Faculty of Arts and Sciences Information for
Faculty 2022-2023
Information for Faculty
To The Faculty
Information for Faculty Offering Instruction in Arts and Sciences is intended to serve as a convenient
reference for the educational policies of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). In addition to a
discussion of instructors’ responsibilities, matters related to course administration, and problems
often encountered by students, this publication includes a summary of teaching resources available
to instructors and a detailed academic calendar.
All members of the FAS are urged to consult this publication as issues arise in the administration of
their courses and in their work with students. New members of the FAS will, it is hoped, take time to
acquaint themselves with all aspects of this publication and especially with the various policies and
regulations that are particular to Harvard. Avoiding misunderstandings before the fact can save
valuable time and spare unnecessary embarrassment.
For example:
• It is important to understand that while graduate students may receive a grade of
Incomplete, undergraduates cannot.
• In the matter of an extension of time, instructors may offer undergraduates an extension of
time to complete course work until the end of the Examination Period; however, only with the
express permission of the Administrative Board of Harvard College may instructors accept
undergraduate work after the end of the Examination Period.
• Final and approved makeup examinations are scheduled by the staff of the Office of the
Registrar.
• Instructors may not excuse a student from the final examination or make special
arrangements to administer the exam at a time other than that scheduled by the Registrar.
• Any student absent from a regularly scheduled exam is given the grade of ABS, a failing
grade.
• Instructors should be in residence throughout the academic year, including the Reading and
Examination Periods. Short absences require approval of the Department Chair; absences of
more than one week must be approved by the Dean of the Faculty.
• Exclusion from a course, grade changes, and the retention of blue examination booklets
constitute further areas to which new faculty members are urged to give special attention.
Introduction
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences includes Harvard College, the Graduate School of Arts and
Sciences, and the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. As with each of the
nine faculties of the University, the chief administrative officer of the FAS is its Dean. The Dean
oversees both financial and academic planning for the Faculty as well as its many libraries,
museums, laboratories, and centers. * The Dean is advised by an eighteen-member Faculty Council
elected by and from the officers of the FAS.
Distinguishing features of Harvard College that involve the direct participation of faculty members
are the House System, the Program in General Education, and the Freshman Seminar Program.
The House System
From the beginning of their presidency, A. Lawrence Lowell aspired to create a residential system for
Harvard College modeled on Oxford and Cambridge Universities. In 1928 the generous gift of a Yale
alumnus, Edward S. Harkness, made that ambition a reality. Three entirely new Houses were
constructed, and four others created from existing residential halls, establishing the nucleus of the
current House system.
All Harvard students have a residentially based affiliation. The first-year students live in dormitories
located within or adjacent to Harvard Yard. During their first year in the College they are advised by
the Resident Deans of First-Year Students, housed in the First Year Experience Office, (FYE) a unit
within the Dean of Students Office (DSO). First-year students are organized into 4 Yards – Elm,
Crimson, Oak, and Ivy. Most upper-level students (sophomores, juniors, and seniors) live in the 12
residential Houses, each of which also includes a dining hall, a library, and a variety of activities
designed to foster the easy mix of social and intellectual life that President Lowell envisaged for the
House system. For example, the Houses may offer seminars for course credit. They routinely
sponsor language tables and tables where students interested in a specific pursuit can gather to
exchange ideas. Every year the Houses hold faculty dinners to permit undergraduates to invite their
instructors for an evening of relaxed conversation and, conversely, to provide faculty members with
a means to meet their students informally and learn more about their curricular and extracurricular
lives. For students choosing to live off-campus, the Dudley Community provides academic and
personal support for members of the Dudley Co-op, off-campus students, and for Visiting
Undergraduate Students (VUS). The Houses, the FYE and Dudley are affiliated with the Dean of
Students Office.
Harvard is engaged in an exciting large-scale effort to renew the Houses through full renovation of
the buildings. House Renewal aims to improve conditions through renovation and to change how the
physical spaces function to meet programmatic priorities in the residential experience. House
affiliation is an important part of student identity, and each House provides students with diverse
and vibrant residential communities that are cornerstones of a Harvard education.
Each House is overseen by Faculty Deans, usually a senior faculty member or senior administrator
and partner or spouse who live in residence and is also served by an Allston Burr Resident Dean. The
first-year students are divided into 4 Yards (Ivy, Crimson, Elm, and Oak), which are overseen by 4
Resident Deans of First-Year Students (one per Yard) and the Senior Assistant Dean of First-Year
Students. The Dudley Community also has an Allston Burr Resident Dean who supports that
community. Other House staff include House Administrators (responsible for the operations and
programming of the House) and the Academic Coordinators (who work closely with the Resident
Deans).
The Resident Deans advise students in their respective units on academic and personal matters and
represent their affiliated undergraduate members at the Administrative Board meetings. (Instructors
concerned for whatever reason about the performance or wellbeing of an undergraduate should
contact the appropriate Allston Burr Resident Dean or Resident Dean of First Year Students.**) Also
integral to the life of these communities are the Resident Tutors and Proctors (Proctors are specific
to first-year students), who serve as social and academic advisers to the undergraduate residents of
the House. They may in some cases serve as concentration advisers to the undergraduates, and
they also fill a variety of administrative roles in the House and Dudley. (Graduate students from the
various Faculties may apply to the Faculty Deans for these positions beginning in January.)
Faculty members, administrators, Cambridge community members, and visiting scholars are eligible
for affiliation with the individual Houses and comprise the Senior Common Room. Participation in a
Senior Common Room affords individuals the opportunity not only to meet people from other
departments but also to communicate with undergraduates in the casual atmosphere of the House
dining rooms or at the varied House functions.
**For further discussion of this point see the Handbook for Students which provides extensive
discussion of the procedures of the Administrative Board.
The Program in General Education
The Program in General Education is the cornerstone of the Harvard College curriculum. Focusing on
urgent problems and enduring questions, Gen Ed courses are unusually explicit in connecting the
subjects studied to the people students will become and the world beyond the classroom.
Transcending disciplinary divisions, they demonstrate the value of embedding what is learned in
concentrations within the broader context of the liberal arts. In Gen Ed courses, students engage in
activities that can shape the world around them.
The Program requires that students complete one course in each of the following four categories:
• Aesthetics & Culture
• Ethics & Civics
• Histories, Societies, Individuals
• Science & Technology in Society
One of these courses may, with the permission of the instructor, be taken Pass/Fail.
To locate General Education courses, search “General Education” at my.harvard.edu or visit
gened.fas.harvard.edu/courses-listing. Faculty interested in proposing a course for General
Education or with questions about the program should visit gened.fas.harvard.edu/proposing-
courses, or contact the General Education Office at [email protected]vard.edu or 617-495-2563.
The Freshman Seminar Program
Inaugurated as an experiment in 1959, and formally established by a vote of the faculty in 1963, the
Freshman Seminar Program fosters intimate and engaging interaction between first-year students
and faculty as they explore together topics of mutual interests. Freshman Seminars are small
discussion-based courses, designed to provide a unique setting for students to deepen existing
interests and discover unfamiliar fields. They are offered by faculty across the University, and
ordinarily involve one faculty instructor and twelve First-Year Students meeting weekly for 2-3 hours.
Many Freshman Seminars include special instructional activities—such as lab or studio work, field
trips, concerts, or exhibitions—that enhance the learning experience. Freshman Seminars are not
letter graded, and they count as a four-credit course. Admission to a Freshman Seminar is by
application prior to the semester in which it is offered. First-Year Students are eligible to enroll in two
Freshman Seminars, one in each term. For more information about the Freshman Seminar Program,
please consult the website: www.freshmanseminars.college.harvard.edu .
*Services shared by all nine faculties of the University such as food services, health services, police,
fiscal services, and facilities maintenance are administered by the Office of the President.
**For further discussion of this point see the Handbook for Students which provides extensive
discussion of the procedures of the Administrative Board.
my.harvard
The my.harvard Student Information System
The my.harvard Student Information System offers tools to streamline the instructing process.
Faculty instructors will see a list of the courses they are currently teaching on their homepage. Eight
buttons are associated with each course:
• Class Roster displays a list of all enrolled students. Instructors may send emails, view
photos, and more. A badge will indicate the current number of enrolled students.
• Course Site launches the Canvas course site.
• Sectioning allows the instructor to set up sectioning options for the course and manage the
process of assigning students to discussion sections and labs.
• Grades provide access to the final grade roster. The instructor may use this tool manually to
enter final grades or upload final grades from a spreadsheet.
• Petitions allows instructors to view and respond to a list of student permission requests for
limited enrollment courses, override enforced prerequisites, and respond to cross
registration requests. A badge indicates the number of pending requests.
• Final Assessment allows instructors to select final assessment type, used for planning
seated final exams. To ensure the appropriate allocation of space for exams, it is imperative
that faculty and staff submit their intentions regarding final exams as early as possible.
• Exam Roster displays a list of all enrolled students, to be used for marking attendance during
the course’s 3-hour seated exam.
• Assessment Upload allows the instructor to upload a copy of the course's 3-hour exam, to be
provided to the FAS Registrar's Office for courses with a seated exam scheduled by the
Registrar.
For my.harvard how-to guides and knowledge articles, search the IT Help Portal:
https://huit.harvard.edu/ithelp
Academic Calendar
Fall Term 2022-2023
Spring Term 2022-2023
Tentative Calendar 2023-2024
Fall Term 2022-23
The current Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Academic Calendars are located at
https://registrar.fas.harvard.edu/academic-calendar.
Fall Term 2022-23
July 1, Friday
• Applications for non-resident status for the fall term or academic year for graduate students
due.
• Applications for part-time graduate study due in the GSAS Dean’s Office.
August 1, Monday
• Fall online Check-In opens for graduate students.
• Fall online Check-In opens for undergraduate students.
• FAS Course Registration (Crimson Cart) opens for graduate students - Add courses to the
Crimson Cart.
• Graduation applications for November 2022 degrees (A.M., S.M., M.E., MFS, and Ph.D.) must
be submitted on or before this date.
• Undergraduate applications for November 2022 degrees (A.B. and S.B.) must be submitted
on or before this date.
• Last day that November 2022 graduate degree candidates may submit a completed and
signed application for a secondary field.
August 15, Monday
• FAS Course Registration (Crimson Cart) opens for undergraduate students - Add courses to
the Crimson Cart.
August 17, Wednesday
• Online Check-In must be completed for undergraduate and graduate students. Students who
fail to Check-In online for Fall 2022 term will be charged a Late Check-In fee.
• FAS Course Registration opens for graduate and undergraduate students to allow enrolling
in courses.
August 18, Thursday through August 25, Thursday
• Derek Bok Center Fall Teaching Conference
August 22, Monday and August 23, Tuesday
• New Faculty Institute (for ladder faculty).
August 22, Monday
• Navigating Harvard (for non-ladder faculty).
August 26, Friday
• Course Registration Deadline. Fall term course registrations are due for all students by 11:59
PM. Students must submit minimum course load - typically 16 credits - on my.harvard by
11:59 PM and submitting enrollment after this time will result in a fee.
August 31, Wednesday
• Academic year begins; first day of classes. When classes begin on Wednesday, they begin
on a Monday schedule.
September 5, Monday
• University Holiday: Labor Day.
September 7, Wednesday
• Approved graduate dissertations due for November 2022 degree candidates who wish to
have fall tuition and Student Health Insurance Plan removed from their student account.
• After this date students must obtain permission from all instructors to enroll in courses.
September 8, Thursday
• Approved graduate dissertations due for November 2022 degree candidates who wish to
retain health coverage for the fall 2022 term (through January 31, 2023) and who would like
to be charged accordingly.
September 12, Monday through September 14, Wednesday
• Make-up examinations for the spring 2022 term are held.
September 19, Monday (3rd Monday)
• Last day that undergraduates and graduate students may drop or add any course without a
fee.
October 3, Monday (5th Monday)
• Last day that undergraduates may drop or add any course or change the grade status of a
letter-graded or Pass/Fail course.
• Last day students from other schools may file cross-registration petitions for fall term with
the FAS Registrar's Office. Note some schools have earlier deadlines.
October 10, Monday
• University Holiday: Columbus Day (Federal) / Indigenous Peoples' Day (City of Cambridge).
October 11, Tuesday
• Faculty meeting at 3:00 PM.
October 17, Monday (7th Monday)
• Last day that graduate students may add (or enroll in) fall term courses. To add a course
after this date an approved Petition to Add must be submitted to the GSAS Office of Student
Affairs.
• Last day that graduate students may add or change SAT/UNS grading option for designated
language courses.
• FAS Spring Course Registration (Crimson Cart) opens for graduate students - to allow
searching for courses.
October 31, Monday (9th Monday)
• Last day that graduate students may drop a fall course. To withdraw from a fall course after
this date an approved Petition to Withdraw must be submitted to the GSAS Office of Student
Affairs and a notation of WD will be recorded if petition is approved.
November 1, Tuesday
• Faculty meeting at 3:00 PM.
November 8, Tuesday
• Conferral date for November 2022 degrees.
November 11, Friday
• University (Administrative) Holiday: Veterans' Day. FAS classes will be held as scheduled.
November 14, Monday (11th Monday)
• Last day that undergraduates may petition to withdraw from a fall term course.
November 17, Thursday
• Declarations of Concentration due for third-semester undergraduate students.
November 23, Wednesday through November 27, Sunday
• Thanksgiving Recess.
December 1, Thursday
• Undergraduate applications for March 2023 degrees (A.B. and S.B.) must be submitted on or
before this date.
• Last day to change concentration for March 2023 degree candidates without Administrative
Board approval.
• Last day that March 2023 undergraduate degree candidates (A.B. and S.B.) may file for a
foreign language citation study plan or petition for a secondary field.
• Graduate student applications for March 2023 degrees (A.M., S.M., M.E., MFS, and Ph.D.)
must be submitted on or before this date.
• Graduate student applications for Secondary Field due for March 2023 degree candidates.
• Graduate student applications for part-time study for spring 2023 due.
• Last day of fall term classes.
December 2, Friday, through December 7, Wednesday
• Reading Period.
December 6, Tuesday
• Faculty meeting at 3:00 PM.
December 7, Wednesday
• Last day in the fall term upon which graduate students may petition for late withdrawal from
a course.
December 8, Thursday, through December 17, Saturday
• Final Examination Period. (Does not include Sunday)
See the Registrar's Office website for-exam times and locations for fall term courses.
December 17, Saturday
• Last day that graduate students may submit work for incomplete grades from the spring
2022 term.
December 18, 2022, Sunday through January 3, 2023, Tuesday
• Winter Recess. (Most University offices are closed during recess.)
January 9, Monday through January 20, Friday
• January@GSAS
January 16, Monday
• University Holiday: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. No classes held.
January 17, Tuesday
• Deadline for March 2023 graduate degree candidates to electronically submit approved
dissertations.
January 18, Wednesday through January 20, Friday (Schedule change)
• Make up exams held for fall 2022 courses.
Spring Term 2022-23
The current Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Academic Calendars are located at
https://registrar.fas.harvard.edu/academic-calendar.
Spring Term 2022-23
October 17, 2022, Monday
• FAS Course Registration (Crimson Cart) opens for graduate students - add courses to the
Crimson Cart.
January 4, Wednesday
• Spring term Online Check-In opens for undergraduate students.
• Spring term Online Check-In opens for graduate students.
January 9, Monday
• FAS Course Registration (Crimson Cart) opens for undergraduate students - add courses to
the Crimson Cart.
January 11, Wednesday
• Online Check-In must be completed for undergraduate and graduate students. Students who
fail to Check-In online will be charged a late Check-In fee.
• FAS Course Registration opens for graduate and undergraduate students to allow enrolling
in courses.
January 16, Monday
• University Holiday: Martin Luther King Day.
January 17, Tuesday
• Approved graduate student dissertations due for March 2023 degree candidates.
January 17, Tuesday through January 20, Friday
• See Bok Center Winter Teaching Week to check for updates.
January 18, Wednesday through January 20, Friday
• Make-up examinations for fall 2022 term are held.
January 19, Thursday
• Course Registration Deadline - Spring term course registrations are due for all students by
11:59 PM. Students must submit minimum course load - typically 16 credits - on my.harvard
by 11:59 PM and submitting enrollment after this time will result in a fee.
• May Dissertation submission deadline (cancelled health insurance).
January 23, Monday
• Spring term begins.
January 30, Monday
• After this date students must obtain permission from all instructors to enroll in spring
courses.
February 6, Monday (3rd Monday)
• Last day that undergraduates may drop or add any course without a fee.
• Last day that graduate students may drop or add a spring course without a fee.
February 7, Tuesday
• Faculty meeting at 3:00 PM.
February 20, Monday
• University Holiday: Presidents’ Day. No classes held.
February 21, Tuesday, moved due to holiday (Fifth Monday)
• Last day that undergraduates may drop or add a spring course or change the grade status of
a letter-graded or Pass/Fail course.
• Last day students from other schools may file cross-registration petitions for spring term
with the FAS Registrar's Office. Note some schools have earlier deadlines.
March 6, Monday (7th Monday)
• Last day that graduate students may add (or enroll in) spring term courses. To add a course
after this date an approved Petition to Add must be submitted.
• Last day that graduate students may add or change SAT/UNS grading option for designated
language courses.
March 7, Tuesday
• Faculty meeting at 3:00 PM.
• Conferral date for March 2023 degrees.
March 11, Saturday through March 19, Sunday
• Spring Recess.
March 20, Monday (9th Monday)
• Last day that graduate students may drop a spring course. To withdraw from a spring course
after this date an approved Petition to Withdraw must be submitted and a notation of WD will
be recorded.
April 3, Monday (11th Monday)
• Undergraduate (A.B. and S.B.) and graduate (A.M., S.M., M.E., MFS, and Ph.D.) student
applications for May 2023 degrees must be submitted on or before this date.
• Last day to change concentration for May and November 2023 degree candidates without
Administrative Board approval.
• Last day that May and November 2023 undergraduate degree candidates (A.B. and S.B.) may
file a foreign language citation study plan or petition for a secondary field.
• Graduate student application for secondary field due for May 2023 degree candidates.
• Last day upon which undergraduates may petition to withdraw from a spring term or year-
long course.
April 4, Tuesday
• Faculty meeting at 3:00 PM.
April 13, Thursday
• Declaration of Concentration due for third semester undergraduates.
April 26, Wednesday
• Last day of spring term classes.
April 27, Thursday, through May 3, Wednesday
• Reading Period.
May 2, Tuesday
• Faculty meeting at 3:00 PM.
May 3, Wednesday
• Last day in the spring term graduate students may submit approved petition to withdraw
from a spring course and a notation of WD will be recorded.
May 4, Thursday, through May 13, Saturday (Sunday not included)
• Final Examination Period.
See the Registrar's Office website for exam times and locations for spring term courses.
May 11, Thursday
• Approved graduate dissertations due for May 2023 degree candidates.
May 13, Saturday
• Last day that graduate students may submit work for incomplete grades from the fall 2022
term.
May 22, Monday
• Degree Meeting; Faculty vote May 2023 degrees at 4:30 PM.
May 25, Thursday
• Harvard University Commencement.
May 29, Monday
• University Holiday: Memorial Day.
August 29, Tuesday and August 30, Wednesday (Schedule change)
• Make-up examinations for spring 2023 term are held.
Tentative Calendar for 2023-2024
Fall Term 2023-2024
Academic year begins
Tues Sept 5
Course registration deadline
Thu Aug 31 (Course Registration deadline for
all students)
Thanksgiving recess
Wed Nov 22 – Sun Nov 26
Reading period
Wed Dec 6 – Sun Dec 10
Examination period
Mon Dec 11 – Wed Dec 20
Spring term begins
Mon Jan 22
Course registration deadline - pre-term
registration begins
Wed Nov 15 (Course Registration deadline for
all students)
Spring recess
Sat Mar 9– Sun Mar 17
Reading period
Thu Apr 25 – Wed May 1
Examination period
Thu May 2 – Sat May 11
Commencement
Thu May 23
Note: The Harvard University Coordinated Academic Calendar became effective with the 2009-2010
academic year. Special attention should be paid to deadlines as many will vary from prior years.
Responsibilities of Instructors
Instructors' Presence
Instruction
Evaluation
Conduct
Student Privacy
Use of Computing and Network Services
Accessible Education
Sexual Harassment
The Commission of Inquiry
Human Subject Research
Research and Teaching Involving Animal Subjects
Instructors' Presence
Instructors' Presence During the Academic Year
Faculty members are expected to be "in residence" and available to colleagues and students during
term time (including the Reading Periods and Examination Periods). However, short absences for
unforeseen personal business or professional development during term time are possible. Faculty
are expected to fulfill their assigned teaching obligations and should only use substitute instructors
(including teaching fellows) in exceptional cases.
Faculty members wishing to be absent during term time (including Reading Periods and Examination
Periods) for a period of more than one week, or for a period of one week or less where the absence
will require some reduction or change in scheduled instruction, should first consult with the Chair of
their department. When requesting such leaves, it is incumbent on faculty members to consider their
academic responsibilities and to ensure that they continue to be met. Before authorizing the
absence, the Chair should be satisfied that the reason for absence, whether personal or
professional, is sufficiently compelling and that all teaching and other departmental responsibilities
are appropriately covered. If the absence is for one week or less, no further approval is required. If a
period longer than one week is necessary, the faculty member submits to the Assistant Dean for the
division a “Request for Permission to be Absent” form, signed by the Chair (found on the "Leaves"
page of the website for FAS faculty and researchers). To request a leave for public service, faculty
should follow the procedure outlined in Chapter 3 of the FAS Appointment and Promotion Handbook.
Note: If the faculty member is teaching only in non-departmental programs for the term, the faculty
member has the “Request for Permission to be Absent” form signed by the Director of the relevant
program before submission to the Assistant Dean for the division.
For more information on leave policies for faculty, please see Chapter 3 of the FAS Appointment and
Promotion Handbook.
