Academic-Year Policies

Registration

Your registration will be sent directly to the Registrar’s Office by the School of Japanese. Your courses will be available for viewing on BannerWeb on the first day of class.

Add/Drop Procedures

Courses may only be dropped with the approval of the director. Courses dropped before the add/drop deadline do not appear on your transcript. Non-attendance does not constitute an automatic withdrawal from a course. Courses dropped after the add/drop deadline will be recorded as WD.

Course Load and Credits

All credit awarded by the Language Schools is defined in terms of units. Each Middlebury Language Schools course is one unit and is equivalent to three semester hours of credit. Students in the Japanese MA program enroll in three units of credit during their first summer, their summer of candidacy, at the Vermont campus. Upon successful completion of this summer of candidacy, students will be permitted to continue with their program.

In order to make satisfactory progress and maintain eligibility for federal financial aid (if eligible), students are expected to maintain a 3-course load (3 units) in the summer semesters and a 2-course load in the academic year semesters. The expected curriculum plan would be the following:  3 courses in one summer, 2 courses each in a fall and spring, 3 courses in a second summer, and 2 more courses in the final fall.

If for some reason, students pause or slow down their progress, students may not take the Teaching Practicum course, in the second summer, until at least 7 courses are successfully completed.

Only in rare instances will permission to carry less than the minimum course load outlined above be granted by the director.

Further, students are responsible for paying the full tuition [for that semester] even if they are carrying less than the minimum load of courses. For example, if a student took only one course during the fall, they would be responsible to pay the tuition due for the full course load of two courses.

A degree must be earned within a ten-year period. All units of credit expire after ten years, whether earned at Middlebury College or transferred from another institution. The validity of a degree, which certifies a level of achievement, does not expire.

Withdrawals

In order to withdraw from the School of Japanese, a student must send an email announcing their plan to withdraw to the School of Japanese assistant director and director. Students who withdraw after the add/drop deadline will have courses recorded on the transcript as WD with no credit.

Re-enrollment for students who voluntarily withdraw during a fall or spring semester is at the discretion of the director.

Master of Arts Degree Candidacy

The Master of Arts degree in Japanese Language and Culture requires twelve units (equivalent to 36 credit hours) in the areas of language, pedagogy, literature, and civilization. Receipt of a Bachelor of Arts degree or the equivalent from a regionally accredited institution is a prerequisite for admission to the Master of Arts program. Students are notified by letter of their formal acceptance into the Master of Arts program after successfully completing three graduate-level courses during their first summer of study on the Middlebury campus. If a student earns a grade lower than B- in any course during the summer of candidacy, the student will be notified in writing that admission to the Master of Arts degree program has been denied. Students who are denied admission to the Master of Arts degree program may submit a letter requesting reconsideration of candidacy if special circumstances exist that contributed to the negative outcome of the summer of candidacy. Written requests will be reviewed by the director whose decision, in consultation with faculty and the vice president’s office (if necessary), is final. Any student who is granted permission for readmission to the summer of candidacy must successfully complete all courses required for the degree.

Once accepted as a candidate for the Master of Arts degree, students may then complete the Master of Arts degree by attending online course work and a subsequent summer session in Vermont.

Students in the Japanese Master of Arts program are expected to complete three units in an initial summer session in Vermont, four units of online, asynchronous courses during the academic year followed by 3 units in a second summer session in Vermont, followed by another 2 units of online asynchronous courses.

A highly qualified undergraduate student may accumulate, before receipt of the Bachelor of Arts degree or equivalent, a maximum of three graduate units at the Language Schools to be applied toward the Middlebury Master of Arts degree. Such units will not count toward both degrees.

Master of Arts degree students who are assigned a grade of “F” will be dismissed from the program. All other failing grades represent unsatisfactory progress and may jeopardize a student’s eligibility for federal loans and may be grounds for dismissal from the program. Transfer courses may not be used to make up failures (see Transfer Credits). All failed courses must be made up at a summer session in Vermont.

