Policies and Procedures

STUDENTS

Regular Students

The English Language Institute strives to provide 20 hours per week of in-class instruction from qualified TESOL teachers.  This integrated program will address the four main language skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) as well as sociocultural competencies with regard to Canadian culture, academic success skills, and strategies for continued learning.  Conversation and pronunciation are strong components of the program.

Auditing Students
Students may audit non-ELI courses without credit provided they register for the course and pay the required fee.  Audit fees are one-half the regular course tuition.

Audited courses do not form part of the student’s overall load.  Students who are auditing courses are considered regular participants in the class except that they are not required to turn in written assignments or take the examinations.  Professors and instructors are not required to grade the assignments of an auditing student.

Registration is necessary and attendance is required just as for regular courses.

Spouses of full-time students can audit one course free.  The only course available for audit in the ELI is ELI900 -- EAL for Cultural Integration, and will be on Fridays.

Academic Load

Students must take all five days of classes.  Because of the integrated nature of the ELI, it is impossible to be a part-time student.

Course Offerings

There are four levels in the English Language Institute:  CLB5, CLB6, CLB7, CLB8.  Assessment will be done according to Canadian Language Benchmarks.  Each level is considered to be a single course, equivalent to five regular courses.  Each level will address all the skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking) and all the competencies (discourse competence, strategies for learning, sociolinguistic and sociocultural competence, plus linguistic competence).

Course Registration
At registration time, all students are assigned to the ELI Program Coordinator, who will act as their academic advisor to assist with registration.

Students who progress faster than normal can be accelerated through the program.  Students who progress slower than normal will be asked to take ELI910 -- Integrated EAL Tutorship in order to achieve a complete CLB8.

Course Changes
Any student who wishes to challenge his or her placement in the ELI should take the Canadian Language Benchmarks Placement Test in Steinbach at their own expense.  Only a certified score will be considered for advancement.

Withdrawal from a Course
Withdrawal from a course between the last date for course changes and the Voluntary Withdrawl date will merit a notation of “V/W” (Voluntary Withdrawal) on the transcript. All withdrawals after the date specified in the Academic Calendar will receive an “F” grade except by special action of the Academic Committee.

Withdrawal from School
If a student withdraws from school during a semester, the procedure is to obtain an official withdrawal form from the Admissions and Registrars Office and then clear the withdrawal with the Registrars Office, Student Services Office, Library, and Business Office in that order. When the form is completed by each department and returned to the Registrars Office, the withdrawal procedure is finalized.

Specially designed summer programs are available for groups of 15 or more students. All arrangements must be made through the Program Coordinator of the English Language Institute.

*The College reserves the right to cancel any course, and refund fees in full, if enrolment is insufficient.

ASSESSMENT

Syllabus
 A typical syllabus will usually include the following:

• course description
• course objectives (stated in student behavioural terms as much as possible)
• course requirements
• grading scale
• instructions for submission of assignments
• additional information needed for successful completion of the course by students (e.g., course text[s] and supplementary readings, bibliographies, course outlines, schedule of classes)

Attendance
Chapel services, special meetings (e.g. Missio Dei, theological lectures, etc.), and classes are all considered to be part of the academic program of the University College and usual attendance requirements apply. Attendance policy is decided by each faculty member in each course. The policy will be stated clearly on each course syllabus.

Academic Conduct Statement

• Plagiarism involves taking and using the thoughts, ideas, writings and other creative works of another person or persons, and passing them off as one’s own. A student who does so is intellectually dishonest. Students should give credit explicitly and clearly, as well as appropriate reference, to ideas, thoughts, and writings of another, whether the source is oral, from a written source such as books or journal articles, or from the Internet. By not placing direct quotes in quotation marks and footnoting the source, and by not footnoting indirect reference to another’s ideas, a student has disguised the fact that the ideas and thoughts, or even exact words, come from another source first. This constitutes plagiarism and is viewed as academic dishonesty.

  Unique to the ELI: Students are not to have native speakers (or proficient non-native speakers) of English edit their written work without permission from the teacher. To do so is considered plagiarism.

• Cheating is the purposeful, wilful, and concealed use of unauthorised sources for a test, exam, or other forms of academic work. For example:
  1. Submitting the same work or part of the same work, for credit in two different courses without the prior agreement of the instructors involved.
  2. Bringing (and using) unauthorised and/or concealed materials into a test or exam situation.
  3. Presenting oneself as another student for a class, test, or exam.
  4. Unauthorised sharing of material (copying, or allowing others to copy) during a test or exam.
  5. Unauthorised communication with another student in a test of exam.
  6. Submitting another person’s work as your own, or providing work for another person to submit as his/her own.
  7. Falsifying or misrepresenting academic records
  8. Gaining, or attempting to gain, access to an examination or test, or a part of it, without permission from the instructor.
  9. Deliberately preventing, or attempting to prevent, the fair access by other students to all types of learning resources.
      
• Penalties
  In the event that the charge of plagiarism arises, the student may demonstrate their ownership of the work in question by submitting drafts of their paper, research notes, samples of other work, or demonstrating orally their understanding of the concepts and ideas in the paper. In the event that the student and instructor cannot come to an agreement about the presence of plagiarism, the paper will be referred to the Program Coordinator who may require of the student any information necessary for a fair assessment of the assignment.

  At the discretion of the instructor, penalties may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Repeating the assignment or examination (with or without grade penalty)
  2. Failure of the assignment or examination
  3. Failure of the course

  The Program Coordinator will be notified of any offences and subsequent penalties. Other ELI instructors who are dealing with the individual student may be notified if the Program Coordinator and the instructor assess the offence to be one which may occur in other settings. The Program Coordinator will consider student appeals against such penalties in consultation with the professor. Serious or repeated offenses will be reported to the University College Academic Dean.

Assessment Standards
A grade of 80% or higher is required for advancement from IEP1 to IEP2, from IEP2 to IAEP, and from IAEP into the college or seminary.

Grade of Extension (EX)
A grade of Extension (EX) may be given in cases of illness, or for extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the student, which makes it impossible for the student to complete the required course work by the close of the session. Application may be made for an Extension to the instructor only during the last two weeks of classes. If the Extension is granted, the required work is to be completed within one month of the last day of the session and a grade awarded by the instructor. A fee of $100 is charged for extensions.

Student Evaluations of Course and Instruction
At the conclusion of each session, the students will be provided with course and instructor evaluation forms as required by the Program Coordinator. The purpose of these evaluations is to improve the instructional quality of the ELI. Instructors are expected to examine the results carefully, and apply the recommendations and criticisms with discretion. They are then to be turned in to the Program Coordinator.