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Volunteers and Visitors
VOLUNTEERS
While we strongly encourage all students working in a lab with a Faculty Member to register for independent credit, on occasion a Principal Investigator may choose to allow Volunteers access to, or work in, their labs without compensation. This situation is for the purposes of engaging in training at the University of Massachusetts solely to enhance the Trainee's academic and professional standing. All Volunteers must receive department approval prior to their start date.
Volunteers are people who are not paid or receiving credit. They include:
UMass Graduate and Undergraduate students
Five-College Graduate and Undergraduate students
Students from other institutions outside of the 5-college system
Private sector individuals
All Volunteers must provide emergency contact information to the department, be under the direct supervision of the faculty member in charge, and complete a Volunteer and Student Trainee Acknowledgement, Agreement and Release form. This form is found to the right of this page. It summarizes expectations; lists rooms and equipment which the volunteer may have access to, and outlines risk and liability in the event of an accident. This form must be filled out, printed and signed by both the Volunteer/Visitor and the Principal Investigator before a witness prior to the volunteer/visitor gaining access to a lab.
The Volunteer and Visitor Policy differentiate between short term, one month or less, and long term, longer than one month, volunteers. Both cases require approval from the department and, when relevant, the Director of Animal Care.
SHORT TERM VOLUNTEERS (< 1 month)
Volunteers who will be on campus for less than one month must:
1) have a faculty sponsor,
2) complete and submit a Volunteer Form
3) notify the department chair
4) provide emergency access information to the department office.
Short Term Volunteers can only enter department lab facilities under the supervision of the faculty member in charge.
Access to the Animal Care Facilities is strictly controlled. In addition to the above, a Volunteer must:
5) have prior approval from the Director of Animal Care
6) be accompanied at all times by someone on the appropriate animal protocol who has IACUC training certification.
7) may not do any animal procedures
If the Volunteer will be directly involved in human participation testing, then they must adhere to the relevant longer term policy.
LONG TERM VOLUNTEERS (> 1 month)
Those who are long term volunteers must complete the same steps as short term but in addition they must:
1) be added to the animal use protocol if relevant,
2) complete relevant basic training (e.g., IACUC, Lab Safety, Blood born Pathogens) and arrange with the Director of Animal Care for access privileges.
3) obtain a campus ID.
4) complete a Notification of New Person Form to be added to the Department Database
If keys are required, a Key Request Form must be submitted.
HUMAN SUBJECTS
All non-UMass or 5-College Volunteers and Visitors who engage in working with Human Subjects must adhere to the relevant longer term policy and successfully complete the CITI training and the Department's Ethics training.
VISITING PROFESSORS / POSTDOCS / RESEARCHERS / SCHOLARS
The department welcomes the collaboration of colleagues from outside of the University. Funding and support, however, is very limited. The Department can provide desk space, access to the University library system and limited access to secretarial services as provided by our Departmental Policies.
Approval must granted before a sponsoring faculty member can extend an invitation to a Visiting colleague. As soon as a potential Visitor has been identified, please submit a copy of the Visitor’s CV, along with dates the Visitor will be on campus, to the Chair’s office. Once approved, a letter of invitation outlining the provisions will be sent to the Visitor.
All Visitors must adhere to the same policies as the Volunteers, fulfilling either the Short Term or Long Term guidelines.
Please be aware these are non-paid positions. Visitors must make their own arrangements for housing and health insurance.
Foreign Visitors
If the Visitor is a non-U.S. citizen, then the relevant immigration forms will need to be completed. The fee in relation to the processing of these forms is the responsibility of the Visitor and/or the sponsoring Department Faculty member. The University’s International Programs Office (413-545-2843) should be contacted as soon as a decision has been made to accept an international visitor.
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