Instruction
Responsibility for Instruction
FAS faculty appointments at the rank of Convertible Instructor, Lecturer, Dependent Lecturer,
Preceptor, College Fellow, Benjamin Peirce Fellow, Briggs-Copeland Lecturer, Associate Senior
Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Senior Preceptor, full-time or part-time Professor of the Practice, Professor
in Residence, Visiting Lecturer, Visiting Professor (assistant professor, associate professor, or
professor), or Professor (assistant, associate, or tenured) are teaching appointments. Teaching
Fellowships, Teaching Assistantships, and Course Assistantships are not faculty appointments;
persons holding these ranks assist in courses or tutorials under the supervision of faculty.
Recommendations for faculty teaching appointments may be made only by departments or
committees empowered to offer courses for credit.
Responsibility for instruction rests solely with the head of the course. This person’s name appears
with the course listing in my.harvard as the instructor of the course.
Faculty appointment ranks listed above can serve as course heads. However, Preceptors do not
ordinarily serve as course heads.
Regarding members of other (non-FAS) Harvard Schools, Senior Lecturers, Professors of the
Practice, Professors in Residence, assistant professors, associate professors, or tenured professors
in another Harvard Faculty may teach in the FAS without an FAS teaching appointment. All other
non-FAS faculty may teach in the FAS only if they are appointed to the rank of Lecturer in the FAS
under the normal rules governing such appointments.
The term “responsibility for instruction” includes:
• Responsibility for the course's structure and content, including any regular sections.
• Responsibility for the continuity of course meetings, whether these be lecture or discussion
groups.
• Responsibility for the evaluation of student performance in the course, including the
performance of students who may have been granted makeup examinations that take place
the following term.
• Responsibility for the selection and training of teaching fellows, teaching assistants, and
course assistants in accordance with policies established by the Faculty of Arts and
Sciences, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and/or the department.
None of the above responsibilities may be delegated to persons not holding faculty appointments.
Faculty, TFs, TAs, and course assistants may not give private instruction for pay to students in the
University without the consent of the Chair of the department concerned and the Dean of the
Faculty. Under no circumstances may Faculty, TFs, TAs, and course assistants privately tutor for pay
in courses in which they are employed by the University.
Evaluation
Responsibility for Evaluation
Responsibility for evaluation rests with the individual listed in my.harvard as the instructor in charge
(the course head). For Independent Study, responsibility rests with that individual holding a teaching
appointment who has signed the petition permitting the student to enroll. (See Special Types of
Courses: Independent Study.)
In some large courses or tutorials, teaching fellows, teaching assistants, or course assistants may
have a role in the evaluation of the students in the course, subject to the limitations set by the
Faculty Council and the Standing Committee on Undergraduate Educational Policy (the “EPC”) (see
below). Nevertheless, the course head is responsible for ensuring that the standards for evaluating
student work are equitable across all sections of a course, and the final responsibility for each
grade rests with the course head. This includes the evaluation of makeup examinations
administered during the following term.
The work of graduate students, including those enrolled in courses open to both graduate and
undergraduate students (100-level and below), should be evaluated only by individuals holding
teaching appointments as defined in the above section. "Work" refers to major examinations and
written exercises but not necessarily to problem sets, laboratory work, or similar exercises. In the
same light, while undergraduate course assistants may participate in the evaluation of students,
they should not be involved in the subjective evaluation of essays and examinations.
Conduct
Professional Conduct
FAS Professional Conduct Policy
FAS Faculty members (‘Faculty’ or ‘Faculty Members’) hold positions of authority and trust at FAS. As
such, they have an obligation to uphold the highest standards of professionalism and integrity in their
interactions with all members of the FAS community, including Faculty colleagues, students, persons
holding research appointments (e.g., postdoctoral fellows), and staff members. In keeping with this role:
a. Faculty should treat members of the FAS community with respect and collegiality.
b. Faculty members should not use their positions to obtain uncompensated labor from any member of
the community under their supervision. This includes, but is not limited to, requiring staff under their
direction to perform services or duties unrelated to or outside their professional/job responsibilities.
c. Faculty members must uphold confidentiality in matters pertaining to employee files, records, or
activities, which could be considered confidential. This could include employment information or
employee records.
d. Faculty must comply with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, and professional standards including
FAS policies and practices; this includes, but is not limited to, policies regarding discrimination and
sexual and gender-based harassment.
Non-compliance with these guidelines will be communicated to the Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty
of Arts and Sciences and could result in varying sanctions.
Student Union Agreement
As noted on page 15 of the Harvard University’s agreement with the Harvard Graduate Students Union:
"Abusive or intimidating behavior (power-based harassment) by individuals who hold supervisory
authority over SWs, when such conduct interferes with or limits a person’s ability to participate in, or
benefit from their employment at the University is prohibited." In addition, the Academic Retaliation
Policy states that "If a student is engaging in conduct protected by the HGSU-UAW bargaining
agreement, or if they are participating in any investigation or proceeding arising under the agreement, it
is unacceptable and prohibited to use an academic assessment or other academic actions as a means to
retaliate against that student’s protected conduct."
Faculty Council Discussion Document
The following text was approved by the Faculty Council for distribution to the full Faculty, not as a
codification of official institutional policy but as a "discussion document" to be used as a point of
reference. An earlier version of this text was discussed at the Faculty Meeting of October 17, 1995.
The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil. −Emerson
The importance of professional conduct within the academic community is self-evident, but what
precisely is meant by the phrase is not. For "professional conduct" covers a multitude of situations.
No single style or method of teaching guarantees it; a teacher may be appropriately professional
whether meeting students at a café or in an office, whether by nature gregarious and sociable, or shy
and reserved. Yet there are principles underlying the concept, that allow it to be honored when
present and deplored when absent. In a university setting, professional conduct rests upon an
enduring respect for fellow human beings and for the vocation of teaching, and a recognition that a
teacher’s powers and responsibilities must not be abused. The basic principles may be easier to
appreciate abstractly than to apply while teaching.
The list that follows is designed to bring these principles into focus as a basis for discussion among
and between Faculty, teaching fellows, and other instructional support staff.
Issues for Consideration
Authority
By virtue of their authority within the academic community, teachers have the power to influence
thought and behavior, and the concomitant responsibility to recognize the potential weight of their
verbal and nonverbal expressions. As leaders in the classroom, teachers have the responsibility not
only to impart the excitement of ideas and the challenge of academic debate, but also the
importance of courtesy and respect in intellectual dialogue.
Fair Treatment of All Students
Students should be treated even-handedly. Equity is not necessarily achieved, however, by treating
all students in precisely the same way. For example, some students respond positively to hearty,
well-intoned criticism while others are discouraged by it. Some student's welcome public comments
about their work, while others are embarrassed by them. Genuinely even-handed treatment of
students depends upon making a conscientious attempt to recognize and appreciate such
differences. Teachers (and students) should guard particularly against ethnic, religious, sexual, and
other discriminatory stereotyping.
Interpersonal Relations
The power teachers exercise over students to penalize or reward in the form of grades and
recommendations requires caution in interpersonal interactions, and the need to avoid the kind of
familiarity that compromises objective and fair evaluation of a student’s work. Within these limits,
however, intellectual mentoring and friendly interaction are important elements of the learning and
teaching process.
Interpersonal Relations – Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Policy*
As noted in the Interim FAS Policies and Procedures Addressing Sexual and Gender-Based
Harassment and Other Sexual Misconduct, “No FAS Faculty member shall request or accept sexual
favors from or initiate or engage in a romantic or sexual relationship with, any undergraduate
student at Harvard College. Faculty members are defined as ladder, non-ladder, and visiting Faculty.
Furthermore, no FAS Faculty member, instructor, teaching assistant, teaching fellow, researcher,
tutor, graduate student, or undergraduate course assistant, shall request or accept sexual favors
from, or initiate or engage in a romantic or sexual relationship with, any student, including a graduate
student or DCE student, who is enrolled in a course taught by that individual or otherwise subject to
that individual’s academic supervision before the supervision has concluded and, if applicable, a
final grade on the student’s supervised academic performance has been submitted to the Registrar.
Academic supervision includes teaching, advising a thesis or dissertation, supervising research,
supervising teaching, grading, or serving as Director of Undergraduate or Graduate Studies of the
student’s academic program. In addition, no resident tutor or freshman proctor shall request or
accept sexual favors from or initiate or engage in a romantic or sexual relationship with, any
undergraduate student at Harvard College.”
* This section regarding interpersonal relations and Title IX, while not part of the original document
approved by Faculty Council, is provided here to reflect the FAS’s current policies on sexual and gender-
based harassment and other sexual misconduct.
Because the evaluation of students partly depends on their understanding of the requirements of a
course, course heads should be clear in their articulation of expectations, assignments, and the rules
of collaboration and citation. Providing written explanations of assignments and requirements
reduces the risk of misunderstanding. Students have a right to expect prompt return of papers and
exams and a clear justification of evaluation, just as instructors have the right to expect that
assignments will be thoughtfully completed on time.
Classroom Engagement
The classroom is frequently the site of intense intellectual debate—or, alternatively, unbearable
silence. Maintaining an environment for a constructive context between ideas and their supporting
evidence is primarily the responsibility of the teacher. Teachers should be aware of any tendency to
favor one mode of argument over another, in which only certain students thrive; of the importance of
listening attentively and with respect; and of the significance of nonverbal clues (nods, frowns,
gestures, etc.).
Services
Criticism of Work
Comments should be directed at the work, not the person; and they should contribute to the
refinement of both thinking and presentation. Peremptory dismissiveness is not appropriate.
Grades
Professors are responsible for the oversight of all grades given by teaching fellows.
Letters of Recommendation
Students depend on instructors for letters of recommendation. Honesty and fairness in responding
to requests for recommendations are essential.
Advising
Access to advising should be offered and equally afforded to all.
Confidentiality and Discretion
Teachers are privy to information (and opinions) about students that ought to remain confidential.
Exceptions should be made only as necessary, e.g., in Title IX situations or emergencies such as the
threat of suicide or other harmful behavior, when confidentiality is secondary to a student’s welfare.
Beyond such exceptions, talking with colleagues or other students about confidential student
information is inappropriate, as is any form of public embarrassment or shaming of a student.
Confidentiality regarding Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Policy *
As noted in the Interim FAS Policies and Procedures Addressing Sexual and Gender-Based
Harassment and Other Sexual Misconduct, “Consistent with University policies, the FAS officers, other
than those who are prohibited from making such notifications because of a legal confidentiality
obligation, must promptly notify the relevant Title IX Resource Coordinator(s) about possible sexual
harassment or other sexual misconduct. This means that if those FAS officers learn about a
possible incident of sexual harassment or other sexual misconduct, they need to contact an FAS
Title IX Resource Coordinator, who will know what steps, if any, to take next (including which other
Title IX Resource Coordinators should be notified). Such FAS officers include (but are not limited to):
deans; administrative and professional staff; those responsible for residential life (for example,
Faculty Deans, Resident Deans, Resident and Non-Resident Tutors, Resident Advisors and Proctors);
coaches and assistant coaches; other personnel who work directly with students, such as those who
work with student clubs and organizations, career services, academic support, and others; and
Faculty, instructors, teaching assistants, and others who teach students, including graduate student
teaching fellows.”
For more information, please see section IV, “Information Sharing and Confidentiality,” in the Interim
FAS Policies and Procedures Addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment and Other Sexual
Misconduct.
* This section on confidentiality regarding Title IX, while not part of the original document approved by
Faculty Council, is provided here to reflect the FAS’s current policies on sexual and gender-based
harassment and other sexual misconduct.
Collegial Conduct
Status differences exist within the teaching staff of every university. Awareness of the relative positions
of colleagues in the academic hierarchy may avoid placing them in awkward or compromising situations.
The implications of making particular requests of one’s juniors ought to be considered before making
them; the right to refuse, for reasonable cause, without consequence, ought to be guaranteed every
member of the community. Professional and research opportunities should be awarded with equity and
fairness.
In addition to the Faculty Council’s text above, please note:
Interactions with Minors
Members of the Harvard community who interact with minors (i.e., individuals under the age of 18) in
any official capacity are expected to foster and maintain an appropriate and secure environment for
minors. Please see Harvard University’s Policy for the Safety and Protection of Minors for more
information.
Other Sources of Information
• Information for Teaching Fellows (from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences)
• Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
Please see the section on Sexual Harassment in this chapter for more information on FAS policies
and procedures related to sexual harassment and other misconduct.
Student Privacy
The University has a legal obligation to protect the privacy of students and the confidentiality of
student records. No information about a student’s academic performance can be released without
the student’s written permission. It is equally important to respect students’ privacy when
distributing their grades. Instructors should not leave papers, projects, or examinations in
unattended public areas. Similarly, grades should never be posted with the students’ names, and/or
Harvard University Identification (HUID) numbers. Such practices are a violation of the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). Questions about the confidentiality of student
records and about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act may be directed to the Registrar,
Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center, 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 450, Cambridge,
Massachusetts. (See Posting of Grades.)
Use of Computing and Network Services
Use of Computing and Network Services
Faculty members are provided access to University computer systems for academic use. All
authorized users assume responsibility for acting to preserve the integrity of these systems and any
University data to which they may have access. Information about academic computing and network
services offered by Harvard University Information Technology (HUIT) is available at
huit.harvard.edu/ithelp or by calling 617-495-7777.
Privacy of Information
The unauthorized examination of information stored on a computer system or sent electronically
over a network is a breach of academic and community standards. Authorized system support staff,
however, may gain access to users’ data or programs when it is necessary to maintain or prevent
harm to the University, its computer systems, or the network.
Faculty members have the legal obligation to maintain the privacy of files containing confidential
information, including student information such as course grades and letters of recommendation.
Helpful information about using confidential information securely may be found at
www.security.harvard.edu.
On shared and networked computer systems certain information about users and their activities is
visible to others on those systems. Examples of observable information include, but are not limited
to, certain accounting and directory information (for example, usernames and email addresses),
certain records of file names and executed commands, and information stored in shared or public
folders.
For consultation on securing electronic information, please contact HUIT at 617-495-7777.
Harvard University Policy on Access to Electronic Information
Harvard has established a Policy on Access to Electronic Information that sets out guidelines and
processes for university access to user electronic information stored in or transmitted through any
University system. This policy applies to all Schools and units of the University.
Accessible Education
Students Requiring Accessible Education
Disability Access Office
Smith Campus Center, Fourth Floor
617-496-8707
Fax: 617-496-1098
Email: aeo@fas.harvard.edu
Website: aeo.fas.harvard.edu
Harvard University is committed to providing students who have disabilities with equal access to all
affiliated programs and activities through inclusive design and the provision of reasonable
accommodations.
The Disability Access Office (DAO), which serves College, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
(GSAS) as well as the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) students,
collaborates with Faculty and students to make this possible.
Disability information, including diagnoses and clinical documentation, is protected under FERPA,
and it is important that all communication with students regarding accommodations be
individualized and only shared with other university officials on a need-to-know basis.
Ongoing communication and collaboration on the part of Faculty, teaching staff, DAO,
administrators, and students themselves is essential. Students should initiate accommodation
requests through the AIM portal, which is accessed through a link on the DAO website. Once
students are determined eligible for accommodations, they will be guided each semester to select
which approved accommodations they need for each class. This will then be communicated through
an introductory letter sent by DAO giving an overview of their approved accommodation. Students
making such requests without this letter should be referred directly to DAO. Providing
accommodations in the course to students who are not registered with DAO can result in
inconsistent implementation of university procedures. Members of the Faculty best understand the
essential components of their courses, and accommodation is not designed to alter or eliminate any
essential requirements of a course.
The course head is responsible for implementing all DAO-approved academic accommodations
needed for classroom instruction, including midterm or hourly examinations. This may include
providing a separate room and additional proctors for extended testing time, breaks, student access
to food/drinks, and other specified accommodations. DAO does not have access to a Test Center or
proctors for mid-term tests, and DAO staff are not available to proctor tests. Faculty should contact
their department administrator or Faculty support specialists for assistance with booking rooms. If
proctors beyond the available TF/TA corps are required, Faculty may choose to hire other graduate
students from their department to assist.
Accommodated exams are expected to occur on the same day as in-class exams. All final
examinations for students with DAO-approved exam accommodations are administered during the
final exam period by the Exams Office and appropriate accommodations will be made in conjunction
with DAO (see entry below).
Course heads should routinely note in the course syllabus and announce at the first class meeting
that students approved for accommodations should contact the teaching staff to discuss elements
of the course that may be inaccessible and develop a plan together on how their accommodations
will be implemented, based on their letter from DAO.
Faculty who utilize universal design in learning for all students know that effective strategies for
instruction frequently obviate the need for accommodations. Some suggestions are:
• Provide course materials in accessible formats, including documents/PDFs that are screen-
readable. The Assistive Technology Center (ATC) is available to help with preparation of
accessible materials if they are provided to them in advance. Increased reliance on and
availability of digital text benefits all students. Other formats may include Braille or enlarged
print, which the ATC can provide.
• Ensure students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing have available seating space in the front of
the room and that the room has appropriate lighting. If movies or slide presentations occur,
an alternative lighting source will be required for students who need to see interpreters.
Some students may use FM listening devices associated with their hearing aids that require
teaching staff to use a wireless (non-amplifying) microphone. If microphones are available in
the classroom, they should always be used. Faculty should make advance arrangements to
provide open-captioned films and audio material and can receive assistance with captioning
by contacting the DAO.
• Ensure that lectures, sections, review sessions, etc. are held in physically accessible spaces
when required. The Registrar's Office, Classrooms Office (617-495-1541) can assist when
relocation of a course is necessary.
When students make course changes after the registration deadline and before the fifth Monday of
the term, it is understood that delays in the preparation of reformatted materials may result,
affecting both students and instructional staff.
Assistive Technology Center
Harvard University Science Center B06
617-496-8800
Email: atc@fas.harvard.edu
Website: atc.fas.harvard.edu
The Assistive Technology Center (ATC) serves all students registered with DAO and Local Disability
Coordinators throughout the University and who depend on print alternatives to access course
materials. The ATC provides support through technology, which can include electronic version of
course materials, and access to course content in the classroom.
Faculty members who require assistance producing handouts, lecture notes, exams, or other course
materials converted into digital text, Braille, or enlarged text, can contact the ATC for assistance. It is
at Faculty’s discretion to allow students who require the use of a laptop as an exam accommodation
to bring their own. A course staff member may also email the ATC in advance to arrange for an
equipment loan if personal devices are not permitted. Arrangements for reformatted material or the
loan of equipment should be made least 5 business days in advance.
Final Examinations for Students with DAO-Approved Exam Accommodations
All seated final examinations for students with DAO-approved exam accommodations are
administered during the Examination Period by the FAS Registrar's Office, and appropriate
accommodations will be made in conjunction with DAO. For questions concerning the
administration of final exams (e.g., the date, time, or location of exams) contact the FAS Registrar's
Office, exams@fas.harvard.edu or 617-495-1542. For questions concerning accommodations,
contact the DAO, [email protected]rd.edu or 617-496-8707.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual Harassment and Other Sexual Misconduct
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) is committed to fostering an open and supportive
community that promotes learning, teaching, research, and discovery. This commitment includes
maintaining a safe and healthy educational and work environment in which no member of the
community is, on the basis of sex, including sexual orientation or gender identity, excluded from
participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination in any University program or
activity. Sexual harassment, including sexual violence, is a form of sex discrimination in that it
denies an individual equal access to the University’s programs or activities.
The Harvard University Interim Title IX Sexual Harassment Policy was developed in response to the
changes issued by the U.S. Department of Education in May 2020, and conduct that falls outside of
the jurisdiction of that policy is addressed in the Harvard University Interim Other Sexual Misconduct
Policy.
According to the University Interim Title IX Sexual Harassment Policy, sexual harassment is defined
in the following way: “Sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex, including sexual
orientation and gender identity. Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances; requests for
sexual favors; and other verbal, nonverbal, graphic, or physical conduct of a sexual nature or based on
sexual orientation or gender identity, that satisfies one or more of the following: (1) an employee of the
University either explicitly or implicitly conditioning the provision of an aid, benefit, or services of the
University, such as an individual’s employment or academic standing (for example, academic
evaluation, grades, or advancement) on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct (quid
pro quo); quid pro quo sexual harassment can occur whether a person resists and suffers the
threatened harm, or the person submits and avoids the threatened harm. Both situations could
constitute discrimination on the basis of sex; or (2) unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable
person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal
access to the University’s education or work programs or activities; or (3) sexual assault, dating
violence, domestic violence, and stalking.”
The University Interim Other Sexual Misconduct Policy defines “other sexual misconduct” in the
following way: "Other sexual misconduct is unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex, including sexual
orientation and gender identity. Other sexual misconduct includes unwelcome sexual advances;
requests for sexual favors; and other verbal, nonverbal, graphic, or physical conduct of a sexual nature
or based on sexual orientation or gender identity, that satisfies one or more of the following: (1) an
employee of the University either explicitly or implicitly conditioning the provision of an aid, benefit, or
services of the University, such as an individual’s employment or academic standing (for example,
academic evaluation, grades, or advancement) on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual
conduct (quid pro quo), which may occur whether a person resists and suffers the threatened harm or
the person submits and avoids the threatened harm; or (2) unwelcome conduct determined by a
reasonable person to be so severe, persistent, or pervasive that it effectively denies a person access to
the University’s education or work programs or activities (hostile environment)."
While the FAS adheres to the University policies, the Interim FAS Policies and Procedures
Addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment and Other Sexual Misconduct elaborates on and
supplements the University policies.
The FAS Interim Policies prohibit sexual relations with students in the following way: “No FAS Faculty
member shall request or accept sexual favors from, or initiate or engage in a romantic or sexual
relationship with, any undergraduate student at Harvard College. Faculty members are defined as
ladder, non-ladder, and visiting faculty. Furthermore, no FAS Faculty member, instructor, teaching
assistant, teaching fellow, researcher, tutor, proctor, graduate student, or undergraduate course
assistant, shall request or accept sexual favors from, or initiate or engage in a romantic or sexual
relationship with, any student, including a graduate student or DCE student, who is enrolled in a course
taught by that individual or otherwise subject to that individual’s academic supervision before the
supervision has concluded and, if applicable, a final grade on the student’s supervised academic
performance has been submitted to the Registrar. Academic supervision includes teaching, advising a
thesis or dissertation, supervising research, supervising teaching, grading, or serving as Director of
Undergraduate or Graduate Studies of the student’s academic program. In addition, no resident tutor or
first-year proctor shall request or accept sexual favors from, or initiate or engage in a romantic or
sexual relationship with, any undergraduate student at Harvard College.”
