POLICY ON WRITTEN ENGLISH 
PROFICIENCY REFERRAL PROGRAM

1. Each semester the Information Systems Department provides to all faculty members a Written English Proficiency Report for each undergraduate class. Each faculty member must complete this report for all undergraduate students, in terms of established criteria prepared by a faculty committee. A space is provided to indicate "proficient," "not proficient," or "undetermined." This report is due in the Registrar's Office no later than three weeks prior to the first day of examinations each semester. A professor may, however, refer a student after this deadline by sending the alternative referral form that accompanies the report to the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts by the last day of examination for the semester.

2. From these sheets Information Systems prints a list of all students who have been rated "not proficient" by one or more faculty members.

3. Students referred as "not proficient" are evaluated by a written essay, with the following limitations:

   • All students who have completed their required English courses through EH102 will be evaluated, unless the student has been conditionally cleared for graduation by his/her Dean during the semester of referral. If the student fails to complete the requirements for graduation, s/he must report to the Director of Writing Center during registration for the following semester to make arrangements to take the exam.

   • Students who have previously been through this evaluation process can be required to be evaluated a second time, but not more than twice. Such students may include the following:

   • A student is referred as "not proficient" by a professor but judged "proficient" by the Committee, and is then again referred by a professor.

   • A student who is assigned to the Proficiency Program after evaluation, completes it, and is then again referred by a professor.

4. Each student who must be evaluated is sent a written notice to this effect. The notice states specifically when and where he/she must report for evaluation. The evaluation is conducted each semester before the beginning of final examinations. Any student who fails to report for evaluation as instructed is automatically placed into the English Proficiency Program. The student will not be allowed to complete registration until he/she has made arrangements with the Director of the Program.

5. The evaluation is made and proficiency is determined by the Written English Proficiency Committee, which is appointed by the President upon recommendation of the Chair of the Committee with approval of the Deans and is composed of ten members as follows: 
   
   At least two faculty members from each of the four colleges, one from nursing, and one member at large, including the chairperson, who may be from any of the four colleges.
   
   

6. The Committee has prepared specific criteria for judging proficiency in written English. These criteria are distributed for use by faculty members in determining proficiency, and they also form the basis for the Committee's judgments on those students being evaluated. Copies of these criteria are available to interested students in the office of the Dean of Liberal Arts.

7. For objectivity in making decisions, the Committee endeavors to preserve the student's anonymity during the evaluation process by using numbers on papers instead of names. Decisions of the Committee are based on a majority of the total readers.

8. The Committee reports the results of its evaluation to the Dean of Liberal Arts each semester prior to final examinations. The Dean notifies each student in writing of the results of the evaluation. This notice is delivered to the student, if possible, before the conclusion of the final examination period, but no later than his/her next registration. The written notice to a student who has been judged "not proficient" by the Committee states specifically what the Committee has stipulated he/she must do in order to achieve proficiency. The student must sign and return one copy of this form, which is placed in his/her records folder.

9. A student judged "not proficient" must follow the recommendation of the Committee in order to acquire the necessary proficiency and must then present to the Committee evidence of his/her compliance with that recommendation. The student must begin following the Committee's recommendation the semester immediately succeeding the one in which he/she was referred and must achieve the required proficiency within two consecutive semesters or his/her course load will be restricted, as specified below in #ll.

10. Proficiency work in writing is counted as part of the student's class load, and students in the Proficiency Program must not exceed normal load limits, including the proficiency work.

11. A student who fails to achieve the required proficiency, in the stipulated two semesters is allowed to register for a maximum of 12 semester hours, including the specified proficiency course work and/or tutorial work recommended by the Committee. A student who fails to achieve the required proficiency in three semesters is not allowed to register again for more than six semester hours, including the specified proficiency course work and/or tutorial work recommended by the Committee. If the student fails to achieve proficiency during the fourth semester in the program, he/she will only be allowed to register for EH099 at The University of West Alabama as an audit student until he/she achieves the required proficiency on an evaluation by the Written English Proficiency Committee.

12. A student who fails to achieve the required proficiency as specified will not be graduated.

13. The Written English Proficiency Committee regularly schedules two opportunities each semester for evaluation of students previously assigned to the program. Students in the program are evaluated during the eighth week of the semester. In addition, these may also be evaluated when new referrals are evaluated near the end of the semester. 
    
    The Committee does not, however, evaluate a student unless he/she is at the time actively working in the Written Proficiency Program as stipulated by the Committee. To be "actively working," a student must have attended at least two-thirds of the class and/or tutoring sessions between the first of the semester and the first test date or at least two-thirds of the sessions between the first test date and the second test date. Students who are referred through the alternative referral form that accompanies the Written English Proficiency Report are evaluated by the Committee during the first writing session of the semester that follows their referral. Those deemed "not proficient" will begin proficiency work immediately. However, this semester will not be counted against a student for the purposes of determining his/her tenure in the program.

14. Students who are deemed "not proficient" by referral by a professor and who fail to report for the writing examination are automatically in the Written English Proficiency Program. Each subsequent semester counts toward the maximum of four semesters whether or not the student fulfills his/her obligation. A copy of the notification letter to the student will be placed in the student's advising folder.

Next Section: Residence Hall Regulations
Previous Section: Academic Forgiveness Policy
Return to Table of Contents