Division II Procedures and Deadlines

If students complete all the requirements for Division I in their ﬁrst year, they submit a preliminary statement about their goals for Division II in their Division I portfolio, which forms the basis for further discussion with their advisor and potential Division II committee members. Students who are still working on completing Division I requirements in their third semester or are still developing their ideas for Division II begin to work on their Division II contract during their third semester and meet with faculty members they may want on their Division II committees to discuss their ideas.

Courses taken during the ﬁrst two semesters of enrollment not used to fulﬁll Division I requirements may be applied to the Division II if relevant. Courses taken during the third semester of enrollment, if not needed to fullﬁll Division I requirements, will also become part of the Division II concentration if relevant, even though the Division II has not yet been ﬁled on TheHub. In all instances, the third semester is considered a Division II semester.

In consultation with the advisor and the potential members of the concentration committee, the student drafts a Division II contract on TheHub. As the contract indicates, the student should state the general goals of the concentration, naming the ﬁelds of inquiry, techniques, and skills that the student seeks to understand and develop through the plan of study, and indicate prior experiences, including those in Division I, that contributed to the choice of the concentration; outline the learning activities that will constitute the plan of study, showing how they relate to its general goals; indicate expectations for assistance and supervision that the student will receive from faculty; and state the ways in which the student intends to demonstrate fullﬁllment of the Division II contract. The contract also includes a statement of how the student’s work relates to the Multiple Cultural Perspectives requirement and, if possible, how the student plans to fulﬁll the Community Engagement and Learning requirement.

Beginning fall 2014, fall 2013 first year entrants and fall 2014 transfer entrants will be expected to participate in the pilot Division II committee request on line as part of posting their Division II draft concentration on TheHub. The deadline to do so coincides with the program applications (ie. film/photo/video, writing, theater and studio arts) deadline of October 17, 2014. The purpose of this process is to ensure all students who participate will be assigned a chair relevant to their Division II concentration. If you do not participate, you risk not being assigned a chair. Once assigned a chair, you will be expected to follow up with your faculty and find a member to complete your committee. For more information, please be sure to check your Hampshire email regularly as well as announcements on the Intranet.

Once assigned, your advisor of the Division II committee is designated as the chairperson. The chairperson has the primary responsibility for monitoring the progress of the concentration, overseeing the ﬁnal meeting, and writing the student’s Division II evaluation. The Division II chair serves as the academic advisor, unless a student, by ﬁling a form with the Center for Academic Support and Advising, requests that a different faculty member serve as the academic advisor.

Students should work on developing their Division II contracts, in consultation with their advisors and relevant faculty members, during their third semester. Depending on their Division I pass date, students may post the contract as ready for faculty signatures anytime between the beginning of the third semester and the beginning of the fourth semester of enrollment (the ﬁnal deadline). Committee members electronically sign the contract, which ﬁles it with central records. Division II is a four-semester undertaking, with at least three semesters completed after ﬁling the Division II contract. The portfolio of work submitted to the Division II committee represents the equivalent of four semesters’ worth of work in Division II.

The initial Division II contract may be and usually is amended or rewritten during the period of work on the concentration by completing a new draft on The Hub. To ensure the accuracy of the information included in the Division II evaluation, students must revise their Division II contracts during their final full semester of Division II, after the end of that semester's add/drop period. Any contract revision must be signed by all members of the committee.

The student is responsible for fullﬁlling all the commitments detailed in the Division II contract. Evidence of completion will typically include course evaluations, Five College grades, research papers, and lab work; fullﬁllment of the Multiple Cultural Perspective; and evaluations for internships, independent studies, performance, artistic work, and Community Service or Community Engagement and Learning. All work completed on ﬁeld study or exchange must be evaluated, documented, and recorded by the central records ofﬁce.

Periodic feedback from the committee chairperson will provide a sense of how the concentration is progressing. Before a ﬁnal meeting is scheduled, the student should contact the chairperson to verify that all of the materials to be submitted for evaluation as speciﬁed by the contract have been made available to each committee member. At that point, the student should arrange the time of the ﬁnal meeting with the members of the committee. Although the format and style of the ﬁnal meeting varies, it is normally an oral examination of the student’s Division II work, which involves a discussion of the central questions addressed in the concentration.

Students are encouraged to include a statement about prospective Division III work as a part of the Division II portfolio submitted for evaluation. It is expected that Division III work will grow out of Division II work, as Division III is not the place to acquire knowledge, skills, methodologies, and techniques necessary for independent study. Division III work should be undertaken in a different area of study only in cases in which the student has appropriate other background that constitutes suitable preparation for advanced work.

Prior to the ﬁnal meeting, students must submit a ﬁnal revision of the Division II contract on TheHub, updating the list of courses and other learning activities included in the concentration. The revision should also contain any necessary changes in committee members, community service requirements, and other aspects of the contract. The Division II committee should sign the revised contract on The Hub prior to the ﬁnal meeting.

Students must submit their Community Engagement and Learning evaluations to central records for recording prior to the ﬁnal meeting. The evaluation should be on letterhead of the institution where the student provided service, and include a description of the work done and evaluative comments of the student’s performance. It should be signed by the evaluator and contain the evaluator’s name, title, and institutional afﬁliation.

All Hampshire faculty committee members must sign the online pass form. The pass date recorded will be the date the last committee member signs the pass online. The committee chairperson will then write a formal evaluation online in accordance with evaluation deadlines.

NOTE: Division II is considered to be a four-semester-long undertaking. Under exceptional circumstances, students who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishment in their Division II studies may, with the support of their Division II committee, petition for an accelerated Division II. They must do this in the anticipated final semester of their Division II. Students must be able to demonstrate not only that they will have completed the equivalent of four semesters worth of work in their Division II, but also that their work rises to an exceptional level. They must also demonstrate readiness for Division III, including commitments from a Division III committee. Students must complete the application form available at the Center for Academic Support and Advising and secure written support from both Division II committee members. The full application must be submitted to CASA no later than October 1 or March 1 of a student’s anticipated final semester of Division II. Division III requires at least two full semesters of enrollment.