The FAS Interim Policies contain the following provision regarding information sharing and
confidentiality: “Consistent with University policies, the FAS officers, other than those who are
prohibited from making such notifications because of a legal confidentiality obligation, must promptly
notify the relevant Title IX Resource Coordinator(s) about possible sexual harassment or other sexual
misconduct. This means that if those FAS officers learn about a possible incident of sexual
harassment or other sexual misconduct, they need to contact an FAS Title IX Resource Coordinator,
who will know what steps, if any, to take next (including which other Title IX Resource Coordinators
should be notified). Such FAS officers include (but are not limited to): deans; administrative and
professional staff; those responsible for residential life (for example, Faculty Deans, Resident Deans,
Resident and Non-Resident Tutors, Resident Advisors, and Proctors); coaches and assistant coaches;
other personnel who work directly with students, such as those who work with student clubs and
organizations, career services, academic support, and others; and faculty, instructors, teaching
assistants, and others who teach students, including graduate student teaching fellows.”
Title IX Resource Coordinator contact information is available here.
The Commission of Inquiry
The Commission of Inquiry serves as a clearing house for inquiries or complaints brought to it by
members of the Faculty or of the student bodies of Harvard College or the Graduate School of Arts
and Sciences. It consists of three faculty members and two students. Complaints or inquiries should
be addressed to the Commission of Inquiry c/o the Secretary of the Faculty at
[email protected]arvard.edu. The Commission will then direct the complaint or query to the appropriate
agency of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. If such an agency does not exist, the Commission will
attempt to aid in resolving the matter. The Commission is sometimes instrumental in establishing a
new agency for handling recurrent issues. Although the Commission has no power to make rulings,
it can play an advocacy role in pressing for the resolution of issues.
Human Subjects Research
Harvard University policy and federal regulations require that all research involving human subjects
that meets the federal regulatory definition of human subject's research be reviewed and approved
by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) before the research begins. This requirement applies to all
human subjects research meeting the federal definition conducted by faculty, staff, and students, on
and off campus, regardless of funding. The IRB for Harvard University Area (HUA) researchers is the
HUA IRB also known as the Committee on the Use of Human Subjects (CUHS).
The purpose of the IRB is to weigh risks and benefits of participation in research and to protect the
rights and welfare of the research participants. The guiding ethical principles of the IRB,- respect for
persons, beneficence, and justice - are embodied in the "Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and
Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research."
Applications to the IRB must be submitted through the Electronic Submission, Tracking and
Reporting system (ESTR). Please consult the HUA CUHS website or contact the HUA IRB office at
617-496-2847 or cuhs@harvard.edu to find out more information about:
• The types of research that require IRB review.
• The process for submitting applications.
• The training required for investigators and their Faculty Sponsors.
• Appropriate forms, templates, and guidance documents.
• The special process and training program for undergraduate research, the Undergraduate
Research Training Program.
Harvard University Area IRB
44-R Brattle Street, Suite 200 (2nd Floor)
Cambridge, MA 02138
Email: cuhs@harvard.edu
Phone: 617-496-2847
HUA IRB Staff Contact Information
Research and Teaching Involving Animal Subjects
IACUC Website; HarvardKey access with permission; email IACUC@fas.harvard.edu for access.
Office of the Vice Provost for Research
The use of live animals in research and teaching is a societal and individual privilege that is taken
seriously at Harvard and is a highly regulated activity. University policies and government regulations
require advance review and approval of all vertebrate animal and cephalopod research prior to its
commencement. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ federally mandated Institutional Animal Care and
Use Committee (IACUC) is responsible for reviewing and approving proposed studies.
All individuals planning to use vertebrate animals or cephalopods in research and/or teaching must
establish, or be listed on, an IACUC-approved protocol, participate in the institution’s occupational
health program, be appropriately trained to perform procedures, attend facility orientation as
required, and complete assigned Harvard Training Portal modules that acquaint the participants with
Harvard policies as well as federal, state, and City of Cambridge regulations regarding the use of
animals. These processes may be started or verified by contacting IACUC Administration at
[email protected]arvard.edu.
The Office of Animal Resources (OAR) is the unit responsible for the housing, daily care and health
of vertebrate animals used on campus in the FAS. All mammals and other select vertebrates housed
in OAR-managed facilities must be ordered through the OAR’s Animal Ordering system; questions
regarding animal orders may be sent to animalord[email protected]d.edu.
Any concerns or questions about the care and use of laboratory animals should be directed promptly
to any of the following contacts listed below. In accordance with the University’s Whistleblower
Policy, the University will protect from retaliation members of the Harvard community who make
good faith reports of suspected violations of law or University policy. The University’s Compliance
Hotline is a resource for members of the Harvard community who are uncomfortable reporting
through the recommended contacts and prefer to anonymously report any suspected violations of
law or Harvard policy.
• Craig P. Hunter, PhD, IACUC Chair, HU/FAS Standing Committee on the Use of Animals in
Research and Teaching: 617-495-8309 or cphunter@fas.harvard.edu.
• Scott A. Jordan, Dean of Administration and Finance for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences,
Institutional Official of the Animal Care and Use program: 617-496-8729,
sjordan@fas.harvard.edu.
• Kathleen R. Pritchett-Corning, DVM, Attending Veterinarian and Director of the Office of
Animal Resources: 617-384-6642, pritchettcorning@fas.harvard.edu.
• Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee administrative office: [email protected]rd.edu.
• Compliance Hotline: https://www.integrity-helpline.com/HarvardUniversity.jsp or 877-694-
2275.
Course Administration
Course Catalog
Creating or Modifying a Course
Special Types of Courses
Course Meeting Times
Classrooms
Course Materials/Syllabi
Course Lists
Course Fees
Student Enrollment
Student Attendance
Senior Theses and General Examinations
Hour and Midterm Examinations
Written Assignments
Late Work and Extensions
Midterm Grades for Undergraduates
Instructional Support Staff
Q Course Evaluation
Course Catalog
The Course Catalog
Through the my.harvard Course Search the Faculty of Arts and Sciences offers undergraduate and
graduate courses to students registered in Harvard College, the Graduate School of Arts and
Sciences, the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science, and to other
Harvard University graduate students in good standing. The my.harvard Course Search serves as the
official course catalog for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
The Registrar's Office compiles courses by gathering information from department, division, and
committee offices (not individual instructors) as well as the Dean’s office. Department and
committee chairs should approve all new courses and course changes. Curriculum Coordinators
throughout FAS collaborate with the Registrar's Office to create and maintain curricular offerings.
Course information published through the my.harvard Course Search becomes the official basis for
the Registrar’s records; it affects classroom assignments, examination schedules, and the release of
electronic course lists and grade sheets. Moreover, complete and up-to-date course information
enables the Registrar to carry out Faculty policy regarding simultaneous course enrollment, as well
as to locate individual students in an emergency. For this reason, it is extremely important that
departments and committees relay course information changes to curriculum coordinators—
especially changes of instructor or meeting time—regardless of when they occur in the academic
year. Curriculum Coordinators may contact Academic Planning (courses@fas.harvard.edu) in the
Registrar's Office for assistance with entering changes.
Creating or Modifying a Course
Points to Consider When Creating or Modifying a Course in the my.harvard Course
Search
When creating or modifying a course, faculty members are advised to consult with the appropriate
curricular committee(s). Curricular committees may create or modify course "subjects" (the high-
level subject category in the online catalog). The points listed below are based on the policies of the
Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The Academic Planning group in the Registrar's Office will work with
faculty members to set and display a course (or set of courses) in a manner that best reflects the
pedagogy of the course within the bounds of current technical resources.
Courses are numbered according to the following scheme:
1-99 or 910-999: Primarily for Undergraduates
100-199 or 1000-1999: For Undergraduates and Graduates
200-299 or 2000-2999: Primarily for Graduates
300-399 or 3000-3999: Graduate Courses of Reading and Research
• Courses may have only one number. An FAS course may be listed in more than one FAS
department, but only with permission of the concerned departments. Faculty will have
access to a roster that includes enrollment for both classes. Both classes will emerge in the
my.harvard Course Search results when searching for either of the two courses.
• Faculty members are encouraged to submit a title of no more than 100 characters to appear
on student transcripts and my.harvard Course Search.
• Course descriptions are limited to 4,000 characters. Since students often search for courses
on mobile devices, however, we encourage faculty to limit the descriptions to 100 words.
• Courses listed but not offered in the current academic year are designated by enclosing the
course number and title in square brackets. Bracketed courses should include the term when
it will be next offered and may also include the instructor's name. Courses may be bracketed
for three consecutive years. After three years, the course should be scheduled or inactivated.
• Faculty who limit the number of students who may enroll in a course are required by Faculty
policy to approve student enrollment; that is, the course must require instructor consent and
faculty will approve requests to enroll. It is possible, however, to require instructor consent
even if the course is not limited in enrollment. The my.harvard Course Search will list
capacity and instructor's permission as needed. All tutorials and 300/3000-level courses
should have limited enrollments and require the instructor's permission to enroll.
• Faculty may consult the Registrar’s Office to learn about other enrollment control options,
such as system enforced pre-, anti-, or co-requisites. Courses with requisites cannot also
have instructor consent present, or the requisite will be nullified. 300/3000-level courses
should add requisites or instructor consent but not both.
• A meeting time compliant with the FAS Schedule is necessary for all courses including,
where possible, tutorials, laboratory sessions, and section meetings.
• For purposes of cross-registration between Harvard Schools, courses that are jointly offered
will be indicated in the my.harvard Course Search as "Jointly Offered."
• Occasionally, two departments in the FAS may offer courses with similar content. Should
faculty members conclude that two courses are of sufficient similarity to preclude students
earning credit for both, contact the Registrar's Office to request an anti-requisite so students
are unable to enroll in both courses for credit.
Special Types of Courses
The following distinctions reflect long-standing Harvard tradition and are offered as basic
guidelines.
Seminars and Conference Courses
A seminar tends to focus on more advanced and/or specific research topics. It has few, if any,
lectures and emphasizes student presentations, papers, and research. Enrollment is usually limited
to 12 to 15 students.
A conference course places more emphasis on discussion than research. It usually has an
enrollment of about 25 students (35 maximum), meets once a week for 2-3 hours, and incorporates
lectures, as well as student papers and research.
In general, seminars and conference courses are open to advanced undergraduates as well as
graduate students. Ordinarily, they do not have final examinations, nor do they qualify for teaching
fellows.
Tutorial Instruction (Undergraduates Only)
Tutorials are opportunities for students to participate in small groups or one-on-one instruction in
their concentrations. They are characterized by their centrality in the concentration curriculum, by
their sequencing, and by their emphasis on methodology and academic skills.
All full-time faculty members are ordinarily expected to participate in the tutorial programs of the
concentrations with which they are affiliated. Participation may involve individual or group tutorials,
special seminars, or the direction of senior theses or projects. Although faculty-taught individual
tutorials or group tutorials are ideal in many subject areas, departmental resources may be
insufficient to accommodate these goals. When a tutorial is conducted by a teaching fellow, a
designated faculty member should have ultimate responsibility, and that faculty member should
oversee reading lists, discussion topics, and paper topics. From time to time, faculty members
should participate in the tutorials for which they have accepted responsibility. (See Responsibility for
Instruction and Responsibility for Evaluation.)
Supervised Reading and Research Courses
Undergraduates interested in supervised reading and research may enroll in courses offered by
many departments under the designation of 91 or 910. Such courses are not Independent Study but
regular courses with weekly or biweekly meeting times agreed upon by the instructor and student.
Students enrolled in Reading and Research courses are expected to complete course work under
supervision and not independently. Instructors of such courses must hold a teaching appointment.
(See Responsibility for Instruction and Independent Study.)
Graduate students enrolled in Reading and Research courses (300-level courses) do not receive
better grades but are graded SAT/UNS. Undergraduates may not enroll in courses numbered in the
300s or 3000s. However, undergraduate candidates for the Concurrent Master’s degrees or
Advanced Standing students in their fourth year of residence who are candidates for the master’s
degree may enroll in such courses with the instructor’s permission. (See Undergraduates in Courses
Designated Primarily for Graduates.)
Freshman Seminars
Freshman Seminars are offered under the general supervision of the Committee on Freshman
Seminars (www.freshmanseminars.college.harvard.edu). Freshman Seminars are designed to
intensify the intellectual experience of incoming undergraduates by allowing them to work closely
with faculty members on topics of mutual interest. Freshman Seminars are graded SAT/UNS, may
not be audited, and enrollment is limited to the first two terms of First-Year students.
Independent Study (Undergraduates Only)
Independent Study is designed to provide credit for field research, academic study not available in
regular course work, or practice or performance in the arts. It is not suitable for group
instruction, paid work, or activities outside the competence or concern of one of
Harvard’s departments. Studying the financial accounting system of a business firm might be an
appropriate project, but working in an accounting office to gain business experience would not by
itself merit academic credit. Investigating child development through observation in a day care
center could qualify, but simply tutoring a child would not. Analyzing the organization of a political
group might be a suitable subject, but organizing a political campaign would not suffice alone. In
each case what distinguishes the suitable project is the application of analytical skills to the object
of the Independent Study, not the intrinsic worthiness or instructiveness of the experience itself.
Any sophomore, junior, or senior whose previous record is satisfactory may petition to undertake
Independent Study for non-letter-graded credit. A student may petition to take up to a total of four
half-courses of Independent Study. Independent Study courses are subject to the same rules for
dropping and withdrawing as any other course.
A petition to undertake Independent Study, available on the Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE)
website, requires two signatures:
• That of a qualified adviser (ordinarily a voting member of Harvard Faculty) who must be an
officer of the University and whose professional competence is appropriate for the subject
area of the Independent Study. In those exceptional cases where the adviser is not a faculty
member - for example, a teaching fellow - the petition must also be supported by an
appropriate academic department or unit.
• That of the Allston Burr Resident Dean, which signifies that the proposal satisfies the
guidelines and has been signed by the adviser. Resident Deans will refer questions
concerning guidelines to the Office of Undergraduate Education.
The petition also requires an outline of the student’s proposed project. The full petition must be
submitted to the Allston Burr Resident Dean for approval, ordinarily in the first week of the term. The
completed petition paperwork, including the proposal, must then be submitted to the OUE, ordinarily
before the enrollment deadline. Once final approval is granted by the OUE, the Allston Burr Resident
Dean must lift the advising hold in my.harvard for the student to register. Any change-of-course
petition that is filed to add, drop, or withdraw from Independent Study also requires the approval of
the Allston Burr Resident Dean. A separate petition, properly completed, must be filed for each half-
course of Independent Study.
The adviser will assist the student in the development of a plan for Independent Study and provide
guidance but not regular instruction. Independent Study does not imply formal instruction and
should not be confused with tutorials, House Seminars, or with directed or Supervised Reading and
Research courses offered by several academic departments and committees. (Supervised Reading
and Research courses are generally numbered 91 or 910 and normally receive letter grades.) A
student enrolled in Independent Study must undertake to work independently. Classroom work,
regular instruction, and group projects are inadmissible. Students whose projects include interviews
or research involving human subjects should contact the Undergraduate Research Training
Program before submitting their independent study petition.
The adviser will submit a midterm grade based on a preliminary written report by the student of his
or her activities. At the beginning of the Reading Period, the student must submit to the adviser an
analytical paper concerning the term’s work. A simple description or report of the term’s activities is
not by itself adequate. In the case of artistic practice or performance, evidence of substantial
accomplishment should be supplied in lieu of written work.
The granting of credit will be determined by the adviser. In those cases where the adviser is not a
voting member of a Harvard Faculty, then the Chair, Director of Undergraduate Studies, or Head
Tutor of the department, or equivalent officer with voting membership in a Harvard Faculty, must
review and approve the petition and the grade assigned by the adviser. Independent Study is graded
“Pass” or “Fail.” The adviser will submit a copy of the student’s paper and a brief statement about his
or her work for inclusion in the student’s folder in the Resident Dean’s office, ordinarily by the first
day of the Examination Period. Independent Study is not counted toward General Education or
divisional distribution requirements and is not normally counted toward concentration or secondary
field requirements.
First-year students may not enroll in Independent Study. They may, however, seek special permission
from their Resident Dean of First-Year Students to enroll in one Supervised Reading and Research
course within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (91r- and 910r-level course category) if an
appropriate member of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has indicated a willingness to supervise.
(See “Supervised Reading and Research Courses" within this section.)
Course Meeting Times
FAS Schedule Change Legislation
The instructional day is organized around designated class start times and fixed pass times. All classes
(including labs, discussions, etc.) must adhere to the designated class start times.
Cambridge Campus
Classes requiring up to 75 minutes in any single meeting shall begin from a specified subset of the
designated class start times: 9:00 AM, 10:30 AM, 12:00 PM, 1:30 PM, 3:00 PM**, 4:30 PM, 6:00 PM, and
7:30 PM.
Classes, seminars, colloquia, and labs requiring more than 75 minutes in any single meeting shall begin
from a specified subset of the designated class start times: 9:00 AM, 9:45 AM*, 12:00 PM, 12:45 PM*,
3:00 PM, 3:45 PM*, and 6:00 PM.
* Courses meeting for exactly two hours may begin at 9:45 AM rather than be required to begin at 9:00
AM, or at 12:45 PM rather than be required to begin at 12:00 PM, or at 3:45 PM** rather than be
required to begin at 3:00 PM.
Allston Campus
Classes requiring up to 75 minutes in any single meeting shall begin from a specified subset of the
designated class start times: 9:45 AM, 11:15 AM, 12:45 PM, 2:15 PM, 3:45 PM**, 5:15 PM, and 6:45
PM.
Classes, seminars, colloquia, and labs requiring more than 75 minutes in any single meeting shall
begin from a specified subset of the designated class start times: 9:45 AM, 12:45 PM, 3:45 PM**,
and 6:45 PM.
** By Faculty vote, no class meeting, tutorial conference, examination, or other academic activity
under the control of this Faculty and involving the presence of a voting member of this Faculty, and
no meeting of any committee of this Faculty or any of its subdivisions, shall be scheduled on any of
the days designated for meetings of the Faculty (usually the first Tuesday of the month, from 3:00 -
5:00 PM, October through May excluding January). Exceptions to this rule may be granted only by
the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Please consult the Summary of the FAS Schedule Change Faculty Legislation for more information.
Holidays and Days Preceding and Following Holidays and Vacations
FAS classes will be held on observed Veterans Day (check the Academic Calendar for the specific
date). Otherwise, classes should not be held on holidays or during vacations. By vote of the Faculty
of Arts and Sciences, instructors are expected to hold regular classes on the days preceding and
following holidays and vacations. Students should not be excused from class on those days or
allowed to transfer temporarily from one section to another to accommodate a longer holiday or
vacation.
Courses Meeting Away from the University
Ordinarily, courses should be organized to meet only in their regularly scheduled times, plus the
additional times scheduled at the beginning of the term for sections and laboratories. In some
cases, an instructor may wish to include a field trip or project that would take students away from
the University on days when classes are normally held and, thereby, interfere with students’ ability to
attend other courses. In such cases, permission to include activities that will take students away
from the University must be obtained before the course may be listed as having a field trip
component in the my.harvard Course Search. Instructors must consult with the Office of
Undergraduate Education about courses below the 200- or 2000-level and with the Dean of the
Graduate School about courses at or above the 200- or 2000-level. Ordinarily, instructors should plan
no more than one class day away from the University in any given week and never more than five
class days during the term, or ten days total including weekends. They should not be scheduled
during reading or final exam periods. In all cases, the students’ obligations to other courses meeting
at their regularly scheduled times must have priority over course requirements that take students
away from the University. Instructors must announce at the beginning of a course any requirements
that would take students away from the University so that students may consider these
requirements when choosing their courses. Instructors can request a Field Trip course component in
the my.harvard Course Search by contacting their department’s Curriculum Coordinator. While
ordinarily, academic field trips should be optional, this policy applies to all Harvard-organized
academic field trips, whether optional or required.
Reading Period
At the end of each term, a period of six or seven days prior to the start of the Final Examination
Period is designated as Reading Period. Reading Period is intended to be a time for students to
reflect, review, and synthesize what they have learned during the semester. To protect this
educational purpose, the following rules apply during Reading Period:
• Except for designated intensive language courses, no regular instruction may take place
during Reading Period. Sections and review sessions may take place during Reading Period
as may class sessions that must be made up due to weather or other emergencies.
• Courses may not assign new material during Reading Period.
• All seated final examinations, of whatever duration (up to three hours) or scope, must take
place during the course's Exam/Final Deadline Group, as assigned by the Registrar's Office.
• Final papers, take-home exams, projects, presentations, and other culminating course
assignments due after the end of regular classes must be due on or before the day of the
course’s assigned Exam/Final Deadline Group, but no earlier than the fourth day of Reading
Period. Final projects that include individual or group presentations may be scheduled
beginning on the fourth day of Reading Period and may extend through the Final Examination
Period. *
• Short regular assignments that address material covered in the last two weeks of classes
(such as problem sets or response papers) may be due during the first three days of Reading
Period.
Regardless of whether a class meets during Reading Period, that time is an integral part of the term.
Students are expected to remain in the immediate vicinity of Cambridge throughout this period.
* Each course will be assigned an Exam/Final Deadline Group to spread out student deadlines and to
establish grading due dates. While instructors may establish earlier deadlines per faculty legislation,
the spirit of this policy is to spread students’ final assignment deadlines across the entire exam
period to avoid having all assignments due at the same time. If an instructor decides to use an
earlier deadline it is very important that students are well informed about this change from the
posted deadline.