Independent Study Courses

Students may not earn academic credit for independent study courses conducted outside of the summer term (with the exception of courses taught at one of the Middlebury C.V Starr Schools Abroad).

Transfer Credits

After formal admission to the program, candidates for the MA degrees may request permission from the Director of the School of Japanese to transfer from another institution a maximum of the equivalent of one full-time summer of study at Middlebury (three units). Final approval will come from the Registrar’s Office. To be considered for transfer, courses must be valued at the equivalent of one unit of Middlebury credit (three semester hours, four and a half quarter hours, or six ECTS units). For courses taken at institutions on the quarter system, as well as institutions whose courses do not carry credit equaling three semester hours, the Middlebury Language Schools grant (a) one unit of credit for two quarter courses or (b) two units of credit for three quarter courses. Please submit in writing which option you intend to follow.

Only courses taken after successful completion of the initial summer and formal admission to degree candidacy can be transferred. Courses taken at other institutions before the first summer of study may not be transferred toward a Middlebury degree, and transferred courses may not be used towards any other degree. Written approval of a course’s transferability must be obtained from Middlebury before registering for the course. Courses that have not been pre-approved will be considered for transfer only in those instances in which a student can demonstrate that pre-approval was not possible (for example, due to a last-minute cancellation of a pre-approved course). Middlebury courses transferred from one degree program are not eligible for another Middlebury degree.

Courses for transfer must be graduate level and taken at an accredited institution that offers a Master of Arts degree in either the language of study or a related discipline. In either case, to be considered for transfer credit these courses must be taught entirely in the language of the student’s degree program. We do not accept for transfer 1) certificate courses, 2) independent study courses, nor 3) courses taught fully or partially in English (unless there was a strong focus on Japanese, to be decided at the discretion of the Director), nor 4) courses from extension or continuing education programs. For specific Schools’ policies on transfer credits from MAT or M.Ed. programs, please consult with the director.

The courses must be taught in the language of study in the areas of language analysis and linguistics, culture and civilization, literature, pedagogy, or professional preparation, and must not duplicate courses already taken for degree credit. All units counted toward a degree must be taken on a graded, not a pass/fail or credit/no credit basis. No grade below a B- may be applied toward a Middlebury MA degree. Courses may not be transferred to make up for failed courses failed at a Middlebury summer session or at a School Abroad. Students with failing grades forfeit as many possibilities of transfer credit as they have failing grades.

Auditing

Auditors are normally not allowed in the Japanese MA degree program.

Language Pledge

The Language Pledge® is an integral component of all study at the Middlebury Language Schools. To take full advantage of the Language Schools program, students are expected to maintain the spirit of the Middlebury Language Pledge to speak only the language they are studying while on campus during the summers. During the academic year courses, no English will be used in communications with students, instructors, or the director unless the course is designated as an English-medium course serving students of multiple languages.

Grades

The following grades are used: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, F. No grade below a B- may be applied to a Middlebury Master of Arts degree. An A+ grade is available only at the graduate level and represents an exceptional level of achievement. Late submission of coursework may have a negative impact on your grade as determined by the course instructor. Master of Arts degree students who are assigned a grade of “F” will be dismissed from the program.

Courses dropped after the end of the add/drop deadlines are recorded on the transcript with a grade of WD. Pass/Fail grades and notations of “no credit” or “auditor” are not available.

A change in grade will only be allowed in a case of clerical error or for the reason of fairness to the student. Students who wish to appeal a course grade should consult with the instructor of the course and the Director of the School. The student must write a letter stating the reasons for the appeal and should include copies of all relevant supporting materials. A change of grade form must be completed by the instructor of the course and the Director. Subsequent appeal may be made to the Vice President, whose decision is final. Appeal must be made during the six months following receipt of the grade.

Incompletes

Incompletes are seldom given and only for illness or compelling reasons. All requests for incompletes must have the approval of the Director of the School. There must be a clear written understanding between the faculty member and the student as to the conditions under which the incomplete grade is to be completed.

