Faculty Proficiency in Oral English

Administrative Procedure 5.104

Elgin Community College will comply with Section 3-29.2 of the Illinois Community College Act, which recognizes that effective oral communication with students in the classroom is an essential skill necessary for faculty members. Therefore, the College will adopt the following procedures to commence in the 1994-95 academic year to ensure the oral English language proficiency of classroom instructors.

1. Beginning in the Fall of 1994, all potential candidates for full-time and part-time faculty positions will be required to demonstrate oral English language proficiency. Each candidate's proficiency will be verified during the interview process by the dean of the division in which the applicant would be employed, or by an appropriate designee. A copy of the assessment form will be submitted to Human Resources by the dean for permanent record keeping purposes. If an oral test of English proficiency is required based on the hiring interview, a copy of the completed assessment test will be attached to the form.
2. College application materials for applicants of full-time and part-time teaching positions will include notice of the oral proficiency requirement. An applicant uncertain of meeting the College's proficiency standard may submit the results of the Educational Testing Service's "Test of Spoken English" (TSE) or obtain a recommendation from a professional evaluator certified by the American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) to assess oral language proficiency. A score of 230 on the TSE or a positive ACTFL evaluation will be determined as satisfactory as to oral proficiency.
3. All faculty members presently employed by the College are considered to have oral English language proficiency. If the oral language proficiency of a faculty member is questioned through student evaluations, classroom observations, or other such means, the division dean (in consultation as appropriate with the department faculty members) will determine if the faculty member has the necessary proficiency to continue classroom teaching. The division dean will notify the Vice President of Teaching, Learning and Student Development of his/her decision. The faculty member may submit TSE results or a recommendation from an ACTFL evaluator for additional consideration, but the final determination of oral English language proficiency will be made by the dean. The appropriate dean's decision can be appealed to the Vice President of Teaching, Learning and Student Development, whose decision is final.
4. Any full-time or part-time faculty member who has been determined by the dean and validated by a standardized test to be deficient in oral English proficiency will be required to demonstrate oral proficiency before returning to the classroom. The non-teaching assignment will not be counted for tenure purposes. The instructor will be encouraged to consult the Dean of Academic Development and Learning Resources, or an appointed designee specializing in English as a Second Language, to develop a remediation plan through the College's staff development program.  The success of the remediation plan will be determined using the testing procedure at the end of the semester. At the end of the appointment, additional remediation or testing becomes the responsibility of the faculty member.

This policy was last reviewed on 08/31/2023.