Examination Period
Courses that culminate in a final examination of any duration (up to three hours) must hold their
exams during the designated Final Examination Period and during the Exam/Final Deadline Group
assigned by the FAS Registrar's Office. There are two exam sessions each day: morning exams
begin at 9:00 AM and afternoon exams begin at 2:00 PM.
Classrooms
Office of the FAS Registrar
Academic Planning: Classrooms Office
Richard A. & Susan F. Smith Campus Center
1350 Massachusetts Ave., Suite 450
Cambridge, MA 02138
classrooms@fas.harvard.edu
617-495-1541
registrar.fas.harvard.edu
Classroom assignments for courses are coordinated between academic departments and
scheduling offices.
Instructors should immediately contact their department if the meeting time changes from the
published course listing in my.harvard or when a change in location occurs after the initial
classroom assignment has been determined.
Course meeting times and locations are published in my.harvard, and on course Canvas websites.
To request audio-visual equipment or classroom service help, instructors should contact
After-hour emergencies and problems with the temperature or ventilation of classrooms should be
referred to the University Operations Center (617-495-5560). Classroom maintenance or repair
requests should be directed to your Department Administrator, to Harvard Yard Operations (617-495-
8842), or to the appropriate Building Manager.
Course Classroom Assignments
The FAS Classrooms Office schedules about one-third of the classrooms in the FAS room inventory.
The remaining classrooms are scheduled by individual departments, centers, and houses.
Initial classroom assignments by the FAS Classrooms Office are made after considering a number
of factors including instructional requirements, enrollment history, accessibility, special
circumstances, and room availability at the time of assignment. Faculty members requesting
classroom space scheduled by the FAS Classrooms Office should communicate their classroom
needs for their courses and course-related events to the appropriate Department staff member, who
will compile and submit room requests to the FAS Classrooms Office in July (for the fall term) and
October (for the spring term). Department Administrators and/or Course Coordinators should enter
classroom preferences in EMS (the software used to maintain room scheduling in FAS) by the
necessary deadlines. The Classrooms Office will evaluate preferences and supply tentative
assignments to each department. Once the department has reviewed the assignments, classroom
assignments will be sent to instructors.
Assigned classrooms for courses and section meetings are reserved from the first day of the term
through the last day of the term. Courses and section meetings will NOT be scheduled through the
Reading Period, unless requested by teaching staff via FAS RoomBook. During the Examination
Period, all classrooms are reserved for Final Exams. Classrooms are not reserved during University
holidays and recesses.
Classroom Reassignment
The FAS Classrooms Office typically does not reassign classrooms until after the start of the term,
when initial enrollment figures are more accurate. However, if there seems to be an urgent need to
change room assignments, contact the FAS Classrooms Office immediately
(classrooms@fas.harvard.edu). As a reminder, room assignments are subject to change due to
enrollment numbers or other pedagogical needs.
Discussion Sections
Instructors should direct their Head Teaching Fellows to the FAS Registrar’s website to review
procedures for requesting section space. Classrooms for discussion sections are reserved on a first
come, first served basis and are requested via FAS RoomBook.
Reading Period
If instructors would like to hold class during the Reading Period, they must reserve a classroom via
FAS RoomBook as their course will not be scheduled after the last day of classes for that term.
Examination Period
During the Final Examination Period, all classrooms are reserved for the FAS Exams Office. After the
final examination schedule is set, limited classroom space may become available for review
sessions.
Non-Course Events
The FAS Classrooms Office does not book rooms within its purview for non-course events until
official course meeting locations have been finalized, usually within two weeks of the start of term.
The following documents and links are posted to the FAS Registrar's Office website:
FAS Classroom Inventory
• Educational Support Services' Room Information Database
Discussion Sections
• Guidelines for Requesting Discussion Section Space
Course Materials/Syllabi
Faculty should post a complete course syllabus to the course website before the start of the
semester so that students can make efficient use of the course selection period during the first days
of the term with minimal disruption to classes. For help posting your syllabus on your course Canvas
site, visit atg.fas.harvard.edu/canvas syllabus.
The syllabus should include a listing of course readings and materials. To control the escalating
cost of reproducing coursepacks and sourcebooks, instructors are encouraged to determine
whether the course readings they assign are available electronically from the Harvard libraries, and if
they are, to link to them from course websites. For information on how to include links from your
syllabus/course web page directly to readings available in electronic format, contact your
department's Library Liaison or refer to the Get Teaching Support for Your Courses page on the
Harvard Libraries website.
In addition to a description of the course and its pedagogical goals, the syllabus should include
contact information and office hours for teaching staff, a reading list, dates of hour/midterm exams,
due dates for papers or other assignments, plans and expectations for Reading Period, course policy
with respect to late work and makeup hour exams, and the basis on which the course grade will be
awarded. It should also include a clear statement about plagiarism and collaboration. (See Papers
and Other Written Assignments for a description of the policy and for template text for this portion
of the syllabus.)
In selecting the dates for midterm examinations, as well as for papers and other assignments,
instructors should be aware of the constraints of the Academic Calendar and should consult the
information on religious holidays on the Harvard Divinity School's Multifaith Calendar. Instructors
noting the possible dates of the course's final examination on the syllabus should also note on the
syllabus that these dates are tentative until the final examination schedule is approved. Instructors
are reminded of the policy that a three-hour final exam will not be scheduled for the
course unless the FAS Registrar's Office is appropriately notified. For further information
about final examinations, policy concerning alternative means of end-of-term assessment, and the
process by which faculty should notify the Registrar if a three-hour exam is intended, see Final
Examinations.
In courses designed for undergraduates, it is helpful and beneficial for students to receive an
evaluation on at least one course assignment before the seventh Monday of the term, the last day on
which undergraduates may withdraw from a course. In addition, it is important to note any
limitations on the credit earned by passing the course -- e.g., a full-year 8-credit course may not be
divisible at midyear for 4 credits -- should be made clear as part of the presentation of the course.
No substantial changes in the work load or calendar of a course should be made after the
registration deadline each term.
Course Lists
As students enroll in courses, instructors will be able to view their course lists via their web-based
portal pages at my.harvard.edu. After entering your HarvardKey on the authentication page, your
portal page will appear. Note that enrollment data are protected under the Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 and are therefore not for distribution.
The online course lists are continually updated. Only when a student’s name appears on the course
list is a student officially enrolled in a course. Instructors should report to the Registrar's Office any
student (other than auditors) who attends class, but whose name does not appear on the course list.
Instructors should also report any student (except those with the status of “withdrawn”) who has
stopped attending class, but whose name appears on the course list. If the student is a Harvard
College student, reports should be entered in my.harvard using the Mid-Term Reporting which will
become an advising note and distributed to the student's academic advising team. All other
students should be directed to the Registrar's Office at 617-495-1543 or email
enrollment@fas.harvard.edu.
Course Fees
No course may charge undergraduates special fees for course participation or required activities.
Departmental budgets are expected to cover the cost of films, laboratory equipment and other
materials. The aim of this policy is to ensure that all courses are equally accessible to students
regardless of their financial means.
Student Enrollment
Drop, Add, Withdraw
No undergraduate may drop or add a course or change grading status in a course after the fifth
Monday of the term. Undergraduates have until the eleventh Monday of the term to withdraw from a
course. Exceptions to these rules may be granted only by the Administrative Board. Any course that
a student drops by the deadline is removed from the student’s transcript. If a student withdraws
from a course, that course remains on the transcript with the notation “WD.” Deadlines for graduate
students are indicated in the Academic Calendar. Students officially enroll through my.harvard.
Graduate students have until the seventh Monday to add a course or change grading status
(SAT/UNS) in a designated language course. To add a course after this date, an approved Petition to
Add must be submitted to the GSAS Office of Student Affairs. Graduate students have until the ninth
Monday of the term to drop a course in my.harvard. To withdraw from a course after this date, an
approved Petition to Withdraw must be submitted to the GSAS Office of Student Affairs. A notation
of “WD” will be recorded on the student’s transcript for the course if the petition is approved.
Instructor’s Permission and Petitions
Students wishing to enroll in courses that require the permission of the instructor will not be able to
do so until the instructor admits them into the course via the permissions tool of my.harvard. The
instructor’s permission must be obtained for all undergraduate enrollments in graduate-level
courses and for those that require the permission of the instructor.
Undergraduates adding a course after the Course Registration deadline or changing grading status
to Pass/Fail must request permission via my.harvard. Permission is not required for dropping or
withdrawing from a course. For graduate students, the instructor’s permission is required for adding
or withdrawing from a course and is not required for dropping a course. For instructions on how to
respond to petitions in my.harvard, please read this knowledge article: Responding to Petitions in
my.harvard.
Instructors may not delegate their responsibility for approving course enrollments, change-of-course
petitions, or submitting grades. Instructors are therefore asked to be available to students to discuss
their course enrollment status and, when necessary, to grant permissions.
Limiting Enrollment in Courses at the 100- or 1000-Level and Below
As a general principle, students should be able to study the topics they want and for which they have
the appropriate background, with the exception that concentration tutorials, including junior seminar
programs, are ordinarily limited to concentrators. Nevertheless, there may be courses in which
enrollment must be limited because of resource constraints or special instructional needs. The
decision to limit enrollment for either or both reasons, as well as decisions about appropriate
prerequisites, should be made by the instructional unit’s curriculum committee. The committee
should be mindful of the general principle stated above, perhaps creating other venues where
interested students can study the material in question.
When enrollment in a non-tutorial course is to be limited, the reason for the limitation should be
reported to the Office of Undergraduate Education and the enrollment ceiling should be noted in the
course catalog. The criteria for selecting among appropriately-qualified students for space in limited
enrollment courses should be based on the curricular needs and interests of the students and on
whether a student will have other opportunities to take the course. Selection on the basis of other
criteria is inappropriate.
Enrollment of Non-FAS Students
Cross Registration
Students cross-registering from other Faculties or other institutions are allowed to enroll in FAS
courses if they have obtained the instructor’s permission via my.harvard. Instructors will be e-mailed
with instructions when there are cross-registration requests awaiting their attention. Students
registering from other Faculties or other institutions are subject to all of the FAS regulations and
deadlines, including the examination schedule, and are graded according to the FAS system. The
Pass/Fail option is not available to cross-registered students. The graduate student option to enroll
in certain language courses on a SAT/UNS basis is also not available to cross-registered students.
Employees (Tuition Assistance Plan)
Employees of Harvard University may enroll in FAS courses through the Tuition Assistance Plan
(TAP) administered by the Office of Human Resources. Employees are subject to all of the FAS
regulations and deadlines, including the examination schedule, and are graded according to the FAS
system. Employees are permitted to add or change a course once TAP and enrollment forms have
been filed with the Registrar's Office at enrollme[email protected].edu by the appropriate deadlines.
The Pass/Fail option is not available to TAP students.
Auditing
Auditors are permitted only at the instructor’s discretion, and may not attend remotely. Faculty have
a responsibility to protect student information that Canvas may provide, and they are responsible for
informing auditors of University and FAS policies governing access to student and course
information. The following may be admitted as auditors: students enrolled in any Faculty of the
University, individuals holding teaching appointments in the FAS, and their spouses. No official
record is maintained for auditors.
Simultaneous Enrollment/Courses with Overlapping Meeting Times
A student may not enroll in courses that meet at the same time or overlapping times. It is the
student’s responsibility to ensure that there is no overlap in the meeting times of their courses.
Exceptions to this rule may be granted only by the Administrative Board and will be considered only
if the instructors in both overlapping courses agree and only in one or more of the following
circumstances:
• When one of the two courses has been granted a waiver from the Administrative Board
petition process by a subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Undergraduate
Educational Policy (EPC). For a list of approved courses, please visit the OUE website:
https://oue.fas.harvard.edu/simultaneous-enrollment.
• When the head of the course where class time is being missed and the person(s) providing
the instruction during the regular class meeting agree to provide hour-for-hour direct and
personal compensatory instruction. Availability during regular office hours or time with a
different person does not satisfy the requirement for direct and personal contact. The
Administrative Board will require detailed plans for compensatory instruction from students
receiving the instruction and from the faculty providing instruction. Recordings are not
considered compensatory instruction. Plans for simultaneous enrollment must include
explicit arrangement for students to take hourly and midterm exams, quizzes, and other in-
class assessments. Conflicts between Registrar-scheduled final exams will be resolved by
the Registrar.
• When a senior can meet degree requirements only by taking the two particular courses in
question and will have no other opportunity to enroll in the courses before graduation, in
such circumstances the Administrative Board may approve reasonable accommodations in
consultation with the instructors of the courses involved.
Undergraduates in Courses Designated "Primarily for Graduates"
Undergraduates may not enroll in courses numbered in the 300s or 3000s (Graduate Courses of
Reading and Research). The only exceptions to the latter rule are students who are candidates for
the master’s degree and who may enroll in such upper-level courses with the instructor’s permission.
Incomplete (INC) cannot under any circumstances be given to undergraduates.
Pass/Fail Grading Status (Undergraduates Only)
In 1967 the Faculty extended the use of Pass/Fail in order to permit students to enrich their
educational experience by enrolling in courses they might otherwise avoid because of material that
was too advanced or too unfamiliar. Consequently, with an instructor’s permission any
undergraduate may enroll in a course on a Pass/Fail rather than a letter-graded basis. After the fifth
Monday of the term students are not allowed to add Pass/Fail courses or to change their grading
status in courses from or to Pass/Fail. Students enrolled in courses on a Pass/Fail basis are so
identified on the course lists and grade sheets.
Instructors may not request that students enroll in a course on a Pass/Fail basis. The Pass/Fail
option is not available to graduate, cross-registered, or TAP students.
Student Attendance
All students are expected to attend classes regularly. Absence from academic exercises for
whatever reason, including representing the College in extracurricular and athletic activities, does
not relieve a student from responsibility for any part of the work required by the course during the
period of absence. Students who, by their classroom absence, neglect work in a course may be
excluded from the course. (See Exclusion.)
Storm and Emergency Conditions
Harvard College retains the discretion to act as it deems necessary in extraordinary
circumstances to protect the health and safety of the Harvard community. For these purposes
“extraordinary circumstances” include, but are not limited to, public health emergencies,
extreme weather events, and other conditions posing broad threats to community health and
safety or significantly disrupting campus life or learning. Discretionary measures available to
Harvard College may include, but are not limited to, making recourse to remote or hybrid
instruction, suspending or limiting access to University-provided residential housing, limiting its
provision of or access to certain activities and services, introducing or modifying mask and
physical distancing mandates, and implementing compulsory testing and tracing programs as
required conditions for accessing the Harvard campus or Harvard facilities.
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences rarely cancels classes due to weather. However, faculty and
section leaders who commute should not be expected to put themselves in danger during serious
storms, and may choose to cancel their individual classes. Because the Faculty rarely cancels
classes, it is important that course staff inform students at the start of the term of the procedures
for learning of class meetings that will be canceled. Similarly, it is important that the course staff
provide students with instructions on how to inform instructional staff of planned absences.
Instructors might find the following information helpful in establishing storm and emergency
procedures for their courses:
• For the most part, undergraduate students are in residence and are expected to attend
classes. Undergraduate students who decide that they cannot make it to class should be
able to find in their course materials instructions on how to inform the course’s instructional
staff of absences from class. For example, some courses request that the student inform
the instructor or the teaching fellow of the planned absence by email or by telephone.
• Similarly, students should be able to find instructions in the course materials that indicate
how the instructional staff would inform students of the cancellation of a class or section
meeting. For example, courses might inform students of the cancellation via an
announcement posted at the course’s home page on the web, via an email to the class
attendees, or by leaving a message on the voice mail system of a centralized departmental
telephone.
• FAS offices and academic departments will be open depending on staff availability and
whether there are critical functions in progress. Call the central number for that office before
going there.
• Final examinations and makeup examinations are rarely cancelled by the College and
students should report to their exam rooms on time.
• On the very rare occasion when FAS decides to cancel classes, an announcement of the
cancellation will be posted at the following urls: www.college.harvard.edu, my.harvard.edu,
and https://www.energyandfacilities.harvard.edu/operations-center.
Restricting Attendance
Ordinarily only students enrolled in a course and auditors who have been given specific permission
by the instructor may attend course meetings. From time to time, instructors may permit other
guests, such as colleagues, parents, alumnae/i, or prospective students, to attend individual class
meetings; however, instructors are always free to restrict attendance at a class meeting or meetings
to regularly enrolled students and authorized auditors.
Senior Theses and General Examinations
Date for Submission of Senior Theses and General Examinations
The dates for submission of undergraduate senior theses and for concentration general
examinations are set by the individual concentrations but must be early enough to enable the
concentration to make its degree recommendations available to the Registrar's Office during the
first week of the Examination Period.
The dates for required language and general examinations for graduate students are set by the
departments.
Students should be informed of these dates well in advance of the examination.
Hour and Midterm Examinations
The administration of hour and midterm examinations is the responsibility of the instructor; these
exams should normally be scheduled during regular class meeting times. In cases where hour and
midterm examinations must be given outside regular class meeting times, the course head must
offer a makeup examination for documented academic conflicts. The FAS Registrar's Office has no
role in the administration of hour or midterm examinations. Instructional staff is responsible for
administering Accessible Education Office-approved accommodations, in consultation with DAO
staff.
Instructors are required by law to offer makeup examinations to students who are absent from hour
and midterm examinations for the observance of a religious holiday. Instructors are not required to
offer makeup examinations to students who are absent from hour and midterm examinations for
other reasons.
In cases other than absence for a religious holiday, if an instructor is satisfied that the absence is
necessary and that omitting a grade for the missed hour or midterm examination will not affect the
student’s course grade, final evaluation of the student’s work in the course may be determined from
the remainder of the course work. The instructor may also elect to give a makeup examination. The
responsibility for such decisions rests with the instructor only and not with the Dean’s Office or the
Administrative Board. Instructors may also decide whether to require the attendance of graduate
students at hour and midterm examinations.
Although instructors are obligated to offer makeup examinations only in the case of absence for the
observance of a religious holiday, students who have obtained proper Harvard University Health
Services (HUHS) documentation of illness may not be penalized for their absence from hour and
midterm examinations. The appropriate form must be signed by a HUHS medical professional and
given to the student’s Resident Dean who will write the student a letter acknowledging receipt of the
HUHS form. This letter may be presented to the instructor as certification of the student’s illness.
Examination Booklets
Examination booklets for hour or midterm examinations may be obtained from the Science Center
Mail Room (617-495-5347), Monday through Friday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Course instructional staff
can also contact the Exams Office (exams@fas.harvard.edu) to obtain examination booklets. A
Harvard Officer or Faculty identification card must be shown to receive them.
Athletic Events
The Department of Athletics is aware that midterm examinations are frequently given in the seventh
or eighth weeks of the term, and thereby schedules few athletic contests away from Cambridge
during that time. Sometimes the academic calendars of other institutions require contests to be
scheduled in these periods. However, absence from academic exercises in order to represent the
College in athletic activities does not relieve the student from responsibility for any part of the work
required in the course during the period of the absence.
Absences for Religious Holidays
A student who is absent from an hour or midterm examination as a consequence of his or her
religious belief “shall be provided with an opportunity to make up such examination...”
(Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 151C, Sec. 2B). It is therefore recommended that prior to
setting the dates for such exercises or examinations course heads request dates of absence due to
religious holiday observance from students in their classes. It is the responsibility of the students
concerned to provide that information promptly when so requested. If conflicts are unavoidable,
students who are absent from hour or midterm examinations for religious reasons shall be offered
an opportunity to make up the work, without penalty, unless it can be demonstrated that such an
opportunity would constitute an “unreasonable burden” on the faculty. Information on religious
holidays can be found on the Harvard Divinity School's Multifaith Calendar.
Written Assignments
Papers and Other Written Assignments
One or more papers or other written assignments (e.g., problem sets, laboratory reports) are often
included as part of the work required of students in their courses. Most students learn more
effectively from a series of graduated writing assignments than from a single term paper,
particularly in courses designed to introduce students to a new field or a particular mode of inquiry.
The feedback that students receive on work completed early in the term helps to clarify what is
expected in written assignments, and later assignments provide students the opportunity to
demonstrate what they have learned from the earlier comments.
The nature and number of written assignments and their due dates should be included on the course
syllabus. All regular written assignments must be due by the last day of classes, though
instructors may grant individual undergraduates an extension of time for medical reasons and other
special circumstances up to the end of the Examination Period, but no later, and may grant graduate
students an extension of time until the end of the next regular term. (See Late Work and Extension of
Time for Course Work.) Incomplete (INC) cannot under any circumstances be given to
undergraduates. This policy does not include written final assessments (take-home exam, final
paper, etc.). For information on final assessment deadlines, please see Legislation on Reading and
Exams Period section of Information For Faculty.
Plagiarism
Any material submitted to meet course requirements — homework assignments, papers, projects,
examinations — is expected to be student’s own work. Students are directed to Harvard Guide to
Using Sources at the beginning of their first term, and in the required first-year writing course,
Expository Writing 20. Undergraduates are urged to take great care in distinguishing their own ideas
and thoughts from information and analysis derived from printed and electronic sources. Although
instructors are encouraged to take every opportunity to reinforce and develop these lessons, the
final responsibility for knowing proper forms of citation rests with students.
In cases of suspected plagiarism by an undergraduate student, please contact the Office of
Administrative Boards) In cases of suspected plagiarism by a graduate student, please contact the
GSAS Dean of Students.
Collaboration
It is essential that instructors set out carefully in writing and at the outset of a course or course
assignment the extent of permissible student collaboration in the preparation of papers, computer
programs, or examinations. Students must assume that collaboration in the completion of
assignments is permitted unless explicitly prohibited by the instructor. Students should be reminded
that they are expected to acknowledge any collaboration and its extent in all submitted work.
Sample text for syllabus, if collaboration is not allowed:
Students should be aware that in this course collaboration of any sort on any work submitted for formal
evaluation is not permitted.
If collaboration is to be allowed, the instructor may wish to define what is acceptable and what is
not. Here is a possible approach:
You are encouraged to consult with one another on the choice of paper topics, and you may also share
library resources. You may find it useful to discuss your chosen topic with your peers, particularly if you
are working on the same topic as someone else, but you should ensure that the written paper you
submit for evaluation is the result of your own research and reflects your own approach to the topic.
