UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH PROCEDURE 02-02-16
CATEGORY: ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
SECTION: Faculty Appointment and Tenure
SUBJECT: Certification of English Language Fluency for
Teaching
EFFECTIVE DATE: March 29, 1991
PAGE(S): 3
I. PURPOSE
To define the process for evaluating the English language fluency
of all individuals
hired to teach and for certifying to the Department of Education of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania that those individuals specified by the English Fluency in Higher Education
Act, and who are hired subsequent to September 7, 1990, are fluent in the English
language.
II. SCOPE
This procedure applies to all full-time, part-time, and visiting
faculty, including teaching
assistants and teaching fellows (TA/TFs), instructional staff, and other academic
employees who teach at either the undergraduate or graduate level. Individuals whose
work is limited to courses in which the primary language of instruction is not English are
not required to demonstrate
fluency in the English language.
III. ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES
Academic Centers and Departments are responsible for determining
that all individuals
hired to teach are sufficiently fluent in the English language for effective communication
with the student
who will take courses in the department or academic center.
The Academic Dean or Department Chair is responsible for
completing a Certification of
English Language Fluency for Teaching form to certify that the appointee is certified to
teach, certified for laboratory instruction only, not certified to teach, or exempt from
certification as specified by Policy 02-02-16, Certification of English Language Fluency
for Teaching.
The Office of the Provost is responsible for approving the test
administered by the
English Language Institute (ELI) to non-native speaking TA/TFs and for establishing, in
consultation with
ELI, minimum scores acceptable to permit a TA/TF to teach.
The English Language Institute (ELI) is responsible for
constructing a test, approved by
the Office of the Provost, designed to assess spoken English and administering the test
to
new TA/TFs who are not native speakers of English.
Computing and Information Services (CIS) is responsible for the
data entry of certification
data.
The Office of Management Information and Policy Analysis (MIPA)
is responsible for
generating reports listing all individuals who teach and their respective certification codes,
and providing those reports to the Office of the Provost by August 15 of each year for the
prior Summer, Fall, and Spring Terms. By September 1 of each year, MIPA will file with
the Department of Education a certification stating that all individuals specified by the
English Fluency in Higher Education Act, hired either since the effective date of the Act or
hired subsequent to the last annual
certification, are fluent in the English language.
IV. PROCEDURE
A. Assessment of Faculty, Instructional Staff, and Other
Academic Employees
Academic Center/
Department 1. Determine internal guidelines for conducting
interviews to evaluate the English language fluency
of all full-time, part-time, and visiting faculty,
instructional staff, and other academic employees
hired to
teach.
2. Before an individual teaches a
class, evaluate their
English language fluency through two personal
interviews following
established internal
guidelines.
a. One interview must be
conducted by the
academic
dean or the department
chair
b. One interview must be
conducted by a senior
member of the faculty
3. Conduct further evaluation, if necessary, such as a
professional presentation before peers, which
simulates as closely as possible a teaching situation.
4. Grant teaching assignments only to individuals
demonstrating a sufficient level of oral mastery of
English for effective communication with students.
5. Certify that a determination of English language
fluency has been made following Procedure C,
Certification of
English Language Fluency.
B. Assessment of Teaching Assistants and Teaching Fellows
Academic Center/
Department 1. Before assigning TA/TFs who are not native speakers
of English to teach a lecture, recitation, or laboratory,
arrange for a test of the individual's spoken English to
be administered by the English Language Institute
(ELI).
ELI 2. Administer the test
specified by the Office of the
Provost. Forward the test scores to the appropriate
academic center/department, together with the
established minimum acceptable score.
3. Provide required remediation in the form of tutoring or
a class to any TA/TF realizing an unsatisfactory score.
Academic Center/
Department 4. Grant teaching assignments only to individuals
passing
the test with satisfactory
scores.
Note: Academic centers or
departments may demand
higher
scores than the established
minimum.
5. Certify that a determination
of English language
fluency has been made following Procedure C,
Certification of English Language Fluency.
C. Certification of English Language Fluency
Academic Dean/
Department Chair 1. Complete and sign FORM 0132, Certification of
English Language Fluency for Teaching (Exhibit A),
indicating whether the appointee is certified to teach,
not certified to teach, certified for laboratory instruction
only, or exempt from
certification.
2. Forward the original (white) and
gold copy of FORM
0132 to the Office of Faculty Records with the
appointment form. Retain pink and yellow copy for
academic
center/department personnel
files.
Faculty Records 3. Verify that each Appointment Form
is accompanied
by FORM 0132, Certification of English Language
Fluency for Teaching.
4. Batch and forward the white copies of FORM 0132 to
CIS for data entry and retain gold copies.
CIS 5. Enter the certification data into the data file, and
return the white copies of FORM 0132 with a batch
edit list to the Office of Faculty Records.
MIPA 6. By August 1 of each year, match the certification file
with the Faculty Activity Reporting system and
generate two reports
as follows:
a. One listing all individuals
who taught with the
corresponding certification code of "Y" - Certified
b. The other listing all individuals who taught with
corresponding certification codes of "N" - Not
Certified, "L" - Certified for laboratory instruction
only, or "E" - Exempt from certification
7. Forward the reports to the Office of the Provost no
later than August 15 of each year.
8. By September 1 of each year, file a certification with
the Department of Education stating that all
individuals specified by the English Fluency in Higher
Education Act, hired to teach subsequent to
September 7, 1990, or hired subsequent to the last
annual certification, are fluent in the English language.
V. EXHIBIT
Exhibit A, FORM 0132, Certification of English Language Fluency for
Teaching
VI. REFERENCE
Policy 02-02-16, Certification of English Language Fluency for
Teaching