Minor Safety

Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith College collectively serve thousands of minors every year. We are collectively committed to the safety of these children.

Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith College collectively serve thousands of minors every year. We are collectively committed to the safety of these children which is why each school requires Authorized Adults working with children in college-sponsored programs to comply with their Minor Safety Policy.  Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith College each have Minor Safety Programs that are administratively supported by Five College Risk Management. On this page, you will find links to your schools Minor Safety Policy, a webform for registering your program, and instructions to complete the Minor Safety Certification Process.

    Start the Minor Safety Certification Process

    Complete Required Training

    1. Log in to the Minor Safety Certification Database. 
      • For users with a College-issued email address, log in under Five College Students, Faculty, and Staff using your main college network credentials.
      • For users without a College-issued email address, log into your account under Don't Have a College Network ID? using the login information sent to your email when your program manager first registered you for your program. If you did not receive an email, please contact riskmgmt@mtholyoke.edu.
         
    2. Navigate to the Training Tab. Select and complete each required training from the dropdown.

    Complete Required Background Check

    The CORI Authorization Forms and their respective processing procedures differ between campuses. Answers the questions below for customized instructions for your campus:

    In-Person Submission Instructions for Amherst College:

    1. Fill out the Five College CORI authorization form.
    2. Bring your completed form along with an original form of valid (non-expired) Government Issued Photo ID to Karen Summers in Converse 105 during business hours, or email Karen Summers to make an appointment to turn in your CORI form in person. Karen will verify your identity and forward your form to Five College Risk Management for processing.
    3. Once Risk Management has received your CORI Authorization Form, you will receive an email from Data Facts (automation@instascreen.net) with a link to fill out the background check questionnaire. Your access will expire, so try to complete your questionnaire within 5 days of receiving the email. You may need to check your spam folder.

    Within 30 days of submitting your online background check questionnaire, a consumer reporting agency will check your record. If you are approved, your Minor Safety Certification will be valid for three years. 

    If you have questions about our Background Check Procedures, you can learn more here.

    In-Person Submission Instructions for Hampshire College:

    1. Fill out the Five College CORI authorization form.
    2. Make an appointment to turn in your completed form in person to Lori Bouchard, either by email at the link or by calling (413) 559-5345. Remember to bring along an original form of valid (non-expired) Government Issued Photo ID. Lori will verify your identity and forward your form to Five College Risk Management for processing.
    3. Once Risk Management has received your CORI Authorization Form, you will receive an email from Data Facts (automation@instascreen.net) with a link to fill out the background check questionnaire. Your access will expire, so try to complete your questionnaire within 5 days of receiving the email. You may need to check your spam folder.

    Within 30 days of submitting your online background check questionnaire, a consumer reporting agency will check your record. If you are approved, your Minor Safety Certification will be valid for three years. 

    If you have questions about our Background Check Procedures, you can learn more here.

    In-Person Submission Instructions for Mount Holyoke College:

    1. Fill out the Five College CORI authorization form.
    2. Bring your completed form along with an original form of valid (non-expired) Government Issued Photo ID to Human Resources in Skinner Hall during normal business hours. They will verify your identity and forward your form to Five College Risk Management for processing.
    3. Once Risk Management has received your CORI Authorization Form, you will receive an email from Data Facts (automation@instascreen.net) with a link to fill out the background check questionnaire. Your access will expire, so try to complete your questionnaire within 5 days of receiving the email. You may need to check your spam folder.

    Within 30 days of submitting your online background check questionnaire, a consumer reporting agency will check your record. If you are approved, your Minor Safety Certification will be valid for three years. 

    If you have questions about our Background Check Procedures, you can learn more here.

    In-Person Submission Instructions for Smith Students:

    1. Fill out a Smith College CORI Authorization Form.
    2. Bring your completed form, along with an original form of valid (non-expired) government-issued photo ID, to Clark Hall Room 101 during CORI Open Hours. Student Affairs staff will verify your identity and order your CORI check.
      • Fall 2023 CORI Open Hours:
        Thursdays, 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM
        Fridays, 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM*
        *(No open hours on October 13, 2023.)
    If students cannot make open hours, they should get their form notarized by a notary public. Notarized forms can be submitted in-person when Clark Hall is open, or by mail to:
    • Smith College Student Affairs
      c/o CORI Representative
      50 Elm Street
      Northampton, MA 01063 
    Please note that it can take up to three weeks for the entire CORI process to complete, from the date you hand in your form to the date you receive notification of results. If you are approved, your Minor Safety Certification will be valid for three years. 