Submission of the Same Work to More than One Course
Papers and other work should normally be submitted to only one course. Any student who wishes to
submit to another course or for another academic purpose the same or similar work used in a
previous course must obtain the prior written permission of the instructor. If a student wishes to
submit the same or similar work to more than one course during the same term, the prior written
permission of all of the instructors involved must be obtained. A student who submits the same or
similar work to more than one course without such prior permission will ordinarily be required to
withdraw from the College or from GSAS.
Late Work and Extensions
Late Work and Extension of Time for Course Work
Undergraduates
Instructors have the authority to grant undergraduates an extension of time for medical reasons and
other special circumstances up to the end of the Examination Period. Ordinarily, students requesting
an extension of time to complete course work must have received the consent of the instructor
before the final examination or before the final meeting of a course in which there is no final
examination.
In deciding the length of an extension granted for medical reasons, the head of the course should
apply the principle used by the Administrative Board when it votes extensions beyond the
Examination Period: Extensions are granted for a period commensurate with the time missed during
an illness, without penalty. Questions about an appropriate extension for an individual
undergraduate may be addressed to the student’s Allston Burr Resident Dean or Resident Dean of
First-Year Students.
If a student submits work after a grade has been filed with the Registrar but before the end of the
Examination Period, and if acceptance of that late work results in a grade change, the instructor
should submit a grade change at my.harvard.edu. (See Changes in Grades.)
An extension of time to complete course work beyond the end of the Examination Period can be
granted to an undergraduate only by vote of the Administrative Board of Harvard College and only in
exceptional circumstances. Instructors may not accept work from an undergraduate after the end of
the Examination Period without the explicit authorization of the Administrative Board
Undergraduates cannot receive a grade of incomplete (INC).
Graduate Students
Instructors may grant graduate students an extension of time until the end of the next regular term.
However, such extensions of time for completion of course work must be granted before the
assignment of the course grade.
Midterm Grades for Undergraduates
Instructors teaching an undergraduate course are asked to report students making unsatisfactory
progress to the Allston Burr Resident Dean/Resident Dean of First-Year Students. This process can
also be used to communicate special concerns about a student to the Resident Dean even if
satisfactory progress is being made. Instructors may submit progress reports from approximately
the third week of the semester until final grading opens. Please follow this knowledge article for
instructions in my.harvard: Mid-Term Reporting in my.harvard.
These progress reports go to the Allston Burr Resident Deans/Resident Deans of First-Year Students
and are used only for advising and counseling purposes. They are extremely important for identifying
students who may be facing any of a wide range of difficulties. Instructors are also asked to
cooperate with the Resident Deans of First-Year Students and the Allston Burr Resident Deans
regarding inquiries that they may make about the status of individual students. However, please note
that instructors should also be in direct contact with any student making unsatisfactory progress.
March grades in full year courses extending from September to May should reflect the student’s
current standing for the spring term. At the same time, instructors should report students whose
cumulative grade for the entire year is unsatisfactory.
Instructional Support Staff
Hiring, Training, and Supervision of Instructional Support Staff
The teaching done by supervised instructional support staff is an important part of the
undergraduate educational experience, as well as a critical aspect of the training of graduate
students. Departments and individual instructors have developed successful strategies that
encourage and ensure a high standard of instruction by teaching fellows, teaching assistants, and
course assistants. These local strategies have been reinforced by guidelines developed by the
Committee on Undergraduate Education and the Committee on Graduate Education (CGE) and
endorsed by the Faculty Council. All hiring, training, and supervision of graduate student teaching
fellows and undergraduate course assistants fall under the HGSW-UAW collective bargaining
agreement. Please email studentunionization@harvard.edu with any questions about the contract
and its provisions.
HGSU-UAW Collective Bargaining Agreement
Graduate Teaching Fellows and undergraduate Course Assistants are governed by the HGSU-UAW
Collective Bargaining Agreement under which they are considered “Student Workers” by the National
Labor Relations Board. The agreement is comprehensive and includes provisions on a range of
topics, including but not limited to hiring, training, workload, supervision, discipline and discharge,
leave and other time off. All University representatives responsible for the hiring, training, and
supervision of Student Workers should familiarize themselves with the agreement, executive
summary. Additional resources are available on the Provost’s Office website on unionization.
General questions about the agreement can be directed to studentunionization@harvard.edu, which
is monitored by members of the Provost’s Office and the Office of Labor and Employee Relations
(OLER).
For additional information on supervision and discipline of bargaining unit members, including when
the union must be included in discussions or correspondence with unit members, please refer to the
guidance at the end of this document. In any case of potential discipline of a bargaining unit
member, please contact the contract manager, Brian Magner, at the Office of Labor and Employee
Relations (brian_magner@harvard.edu) before taking any action.
Categories of Instructional Support Staff
Teaching fellows are candidates for advanced degrees and are registered as students at
Harvard, ordinarily in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) or other Harvard
graduate schools, except for the Division of Continuing Education (DCE). They serve as
section leaders, tutors, and laboratory section leaders, and always work under the
supervision of instructors who hold faculty-level teaching appointments in the Faculty of
Arts and Sciences (FAS) or another Harvard faculty. (See Responsibility for Evaluation for the
appropriate role of teaching fellows in the grading of students.)
Teaching assistants engage in the same kinds of supervised instruction as teaching
fellows but are not enrolled as candidates for an advanced degree in any department of
the University. Students in DCE are hired as teaching assistants. Ordinarily, teaching
assistants will have received at least the AB before the appointment begins.
Undergraduate course assistants are currently registered Harvard undergraduates who,
under the supervision of instructors who hold faculty-level teaching appointments in the
FAS or another Harvard faculty, assume limited instructional responsibilities. They
ordinarily assist only in quantitative-based courses such as mathematics, science, and
computer science classes. (See Responsibility for Evaluation for the appropriate role of course
assistants in the grading of students.)
In accordance with the Faculty’s policy, course heads should appoint qualified GSAS
students for teaching positions before hiring non-GSAS candidates.
Teaching Fellow Appointment Guidelines
The CGE and the Faculty Council have adopted the following general guidelines for the
teaching fellow appointment process in the humanities and social sciences:
1. Early Allocations of Sections: Each spring, the Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE) in
Harvard College will pre-allocate sections for eligible departmental courses for both terms of the
coming academic year based on prior enrollment. Departments should then provide information on
available teaching positions to eligible graduate students as early as possible. Please note that pre-
allocated sections are not guaranteed. (See below for more information on the possible
reassignment of teaching fellows.)
2. Application Period: Departments should accept applications for teaching fellow positions for
several weeks to ensure the broadest possible applicant pool before a decision is made. To avoid
financial inequities, final decisions should involve consultation between the course head and the
chair or director of graduate studies, or another designated member of the department or program.
3. Hiring Criteria and Timetable: The criteria for appointing teaching fellows should include an
evaluation of each candidate’s preparation, English language proficiency, student graduate year,
teaching experience, teaching guarantee (see note below), and satisfactory academic standing. Note
in this regard that GSAS 1) requires that all incoming Ph.D. students who are non-native speakers of
English and who have received their undergraduate degrees from non-English speaking institutions
pass English proficiency tests before they can be appointed as teaching fellows and; 2) prohibits
graduate students who receive dissertation completion fellowships from teaching as well as taking
on concurrent employment. (Further details on English language requirements and dissertation
completion fellowships for teaching fellows may be found on the Teaching page of the GSAS
website.)
The Appointment Process
Each spring, the OUE will request that departments submit their enrollment estimates and course
section requests for the coming academic year via the online section allocation tool (SAT). The OUE will
make its pre-allocations directly in the SAT. After the course enrollment deadline, the SAT will
automatically display actual enrollment numbers that the OUE will use to adjust section allocations. For
questions or further details about this process, contact the Office of Undergraduate Education.
Departments should make teaching fellow appointments for the coming academic year by the end of
the spring term. Preference for teaching fellow appointments should be given to students to whom a
guarantee of teaching was offered at admission. (See note below.)
After those students have been accommodated who are expected to teach as part of their funding
packages, departments and course heads are expected to consider and prioritize all other qualified
applicants from within GSAS; special attention should be paid to qualified applicants from related
departments and disciplines.
Written notification should be provided to each successful applicant making explicit the teaching
assignment and the terms of the teaching appointment, as well as expectations for training and
orientation, and satisfying the requirements of the collective bargaining agreement. Applicants who are
not appointed as teaching fellows should be informed in writing at the same time so that they can make
alternative arrangements for financial support before the academic year begins. If a student who has
been offered an appointment receives funding from another source or for other reasons declines the
opportunity, that appointment may be offered to another GSAS student after direct consultation with
GSAS and in accordance with the priorities described above.
An important note on teaching "guarantees": As an integral part of their graduate funding packages,
Ph.D. students in the humanities and social sciences are ordinarily guaranteed two sections of teaching
per term for four terms before their sixth year of study at GSAS. Meeting this guarantee should be a
cooperative endeavor between the student and their program.
As soon as possible in the semester, departments should reassign teaching fellows from courses that are
under-enrolled to those that are over-subscribed, within certain limits. Reassignments should be made
based on the graduate student’s prior indication of courses or areas in which they are prepared to
teach. Departments should offer reassignments in ways that will minimize the number of teaching
fellows with multiple preparations. If no reassignment is possible, the financial commitment will be
honored, even if no instructional support is needed in the course. In this case, the teaching fellow
should perform meaningful work for the department or committee, preferably in support of
undergraduate instruction. Such reassignment must be approved by OUE.
Finally, be aware that immigration regulations limit the employment of international students to 20
hours per week while school is in session. This limitation also applies to teaching fellowships and
research assistantships.
For additional information about teaching fellow appointments, please refer to the Teaching page of
the GSAS website.
Training and Supervision of Instructional Support Staff. Several principles have been formulated to assist
departments in the training and supervision of instructional support staff.
Departments should develop regular procedures for screening and training instructional support staff as
well as routine methods of supervising and monitoring their performance. Not only do such practices
help to maintain good standards, but they also encourage graduate students to improve their teaching
skills. Student teaching should be a rewarding opportunity rather than an automatic step in graduate
education.
By vote of the Faculty on October 17, 1995, teaching fellows and other instructional support staff are
expected to attend lectures of the courses in which they hold appointments unless, in the judgment of
the course head, the nature of their work does not depend upon their attendance at the lectures.
Individual course heads remain responsible for the orientation, preparation, oversight, and evaluation of
assistants in the execution of their specific course responsibilities.
Instructional support staff should be provided with structured teaching assignments, recognizing that
section teaching is more effective the more the instructor is involved. Regular, perhaps weekly,
meetings to review course material, visits by the instructor to sections, and the teaching of a section by
the instructor can be helpful to instructional support staff. In certain departments, these forms of
involvement are routinely expected. Departments may adjust the teaching credit given to faculty
members, if need be, to encourage their involvement in section teaching. OUE’s instructional lunch
fund is available to support weekly luncheon meetings with instructional support staff. The Derek Bok
Center for Teaching and Learning encourages instructors and instructional support staff to seek help in
improving their teaching quality.
The Faculty Council has adopted the following guidelines for the training and preparation of first-time
instructional support staff:
All departments and instructional programs must develop plans for preparing and orienting first-time
instructional support staff in the pedagogical skills that will allow them to fulfill their teaching
obligations. Training is considered part of the total workload of graduate student teaching fellows and
undergraduate course assistants.
Orientation in issues of appropriate professional conduct should also be provided, and departments
must provide a 30-minute slot for the union to introduce itself to teaching fellows. (Contact
studentunionization@harvard.edu and see Professional Conduct for more information.). These plans
should be approved by OUE and should provide for practice teaching or other orientation to teaching
methods at or before the start of the appointment for those without prior teaching experience. Plans
should also provide for the observation and appraisal of teaching performance. The Derek Bok Center
for Teaching and Learning offers a wide range of instructional support and professional programs for
Harvard College’s classroom instructors. Departments are encouraged to have their new and
experienced teaching fellows and instructional support staff utilize these resources.
Departments should devise a record-keeping system for instructional support staff based on instructors’
reports on, and observations of, their performance. Such departmental monitoring can be used to
reward outstanding teaching and to provide a solid basis upon which to recommend graduate students
for future teaching jobs. At the same time, regular evaluation ensures that poor teaching performance
does not go unnoticed.
Student Compensation and Credit for Course Work
A student may not receive course credit for the same work for which the student is financially
compensated.
Graduate students may enroll in departmentally designated 300(0)-level courses to have their teaching,
research, or independent study efforts recognized and recorded (formerly designated by enrolling in
TIME-T, TIME-R, and TIME-C). These courses are typically ungraded, but will appear on students’ GSAS
transcripts.
An undergraduate course assistant may not receive academic credit in any form, including independent
study and supervised reading and research course credit, for courses for which the assistant is financially
compensated. Research for which a student receives a grant may inform their academic work. Research
performed for other financial compensation may inform academic work in subsequent semesters only,
and only with the express permission of the employer, including a laboratory head.
Special Considerations Concerning the Appointment of Undergraduate Course Assistants
Because special considerations enter into the appointment of undergraduates as course assistants,
instructors should observe the following guidelines when hiring and supervising course assistants:
• Departments and committees that employ undergraduate course assistants should consult
with the candidate’s Allston Burr Assistant Dean to confirm that the candidate has attained
sophomore standing and has earned a cumulative GPA of 3.33 or higher. Departments may
also wish to consult with the candidate’s Allston Burr Assistant Dean and academic adviser
about the candidate’s ability to successfully balance the duties of the course assistant
position with his or her other commitments.
• Under Faculty supervision, undergraduate course assistants may lead sections or problem-
solving sessions and assume other limited instructional duties. Over the term, they may work
an average of 10-12 hours per week. However, undergraduate course assistants may not
take on any administrative responsibilities for a course, such as those typically held by a
head teaching fellow.
• Under Faculty supervision, undergraduate course assistants may evaluate other students’
assignments when the grading involves objective assessment, such as checking answers on
a problem set. However, undergraduate course assistants may not grade other students’
work when that work requires subjective assessment, such as evaluating essays, written
portions of examinations, or final projects.
• As undergraduates may fail to recognize the implications of serving in an instructional role,
instructors should take special responsibility for initiating discussions about professional
conduct, including the impropriety of amorous relationships with students and the
importance of both equity and confidentiality.
Q Course Evaluation
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences oversees a process of course evaluation of undergraduate and
graduate courses each term. This evaluation process serves several purposes. It provides feedback
from students to the head of a course about course structure, the quality of the instruction, and the
nature of assignments. It also provides important feedback for instructional support staff, many of
whom are in their early years of teaching and benefit from the comments of students. Participation
in the course evaluation process is required of all Faculty in courses with 5 or more students. The
course evaluation process itself takes place online.
Students who, for whatever reason, submit work either not their own or without clear attribution to
its sources will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including requirement to withdraw from
the College. Students suspected of any violation of these standards will not be permitted to submit a
Q evaluation of the course in which the infraction occurred.
Summary statistics and comments submitted by students are accessed electronically by the course
heads, instructors, teaching fellows, teaching assistants, and course assistants of evaluated courses
after final grades for the term have been submitted (Q.fas.harvard.edu). Course evaluation results
are also made available to the chair of the department or committee offering the course. Both
Faculty and instructional support staff, particularly teaching fellows, should keep this information as it will
be useful later as an input for promotion decisions and as part of consideration for other teaching
positions. These evaluations will be part of the graduate student’s electronic teaching record. Finally,
aggregate numerical data and limited text results are also made available to students, providing
them with additional information for use in their course selection process. Students can access the
course evaluation results through the online course selection tool at my.harvard.edu.
The Office of Undergraduate Education reviews the forms for any member of the instructional
support staff whose average "overall" rating raises concerns about the quality of instruction. In these
very few cases, the Dean of Undergraduate Education may send a letter to that instructor, copied to
the course head(s), urging them to seek appropriate advice on how to improve their teaching. If
members of the instructional support staff receive such cautionary letters a second time, they may
be prohibited from further teaching in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Examinations
Final Examinations
It is the responsibility of faculty members to determine the best means of assessing the work of
students in their courses. One option available to them is a seated three-hour written final
examination during the Final Examination Period at the date, time, and location scheduled by the
Registrar's Office, proctored by the course's instructional staff. Such examinations are subject to the
following rules:
To earn credit for a course or to count the course toward fulfillment of the requirements for a
degree, the student must have attended the final examination or an approved makeup. A student’s
unexcused absence from a final examination will ordinarily result in a failing grade for the course
(ABS). The course head is not empowered to excuse student absences from final or makeup
examinations scheduled by the Registrar. Furthermore, the course head may not give a final
examination at a special time to accommodate the needs of an individual student or authorize the
substitution of another exercise for an examination. Undergraduate students who request special
accommodations should be directed to their Resident Deans, who in turn will facilitate submission
of the request to the Administrative Board for consideration. Graduate students should be directed
to the FAS Registrar.
Students are entitled to complete course requirements and to take the final examination. They must
not be discouraged from doing so, even when previous course work has earned a cumulative failing
grade. Only a student whose serious and persistent neglect of academic work has led to formal
exclusion from the course is ineligible to take the final or makeup examination. (See Exclusion)
Legislation on Reading and Examination Periods
Examination Categories
Examination Scheduling
Examination Groups and Dates
Administration of Examinations
DAO Examinations
Religious Conflicts
Examinations in Absentia
Makeup Examinations
Reading and Examination Periods
Reading Period
At the end of each term, a period of six or seven days prior to the start of the Final Examination
Period is designated as Reading Period. Reading Period is intended to be a time for students to
reflect, review, and synthesize what they have learned during the semester. To protect this
educational purpose, the following rules apply during Reading Period:
• With the exception of designated intensive language courses, no regular instruction may
take place during Reading Period. Sections and review sessions may take place during
Reading Period as may class sessions that must be made up due to weather or other
emergencies.
• Courses may not assign new material during Reading Period.
• All seated final examinations, of whatever duration (up to three hours) or scope, must take
place during the course's Exam/Final Deadline Group as assigned by the Registrar's Office.
(See also, section on Final Examination Period below.)
• Final papers, take-home exams, projects, presentations, and other culminating course
assignments due after the end of regular classes must be due on or before the day of each
course’s assigned Exam/Final Deadline Group, but no earlier than the fourth day of Reading
Period. Final projects that include individual or group presentations may be scheduled
beginning on the fourth day of Reading Period and may extend through the Final Examination
Period.*
• Short, regular assignments that address material covered in the last two weeks of classes
(such as problem sets or response papers) may be due during the first three days of Reading
Period.
Regardless of whether a class meets during Reading Period, that time is an integral part of the term.
Students are expected to remain in the immediate vicinity of Cambridge throughout this period.
* Each course will be assigned an Exam/Final Deadline Group to spread out student deadlines and to
establish grading due dates. While instructors may establish earlier deadlines per faculty legislation, the
spirit of this recent change is to spread students’ final assignment deadlines across the entire exam
period to avoid having all assignments due at the same time. If an instructor decides to use an earlier
deadline it is very important that students are well informed about this change from the posted
deadline.
Final Examination Period
Courses that culminate in a final examination of any duration (up to three hours) must hold their
exams during the designated Final Examination Period and during the Exam/Final Deadline
Group assigned by the Registrar’s Office. There are two exam sessions each day: morning exams
begin at 9:00 AM, and afternoon exams begin at 2:00 PM.
Examination Categories
At the beginning of each term, course heads will be asked to submit Final Assessment Information
in my.harvard for each course they teach. Final assessment options include the following
examination categories:
• Final Examination for All Students
All students enrolled in this course are expected to write a seated three-hour examination
scheduled by the FAS Registrar's Office during the Final Examination Period and proctored
by instructional staff of the course.
• Final Examination for Undergraduate Students
All undergraduates will write a seated three-hour examination and all graduate students
will be given alternative assessment (paper, project, take-home examination, etc.). All
alternative assessment deadlines must comply with the course’s assigned Exam/Final
Deadline Group.
• Final Examination for Certain Students
A seated three-hour examination will be given to a certain academic grouping of students
in the course, while another grouping of students will be given an alternative means of
assessment (paper, project, take-home examination, etc.). All alternative assessment
deadlines must comply with the course’s assigned Exam/Final Deadline Group
• Final Examination Combinations
A seated three-hour exam may be combined with another final assessment option, such as:
students may complete either a seated three-hour examination or a take home exam;
students may complete either a seated three-hour examination or a final paper. All
alternative assessment deadlines must comply with the course’s assigned Exam/Final
Deadline Group.
Completion of Work in Courses without Three-Hour Examination
Course heads should not assign any work to be done during the Final Examination Period. Faculty
policy stipulates that this time should be reserved for standard three-hour exams or other final
assessments. Assignments other than final examinations or other final assessments must be
completed by the last day of classes. (See Legislation on Reading and Examination Periods.)
Take-Home Final Examinations
Take-home examinations must be due on or by the course’s assigned Exam/Final Deadline Group.
Course heads should be careful to explain to students in writing the extent of collaboration and any
source materials that may be permitted in the preparation of the examination.
Examination Scheduling
Each course is assigned an Exam/Final Deadline Group, which indicates when the course’s final
assessment is due, whether it be a take-home exam, paper, or the date of a seated final exam. The
Exam/Final Deadline Group is listed in the my.harvard Course Search. The Exam/Final Deadline
Group corresponds to course meeting patterns and ordinarily will change if the course’s meeting
pattern changes. The FAS Registrar's Office is unable to accommodate individual requests to assign
an alternative Exam/Final Deadline Group to courses.
Since course meeting patterns are subject to change, the official dates and times for seated three-
hour examinations are published on the Final Examination Schedule posted on the Registrar’s
website. The Final Examination Schedule only includes courses that have requested a seated three-
hour final examination scheduled by the FAS Registrar's Office. The Final Examination Schedule will
be available in late-September for fall semester final examinations and in late-February for spring
semester final examinations.
