repeat a specific course only once. However, students can submit a waiver request.

The student should first consult the faculty member teaching the course. The student may not have the appropriate prerequisites. The faculty member can often solve other problems by issuing the student a permission number.

If the student is still having trouble, they can seek help from departmental or advising center staff, who can override many issues as long as the faculty member approves. Please note that for courses with labs, permission numbers can be linked to either the lecture (allowing enrollment in any lab) or to specific lab sections.

Undergraduates must demonstrate writing proficiency before they complete 75 credits. The Writing Proficiency website provides three different ways to fulfill this graduation requirement. When you advise students, encourage them to meet this requirement at their earliest convenience.

ALEKS is an online math placement exam and learning system that adapts to the student’s math level. Students can re-take the exam up to 3 times but must take advantage of the personalized Preparation and Learning modules prior to each re-test. The final ALEKS score determines which math level the student will start at. See the Math Testing section on the Advising Toolbox website for more information.

The Financial Aid webpage says this about course load requirements for financial aid: “Some financial aid programs require full-time enrollment (12 or more credits) while others require half-time enrollment (6 or more credits).”

When reducing their credit load, the student must check with the financial aid office. There are also requirements for satisfactory academic progress. Visit the Financial Aid Terms & Conditions page or email finaid@umb.edu.

Students should first speak to the department offering the course. If they have questions about general education requirements that you cannot answer, they can consult their appropriate advising center.

Concur is the program used by the UMass system (as of April 2024) for university travel, travel expenses, and non-travel expenses. Visit the Concur homepage for more information. 

To use Concur, first sign in. Once signed in, if this is your first time, click on your initials in the upper right corner of your landing page to update your profile.

You will need to:

1. Obtain pre-travel authorization.
2. Book travel arrangements.
3. Register your travel.
4. File expenses.

Most of this must be done through Concur.

Please note: This applies to all UMass Boston employees, including faculty, staff, and graduate students. However, a different process is used for travel by non-employee undergraduate students.

Preapproval is required for all overnight, out-of-state, and international university travel. Go to the Concur landing page. From the drop-down menu at the top left, click Requests, then click Create New Requests.

You are encouraged to book travel through Concur. Once you’re on the landing page, click Trip Search on the left. Alternatively, you can book through the Travel Collaborative (a travel agency that contracts with the University) or book your travel through any other means.

If you book through the Travel Collaborative, email scott@travelcoll.com with your full legal name, preferred itinerary, cell phone number, and date of birth.

When you book travel within Concur, it’s automatically registered. When you book travel outside of Concur, you must manually register through email. See the Travel Registration page for more details.

Create an expense report that includes all receipts (e.g., for ground transportation), mileage, and/or per diem requests from your travel. Go to the Concur landing page. From the dropdown menu at the top, select Expense, then click on Create New Report.

It’s best to use a departmental Bank Card to pay for conference registrations. Your department can then allocate funds from your grant or another funding source for the conference fees. 

When you place an order, you need to have a purchase order (PO) in place ahead of time. Talk to your Department Chair about creating a PO. You must also ensure that all suppliers are registered and approved on our system before any goods or services are provided.

This does not apply to anything purchased on a university credit card.

When you purchase equipment over $5,000, that is considered “capital equipment” and requires extra steps. That also applies to multi-component systems where the total is over $5,000. If purchasing from a non-MHEC (Massachusetts Higher Education Consortium) Contract supplier, you must either get additional quotes, complete a no bid justification, or go out to bid.

Personnel with UMass Bank Cards (credit cards) can make such purchases for you with some restrictions. Purchases made on the Bank Card must adhere to our tax-exempt policy. We can sometimes also add new vendors to our system if the company agrees to be added.

To make purchases, it’s always best to use BuyWays (the university’s online system for purchasing goods and services) or a UMass Boston Bank Card. (Faculty can apply for their own UMass Bank Cards as needed.)

However, if necessary, you can make an out-of-pocket purchase and then make an exception request for reimbursement through Concur as follows:

1. Go to the Concur landing page.
2. At the top left, use the drop-down menu to go to Requests. On the right side, click on Create New Request.
3. Under Request Policy, click on Expense Exception.

For funds that are allotted through legal agreements (e.g., the FSU Research and Education SupportFunds), expenses can be reimbursed without exception requests.