To petition for an incomplete grade, you must fill out an Incomplete Request Form available from the Director of your School. Both the instructor and the Director must sign the form. A grade of “incomplete” that has not been completed within three months of the end of the session automatically becomes a failure (F). It is the responsibility of the student to make sure that this deadline is respected. Reminders will not be sent by the Registrar’s Office.

Grade Reports

Final grades will be available online (BannerWeb). Students will be notified via email when final grades are available. Grades are never released over the phone. Students will need their student ID number to access grades via BannerWeb.

Student Records

In accordance with FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974), students or former students of Middlebury College have the right to inspect all educational records placed in their files after January, 1975. NOTE: Please see additional FERPA information or contact the Middlebury Registrar’s Office.

The Language Schools maintain several types of student records:

• Summer directory information: student’s name, campus address, and home address. Distribution is limited to the individual School. If you do not want to have your name appear in this directory, you should notify the Assistant Director of your School.
• Academic records: A transcript for each student is maintained by the Registrar’s Office. The transcript contains grades and related academic information, as well as notations of graduation, withdrawal, and degrees received.
• The administrators of the Schools keep, in the School offices, applications, correspondence, brief memoranda of conferences with students, and evaluations of students’ work by instructors, when they judge that such information may be useful or necessary in giving continuing counsel.
• Students should consider very carefully the consequences of any decision to withhold directory information. Should you decide to inform the College not to release directory information, any future requests for such information from persons or organizations outside Middlebury will be refused. Regardless of the effect upon the student, Middlebury assumes no liability for honoring instructions that such information be withheld.
• Requests for nondisclosure must be submitted in writing to the Registrar’s Office. Forms for making such requests may be obtained from the Registrar’s Office.
• For purposes of legitimate interviews and letters of recommendation, students may authorize the use of educational academic records (information on the transcript) and the Schools’ non-academic records. If students authorize the use of academic records for legitimate inquiry, e.g., security clearance or job references, the Registrar may also indicate to inquirers the names of administrators and instructors who might act as further references. Other inquiries will not be filled without the specific written permission in each case from the student.

Students may inspect and review their education records upon request to the appropriate records custodian (Registrar’s Office) within 45 days from the receipt of the request. Middlebury reserves the right to refuse to permit a student to inspect those records excluded from the FERPA definition of “education record.”

Students may challenge the contents of their educational records. If School officials receiving the challenge issue a response that is unsatisfactory to the student, a formal hearing may be held. Requests for changes in a student’s educational record should be made in writing to the Middlebury Registrar.

Students have the right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by Middlebury College to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is:

Family Policy Compliance Office

U.S. Department of Education

400 Maryland Avenue, SW

Washington DC 20202-5920

Transcripts from other institutions and letters of recommendation used in support of application to Middlebury cannot be released to another institution or to an employer. Letters of recommendation written in support of a student’s application may be used for no other purpose, nor can they be returned. Additional information about student records is available from the Registrar’s Office.

Transcripts

Students have two options when requesting an official transcript: online or by mail. Transcripts ordered online can be delivered hard copy by mail or electronically by secure email. If you choose to have your transcript delivered electronically, be sure that the recipient will accept a transcript delivered this way. A fee of $8 is charged for each transcript ordered online ($5 transcript fee plus $3 online service fee).

To request a transcript by mail, print the Transcript Request form (available on the Registrar’s Office webpage) and mail to the Registrar’s Office in Middlebury. A fee of $5 is charged for each official transcript.

No transcripts are issued to or for students who are financially indebted to the College until satisfactory arrangements have been made with the Bursar’s Office.

Data Collection Policy

All surveys, questionnaires, or interviews, involving human subjects, including faculty, students, or staff, must be approved, or deemed exempt by the Middlebury Institutional Review Board.

Each proposed data collection consent form needs to state in clear and unequivocal terms that participation is entirely voluntary and in no way related to course requirements or grades.

Special Policies

Student conduct policies are published in the Language Schools handbook.