Examination Groups and Dates
The table below shows the dates associated with each of the Exam/Final Deadline Groups. For most
courses, an Exam/Final Deadline Group is listed in the my.harvard course search. The Exam/Final
Deadlines Group corresponds to course meeting patterns and ordinarily change if the course
meeting pattern changes. Occasionally, the FAS Registrar's Office may need to assign an Exam/Final
Deadline Group that does not correspond to the meeting pattern of a course. All students are
therefore advised that they should not make any travel plans until the official Final Examination
Schedule is published on the Registrar’s website. Students are expected to be in residence for the
duration of the Final Examination Period. For the fall term, the Final Examination Period is Thursday,
December 8 through Saturday, December 17. For the spring term, the Final Examination Period is
Thursday, May 4 through Saturday, May 13.
Exam/Final
Deadline Group
Fall 2022 Final
Examination
Spring 2023 Final
Examination
FAS01
Thursday, Dec. 8
Thursday, May 4
FAS02
Thursday, Dec. 8
Thursday, May 4
FAS03
Friday, Dec. 9
Friday, May 5
FAS04
Friday, Dec. 9
Friday, May 5
FAS05
Saturday, Dec. 10
Saturday, May 6
FAS06
Saturday, Dec. 10
Saturday, May 6
FAS07
Monday, Dec. 12
Monday, May 8
FAS08
Monday, Dec. 12
Monday, May 8
FAS09
Tuesday, Dec. 13
Tuesday, May 9
FAS10
Tuesday, Dec. 13
Tuesday, May 9
FAS11
Wednesday, Dec. 14
Wednesday, May 10
FAS12
Wednesday, Dec. 14
Wednesday, May 10
FAS13
Thursday, Dec. 15
Thursday, May 11
FAS14
Thursday, Dec. 15
Thursday, May 11
FAS15
Friday, Dec. 16
Friday, May 12
FAS16
Friday, Dec. 16
Friday, May 12
FAS17
Saturday, Dec. 17
Saturday, May 13
FAS18
Saturday, Dec. 17
Saturday, May 13
*Please ignore if any alpha characters listed at the end of the Exam/Final Deadline Groups, for
example, FAS01_A.
Administration of Examinations
Seated final examinations are scheduled by the FAS Registrar’s Office and are administered by
instructional staff of the course. Instructional staff must follow the exam procedures that are
provided by the FAS Registrar’s Office. The procedures are intended to protect the security of
examinations and to ensure that students undertake the writing of their exams in an environment
free of distractions and disturbances. There are two exam sessions per day during the Examination
Period: morning examinations start at 9:00 AM and afternoon examinations start at 2:00 PM.
Course Head Obligations during the Administration of Exams:
• The course instructional staff is expected to be familiar with and abide by the guidelines
governing examination administration in FAS.
• The course instructional staff is expected to proctor their own main exams.
• A member of the instructional staff should be present in the examination room at least
fifteen minutes before the start of the exam.
• All courses are expected to handle the printing and photocopying of their own examinations.
• All courses are expected to make arrangements for the delivery, set-up and collection of any
audio/visual media equipment needed to facilitate the administration of oral/aural
components of the examination.
• The course instructional staff is responsible for obtaining attendance slips and if needed,
examination booklets, prior to the start of the examination.
• The course instructional staff is expected to take attendance at the examination and to
report absences to the FAS Registrar’s Office after the completion of the examination using
the Exam Roster located on the my.harvard Teaching and Advising tab.
• The instructional staff of the course should retrieve the following items from the
examination room at the time of examination completion:
o completed examination booklets
o scrap booklets
o all other course materials (slides, audiotapes, etc.)
• Report any unusual circumstances to the FAS Registrar’s Office.
• If there are any scheduled out of sequence examinations for the course, the course head
must submit the exam to the FAS Registrar’s Office at least 2 business days before the first
scheduled out of sequence exam.
Examination Office Responsibilities during the Administration of Exams:
• Solicit course final assessment information from faculty each examination period via the
Final Assessment button on the my.harvard Teaching and Advising tab.
• Establish the examination schedule for each examination period, including date, time, and
location.
• Schedule examination classroom assignments for each examination period.
• Coordinate the distribution of attendance slips and examination booklets.
• Collect absence information after examination completion.
• Report examination absences for undergraduate students to the appropriate Resident Dean.
• Hire proctors for out of sequence examinations.
Course Head Obligations after the Final Examination:
• Instructors should take every precaution to prevent the accidental loss of examination
booklets. For example, under no circumstances should examination booklets be removed
from the neighborhood of the University. If a course head has temporarily left the Cambridge
area, only photocopies of the booklets should be sent to the course head for grading.
• Examination booklets not returned to students should be kept for one year after the end of
the course.
• Most instructors return exam booklets, papers, and other academic work to the student
enrolled in their courses. By law, students have the right to review all materials submitted to
a course, including final examination booklets and, for a reasonable charge, may have copies
of any originals not returned to them, within 45 days of the date of the original request.
DAO Examinations
Disability Access Office Examinations
Exam accommodations are determined by the Disability Access Office (DAO) and are intended to
address documented disabilities or health conditions in such a way as to make exam administration
fair and equitable for all students taking the same course.
The administration of all timed exercises during the term, including midterms, is the responsibility of
the course head. DAO does not have access to a Test Center or proctors for mid-term tests, and
DAO staff are not available to proctor tests. Faculty should contact their department administrator
or faculty support specialists for assistance with booking rooms. If proctors beyond the available
TF/TA corps are required, faculty may choose to hire other graduate students from their department
to assist.
All seated final examinations for students with DAO-approved exam accommodations are
administered during the Final Examination Period by the FAS Registrar’s Office and the appropriate
accommodations will be made in conjunction with DAO.
Timed exams administered online through Canvas should be modified by faculty to include the
approved extended time for students with these accommodations. For assistance with this process,
please see: Canvas Instructions for Extended Time
For assistance with converting examinations into alternative formats (e.g., digital text, Braille, or
enlarged text), please contact the Assistive Technology Center (ATC) at atc@fas.harvard.edu or 617-
496-8800. Arrangements for reformatting examinations should be made least five business days in
advance.
Seated final exam administration is consistent with FAS exam procedures, with the following
exception to ensure proper implementation of DAO-approved accommodations: all DAO exams
typically begin at 10:00 AM on the same day as the main exam, unless there is a scheduling conflict
with another exam. In such instances, the FAS Registrar’s Office will administer the exam at an
appropriate time, typically within 24 hours of the main exam.
For questions concerning appropriate exam accommodations, please contact DAO at
[email protected]rvard.edu or 617-496-8707.
For questions concerning the administration of final exams (e.g., dropping-off/picking up exams,
location of DAO students, etc.) please contact the FAS Registrar’s Office at exams@fas.harvard.edu
or 617-495-1542.
Religious Conflicts
Religious Conflicts with Final Examinations
In accordance with Massachusetts law, students who are unable to participate in a final examination
as a consequence of their religious beliefs shall be provided with an opportunity to make up the
examination, without penalty, provided that the makeup examination does not create an
unreasonable burden on the College. Students are expected to anticipate any religious conflicts with
exams and report the conflict using the Religious Out of Sequence Exam Request Form found on the
Exams page of the FAS Registrar’s Office website thirty days prior to the start of the Final
Examination Period. Conflicts reported after the deadline may not be possible to accommodate or
may result in a makeup exam scheduled for the following term. Please direct any questions to the
FAS Registrar’s Office at exams@fas.harvard.edu.
Examinations in Absentia
Students, who for sufficient reason cannot be within 500 miles of Cambridge at the time of a seated
final or makeup examination, may request to take the examination in absentia (at another location).
Undergraduate in absentia examinations must be approved by the Administrative Board, and
students must contact their Resident Dean to facilitate the petitioning process. Graduate students
should contact the FAS Registrar’s Office. Student applications for in absentia exams should be
submitted thirty days prior to the start of the Final Exam Period. Under extraordinary circumstances,
the Administrative Board may grant examinations in absentia after the deadline has passed.
In absentia examinations are ordinarily administered at the same time and date as the examination
in Cambridge and must be proctored by someone approved by the FAS Registrar’s Office. After
determining that these conditions can be met, the FAS Registrar’s Office will work with the course
head to facilitate the administration of the examination. For reasons of equity, the examination given
to the student in absentia should be identical to that given at the regular examination in Cambridge.
The examination should be returned to the FAS Registrar’s Office in Cambridge immediately after it
has been administered.
Makeup Examinations
The Administrative Board of Harvard College has sole jurisdiction over granting makeup
examinations for undergraduates. The FAS Registrar’s Office has been authorized by the Graduate
School to approve or deny makeup petitions for graduate students. Course heads may not give a
makeup final examination without notification from the FAS Registrar's Office (see Special
Senior Makeup Examinations below for exception). Moreover, course heads may not give a makeup
examination at any time or location other than that specified by the FAS Registrar’s Office. The
granting of a makeup examination by the Administrative Board does not imply that the student may
receive credit for any assigned work in the course not submitted by the end of the Examination
Period.
Makeup examinations are ordinarily granted by the Administrative Board in cases of medically
documented illness or extraordinary circumstances over which the student had no control, such as a
death in the family. Makeups are sometimes granted to undergraduate participants in intercollegiate
competition, but only when out of sequence or in absentia examinations cannot be arranged. By vote
of the Faculty Council, makeup examinations may also be granted when a student who is in good
standing in the course misses an examination because of inadvertence, provided the petition is
supported by the course head and filed on time. Undergraduate and graduate students in the FAS
may be granted a makeup examination on the grounds of inadvertence only once during each tenure
at Harvard.
If called upon to do so, course heads must prepare appropriate makeup examinations and grade
them. Makeup exams are usually administered at the beginning of the following term based on the
schedule established by the FAS Registrar’s Office. Ordinarily, a makeup examination should not be
a duplicate of the original exam. Course grades dependent upon makeup examinations should be
reported to the FAS Registrar’s Office no later than one week after the date of such examinations.
Makeup midterm examinations are not granted by the Administrative Board or the FAS Registrar’s
Office. Offering such makeup examinations or substituting other work is at the discretion of the
course head, except in the case of an absence for the observation of religious holidays. (See Hour
and Midterm Examinations.) The FAS Registrar’s Office has no role in midterm examinations.
Special Senior Makeup Examinations
Graduating seniors who are absent from a spring term final exam in the last semester before
graduation are permitted to write a makeup final exam as soon as possible. The scheduling and
administration of the special senior make up exam are arranged by the graduating senior and the
faculty; neither the Registrar’s Office nor the Administrative Board make provisions for the special
senior make-up exam, although faculty may want to work with the student’s Resident Dean in
arranging the exam. In the cases of special senior makeup exams, time is of the essence. The
student and the teaching staff should arrange the special make up exam in a timely manner to
ensure meeting the Registrar’s grades submission deadline for graduating seniors.
Grades
The Grading System
Grade Point Averages
Submission of Grades
Due Dates for Grades
Final Grades in Indivisible Courses
Final Grades for Degree Candidates
Changes in Grades
Posting of Grades
Retention of Exam Booklets and Course Records
The Grading System
The Registrar is authorized to obtain from instructors reports on the performance of students in the
form of the grades established by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Online grade entry forms are
available to instructors and must be submitted by the indicated due dates. (See the Due Dates charts
for fall and spring later in this chapter.) The Faculty of Arts and Sciences uses the following system
of letter and non-letter grades to evaluate undergraduate student work:
Letter Grades: Undergraduate Students
• A, A- Earned by work whose excellent quality indicates a full mastery of the subject and, in
the case of the grade of A, is of extraordinary distinction.
• B+, B, B- Earned by work that indicates a good comprehension of the course material, a
good command of the skills needed to work with the course material, and the student’s full
engagement with the course requirements and activities.
• C+, C, C- Earned by work that indicates an adequate and satisfactory comprehension of the
course material and the skills needed to work with the course material and that indicates the
student has met the basic requirements for completing assigned work and participating in
class activities.
• D+, D, D- Earned by work that is unsatisfactory but that indicates some minimal command of
the course materials and some minimal participation in class activities that is worthy of
course credit toward the degree.
• E Earned by work which is unsatisfactory and unworthy of course credit towards the degree.
Non-letter Grades: Undergraduate Students
Incomplete (INC) cannot under any circumstances be given to undergraduates.
• ABS Students who miss a regularly-scheduled final examination scheduled by the Registrar's
Office during the Final Examination Period are given a failing grade of Absent (ABS) which
will be changed only if the student is granted and takes a makeup examination. Unexcused
absences are counted as failures. (See Final Examinations.) No other grade can be
accepted. Final assessments not scheduled by the Registrar's Office, including take-home
examinations and special final projects, are not "regularly-scheduled" examinations;
therefore, ABS cannot be used in these cases. If, after an absence from a regularly
scheduled final examination, a student is granted a makeup examination by the
Administrative Board, the appropriate grade is then submitted after completion of the
examination.
• EXL A notation of Excluded (EXL) indicates that the student was not permitted to continue in
the course by vote of the Administrative Board of the College and received no credit.
Exclusion from a course is equivalent in all respects to failing it and in and of itself makes
the student’s record for the term unsatisfactory.
• EXT Instructors may allow students extensions of time to complete course work up to the
last day of the Examination Period. After that date, only the Administrative Board may grant
extensions of time for undergraduates to complete course work. (See Late Work and
Extension of Time for Course Work.) Until the date of extension set by the Board, a final
grade should not be reported by the instructor; instead, the designation EXT (Extension)
should be reported on the grade sheet. EXT is only a temporary notation. When the allowed
time for late work has passed, or if additional time is not granted by the Administrative Board
of the College, the instructor should officially inform the Registrar of the final grade.
Students who miss a regularly scheduled final examination scheduled by the Registrar's
Office must be given an ABS (Absent), not an EXT.
• PA/FL The grade of Pass represents letter grades of A to D-; the grade of Fail represents the
letter grade of E only. Students admitted to a course on a PA/FL basis are so identified on
the grade sheet. For such students, only a grade of Pass or Fail can be accepted by the
Registrar. Independent Study is always graded PA/FL.
• SAT/UNS The grade of Satisfactory includes letter grades from A to C-; the grade of
Unsatisfactory represents work below C- and is considered a failing grade. No students
enrolled in courses graded SAT/UNS may receive letter grades in those courses.
The following junior and senior tutorials must be graded SAT/UNS:
African and African American Studies 99
Applied Mathematics 99r
Chemistry 91r, 98r, and 99r
English 99r
Folklore and Mythology 99
French 99
German 99
Government 99r
History 99
History and Literature 99
History of Art and Architecture 99
History of Science 99a and 99b
Italian 99
Latin American Studies 99
Linguistics 99a, 99b
Literature 98a, 98b, 99a, and 99b
Mathematics 60r
Philosophy 99
Portuguese 99
Psychology 985, 990, 992, and 993
Religion 99
Romance Studies 99
Scandinavian 99
Slavic 99a, 99b
Social Studies 99
Sociology 99
South Asian Studies 99
Spanish 99
Special Concentrations 99
Studies of Women, Gender, Sexuality 99a, 99b
All First-Year Seminars are graded SAT/UNS.
Certain House Seminars may also be graded SAT/UNS, provided instructors inform the Standing
Committee on Freshman Seminars of their intentions at the time the House Seminar proposals are
submitted, and all students in a particular seminar are graded on the same scale.
In addition, SAT/UNS may be reported as a midyear grade in any full year tutorial or half-course
extending throughout the year which does not give a midyear examination. In this case only,
Unsatisfactory may be used to indicate passing-but-unsatisfactory work. Assigning an
unsatisfactory midyear grade will make the student’s record for the term unsatisfactory and subject
to review by the Administrative Board.
The instructor must obtain permission from the Office of Undergraduate Education (for courses
below the 200- or 2000-level) or Dean of the Graduate School (for courses at the 200- or 2000-level)
before grading SAT/UNS for any course not listed above.
Satisfactory and Unsatisfactory Undergraduate Studies
Grades of C- or higher, as well as the grades of PA and SAT, are passing and satisfactory grades.
Grades of D+ through D- are passing but unsatisfactory grades. Grades of E, ABS (Absent), FL (Fail),
UNS (Unsatisfactory), and EXL (Excluded) are failing grades. All undergraduate student records with
any unsatisfactory or failing grade are reviewed at the end of the term by the Administrative Board,
which responds to such records in the manner described in the appropriate sections of the
Handbook for Students and in the Administrative Board Guide for Students. Responses may include
a period of academic probation or a requirement to withdraw from the College for a year.
Letter Grades—Graduate Students
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences uses the following letter grades: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-,
D+, D, D-, E. A grade of E is a failing grade.
The minimum standard for satisfactory work in the Graduate School is a “B” average in each
academic year. A grade of “C” or “INC” is offset by a grade of “A” and a “D” by two “A’s”; no account
is taken of plus or minus. Grades of “E” or an unexcused “ABS” are failing. A grade of “UNS” is
unsatisfactory. A course in which a student receives an “E” or permanent “INC” or “ABS” may be
retaken for credit at a later time, in which case both grades will appear on the student’s transcript. In
many departments, students are expected to maintain an average well above the GSAS minimum.
Letter grades are to be used in every case except as follows:
Non-letter Grades—Graduate Students
Graduate students are not allowed to take courses on a Pass/Fail (PA/FL) basis.
• ABS The designation ABS (Absent) is used in the case of a student who is absent from a
regularly scheduled final examination scheduled by the Registrar's Office during the Final
Examination Period. No other grade can be accepted. Final assessments not administered
by the Registrar’s Office, including take-home examinations and special final projects are not
“regularly scheduled” examinations; therefore, ABS cannot be used in courses with take-
home final exams. If, after an absence from a regularly scheduled final examination, a
student is subsequently granted a makeup examination by filing a petition with the Exams
Office in the Registrar's Office, the appropriate grade is then submitted after completion of
the examination. Instructors should log into my.harvard.edu and submit a grade change
request to submit the final grade.
• EXC Graduate students may be excused from a final examination or other course
assignments by their division, department, or committee Chairs on the basis of having
passed departmental examinations or other requirements. At the written request of a Chair,
the Associate Registrar of Records and Requirements records the grade of EXC (Excused). If
students elect to take the final examination and complete the course, they receive a letter
grade.
• INC For graduate students only The instructor has the prerogative of approving an extension
of time for completion of course work beyond the end of the term. The appropriate grade in
this situation is INC (Incomplete), not EXT (Extension). In order to have the grade of INC
changed to a letter or appropriate non-letter grade, the graduate student must complete the
work of the course before the end of the next regular term. An INC which has not been
completed by that time will become a permanent grade, unless the student successfully
petitions for an extension of time. This petition requires the approval of the Director of
Graduate Studies and of the Dean of the Graduate School. When a student has made up an
INC within the allowable time period, the instructor should log into my.harvard.edu and
submit a grade change request to submit the final grade. If the instructor reports the grade
after the deadline for completing the work has passed, the instructor must include the date
on which the student submitted the work to the instructor. Failure to affirm to the Registrar
that the student completed the work on time will render the grade unacceptable.
• SAT/UNS For graduate students, Satisfactory indicates that the course was passed with
distinction (B- or above). Graduate courses of Reading and Research (300-level courses)
must be graded Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. No other courses may be graded on a
SAT/UNS basis with the exception of designated foreign language courses. Graduate
students must petition to obtain permission from the instructor to take a language course on
a SAT/UNS basis. Graduate students admitted to a course on a SAT/UNS basis are so
identified on the grade roster.
Student Request for Review of an Assigned Grade
Both undergraduate and graduate students may request that an instructor review a grade that has
been received and may also ask to consult with the Chair of the department or committee offering
the course. However, final authority for the assignment of grades rests with the course head.
Once a grade has been reported to the Registrar, it can be changed by submitting a request of the
instructor to the Registrar, acting on behalf of the Dean of Harvard College (or the Dean of the
Graduate School in the case of 200- or 300-level courses). The Registrar must be satisfied that all
students in the course will have been treated equitably before authorizing any grade change. Grade
changes may be submitted electronically.
Grade Point Averages
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences averages its letter grades with a 4-point scale: A = 4.00, A- = 3.67,
B+ = 3.33, B = 3.00, B- = 2.67, C+ = 2.33, C = 2.00, C- = 1.67, D+ = 1.33, D = 1.00, D- = 0.67. E, ABS,
UNS, EXLD = 0. The grade point average is the numerical average of all grades received in courses
taken under the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for degree credit, including courses taken for credit in
the Harvard Summer School and cross-registration courses as appropriate. Passing grades received
for courses given by other Harvard Faculties or MIT will not be used in computing a student’s grade-
point average except when the courses are counted toward concentration requirements or taken in
the Graduate School of Education as part of Undergraduate Teacher Education Program (UTEP).
Grades received for course work done out of residence will not be used in computing the grade-point
average. Grade-point averages are calculated on both a cumulative and annual basis.
Submission of Grades
Submission of Final Grades
During the final examination period, instructors should not leave the vicinity of Cambridge until their
course grades have been submitted to my.harvard. Because the course head is responsible for the
grades given by their assistants, it is important that the course head closely supervise grading. (See
Responsibility for Evaluation.) Each grade roster for a course must be posted on my.harvard as soon
as possible but no later than the due date noted.
Due Dates for Grades
Mid-Term Grades/UNSAT Reports 2022-2023
Unsatisfactory mid-term progress of undergraduates should be reported online from the third week
of the semester until final grading opens. Undergraduates making unsatisfactory progress, or for
whom you have other concerns, should be reported in the Mid-Term Reporting function
at my.harvard. You do this in the course roster by following the Mid-Term Reporting instructions.
This is a critically important action needed to support our students.
Due Dates for Fall Final Grades 2022-2023
Final grades for all fall courses with or without final examinations, including 300-level courses, must
be submitted on-line based on the due date associated with their assigned Exam and Course
Deadline Group as detailed below. View the deadlines listed by course.
