Steve Hudson, vice president, Academic and Learner Services.
A message from Steve Hudson, vice president, Academic and Learner Services:
As we approach the end of term, I’m writing to provide an update on how we are addressing language proficiency concerns identified this fall among some of our new international students.
Further to Dan Patterson’s update on these initiatives and supports from early November [view Nov. 4 update here], we have taken further steps to ensure that students who come to Niagara College possess the language skills they need to be successful in their programs.
As Dan shared in his update, our International division responded to concerns brought forward by faculty by working with service areas to organize testing for students whose academic success may be at risk due to English proficiency. A number of the students identified did not show language proficiency issues in the testing, however analysis of results identified some inconsistencies in terms of what we would have expected on our secondary testing, based on the students’ score on the standardized language tests (IELTS) used for admission. As a result of this testing, a small number of students were redirected to English for Academic Purposes, and other students were offered additional supports.
We have since spent time to determine what future actions we could take as a result of concerns from this fall. The IELTS remains widely recognized international standard assessment system used by colleges and universities in Ontario and beyond, and the overwhelming majority of our students were appropriately assessed. Detailed record reviews did show that an unusual proportion of the students with difficulties took the test from the same testing centre.
Based on this, we have asked all applicants for Winter 2019 who took the IELTS through this centre to complete secondary testing to validate their IELTS score before their admission is confirmed. While we recognize that this requirement may be stressful for these applicants and their families, we feel it is very important to be certain that these prospective students have the level of English proficiency that they need to succeed, and we want to do this before they invest significant time and money to travel here to study. We expect this process will be complete by mid-December.
I would like to thank the faculty who have met with me formally and informally over the course of the term to share their concerns and provide first-hand insight into what they are experiencing in our classrooms and labs. This feedback helps inform our current and future initiatives and strategies to help us adapt to a changing enrolment.
I also appreciate the ongoing hard work and collaboration of all staff and faculty, driven by our shared commitment to student success.
