English Language Institute Student Policies

To the ELI Student:

This booklet describes four major policies which affect English Language Institute students. It is a guide to the ELI's Code of Conduct, Attendance Requirements, Probation Policy, and Requirements for Graduation. Its purpose is to be both informative and useful to all who study at the ELI. Read the booklet over carefully and keep these policies in a place where you can reach them quickly throughout your enrollment at the ELI. If you have any questions about them, please speak to your instructor or to a member of the ELI administrative staff. Everyone here at the ELI wants your stay with us to be as productive as possible.

Scott G. Stevens, Director

Section I: Code Of Conduct

The UD Judicial System and the Responsibilities of ELI Students

The University of Delaware's Judicial System was created by the University's Board of Trustees (Trustee Bylaws, Chapter 2.III.E). It is administered by the UD Faculty. Understanding, however, that ELI students are usually short term students who must work with a language they are just learning, the UD faculty--through its representatives in the UD Faculty Senate--has given power to the ELI to write its own policies and requirements for student conduct and attendance (UD Student Guide to University Policies, p. 13, III. C).

The faculty and staff of the ELI recognize that their students must make several adjustments in addition to learning a new language. While they are enrolled in the ELI, students must adapt to a different culture and its behavioral expectations, a different climate, new food and living arrangements, and a new academic environment. Moreover, students must adapt to these differences without the support of family and old friends. Knowing the many changes students must face, ELI faculty and administrators generally regard a first-time problem or offense as a learning experience.

While ELI students are enrolled at the Institute, they are required to follow the UD student guidelines and policies and the ELI Code of Conduct. The Student Guide to University Policies is prepared by the Dean of Students Office and approved by the UD Faculty Senate. It is updated annually. More detailed statements of these policies may be found in the "Rules and Responsibilities" section, which can be picked up from that office located in room 218 Hullihen Hall.

The UD Student Guide to University Policies is available on-line through the UD/ELI web page at this URL:

< www.udel.edu/stuhb/99-00/deanstu/policyl.html >

The ELI Student Policies is on-line at:

< www.udel.edu/eli/ >

ELI students should study these policies soon after they arrive in Newark.

The ELI Judicial Process

When a student breaks the rules of the ELI Code of Conduct and the UD University Policies, s/he is notified in writing of her/his offense and is required to come into the ELI Office to meet with the Director or the Director's representative. For example, the Director might ask the ELI Associate Director or Assistant Director to represent her/him as a designee.

ELI students' problems often arise from miscommunications that occur because of the language difference or different cultural behavior, rather than from planned acts of violation. Discussing the offense with the Director (or designee) is meant to be a learning process for the student. The Director helps the student understand both the problem and the solution(s); uses UD resources in counseling or guidance, as appropriate; and explains the effects of repeating the offense.

The Procedure

Upon receiving notice that s/he has committed an offense, the student must bring the Director a letter, either typed or written in ink, which agrees with or disagrees with the charges of policy violation and which provides information to explain why the behavior happened. If the student confirms the charges, s/he explains what steps s/he will take to correct the problem and to avoid its happening again.

  1. Determination Meeting with the ELI Director or Designee

    In this meeting, the ELI Director/designee determines the nature and the seriousness of the offense. The ELI Director/designee reviews appropriate ELI or UD policies and decides upon the appropriate procedure for handling the situation.

  2. Possible Outcomes
    1. If the nature of the offense involves a violation of UD Residence Hall regulations, a potential violation of a law of the United States (a criminal act), or a violation of the UD Student Code of Conduct, the student's conduct is referred immediately to the UD Judicial System for a hearing. Other kinds of offenses which would be referred immediately to the UD Judicial System include:

      • Alcohol-related traffic violations;
      • Drug and alcohol violations;
      • Felonies such as theft, arson, or assault;
      • Use or threat of violence;
      • Use or threat of use of dangerous weapons; or
      • Violations of UD Residence Hall regulations

    2. If the offense is non-criminal in nature and non judicial, and if no UD Residence Hall regulations have been violated, the Director meets with the individual student and/or complainant(s) (someone with evidence of a violation) and/or others in an attempt to resolve the matter. If all the people involved agree on a solution to the problem, the Director notes this result in the student's file and declares the matter closed. If the student does not meet with the ELI Director, the Director reports the student's offense to the ELI Committee on Student Conduct and Attendance.