    Questions? Email studentaffairs@smith.edu.

    In-Person Submission Instructions for Smith Volunteers:

    1. Fill out the Smith College Volunteer CORI authorization form.
    2. Make an appointment to turn in your completed form in person to Human Resources using this link, and select "CORI & I9 Verifications." Remember to bring along a form of Government Issued Photo ID to your appointment. They will verify your identity and process your CORI.
    Within 30 days of submitting your CORI application, a consumer reporting agency will check your record. If you are approved, your Minor Safety Certification will be valid for three years. 

    In-Person Submission Instructions fro Smith College Employees:

    1. Fill out the Smith College Employee CORI authorization form.
    2. Make an appointment to turn in your completed form in person to Human Resources using this link, and select "CORI & I9 Verifications." Remember to bring along a form of Government Issued Photo ID to your appointment. They will verify your identity and process your CORI.
    Within 30 days of submitting your CORI application, a consumer reporting agency will check your record. If you are approved, your Minor Safety Certification will be valid for three years. 

    Remote Submission Instructions for Amherst, Hampshire and Mount Holyoke College:

    1. Fill out the Five College CORI authorization form.
    2. Get your CORI authorization form notarized. To verify your identity, bring an original form of valid (non-expired) Government Issued Photo ID to your notarization appointment.
    3. Once you have a notarized copy of your CORI Authorization Form in hand, you have two options:
    4. Once Risk Management has received your CORI Authorization Form, you will receive an email from Data Facts (automation@instascreen.net) with a link to fill out the background check questionnaire. Your access will expire, so try to complete your questionnaire within 5 days of receiving the email. You may need to check your spam folder.

    Within 30 days of submitting your online background check questionnaire, a consumer reporting agency will check your record. If you are approved, your Minor Safety Certification will be valid for three years. 

    If you have questions about our Background Check Procedures, you can learn more here.

    Remote Submission Instructions for Smith Employees:

    1. Fill out the Smith College Employee CORI authorization form. For the purpose of our being able to run an effective background check, be sure to include your current legal name as well as your chosen name and any other names you have gone by.
    2. Get your CORI authorization form notarized. To verify your identity, bring an original form of valid (non-expired) Government Issued Photo ID to your notarization appointment.
    3. Once you have a notarized copy of your CORI Authorization Form in hand, you have two options:
      • Encrypt a scanned PDF of your notarized Authorization Form and send two emails to hr@smith.edu - one with the encrypted file and one with the password.
      • Mail the notarized Authorization Form to: 
        ATTN: Greg Armstrong
        c/o Smith College HR
        42 West St
        Northampton, MA 01063 
    Within 30 days of submitting your CORI application, a consumer reporting agency will check your record. If you are approved, your Minor Safety Certification will be valid for three years. 

    Remote Submission Instructions for Smith Students:

    NOTE: Mailed-in submissions can extend processing time by 1-2 weeks. Any errors or missing information may result in a hold being placed on your form, which can delay your ability to start your program. If you are submitting remotely, your notary is required to fill out the "Subject Verification" section. IF YOU ARE COMING IN-PERSON TO COMPLETE YOUR VERIFICATION, YOU DO NOT NEED TO GET YOUR FORM NOTARIZED.
    1. Fill out the Smith College iCORI authorization form. For the purpose of our being able to run an effective background check, be sure to include your current legal name as well as your chosen name and any other names you have gone by. 
    2. Get your CORI authorization form notarized. 
    3. Once you have a notarized copy of your CORI Authorization Form in hand, you can mail the notarized Authorization Form to: 
      • Smith College Student Affairs
        c/o CORI Representative
        50 Elm Street
        Northampton, MA 01063 
    Please note that it can take up to four or five weeks for the entire CORI process to complete, from the date you send your form to the date you receive notification of results. In addition to the time it takes to process and complete a CORI check, this estimate accounts for delivery delays, form errors, and other possible occurrences.

    If you are approved, your Minor Safety Certification will be valid for three years. 

    Questions? Email studentaffairs@smith.edu.