FALL 2022
Exam/Student
Deadline Group
Exam Date
Grades Due
FAS01
Thursday, Dec. 8
Dec 15 (Thur)
FAS02
Thursday, Dec. 8
Dec 15 (Thur)
FAS03
Friday, Dec. 9
Dec 16 (Fri)
FAS04
Friday, Dec. 9
Dec 16 (Fri)
FAS05
Saturday, Dec. 10
Dec 16 (Fri)
FAS06
Saturday, Dec. 10
Dec 16 (Fri)
FAS07
Monday, Dec. 12
Dec 19 (Mon)
FAS08
Monday, Dec. 12
Dec 19 (Mon)
FAS09
Tuesday, Dec. 13
Dec 20 (Tue)
FAS10
Tuesday, Dec. 13
Dec 20 (Tue)
FAS11
Wednesday, Dec. 14
Dec 21 (Wed)
FAS12
Wednesday, Dec. 14
Dec 21 (Wed)
FAS13
Thursday, Dec. 15
Dec 22 (Thu)
FAS14
Thursday, Dec. 15
Dec 22 (Thu)
FAS15
Friday, Dec. 16
Dec 27 (Tue)
FAS16
Friday, Dec. 16
Dec 27 (Tue)
FAS17
Saturday, Dec. 17
Dec 27 (Tue)
FAS18
Saturday, Dec. 17
Dec 27 (Tue)
SPRING 2023
Exam/Student
Deadline Group
Exam Date
May Degree
grades due
Non-Degree
grades due
FAS01
Thursday, May 4
May 8 (Mon)
May 11 (Thur)
FAS02
Thursday, May 4
May 8 (Mon)
May 11 (Thur)
FAS03
Friday , May 5
May 9 (Tue)
May 12 (Fri)
FAS04
Friday , May 5
May 9 (Tue)
May 12 (Fri)
FAS05
Saturday, May 6
May 10 (Wed)
May 13 (Sat)
FAS06
Saturday, May 6
May 10 (Wed)
May 13 (Sat)
FAS07
Monday, May 8
May 12 (Fri)
May 15 (Mon)
FAS08
Monday, May 8
May 12 (Fri)
May 15 (Mon)
FAS09
Tuesday, May 9
May 13 (Sat)
May 16 (Tue)
FAS10
Tuesday, May 9
May 13 (Sat)
May 16 (Tue)
FAS11
Wednesday, May 10
May 14 (Sun)
May 17 (Wed)
FAS12
Wednesday, May 10
May 14 (Sun)
May 17 (Wed)
FAS13
Thursday, May 11
May 15 (Mon)
May 18 (Thur)
FAS14
Thursday, May 11
May 15 (Mon)
May 18 (Thur)
FAS15
Friday, May 12
May 16 (Tue)
May 19 (Fri)
FAS16
Friday, May 12
May 16 (Tue)
May 19 (Fri)
FAS17
Saturday, May 13
May 17 (Wed)
May 20 (Sat)
FAS18
Saturday, May 13
May 17 (Wed)
May 20 (Sat)
Due Dates for Spring Final Grades 2022-2023
Final grades for all spring courses with or without final examinations, including 300-level courses,
must be submitted on-line based on the due date associated with their assigned Exam and Course
Deadline Group as detailed below. The spring deadlines will be posted in early February 2023.
Session Final Grade Due Dates 2022-2023
Session
Final Grade Due Date
F1
October 21, 2022
F2
December 9, 2022
JAN @ GSAS
January 27, 2023
S1
March 20, 2023
S2
May 3, 2023
Submitting Late Grades
Grades must be submitted online to the Registrar's Office on or before the due date noted.
Instructors will receive automated email reminders if grades are not submitted by published date. If
grades remain outstanding the matter will be referred to the appropriate Dean’s office.
Final Grades in Indivisible Courses
Final Grades in Indivisible Courses
Final grades in indivisible courses are always cumulative—that is, they represent the standing of the
students from the beginning of the first term of the course, not merely during the second term. The
fall grade will appear on the transcript with a designation such as “A*” (with an explanation on
transcript) and not factor into the GPA; faculty may also choose “IP” for “in progress.” The fall grade
will be replaced by the spring grade at the time the spring grade is entered. Once the spring course
has been graded that grade will appear on the transcript and be used to calculate GPA with all
academic credits.
Final Grades for Degree Candidates
Grades for degree candidates must be submitted online by the date specified. Degree candidates
are listed separately on the grading portal and they have an earlier due date. Grades submitted
online are final and may not be changed except as indicated in Changes in Grades.
Changes in Grades
A grade that has been reported may be changed by requesting a grade change in my.harvard. The
request should include an explanation for the grade change. If a grade change is requested because
of a clerical error or misunderstanding of Faculty rules concerning the grading structure, the
appropriate dean will ordinarily authorize the Registrar to change the grade. In the case of a grade
change due to judgmental error, the instructor is expected to review the work of other students in the
course or relevant section(s) to determine that grade equity would be maintained if the grade
change were approved. When late work is the basis of a grade change request, it is essential that the
work have been received by the deadline set by the Faculty: the end of the Examination Period for
undergraduates or the end of the next regular term for graduate students. After submitting a grade
change request, faculty will receive two emails: the first acknowledges that the submission of a
grade change request, and the second confirms that the Registrar has approved or denied the grade
change request. Consult grade change instructions in my.harvard.
Although the grades of degree candidates are reported before those of other students, these grades
are considered final and are subject to the same regulations for changes.
Posting of Grades
It is the Faculty’s legal responsibility to maintain confidentiality of student grades and also of
materials upon which evaluations are made. For this reason, instructors should not post grades by
student name or student identification number. Furthermore, instructors should never make a
student’s submitted work, such as problem sets, exam booklets, or papers, accessible to anyone
other than the student who has submitted it, unless specifically authorized to do so by the author.
Approximately six business days after the end of the Final Examination Period, students can begin
viewing their final and midyear grades via my.harvard. However, students who complete online
evaluations for all courses in which they were enrolled for the term will be provided early online
access to their final course grades. Faculty will not be provided online access to their course
evaluation results until they have submitted their grades.
Retention of Exam Booklets and Course Records
Most instructors return exam booklets, papers, and other academic work to the students enrolled in
their courses. Work that is not returned to students must be kept in a safe, accessible location on
campus for at least one year after the end of a course. By law, students have the right to review all
materials submitted to a course, and for a reasonable charge, may have copies of any originals not
returned to them. Course heads should be sure to collect from section leaders and tutors any course
assignments that have not been returned to students for appropriate storage. Faculty who are
leaving the FAS or who will be on leave and away from the University should make appropriate
arrangements for maintaining the availability of students’ work.
Addressing Student Problems
The Administrative Boards
The Allston Burr Resident Deans and Resident Deans of First-Year Students
Graduate School Office of Student Affairs
Neglect of Academic Work
Reports of Unsatisfactory Records
Dishonesty in Course Work
Students in Distress
Administrative Sports Liaisons
The Administrative Boards
The Office of Academic Integrity and Student Conduct houses both the Administrative Board and the
Honor Council and is responsible for dealing with concerns pertaining to undergraduates at the
College.
The Administrative Board of Harvard College has the responsibility for reviewing all unsatisfactory
undergraduate records and disciplinary cases involving social misconduct for possible action. The
Board also votes on all student petitions for makeup examinations as well as exceptions to the
academic rules described in the Harvard College Handbook for Students. The Board is composed of
the Dean of Harvard College and several administrative and teaching members of the Faculty. For
additional information, see both the Handbook for Students and the Administrative Board website.
The Honor Council handles matters dealing with academic integrity and violations of the College’s
Honor Code. The Council is composed of faculty, students, and staff and chaired by the Dean of
Harvard College. For additional information, see both the Handbook for Students and the Honor
Council website.
The Administrative Board of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences reviews and rules on all
matters of discipline and unsatisfactory student performance as well as exceptions to the rules
contained in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Handbook. The Board is composed of the
Dean of the Graduate School, the Administrative Dean, six teaching members of the Faculty, the
Registrar, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, the Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid, and the
Student Affairs Officer. Up to four graduate students serve on the Board when it is considering
appeals of financial aid and teaching fellow appointment decisions.
The Allston Burr Resident Deans, Resident Deans of First-Year Students
and the Dudley Community Resident Dean
Resident Deans
The Resident Deans are the academic deans for Harvard Undergraduates. Their full titles are slightly
different depending on the College student population they oversee. Resident Deans are directly
responsible for the academic and personal welfare of undergraduates. There are twelve Allston Burr
Resident Deans, one in each of the Houses. There are four Resident Deans of First-Year Students,
one for each first-year Yard. The Dudley Community Resident Dean has responsibility for students
who live in the Co-op, a large percentage of the students who resided off-campus, and for visiting
undergraduates (VUS).
Whenever instructors have a concern about an undergraduate, they are urged to contact the
appropriate Resident Dean. Students’ Yard or House affiliations are indicated on course lists. The
Mid-Term Progress Report tool, accessible in the course roster on my.harvard, is one way to
communicate with a Resident Dean about a student in your course, but you can also email or call the
Resident Deans directly. For a full list of Resident Deans and their contact information, please visit
the Dean of Students Office page.
Graduate School Office of Student Affairs
Instructors with concerns regarding graduate students’ academic or personal welfare should
contact the Office of Student Affairs in The Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center, Room
350 (617-495-1814). This office is directed by the Dean of Students, who has general responsibility
for the welfare of graduate students and monitors students’ academic status. The Dean represents
students in disciplinary cases before the Administrative Board of the Graduate School of Arts and
Sciences.
Neglect of Academic Work
Neglect of Academic Work by Students: Exclusion
A student who is neglecting course work should be warned in writing that they risk exclusion from
the course and that exclusion is equivalent to a failing grade. A copy of the instructor’s warning must
be sent to the Secretary of the Administrative Board of Harvard College and the student's Resident
Dean in the case of an undergraduate and to the Dean of Students in the Graduate School of Arts
and Sciences in the case of a graduate student. If the student continues to neglect academic work
after receiving this written warning, the instructor should then send a second letter requesting
exclusion to the Secretary or Dean of Students as appropriate, who will forward it to the
Administrative Board for action. Upon the Board’s approval of the exclusion petition, the student is
denied any right to further course evaluation, including final and makeup examinations.
It is to the advantage of both the student and faculty member to address early a case of gross
neglect of course work. An undergraduate has the option of withdrawing from the course before the
eleventh Monday of the term. Beyond that date there remain only a few weeks for the instructor to
pursue the process of warning and exclusion or, conversely, for the student to recover much lost
ground.
Faculty policy gives the Administrative Boards no choice but to grant a makeup exam to any student
who remains in a course until the end of the term and presents a medical excuse, signed by an
appropriate Harvard University Health Service (HUHS) staff member, for missing the final
examination. This policy applies even when circumstances clearly indicate the student’s gross
neglect of academic work during the term.
Reports of Unsatisfactory Records
Reports of Undergraduates with Unsatisfactory Records
Instructors teaching an undergraduate course are asked to report students making unsatisfactory
progress to the Allston Burr Resident Deans/Resident Deans of First-Year Students by using the
“Mid-term Reports” tool. (Unsatisfactory grades are: D, E, EXLD, FL, UNS, ABS. See The Grading
System.) This process can also be used to communicate special concerns about a student to the
Resident Dean even if satisfactory progress is being made. Instructors may submit progress reports
from approximately the third week of the semester until final grading opens. Please follow this
knowledge article for instructions on how to report unsatisfactory progress: Mid-Term Reporting in
my.harvard.
These progress reports go to the Assistant/Resident Deans and are used only for advising and
counseling purposes. They are extremely important for identifying students who may be facing any
of a wide range of difficulties. Instructors are also asked to cooperate with the Resident Deans of
First-Year Students and the Allston Burr Resident Deans regarding inquiries that they may make
about the status of individual students. However, please note that instructors should also be in
direct contact with any student making unsatisfactory progress.
March grades in full year courses extending from September to May should reflect the student’s
current standing for the spring term. At the same time, instructors should report students whose
cumulative grade for the entire year is unsatisfactory.
Dishonesty in Course or Academic Work
Students Charged with Dishonesty in Course or Academic Work
Although instructors have the responsibility for evaluating students’ academic performance, the
Faculty has granted jurisdiction over matters of student dishonesty to the GSAS Administrative
Board and the College's Honor Council. Therefore, any instance of possible student dishonesty in
course work should be reported at once.
If an undergraduate is involved, the incident should be reported to the Dean of Harvard College
(through the Secretary of the Honor Council of Harvard College). After a preliminary investigation,
the faculty member, in consultation with the Secretary of the Council and the Department Chair or
his/her designee(s), can determine whether a “local sanction” is appropriate; if so, the Secretary of
the Council will be available to provide advice to the faculty member as to how similar offenses have
been treated in the past. Any local sanction imposed by the faculty member will be reported to the
Council by the Secretary. In all instances in which it is determined that a local sanction is not
appropriate the case will be referred to the Council.
If a graduate student is involved, the incident should be reported to the Dean of Students of the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. After a preliminary investigation, the faculty member, in
consultation with the Dean and the Department Chair or his/her designee(s), can determine whether
a “local sanction” is appropriate; if so, the Dean will be available to provide advice to the faculty
member as to how similar offenses have been treated in the past. Any local sanction imposed by the
faculty member will be reported to the Administrative Board by the Dean. In all instances in which it
is determined that a local sanction is not appropriate the case will be referred to the Board.
Each case involving possible student dishonesty that goes to the Honor Council or Administrative
Board will receive a careful hearing. Action taken by either body can range from “scratch” (the
Council/Board decides that no disciplinary action is warranted) to requirement to withdraw or even a
recommendation to the Faculty that the student be dismissed. In cases involving undergraduates
who have misused source materials in the preparation of course work, the Honor Council of Harvard
College will often recommend and make available appropriate instruction on the proper use of
sources and footnotes.
Students have a right to expect that grading will not be used as punishment for alleged academic
dishonesty that has not been confirmed by the Honor Council or by the Administrative Board.
Students may ask the Council/Board, through their Allston Burr Resident Dean/Resident Dean of
First-Year Students in the case of undergraduates, or through the Dean of Students in the case of
graduate students, to investigate and resolve informal allegations of academic dishonesty that have
not been brought to the attention of the Council/Board.
Students in Distress
Instructors are not responsible for counseling students on personal or emotional difficulties, even
when those problems affect academic work. It is the faculty’s responsibility to refer to appropriate
resources. Undergraduate students who seem to be unusually upset or who are in need of special
help should be referred to their Resident Dean. Instructors are encouraged to call or email Resident
Deans to relay their concerns about a particular undergraduate. Concerns about a graduate student
should be referred to the GSAS Office of Student Services (617-495-5005). The Counseling and
Mental Health Services (CAMHS) (617-495-2042) and the Academic Resource Center (ARC) are also
available to help both undergraduate and graduate.
For more guidance on student well-being as well as how to create a mental health-friendly course,
please find resources at https://www.harvard.edu/wellbeing/guidance-for-faculty-staff/.
Administrative Sports Liaisons
Athletics and Administrative Sports Liaisons
The Harvard College Dean’s Office, Administrative Board, and Department of Athletics collaborated
to develop a policy that limits the number of class days and weekend days that may be missed per
semester on account of athletic competition. Controls and approval processes are in place to ensure
that communication between an athlete and his or her Resident/Allston Burr Assistant Dean occurs
prior to travel from campus. Athletes are ultimately responsible for resolving academic/athletic
scheduling conflicts directly with academic faculty and staff. Sports Supervisors, designated by the
Athletics Director and assigned to each team, are available to assist athletes with the compliance of
these policies and procedures. Questions regarding these policies should be directed to Nathan Fry,
Deputy Director of Athletics (617-495-4992), nfry@fas.harvard.edu.
Teaching Resources
Advising Programs Office
Graduate Student Advising
Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
Academic Resource Center (Bureau of Study Counsel)
Departments of the Assistive Technology Center, Humanities Faculty Services, Instructional Media
Services, Language Resource Center, and Piano Technical Services
Harvard Library System
Harvard University Information Technology
Office of Career Services
Office of International Education
Office for Undergraduate Research Initiatives
Writing Center
Advising Programs Office
Advising Programs Office of Harvard College
1414 Massachusetts Avenue, Floor 3R
617-496-0218
advising.college.harvard.edu
advising@fas.harvard.edu
The Advising Programs Office (APO) cultivates quality academic advising for all Harvard College
undergraduate students. The APO promotes the intellectual and personal transformation of students
across the four years by encouraging exploration, reflection and informed decision-making about
curricular and co-curricular choices and opportunities. The APO creates trainings, resources, and
programs for a cohort of advisers which include faculty, administrative and residential staff, and
upper-level (Peer Advising Fellows) students. The APO collaborates with colleagues in academic
departments, partner departments in the Office of Undergraduate Education, the Dean of Students
Office, and other constituents to ensure that students and advisers are well informed.
The APO offers resources and webinars for incoming students over the summer prior to
matriculation, and the office works with the following adviser roles:
Board of First-Year Advisers (BFA)
The First-Year Adviser is a faculty member, administrator, Proctor, or other University affiliate who
helps first-year students select courses and advises on questions regarding the curriculum,
academic requirements, educational goals, summer opportunities, and extracurricular interests.
Peer Advising Fellows Program (PAF)
Peer Advising Fellows (PAFs) are upper-level students who are assigned to first-year students to
facilitate their transition to the College and their acclimation to Harvard. PAFs provide advice on
student life at the College, including sharing their own academic experiences, helping with course
selection, and identifying co-curricular opportunities like research and study abroad. PAFs are also
there to listen to and talk through challenges with first-year students. They can give advice on
anything from extracurricular to social experiences and refer first-year students to other resources
when appropriate. PAFs are expected to have thorough knowledge of campus resources so that they
know where to send advisees for information in each concentration. Finally, the PAFs play a key role
in helping to build community within the entryway and dormitory by working with the Proctors and
each other on study breaks, other entryway activities, and dorm-wide events.
Sophomore Advising
Each sophomore is assigned a Sophomore Adviser, who serves as the primary academic adviser
guiding students in choosing courses for the third semester, exploring and selecting a concentration,
and reflecting on co-curricular opportunities including research, study abroad, public service, and
internships. Sophomore Advisers connect students to resources and guide students in how to
pursue their interests. Concentrations will assume primary academic advising responsibility for
sophomores in the fourth term, while House Sophomore Advisers will continue to offer on-going
academic advising as students explore curricular and co-curricular endeavors outside of the
concentration. Each House appoints a Sophomore Advising Coordinator (SAC) to manage this work
and plan House-based advising events for sophomores.
Concentration Advising
Concentration advising seeks to guide students in three phases: into an appropriate set of
introductory courses in the field of study, to advanced work in the field of study and, when
applicable, through a final project or thesis in the senior year. Each concentration plays an important
role in pre-concentration advising through collaborative efforts with the APO and the Houses.
Students are encouraged to begin exploring concentrations in the first year especially during the
Exploring Fields of Study (EFoS) program in the spring where students are invited to attend
concentration events and meet with advising teams. In the third term, Sophomore Advisers
encourage students to seek out information from the concentration advising teams before the
declaration deadline in November.
Once sophomores select a concentration, their primary academic adviser will be assigned based on
the policies of their concentration. Most use a team approach: the Director of Undergraduate Studies
(DUS) or Head Tutor, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies (ADUS) or Assistant Head Tutor,
and Undergraduate Coordinator (UGC) will advise various students, splitting duties as needed
depending on the student, situation, and time. Some concentrations make use of the House Tutors
to advise students by House, coordinating with the Faculty Deans in the hiring process.
Each concentration has its own requirements. Several of the humanities and social science
concentrations have a tutorial system (ranging from one to five semesters), and many students
receive additional advising from their tutorial leaders. Basic concentration information, including
gateway courses and contact information for each of the concentrations can be found on the APO's
Exploring Concentrations page here.
Advising Resources Website and my.harvard.edu
Students can access records tracking their academic progress in my.harvard. In the “Advising
Network” tab, students will find the photos, names, and contact information for all of their assigned
advisers. They can also view their Academic Advising Report which outlines their progress towards
completing the requirements for their degree and other important advising materials, such as score
reports from placement exams and a “What If?” report to help students plan their path to degree.
Students’ advisers can also access the my.harvard portal to see the photos, names, and contact
information for all of their advisees. Advisers are strongly encouraged to update and consult the
“Advising Journal” frequently to facilitate communication between the advising network team.
Graduate Student Advising
Advising is a crucial aspect of the graduate student experience, an activity that is central to the
successful completion of a graduate student’s education. As an advisor, you are responsible for
ensuring that your advisee receives the guidance they need to successfully navigate their academic
training and graduate in a timely manner. You also play a critical role in helping with their career
preparation and, ideally entering the profession of their choosing. Advising graduate students is a
privilege, and the relationship you develop with them will affect their time at Harvard and the career
path they follow afterwards.
As an advisor, you may feel you don’t have all the answers. GSAS maintains an advising website that
outlines best practices, lists advising resources, and provides details on upcoming workshops. We
encourage you to reach out to The Advising Project for more information.
GSAS students are enrolled in 58 different graduate programs; each student’s experience is unique,
meaning that each advising relationship is unique. While no single advising approach can be applied
universally, several recommendations can be put into practice in all advising relationships.
Setting Expectations
During your first meeting with your advisee, discuss expectations:
• How often will you meet?
• How long will your meetings normally last?
• What are your expectations for communication? Email? Office visit?
• How long should a student wait for a reply to a communication before following up?
• What your role as an advisor will cover and who else in the program or at Harvard can help
with their academic training.
Be sure to revisit these expectations regularly as the student progresses through their academic
stages. And remember that, no matter how positive a relationship you have with your advisee, they
will recognize that a power differential exists. Do what you can to create an environment in which
the student will be comfortable discussing difficult topics.
Communicate Available Resources
GSAS students have access to GSAS and other Harvard resources that will help them during their
graduate careers. Examples include the Fellowships & Writing Center, Office of Career Services,
Disability Access Office, and Academic Resource Center. Familiarize yourself with these resources
so that you can refer to them at various points in the student’s career. If your advisee has an overall
concern, you can direct them to the GSAS Office of Student Services.
Faculty should also be aware of issues of diversity, inclusion, and belonging, understanding that a
student’s identities can impact their sense of belonging in the program and at Harvard. Reach out to
GSAS’s Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging for more information and guidance.
