NOTE: This information only applies to learners who matriculated prior to the fall of 2019 and have not already waived the field experience requirement. The curriculum has been updated and the field experience is no longer waiveable as of March 1, 2020.
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It is my understanding that in the past students generally submitted their Field Experience Waivers right before their last semester. You can, of course, do this, however if you believe that you are eligible for a Field Experience Waiver, it's best (in my opinion) to get that taken care of as early as possible. Why?, you ask. Well, when you waive the Field Experience (APLING 690) you still need to take an elective in its place. If you wait until the last minute to apply for a waiver you have to take any ol' elective offered in the spring. If you take care of the waiver earlier on, you have a choice of electives to take in its stead.
So, what do you need to get the waiver?
If they are currently teaching or have taught in the recent past.
In order to obtain a waiver you need to get a letter from a supervisor stating that you have taught for their institution, on formal letterhead.
The letter should include:
- Institution Name
- Your supervisor's name and title
- Your name
- What time frame you were teaching for them
- Evidence of a minimum of one year fulltime teaching experience in an ESL, bilingual, or foreign language setting.
- What language courses were you teaching? (e.g.: FRENCH101, Introductory Latin, Intermediate Greek, ESL 1)
- How often were you teaching these courses? (e.g.: ESL 1, every fall; ESL level 3, Every other fall)
- Was the teaching part time or full time
- How many hours spend on average per week in the classroom
- If you had department mandated office hours, how many hours per week did you have office hours?
The letter should be written on official letterhead and should include the contact information of the person signing it.
Keep in mind that this is not an evaluation of your teaching, simply an acknowledgement that you are employed as a teacher by this institution currently, or at some point in the recent past.
Please mail letters to:
Department of Applied Linguistics
Attn: Online Program
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125, USA.
Please scan and keep a copy of this letter for your own copies. If you would like to email a PDF copy to applied.linguistics@umb.edu (which the original paper copy makes its way to us via post) this is OK too :-)
If you have questions, please let us know!
AK
PS: If you find this blog post helpful, please hit the "like" button :)
Comments
Hi Cory,
Your old school should have HR records that you worked for them (along with specifics like job title information, dates of responsibility, and so on). You would need to get something from the school you worked at as your main documentation. Your old supervising manager can submit additional information about your work at the old school, but it would be supplementary to whatever you receive from the school's HR department :-)
Greetings,
I am looking to get the waiver for the field experience from my previous school, but my supervising manager from that time has left the school. I have also left the school and have been teaching in my own institution for the past few years. She is currently teaching in Japan at another institution. I would prefer getting her reference, since she is most familiar with my work and teaching skills. Thus, I have a few questions:
1. Will my supervising manager be able to provide the information for the waiver, despite not being at the former institution?
2. If so, should she provide the information using her new institution's letterhead?
3. If not, I would likely just talk to HR from the previous institution. Will this be acceptable in its place?
I appreciate your time. Thanks a lot!
Hi Tara,
The waiver for the field experience doesn't show up on the transcript. It's a note in the student file at the Registrar's office so that they know not to hold up graduation if 690 is not completed. Oddly enough even I can't see it on my end in WISER :o
Hi A.K.,
I already think I got the waiver for the field experience. Will it show up with my other completed courses? Or say something like, waived? Thanks!
Hi Betsy, Just the letter is fine :-) We know what to do once it's received. We usually send confirmation of receipt and and processing, but it's a good idea to check in 3 weeks after the letter is mailed if you haven't heard back. On rare occasion stuff gets lost in the mail (so it's good to have a backup copy). Also, on rare occasion if we process the paperwork during a busy period (an example of such a period the is advising and registration period), the notification of receipt might get buried.
Hi!
Eagerly anticipating beginning this program next month. For the field experience waver, is there a form we should include along with the letter, or do we simply send the letter alone with confidence that the receiver will know what it's for? Also, will we receive some kind of confirmation that we were approved for the waiver?
Thanks!
Thanks. I just sent the letter from my current employer. Please let me know if it is sufficient.
That is the correct email (applied.linguistics@umb.edu also works if that's easier to remember) :-)
Thanks for the quick reply. I will get a letter from my current district for you so that you can let me know. Is the correct email aplingonline@umb.edu ?
Heather
Hi Heather,
I think that a letter from your current Part Time teaching might suffice. If you get that for me I can tell you with certainty once I seethe specifics :)
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