Academic and Conduct Academic Policies

The Director, in consultation via email with your on-campus adviser, serves as your major adviser while abroad, helping you to select and then approve your courses. It is your responsibility to ensure that courses taken abroad will count towards your major (if you intend them to be). The Director will work closely with you to facilitate these conversations. Prior to departure, please consult with your major adviser, make sure that she or he will be available during your time abroad (and if need be find the names of his or her replacement), and be prepared to provide the Director with your adviser’s email.

You are expected to attend all classes and take all scheduled exams. Classes are generally held Monday through Friday; some Saturday sessions are possible. Unless group excursions are planned, Saturdays and Sundays are yours to schedule. When planning travel, please be aware of the precise calendar that applies to your courses: you may not begin official vacations early or extend them beyond the officially stated dates.

Smith policies require that you take at least 16 credits per semester while abroad (normally these convert to four 4 credit courses). With the permission of both the Director and the Dean for International Study, you may earn up to 38 credits for the year. Only in extenuating circumstances, requiring the permission of the Director, the Dean for International Study, and the Class Dean, may you carry fewer than 16 credits in a semester. (You will still be expected to complete 32 credits for the year.) No courses are awarded more than 4 credits unless approved by the Dean for International Study.

In extenuating circumstances, the deadline for work due may be extended beyond the end of the semester with the approval of your Director and the Dean for International Study, with notice to the Class Dean. The Director and Dean for International Study will determine a specific date and time for submission of the material. In almost all situations, the final deadline for extensions will be prior to the start of the subsequent semester.

Grades earned during each term abroad are recorded on Smith College transcripts. For Smith students, these grades count in the calculations of the grade point average, for Latin Honors, and for membership in Phi Beta Kappa. Other colleges and universities may treat study abroad grades differently. If you are a guest student, please consult with your home institution.

On occasion, a student on a Smith program abroad may receive a final course grade that they feel does not fairly represent the quality of their work or has been evaluated in an unfair manner. If you wish to file a grievance regarding a grade, please be in touch first with your program Director. The Smith Office for International Study has developed the following process for students to file a grade appeal request:

1. If the course was taken at a local University or through a local consortium, the first step is to follow the local University’s own grade appeal process. Sometimes this can be straightforward and a clarification of the grade decision and appeal can be easily resolved. In other circumstances, the process is cumbersome and lengthy, in which case the program Director, with the authorization of the Dean for International Study, may seek to expedite the process. We will attempt to contact the instructor and obtain their perspective on the assigned grade. The Director will assess the instructor’s perspective in light of the student concern and recommend an equitable solution to the Smith College Dean for International Study

2. If the course is a Smith course offered at the program Center, the grade appeal process follows similar guidelines as on campus:

   1. The student will share their concerns with the Director and submit a written request to the instructor asking for an explanation of the grade and request for an appeal.

   2. If this result is not satisfactory, the student may consult with the program Director and provide any additional evidence to determine whether the course grade in question may be appealed based on criteria established in the Academic Grievance procedures. The Director will work with the Dean for International Study in reviewing this information and arriving at a solution.

3. In circumstances for which a student wishes to appeal the final grade assigned by the program Director for Smith coursework completed on the program, a written appeal should be made to the Dean for International Study and the Associate Provost of Smith College.

The Smith College Academic Grievance procedures that serve as guidelines for this grade appeal process may be found in the Student Handbook section on Academic Rules and Procedures:

https://www.smith.edu/sao/handbook/acadlife/acadrules4.php

As stated in the Academic Grievance procedure,

“…the student needs to demonstrate that one or more of the following conditions pertained.

• The instructor used inappropriate criteria (e.g. in determining a final grade.)

• The instructor assigned a grade on some basis other than performance in the course.

• The instructor did not adhere to the procedures stated in the course syllabus (e.g. grading rubric.)”

Credit is not awarded for a beginning modern foreign language course. Given the linguistic immersion emphasis of the Smith programs, we want to encourage your focus on the primary language taught at your program site. Coursework in other languages is permitted only at the intermediate or advanced level.

In addition, given the value placed on study within the local academic context, the Smith Office for International Study does not support Independent Study or Special Studies.

While enrolled on your Smith program abroad you are expected to take your courses for letter grades unless it is offered as an S/U only. The S/U grading option is an option for some students, although do remember that a maximum of 16 credits S/U may be counted towards the Smith degree. The request for an S/U option must be made prior to the ninth week of classes according to your study site.

In order to request the S/U option, please follow these steps:

1. confirm with the appropriate department chair at Smith that the course will count in the major, if indeed it is a “major” course;

2. discuss your concerns with your instructor and Director.

3. prior to the ninth week of the semester, print and fill out the Change of Grading Option form https://www.smith.edu/sites/default/files/media/Documents/Registrar/ChangeofGradingOption.pdf. Sign the form and ask your Director for their permission to request the S/U option. The Director will then also sign the form. Either you or the Director will then scan and/or email the form to the Office for International Study (studyabroad@smith.edu).

4. The Dean for International Study and Class Dean will determine final approval and contact you to let you know if and when your request is approved.

Guest students must confirm with their home school advisers that the S/U option is acceptable.

Unless otherwise indicated in this handbook, all Smith College policies published in the Smith Bulletin apply to the Smith Programs Abroad.