Advising Network
Advisors should be the student’s primary point of contact, but effective advisors recognize that
students benefit from multiple perspectives. Connect them with other faculty members or program
staff who may inform their project and provide fresh perspectives.
Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
50 Church Street, Suite 308
Phone: 617-495-4869
Email: bokc[email protected]vard.edu
bokcenter.harvard.edu
The Bok Center offers faculty, graduate students, and other instructors a wide variety of resources
and programming to foster excellence in teaching and learning. We strive to promote a culture of
experimentation, collaboration, and reflection about teaching, and to support instructors in creating
equitable and inclusive learning environments. The Center supports faculty in designing their
courses and syllabi, in developing their classroom presence, and in exploring evidence-based
strategies to promote learning. Faculty speakers share ideas about teaching at a series of faculty
lunches, reading groups and journal clubs draw faculty together into communities of practice, and a
peer observation program provides participating faculty with a supportive community of colleagues
with whom they can share experiences and materials as they develop as instructors. The Bok
Center’s Learning Lab collaborates with faculty to create and implement innovative assignments and
course activities.
The Bok Center offers a robust slate of professional development programming for PhD students.
Early-stage PhD students look to the Bok Center as they prepare to teach, and may attend our Fall
Teaching Conference or Winter Teaching Week for an introduction to the foundations of teaching, or
take a Bok Seminar to explore topics in teaching, learning, and communication. We serve
international students and scholars who want to improve their oral English communication skills to
prepare for the language and culture of the Harvard classroom through our Professional
Communication Program for International Teachers and Scholars. Advanced PhD students can
demonstrate their commitment to developing as teachers in higher education by pursuing one of our
Teaching Certificates or by applying to our Pedagogy Fellows and Media and Design Fellows
programs, where we partner with departments to enhance training and support for graduate student
teachers across the FAS.
Further information and resources on teaching are available on the Bok Center’s website.
Wheelchair accessible.
Academic Resource Center
1414 Massachusetts Avenue, Floor 3R
academicresourcecenter@harvard.edu
academicresourcecenter.harvard.edu
(617) 495-5734
The Academic Resource Center (ARC) supports the academic missions of Harvard College and the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences by providing foundational skills and strategies that empower
students to reach their full academic potential. Drawing on research in the behavioral and learning
sciences and working in collaboration with faculty and staff, the ARC offers students the tools they
need to optimize their intellectual engagement during their time at Harvard and beyond.
All College and GSAS students are welcome and can access the full range of ARC services
throughout their time at Harvard. No referral is needed. Students can choose to engage with the ARC
in person and virtually. They can access all ARC services through the website and can register for
most services using the ARC Scheduler. Students, faculty, and staff can get in touch with ARC staff
by sending an email to academicresourcecent[email protected]du.
The ARC offers four main services: Academic Coaching, Accountability Groups, Workshops, and
Peer Tutoring, as well as the English Language Conversation Program.
Academic Coaching
Students can meet one-on-one with an academic coach to work on optimizing their learning
experience. Academic coaches introduce students to techniques for managing time, reading
strategically, studying effectively, and more. They also help students learn more about their ideal
learning styles and environments, prioritize their goals for the semester, and plan for when they are
returning from leave or recovering from an injury or illness. ARC coaches support students from all
disciplines and will direct students to other appropriate resources on campus as needed.
Accountability Groups and Accountability Hours
The ARC is committed to helping students connect with a key resource at Harvard – their fellow
students. ARC coaches facilitate accountability sessions where students come to the ARC (in
person or virtually) to work towards a specific goal in the company of other students. At the start of
an accountability session, students set a goal for the session and share that goal with the group.
These sessions help students because they create opportunities for weekly structure, social
connection, and peer motivation.
Workshops
ARC academic coaches also facilitate various workshops throughout the semester. These
workshops center around building and strengthening the skills necessary to succeed academically.
Workshop topics include time management, strategic reading and note-taking, semester planning,
problem set strategies, and more.
Peer Tutoring
The ARC oversees the Peer Tutoring program, connecting Harvard students with a network of
trained peers who can support their learning in a variety of selected courses. Peer Tutors can
provide an extra layer of academic support for students by reviewing critical concepts and materials
from class, clarifying points of confusion, and developing study strategies for upcoming exams.
English Language Conversation Program
ARC-trained conversation partners provide support for students who are non-native English
speakers, offering assistance in developing speaking and listening skills, understanding local idioms,
learning more about the US and Harvard cultures, or practicing for oral presentations. Primarily for
graduate students.
For more information about the ARC or any of our services, please contact us by email and visit our
website.
Education Support Services
Joya Sengupta, Executive Director of Education Support Services
https://ess.fas.harvard.edu
Education Support Services (ESS) provides world-class audiovisual and instructional support,
training and consulting services to faculty, staff, students in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS).
The team supports the school’s mission by delivering premium technology offerings that advance
the teaching & learning environment.
ESS provides multimedia support to classes and events occurring in FAS buildings. Supported
technologies include: computer and video projection within FAS classrooms, sound reinforcement
systems, audio and video recording/editing, and web simulcasting and videoconferencing. Services
include assisting FAS, Continuing Education, and Summer School classes with classroom media
equipment, lecture capture, special event support, and assistive listening systems.
Please contact ESS at ess@fas.harvard.edu to arrange for services.
Services are available without charge for work performed in support of Faculty of Arts & Sciences
courses and course-related activities that are restricted to members of one course. For other
activities, charges are based on the amount of labor and equipment used to perform the task.
Photographs of classrooms and information on classroom features can be found at
http://imsroombook.fas.harvard.edu/.
Education Support Services is comprised of several groups.
• The Assistive Technology Center provides alternative materials and assistance to students
requiring accessible education.
• Event & Media Production supports events including conferences, performances, symposia,
and ceremonies. This group includes the Media Production Center’s Hauser and Plympton
Studios.
• The Teaching & Learning Support group provides multimedia resources for graduate and
undergraduate course instruction within the FAS, ranging from AV support in FAS learning
spaces to lecture capture services for simultaneous enrollment courses.
• Design & Engineering supports technical infrastructure, including repairs to AV systems,
consultation and design and installation of new AV technologies in FAS spaces.
• The Language Center supports language instruction, providing consultative support,
technologically-mediated teaching spaces, and professional development programs.
• Piano Technical Services cares for the 200+ FAS pianos.
Main Office:
Science Center Room B02 (wheelchair accessible)
617-495-9460
https://ess.fas.harvard.edu
Monday – Thursday 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM, Friday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (during the academic year)
Provides classroom technology support for FAS locations except Sever Hall, CGIS, Northwest
Building, and the Science Center. See below for support in those locations. Books videoconferences
and rents or loans portable equipment. Supports special events in all FAS locations.
CGIS Office:
CGIS South Building Room S053
617-495-9807
Monday – Thursday 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM, Friday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (during the academic year)
Supports classes and events in CGIS and adjacent buildings.
Northwest Labs Office:
Northwest Labs Room B111
617-495-5775
Monday – Thursday 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM, Friday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (during the academic year)
Supports classes and events in the Northwest Building and adjacent buildings.
Science Center Prep Room:
Science Center Room B-01
617-495-5357
Monday – Thursday 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM, Friday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (during the academic year)
Supports classes and events in the Science Center.
Sever Hall Office:
Sever Hall Room 301
617-495-9470
Monday – Thursday 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM, Friday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (during the academic year)
Supports classes and events in Sever Hall and adjacent buildings.
Assistive Technology Center Science Center Room B-05 (wheelchair accessible)
617-496-8800
Monday – Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Open to registered students 24 hours daily
Email: atc@fas.harvard.edu
https://atc.fas.harvard.edu
The Assistive Technology Center (ATC) serves students with disabilities requiring technical
solutions to access course materials. The ATC also demonstrates assistive technologies for
members of the Harvard community. Students must be registered with the Disability Access Office
(DAO) or their graduate school's local disability coordinator before receiving services. (See Students
Requiring Accessible Education.) For more information, please see the DAO website.
Media Production Center
Rosovsky Hall (rear), 59 Plympton St.
617-495-9440
Monday – Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Email: ims_mp[email protected].edu
https://mpc.fas.harvard.edu/
The Media Production Center (MPC) produces custom audio and video materials for teaching,
outreach, and research. Our studio is equipped to record interviews, voiceovers, musical
performances (Steinway grand piano on-site), on-line learning modules, and promotional videos. We
also provide video post-production services such as editing, titling, and color correction; location
audio/musical event recording and reinforcement; audio editing, mixing, and mastering; format
transfers, digitizing, and web file creation. We are happy to provide assistance and guidance to solve
your audio and video media problems.
Services are available without charge for work performed in support of Faculty of Arts & Sciences
courses and course-related activities that are restricted to members of one course. For non-course
activities, charges are based on the amount of labor and equipment used to perform the task.
Rita E. and Gustave M. Hauser Digital Teaching & Learning Studio
Widener Library, Room G90 (Concourse Level; wheelchair accessible)
617-495-3979
Monday – Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Email: hauserdigitalstudio@harvard.edu
https://hauserdigitalstudio.harvard.edu/
The Hauser Studio, centrally located in Widener Library, is a state-of-the-art video capture studio that
provides services for courses and related activities throughout the University. The studio is equipped
to provide broadcast, HarvardX, and cinema style multi-camera production. It serves as a high-tech
production facility and as a training ground for faculty throughout the University who want to
experiment with new approaches to further integrate digital technology into their teaching.
Language Center
Science Center B-06 (wheelchair accessible; assistive listening available)
617-495-9448
Monday – Thursday 9:00am – 10:00pm, Friday 9:00am – 5:00pm
Email:lang[email protected]ard.edu
https://language.fas.harvard.edu
The Language Center offers consulting support, technology, and learning spaces to students and
faculty in FAS world language courses and to other FAS courses using materials in languages other
than English or focusing on international cultures. The Language Center is comprised of three
technology-equipped active learning classrooms for small groups, and a multipurpose area for
informal language learning and events.
There are two screening rooms for small-group foreign-language instruction and one technology-
equipped classroom for course section meetings.
Piano Technical Services
Vanserg Hall, Piano Shop (wheelchair accessible)
617-495-2981
Monday – Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Email: pts@fas.harvard.edu
https://pts.fas.harvard.edu
Piano Technical Services (PTS) tunes, maintains, repairs, and restores all FAS pianos and graduate
school in Cambridge and Allston. We also tune FAS harpsichords. All tuning requests should be
made at least five working days in advance to guarantee scheduling. Emergency requests will be
considered. Please email or phone to find out if your request can be accommodated. PTS does not
move or purchase instruments, or reserve or schedule practice rooms. PTS does rent pianos, please
call for more information.
Harvard University Information Technology
Information Technology
Harvard University Information Technology (HUIT) provides direct IT support to the Faculty of Arts
and Sciences, as well as technology services, solutions, and strategy for the entire University.
Faculty members can find some of the tools and resources they’ll need to get started with teaching,
research, and working at Harvard, and where to get help, at our faculty landing page:
huit.harvard.edu/faculty. These include:
• Basics: HarvardKey, campus Wi-Fi, and Harvard’s emergency messaging system
• Technology for teaching: including Canvas, my.harvard, and Zoom
• Technology for research: including high-performance computing, library resources, and
consulting
• Tools for collaboration and daily use: including Microsoft and Google tools, phone, and
printing
IT help is available through the following channels:
• Call: 617-495-7777
• Chat: huit.harvard.edu/chat
• Submit a ticket or find online help articles: huit.harvard.edu/ithelp
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Harvard Library System
Harvard Library
We are the libraries and archives of Harvard University.
At Harvard Library, we are champions of curiosity. We aim to be global leaders in expanding world
knowledge and intellectual exploration. We engage with our communities in the creation and sharing
of new knowledge, connecting them with the vast collections that we curate and steward through
collaborations around the world.
At its core, our mission for nearly four centuries has been to advance the learning, research, and
pursuit of truth that are at the heart of Harvard.
We have over 800 staff engaging with scholars and students across more than 25 libraries and
around the world. With over 20 million physical and digital items, our vast collections are renowned
for their global reach and depth, with resources spanning the development of all disciplines and
more than 460 languages.
Our rare and special collections are amongst the most remarkable in the world, ranging from
medieval manuscripts to sound recordings of modern poets and from early maps to digital images.
We collect collaboratively with peer institutions and facilitate international open access, seeking to
build a diverse, open corpus of knowledge with scholars and citizens everywhere.
Established in 1638, we are the oldest library system in the United States and the world’s largest
academic library.
library.harvard.edu
Explore Libraries
Harvard Library is a multi-library system with more than 25 locations across campus and beyond.
library.harvard.edu/libraries
Special Collections and Archives
Harvard Library is home to all kinds of historical documents and objects. Discover primary sources
including letters, photographs, books, scores, and digital materials, many of which have been
digitized.
How to Use Harvard’s Special Collections and Archives
Digital Collections
Harvard Digital Collections provides free, public access to more than 6 million objects digitized from
our collections - from ancient art to modern manuscripts and audio-visual materials.
Use CURIOSity Digital Collections for curated views of Harvard's digital collections.
Teaching Support
Teaching a class? Let our expert staff help you get the most out of the library for your courses. We
can help you find materials, create course guides, and provide library instruction and library visits for
your class.
https://library.harvard.edu/services-tools/teach-library
Popular Library Services and Tools:
Ask a Librarian - Get immediate help during our live chat hours or submit a question.
Check Harvard Library Bookmark - Before you subscribe to a journal or buy an article, check to see if
you have access through Harvard Library.
Lean Library browser extension - Use this browser extension to seamlessly access Harvard Library
resources from anywhere on the web.
HOLLIS, library catalog - HOLLIS is Harvard Library's catalog. Search HOLLIS for books, articles,
media and more.
New York Times - Claim your free New York Times digital account and search their archives.
Scan & Deliver - Request library materials—from book chapters and periodicals to special collections
and ephemera—and we will digitize and send them to your inbox.
Office of Career Services
54 Dunster Street
Phone: 617-495-2595
careerservices.fas.harvard.edu
The Office of Career Services (OCS) supports all students and alumni up to five years out of Harvard
College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), and degree candidates in the Harvard
Extension School (HES) in exploring and making effective career and educational choices during
their time at Harvard and beyond. OCS offers an extensive range of programs, resources, and
advising to assist with decisions across a full range of potential interest areas including arts,
entertainment, science and technology, education, government, law, media, business, and medicine.
In addition, OCS assists students in exploring and planning for a wide range of domestic and
international opportunities, including internships, research opportunities, summer jobs, term-time
and summer international education, postgraduate employment, and graduate and professional
study. The Office of Career Services administers a number of funds which support undergraduate
experiences outside of the classroom.
The first floor of OCS is accessible to individuals with mobility impairments via the 52 Dunster Street
entrance.
Wheelchair accessible
Office of International Education
1414 Massachusetts Avenue, 3rd floor
Phone: 617-496-2722
Fax: 617-496-2563
Email: oie@fas.harvard.edu
www.oie.fas.harvard.edu
Study Abroad
Harvard views study abroad as an essential part of every student's undergraduate education, and
over half of Harvard College students participate in an international experience during their time as
an undergraduate. Study abroad, in particular, provides students the opportunity to earn credit
toward their concentration, secondary field, language citation, and elective credit through studying in
another country. Details about academic year, term-time, and summer study abroad may be found
on the Office of International Education (OIE) website.
From a full year, one semester, or even just a summer abroad, there are many ways to experience
international study. The Office of International Education advises Harvard College students on all
aspects related to study abroad, from finding the right program best suited to the student’s
academic and other interests, preparation prior to departure and on-the-ground resources, to funding
support, academic advising, and ensuring a smooth re-entry back to Harvard. The OIE website has
extensive advising resources, including information on approved programs and universities, course
and credit guidelines, application instructions, pre-departure materials, and contact information for
the OIE staff, concentration and language advisers, and student advisers and ambassadors who
have recently returned from a semester abroad.
Planning is key to a successful study abroad experience, so it is never too early to begin integrating
study abroad into individual academic plans, seeking advice from concentration, secondary field,
and/or language advisers, and visiting the Office of International Education for guidance. All
students should seek assistance from the OIE as early as possible to begin planning the best study
abroad experience for them. To ensure that credits from courses taken abroad will transfer back to
Harvard for concentration or secondary field credit, students should work directly with the specific
academic departments. If a student is seeking elective credit for a course taken abroad, the course
will be reviewed by an Elective Credit Committee.
Who can Study Abroad?
Rising sophomores, juniors and seniors may participate in term-time study abroad through enrolling
directly into a foreign university, participating in programs sponsored by U.S. universities, or through
organizations dedicated specifically to providing high-quality study abroad programs. The OIE
maintains a list of approved programs on the OIE website, which is reviewed and updated annually.
If a student is interested in participating in a program that is not on the approved list, the student
may petition the program through the formal petition process.
Getting Started
To begin planning, students should meet with an adviser at the OIE during drop-in hours held daily
(Monday-Friday, 2:00 PM–4:00 PM), or through appointment, by emailing oie@fas.harvard.edu.
Student Advisers, who are recently returned study abroad students, are also available to speak with
through informal conversations, coffee chats, or during in-person drop-ins.
Procedures for Earning Degree Credit for Study Abroad
Credits earned through study abroad are considered transfer credit, though are still applied to a
student’s academic record (see more below). No more than 16-credits may be earned per term for
term-time study abroad, and no more than 8-credits may be earned for summer study abroad. A
maximum of 32-credit transfer credits may be earned from studying abroad.
Transfer credit may be earned for concentration and/or elective credit and may also contribute to a
secondary field or language citation. Courses taken during term time or summer study abroad may
also count for the divisional distribution requirement. Specific information about these options is
provided on the OIE website, the General Education website (see Term Time Study Abroad), and
through the undergraduate advisers in the academic departments.
Students planning to study abroad in countries where English is not the primary language spoken are
encouraged to complete at least one year of study in the host country’s language before studying
abroad. Additionally, as part of their academic program during each term abroad, students in non-
English-speaking countries are expected to take either a language instruction course or a course
taught entirely in a language of the host country. Students taking beginning language courses
abroad should be aware of the language policy.
It is expected that students who study abroad for a semester or academic year will take a full-
course-load as determined and approved by the OIE, and consistent with the College's policies and
transfer in an equivalent full course load (ie. 16-credits per term) to be applied to their student
record.
Applying for Study Abroad
Online application instructions and materials are available on the OIE website. To ensure that
academic advising conversations take place before the student receives approval to study abroad, it
is expected that each student studying abroad will have consulted with their Resident Dean and
departmental DUS regarding their proposed study abroad coursework. Students should meet with a
study abroad adviser from the OIE for specific questions on this process.
To be approved for study abroad, a student must be in good academic and disciplinary standing
during the term immediately preceding the proposed period of study. Unless granted permission by
the Administrative Board in advance, a student cannot be granted degree credit for course work that
begins when the student is on probation for any reason.
To study abroad, students must do both of the following:
• Apply directly to their study abroad program or university for admission.
• Apply to the Office of International Education for course approval and transfer credit.
Applications to the OIE, for study abroad transfer credit, must be completed and submitted by the
deadlines listed below:
Term Time
• October 1 for Spring Term study abroad
• March 1 for Fall Term study abroad
Summer
• Mid-February (for students applying for both summer funding and credit)
• April 1 (for students seeking only credit, no summer funding)
Students should begin the application process early and monitor the OIE website carefully for
updated or changed information.
Financial Aid and Summer Funding
Finances should not hinder a student’s ability to study abroad, as student financial aid awards
transfer to semester study abroad and may be used to pay for study abroad tuition, room and board,
program and visa fees, books, airfare, and other living expenses. Students eligible for financial aid
should consult their designated financial aid officer for more detailed information.
All students earning credit abroad during the academic year will be charged the student services fee
on their Harvard College term-bill. Students will also be billed automatically for health insurance,
which may be waived with proof of comparable coverage by the designated deadline.
Students abroad will maintain their HarvardKey and may access Harvard libraries and other virtual
services.
Though financial aid for summer study does not exist, Harvard College offers summer funding for
international experiences, including study abroad. Students should consult the OIE website for
details, or speak with an OIE adviser. Students may consult the Office of Career Services for more
information about other summer funding opportunities.
Harvard does not ordinarily grant credit for study out of residence at other U.S. institutions, except in
rare cases when such study is judged to offer a “special opportunity” unavailable to the student at
Harvard. Information on the process for petitioning for credit for study out of residence within the
U.S. can be obtained from the student’s Resident Dean or Yard Dean; if the student’s petition is
approved by the Administrative Board, the OIE will be notified by the appropriate Dean and will
instruct the student on how to apply for transfer credit. Undocumented or DACA students interested
in a domestic study out of residence should reach out to Camila Nardozzi, Director of the OIE, for
more information.
Undergraduate Research
Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (URAF)
77 Dunster Street (corner of Dunster and South Streets)
Phone: 617-495-5095
Email: undergradresearch@fas.harvard.edu
Website: http://uraf.harvard.edu
The Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (URAF) serves as the hub for institution-wide
policies, practices and funding related to undergraduate research; the development and
implementation of College-based programs such as the Harvard Summer Undergraduate Research
Village and the Program for Research in Science and Engineering (PRISE); and the management of
postgraduate fellowships and prestigious national competitions (such as Rhodes, Marshall, and
Fulbright). In addition, in conjunction with Admissions and Financial Aid, OCS, OIE, the FAS Office of
Science Education, and other collaborative academic and affiliated research enterprises, URAF
provides advising, resource materials, and seminars about the full range of research opportunities,
research funding, and fellowships locally (university-wide), domestically, and internationally.
Writing Center
Barker Center 019
Phone: 617-495-1655
Email: writi[email protected]ard.edu
https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/
The Writing Center offers free one-on-one writing help to all undergraduate students. Instructors may
recommend the Writing Center to students who need help with argument, structure, and clarity in
academic writing. An English Grammar and Language tutor is also available to assist students with
grammar and syntax. The Writing Center website also features handouts about academic writing
and a link to the Harvard Guide to Using Sources, an online publication that explains how to use
sources effectively and how to avoid plagiarism.
Wheelchair accessible.