     

The Appeal Process

When the student or a complainant does not accept the decision of the ELI Director or designee, that student or complainant may request a hearing before the ELI Committee on Student Conduct and Attendance (CSC&A).

Kinds of problems which are handled by this Committee include:

At this hearing, the members of the ELI CSC&A will listen to all available evidence regarding the student's case. They can request additional information about the situation, either from the student or from other individuals) involved. If such information is not immediately available to the Committee, its members may chose to put off making their decision until a later date not to exceed thirty (30) days beyond the first date the charze of a violation was made.

Three outcomes of the hearing held by the CSC&A are possible:

The Committee explains its decision to the student at the conclusion of the hearing. It also provides the student with a letter within two-three days of the hearing, stating its decision in writing. If the Committee decides that the student must leave the ELI, it sends a copy of this letter to the UD Foreign Students & Scholars Services (FSSS) and to the U.S. Department of Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), telling them that the student has violated ELI and INS policy and that her/his I-20 has been cancelled.

If a student does not appear for her/his hearing, the Committee can proceed to make a decision in her/his case. The student will be notified in writing of this decision in a timely manner. In all cases, the Committee's decision is final. Please refer to the following diagram, which illustrates the flow of events in the ELI Judicial System.


Code of Conduct

The ELI Code of Conduct is designed to help ELI student know what kinds of behavior American culture finds acceptable by college students. To avoid trouble, know and follow these policies. The complete text of ELI Student Policies is on the ELI web page (www.udel.edu/eli). The box below contains a brief guide to some of the behavior you should avoid.

Those ELI students living on campus must also be familiar with and follow UD Housing Rules and Regulations. The ELI Resident Assistant, representing the LTD Office of Residence Life, will meet with on-campus students at the beginning of each eight-week session to review these policies and answer any questions about them. The UD Student Guide to University Policies contains very detailed descriptions of all conduct and housing violations, including felonies. This document is available on the University of Delaware web page (http://www.udel.edu/stuhb/).

The above flowchart provides a visual guide to the way in which the ELI's Judicial System works when a student violates ELI and/or UD policy.

Below is a list of Code of Conduct violations that can lead to disciplinary hearings, possible dismissal from the ELI, or even criminal charges. Please note that this list is not exhaustive:

  Disciplinary Hearing Violations:
Academic Dishonesty -- Stealing an exam; giving another student an answer during a test; handing in work or papers written by someone else; posing as someone else to take a test for her/him
Attendance Problems -- Arriving late to class more than three times; missing too many classes
Cheating -- Copying an answer from another student's paper or test; peeking, at notes when notes are not to be used.during an exam:
Disruptive Classroom Behavior -- Talking to another student while class discussion is going on or while the teacher is, speaking to the whole class; making other distracting noises or gestures; talking too much- so that no-other student has time to talk; verbally or physically threatening another student or the teacher
Plagiarism -- Stealing another person's idea or illustration and using it as one's own. without giving credit to the original author; copying, sentences of.. paragraphs directly from an article or book to use in an essay without, giving credit to the original author
   
  Criminal Charges and/or Violations of the University Code of Conduct:
Alcohol & Drug Violations -- possession or use of alcohol by a minor (person under the age of 21); providing alcohol to a minor; carrying an open container of alcohol in a common or public area;, driving under the influence; possession of a controlled substance
Sexual Harassment -- persistent, unwelcome flirtation, requests for dates, advances or propositions of a sexual nature; unwanted touching such as patting, pinching, hugging or repeated brushing against an individual's body; repeated degrading or insulting comments about an individual's sexuality or sex; sexual assault
Driving Violations -- speeding; reckless or careless driving: failure to obey traffic signals; etc.