BuyWays and UMass Bank Cards are the easiest procurement methods, but if you pay in other ways, you can file an exception request for reimbursement through Concur (see the previous FAQ).

25Live is UMass Boston’s reservation and calendar system. This site allows students to reserve rooms and spaces on campus (excluding classrooms). Reservations must be made seven days in advance.

Requests for classroom spaces must be made to the Registrar’s office through your department or college scheduler. Remember to book rooms for activities or review sessions, especially for large courses, as far in advance as possible.

Visit Our Event Venues page for more information about meeting and event spaces.

For classes during the academic term, submit a request to your scheduler.

For other needs, any faculty or staff can create an account and book computer rooms through BookIT.

The TEAL (Technology Enabled Active Learning) classroom in University Hall is specially designed, through seating arrangement and technology, to facilitate active learning and innovative teaching approaches. It can hold up to 63 students and can be reserved for courses through your scheduler. 

Fill out a Website Request Form. 

To make changes in your personal profile, go to the Faculty & Staff Directory and click on Update Your Directory Entry. 

To get help from Information Technology (IT), visit the IT Help page.

Here are some other help options:

• Live chat: Look for the orange “Chat” button in the lower right corner of the IT Self-Service Portal; only available during business hours
• Email: itservicedesk@umb.edu
• Walk-in: IT Service Desk, Healey Library, 3rd Floor 
• Call: 617.287.5220

You can also visit the IT FAQ page for a comprehensive list of basic IT questions and answers.

Visit the Faculty Resources Hub.

Faculty, postdocs, and graduate students should all be on the print “PaperCut” list. (Verify with your departmental administrator that you are on the list.) 

Follow these instructions to set up your computer to print on MFDs. The instructions will guide you to a) install PaperCut Client (PCClient) software and b) install the printer. 

If you have any problems, email mfd.services@umb.edu for assistance.

See Eligibility & Conditions of Employment for students. Students cannot start work until all hiring paperwork has been processed. Student Employment Services (SES) will delay the hire start date if the student does not deliver their paperwork before the original start date.

It is recommended that undergraduate students work 10–15 hours per week during the academic year, but they can work up to 40. International students can work up to 20 hours per week when classes are in session and up to 40 hours when classes are not in session.

Graduate students are salaried for 18 hours during the academic year but can have another appointment to supplement their hours up to 40 per week. However, HR asks that no student work more than 8 hours per day. Otherwise, it will be considered overtime.

To hire students, each research and teaching lab needs to have its own job description and job code on file in the Department. If the job is new, you will fill out a job description form, which is sent to Student Employment Services (SES) to evaluate and assign a job number. New hires receive the minimum wage.

The students should go to Student Employment Services (SES) to fill out the hiring paperwork. They should bring either a valid passport or two other valid forms of ID, such as a driver’s license and birth certificate.

The Office of Graduate Studies sends information to each graduate student to onboard them.

First, discuss your intent to apply with your Department Chair and ask them for the sabbatical policy and credit chart.

Then, read the Sabbatical Leave Policy.

If you have enough credits, then fill out the Faculty Application for Sabbatical Leave.

Applications are due to Department Chairs in October of the year before the requested sabbatical.

Read the Policy on Faculty Course Buyouts.

If you are interested in requesting a buyout, discuss your interest with your department chair. Then, fill out the Faculty Course Buyout form, which you can get from your dean.

Requests for fall semester buyouts must be submitted by February 20, and requests for spring semester buyouts must be submitted by the previous October 20.

In an emergency, call 911.

For general police information & UMass Boston Dispatch, call 617.287.7777.

For more information, visit the UMass Boston Police page.

If you want to discuss possible instances of discrimination, contact the Office of Civil Rights & Title IX.

If you need to report instances of discrimination, use this reporting form.

The primary method for submitting a work order is to use the Facilities Online Work Order Request System. This site will allow you to create, submit, and track the status of your service request. You can also email the Facilities Department at facilities@umb.edu; they will process your email to create a service request.

In an emergency, call the Facilities Service Response Center at 617.287.5450. Service Response staff answer this number Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Utility plant operators can assist with off-hour issues.

Contact Environmental Health & Safety.
Email umbehs@umb.edu or call 617.287.5445.