    Remote Submission Instructions for Smith Volunteers:

    1. Fill out the Smith College Volunteer CORI authorization form. For the purpose of our being able to run an effective background check, be sure to include your current legal name as well as your chosen name and any other names you have gone by.
    2. Get your CORI authorization form notarized. To verify your identity, bring an original form of valid (non-expired) Government Issued Photo ID to your notarization appointment.
    3. Once you have a notarized copy of your CORI Authorization Form in hand, you have two options:
      • Encrypt a scanned PDF of your notarized Authorization Form and send two emails to hr@smith.edu - one with the encrypted file and one with the password.
      • Mail the notarized Authorization Form to: 
        ATTN: Greg Armstrong
        c/o Smith College HR
        42 West St
        Northampton, MA 01063
    Within 30 days of submitting your CORI application, a consumer reporting agency will check your record. If you are approved, your Minor Safety Certification will be valid for three years. 

    Letters of Suitability 

    Mount Holyoke College will accept a letter of suitability if you are working in another school district and have had fingerprints completed as part of the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) or National Sex Offender Registry Information (SORI) process less than 2 years ago. You can request a letter of suitability in lieu of completing a new CORI through us. Please reach out to Risk Management at riskmgmt@mtholyoke.edu for instructions.

    Policies

    Review your college's Minor Safety Policy. Pay particular attention to your college's procedures for reporting inappropriate interactions with youth.

    Amherst College
    Hampshire College
    Mount Holyoke
    Smith College

     

    FCI Minor Safety Policy

    Established: November 2022
    Responsible Office: Operations HR
    Responsible Senior Staff Member: Director of Operations
    Drafted By: K. Dymek, Shonda Pettiford, Sarah Pfatteicher
    Date Last Revised: May 17, 2023

    In its role, Five Colleges, Incorporated (FCI) facilitates the administration of a wide array of academic and administrative programs for the benefit of faculty, students, and staff at its Member institutions, as well as promoting a thriving intellectual and cultural local community. FCI may provide funding, staffing, or other forms of support to aid the Member campuses in implementing such programs.  FCI itself does not host any programming involving Minors independently of the Member campuses. 

    Like its Member campuses, FCI is committed to ensuring that programs are appropriately managed and occur in environments that are safe and secure, including for Minor persons under 18 years of age. FCI has zero tolerance for the mistreatment or abuse of Minors in its Programs, and in Programs that FCI supports.

    FCI has developed a minor safety policy to promote the safety of Minors engaged with FCI and its Member campuses.  Under this policy, FCI requires programs that receive FCI funding or other material support to declare and register any Program that falls within a host campus’ own minor safety policy.   FCI will not host any activity, event, workshop, or other interaction that requires registration and that cannot be registered with a Member campus.

    Policy Scope

    Sponsored Programs

    A sponsored program meets all of the following criteria:

    • The program is either explicitly designed for children or will include Minors for which the college will have supervisory responsibility. 
    • The program is paid for, organized by, or operated in whole or in part by the college.

    Exclusions

    A program is not considered a sponsored program if any of the following are true:

    • The program is not explicitly designed for children and does not include participants under the age of 18.
    • The program is not paid for, organized by, or operated in whole or in part by the college.
    • The event is open to the public and the college will not have supervisory responsibility for (full care, custody, and control) of any minor participants that happen to attend.
    Flowchart for identifying whether an event is considered a college-sponsored program. A text-based summary of the contents of this flowchart is available under this same section.

    Register a Program

    To give your program participants ample time to complete the minor safety certification process, please register your program with Risk Management at least 21 calendar days prior to the start of your event.

    Program Manager Details

    In addition to the program manager, this individual would be able to view the certification status of the authorized adults in this program.

    Additional Administrator

    Program Details

    Please provide a rough estimate.

    Authorized Adults

    If you already have a list of adults who will be participating in the program, you can input them here. Alternatively, if the list is very long (10+ participants), you can instead populate this program roster document and send it to adomings@fivecolleges.edu.

    If an authorized adult's chosen name differs from their legal name, input the individual's chosen name in this section.

    Develop Your Emergency Response Plan

    Before your program starts, make sure you are informed, prepared, and know what to do in case of an emergency.

    Download Template

    Resources for Remote Programming

    As we shift our programs to operate in virtual settings, many program managers may be wondering what Minor Safety should look like in the digital landscape we build for our participants. Praesidium, our consultant in abuse prevention, has published the following helpful resources for you to consider in designing an online experience for minors that incorporates the best known practices for preventing abuse. 

    Operating Distance Learning Programs
    Electronic Communications with Youth