Composition of the Committee on Student Conduct and Attendance

In matters of Conduct, the ELI CSC&A is made up of the committee chair (a fulltime faculty member), the ELI Director, the ELI Associate Director, the Orientation Coordinator, two additional fulltime faculty members, and two former ELI students. Of these eight (8) members, a quorum (a majority to conduct business) of five (5) shall be required in order for the Committee to conduct business, and either the Director or the Associate Director (or the Assistant Director, if neither superior is available) must be present. A staff member will be asked to attend the meeting to record the proceedings.

In matters of Attendance, the committee chair (a fulltime faculty member), the ELI Director, the ELI Associate Director, and two additional fulltime ELI faculty members serve on the CSC&A. Of these five (5) members, a quorum of three (3) shall be required in order for the Committee to conduct business, and either the Director or the Associate Director (or the Assistant Director, if neither superior is available) must be present. A Student Attendance Records Manager will be designated to attend and to record the minutes of the hearing. The student's teachers are also invited to participate, but they do not vote on the decision.

Section II: Attendance Requirements

In order to obtain a visa to study in the United States, a foreign student must agree to follow the rules and regulations of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). These regulations state that the student must be enrolled fulltime in an established English language program and must attend classes re ug larlv. The ELI, in agreement with the Foreign Student Scholars Services Office, has interpreted regularly as meaning a minimum attendance rate of 85% of the time. By federal law of the United States, the English Language Institute must uphold the rules and regulations of the INS.

Every ELI student is responsible for knowing and understanding the important Attendance policies which follow. These policies, which went into effect on March 8th, 1993, and were revised 8/6/97 and 4/3/00, should be re-read at the beginning of each session.

Attendance Policy

  1. In order to qualify to receive a certificate from the ELI, a student must attend 85% of the classes in each session, i.e., no more than a total of 12 class absences -- whether excusable or not -- is allowed per session. Absences are counted on a per class basis. Thus, a student who misses one Listening/Speaking Class and one Reading/Writing Class on the same day is marked for two absences. Absent here means not in class for any reason, excusable or not. Proviso: Certain exceptions (e.g., visits to universities which the student hopes to attend for testing or interviewing, or approved visits to the student's home country )-- if approved in writing by the ELI Director or Associate Director and then by the student's instructor(s) before such absences occur -- may be allowed. Students are responsible for making up all work and examinations missed during their absence. If such assignments cannot be made up, a student's grade or promotion may suffer.

  2. To be eligible for consideration to receive honors/awards at graduation, a student must attend 90% of the classes in each session, i.e., no more than a total of 8 class absences per session-whether excusable or not-is allowed. Exception: See proviso in paragraph #1.

  3. A student who arrives for class from five to fifteen minutes after the start of the class is considered late, regardless of the reason for the tardiness. Three such late arrivals in any class in any one session is counted as one day's absence. If a student arrives more than 15 minutes late, the tardiness is counted as one whole day's absence.

  4. Any student who is absent a total of more than 16 times per session may be in violation of the laws of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and may be dismissed from the ELI.

  5. N.B.: Fewer absences (pro-rated) than the numbers listed above are permitted for students attending part of a session.

Approved March 8, 1993, by the ELI Faculty and Administration.

Section III:  Probation Policy

  1. Under special circumstances and at the discretion of the ELI Committee on Student Conduct and Attendance, a student may be placed on probation instead of being dismissed from the ELI.

  2. The ELI Committee on Student Conduct and Attendance shall define the terms and length of the student's probation at the time of the hearing

Approved March 8, 1993, by the ELI Faculty and Administration. Revised April 3, 2000.

Section IV:  Requirements for Graduation from the ELI

In order to graduate from the ELI program, a student must meet two requirements:

Academic Requirement For An ELI Certificate

To be eligible for consideration to receive an ELI certificate a student must have a "C -" average or better in all courses.

Attendance Requirement For A Certificate

To be eligible for consideration to receive a certificate from the ELI, a student must maintain her/his attendance at the rate of 85% in each session. To ensure the receipt of a certificate at the Graduation ceremony, s/he must also complete the following steps:

Approved March 8, 1993, by the ELI Faculty and Administration. Revised April 3, 2000.

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