English Placement for International Undergraduate Students

This is an archived copy of the 2016-17 Catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.norwich.edu/.

Purpose

This policy establishes requirements for all international undergraduate student to take NU's English placement exam prior to the start of their first semester.

Policy

All international students are required to take NU's English placement exam, administered on campus by the Academic Achievement Center (AAC), prior to the start of their first semester.  The exam test students' reading, writing, listening, and speaking abilities.  Based on the results of the placement exam, combined with a review of other relevant test scores and documentation (e.g. (TOEFL, or IELTS scores, SAT or ACT scores, academic transcripts), the Chair of the Department of English and Communications, in consultation with the AAC, will:

  • Place students in EN 105, which is a sheltered course that is credit-bearing, but does not meet a General Education requirement and does not otherwise count towards graduation; or
  • Place the student  EN 101, which is a traditional credit-bearing course that does meet a General Education requirement and counts toward graduation.

If a student's performance on NU's English placement exam is inconsistent with the test scores or other proof of English proficiency that was initially reviewed for admissions purposes, NU reserves the right to defer enrollment of the student.

Responsibility

The Department of English & Communications, in coordination with the Academic Achievement Center (AAC) and the International Center, is responsible for ensuring compliance with this policy.

Exceptions

Exceptions to this policy may occur in special circumstances involving international inter-institutional agreements with partner universities, new pathway programs and/or other international agreements that would warrant exceptions.  All such exceptions must be codified in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among participating parties and have appropriate approvals in accordance with the agreement.  Any MOU must be executed through the International Center, after consultation with the AAC and the Department of English and Communications regarding exceptions set forth in any MOU.