Resources for New Master's Students

Academic Resources 

• MS Academic Advising Home Page
  Landing page for all the information you need! Has all the links and information! BOOKMARK IT!
• MS Advising Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
  Information about taking a class pass/fail, summer classes, and more.
• Getting Started/How to use SPIRE
• How to search for classes on SPIRE- video
  SPIRE is hard to learn. This has quick tips on how to search for classes.
• Graduate Student Course Load Survey from Jan '21
  See what courses your peers spent the most time working on
• CICS Course Offering Plan See what courses are offered in what semesters NOTE- this is a plan and is subject to change
• CICS Student Groups
  Groups for grads in CICS such as CS Women, B[u]ilt, HackUmass, HACKHER413, and more 

UMass Resources

• Sign up for UMass Emergency Alerts 
  Be sure you are signed up to get texts and calls about snow days, safety alerts, and more. 
• UMass Amherst Graduate Student Student Organizations
• UMass Dining Meal Plan for Graduate Students
• UMass Job Board
  Find on-campus jobs. International students can only apply for positions that are on-campus and non-work study. International graduate students can only apply for on-campus, non-work study positions. 
• UMass Dining Job Application/Information
  Find on-campus jobs. International students can only apply for positions that are on-campus and non-work study.
• UMass Student Resources Hub 
  This site is a comprehensive list of the many UMASS Resources from Legal Services, to Off-Campus Housing Resources, and more! If you do not know where to start looking for things, start here! 
• Boston Public Library Card
  All students in Massachusetts are able to sign up for a free e-library card through the Boston Public Library. You will have access to tons of e-books and audiobooks. 
• Free New York Times On-Line Access
  Free access to all of the New York Times on-line and the app through UMass.

Amherst/UMass Area Resources

• Downtown Amherst Information
• Visit Hampshire County- Tourism Information
  Articles on things to do and visits. Plus, there is a great free newsletter full of events, and things to do
• Northampton Live
  Great website with calendar, restaurant lists, area information and more, all focused on Northampton
• Daily Hampshire Gazette
  Local paper or record for the Pioneer Valley
• MassLive
  MassLive is a local news website for all of Western Massachusetts