English Proficiency Examination

In coursework and personal relations, each student is steadily encouraged to develop the capacity to communicate effectively in written and spoken English. That capacity must also be demonstrated through satisfactory performance on an English proficiency examination, required of every student. The examination is given in both English 110 and English 120. The examination consists of an essay on a topic either chosen from a group of topics of current interest in English 110 or assigned by the English 120 instructor in connection with the student’s research on a topic for debate. The essay is evaluated by two or more graders, who consider its organization, grammatical correctness, clarity, and overall quality.

Students who pass the exam in English 110 will be excused from taking it in English 120. Students earning a grade of Unsatisfactory on the exam in either English 110 or English 120 will be enrolled in English 121: Syntax for Writing for the next semester, regardless of whether they are taking or retaking English 110 or 120 in that semester. Incoming students bringing transfer or dual enrollment credit or AP credit for the equivalent of Composition II, and therefore exempted from English 120, will be enrolled in English 121: Syntax for Writing, at the start of which the English Proficiency Exam will be administered. Students earning a grade of Satisfactory in that sitting of the exam will be exempted from the course, and the passing grade of Satisfactory on the English Proficiency Exam will be recorded on the transcript. Students earning a grade of Unsatisfactory on that sitting of the exam will continue in the course, with an opportunity to retake the exam within the course. A student who fails the English Proficiency Exam within the course must repeat the course in subsequent semesters until the exam is passed. All students must pass the exam before enrolling in Senior Study, the culmination of work in the major field.

For a student who passes the written portion of the English 120 challenge exam, that exam will be accepted in lieu of the English Proficiency Exam, and the grade of Satisfactory for the English Proficiency Exam will be recorded on the student’s transcript.