Skip to Content

English Programs for Internationals

ITA Workshop & Assessment

International Teaching Assistant Workshop & Assessment  

Our office is charged with assessing the English language speaking fluency of all International Teaching Assistants (ITAs). These assessments allow the University of South Carolina to comply with the 1991 South Carolina law, "English Fluency in Higher Learning Act”, which states: 

"(C) Each public institution of higher learning shall establish policies to: (1) ensure that the instructional faculty whose second language is English possess adequate proficiency in both the written and spoken English language." 

More information is available in the South Carolina Code of Laws. 

ITA Events 

ITA Assessment Spring 2026

  • EPI offers an ITA assessment in January before classes begin. The Spring 2026 ITA Assessment will be Tuesday, January 6, 2026 at 1:30 PM - Close-Hipp 4th floor. NOTE: There is no ITA workshop in January. 
  • Graduate Directors may register their students for this assessment by emailing epib-ita@mailbox.sc.edu by 5:00 PM by Monday, January 5, 2026. Students CANNOT register themselves for this assessment. 
  • Retesting and late testing for Spring 2026 will be Friday, January 9, 2026 at 1:30 PM - Close-Hipp 4th floor.
  • Graduate Directors may register their students for retesting and late testing by emailing epib-ita@mailbox.sc.edu by 5:00 PM by Thursday, January 8, 2026. Students CANNOT register themselves for this assessment. 

ITA Workshop Fall 2025

  • The ITA workshop for this semester will be in person on Monday, August 11, 2025.  It will begin in Close-Hipp 002 at 9AM.  About mid-point in the workshop there will be breakout sessions. These will also be in Close-Hipp.  
  • Matriculated international graduate students with an offer to work as a Teaching/Instructional Assistant must participate in the Workshop and the Assessment. 
  •  Registration is NOT required to attend the workshop. All potential GTAs/GIAs are strongly encouraged to attend.

ITA Assessment Fall 2025

  • Students who attend the Workshop will be assigned a time for the ITA Assessment. They will not be required to attend all three sessions, only the session to which they are assigned.   
  • Please note: Students who do not complete the in-person workshop will not be registered for the ITA Assessment, which will take place on August 14 and 15, 2025. 
  • The assessment is in the form of a “microlesson assignment” [pdf] which is taught to a small group. 

Late Arrival (missing ITA Workshop)

  • If students are arriving too late for the ITA Workshop, their Graduate Directors may register them for ITA Assessment on August 14 or 15 by emailing epib-ita@mailbox.sc.edu by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, August 13, 2025. Students CANNOT register themselves for this assessment. 

Late assessment (missing Workshop and Assessment)

  •  If students arrive after the ITA Assessment on August 14 and 15, late testing will be at EPI in the Close-Hipp building at 1PM on Friday, August 22, 2025. Their Graduate Directors may register them for late ITA Assessment by emailing epib-ita@mailbox.sc.edu by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, August 20, 2025. Students CANNOT register themselves for this assessment.
  • If students are delayed beyond the late testing date, the department should email epib-ita@mailbox.sc.edu to see what arrangements can be made.
  • Students who do not show for the assessment will not be eligible to teach that semester.

ENFS 075 - ITA support course - End of Semester Assessment

  • If students do not pass the ITA Assessment in August, EPI offers a course for ITAs every fall and spring semester to help the students improve their spoken English:
    ENFS 075
  • The final exam of this course is on Thursday, December 4, 2025 and is another ITA Assessment. All ENFS 075 students are automatically registered for this assessment. Graduate Directors may register their students who are not enrolled in ENFS 075 for this assessment by emailing
    epib-ita@mailbox.sc.edu
    by 5:00 PM on Friday, November 21, 2025 (the week before Thanksgiving). Students CANNOT register themselves for this assessment.     
  • EPI offers an ITA Assessment in January before classes begin. Details regarding the Spring 2026 ITA Assessment are given above. 
  • EPI does not offer Summer ITA Assessment. If a department needs for a student to be assessed to enable the student to teach in the summer, the Graduate Director can request a special testing by emailing epib-ita@mailbox.sc.edu. 
  • For all questions regarding ITA Assessment, please email epib-ita@mailbox.sc.edu. 
ITA Assessment Exemptions
  • International TA Assessment can be exempted with a minimum Speaking score of 26 on the iBT speaking tests or 7.0 on the IELTS speaking test or a score of 130 on the Duolingo (DET) English test with subscores of 120 on Conversation and Production.  These are the only ways to exempt this assessment.
  • Students who wish to fulfill the ITA requirement through the submission of evidence qualifying them for exemption must complete the online form and upload the relevant documentation.  
  • Simply completing the form does not automatically result in exemption from ITA assessment. Rather, your request and supporting documentation will be reviewed and evaluated to determine if it fulfills the ENFS/ITA requirement and qualifies you for exemption from the ITA Assessment.  
  • Note that you may not consider yourself to have fulfilled the requirement and qualified for exemption from testing until you have received written notice from the Asst. Director of ENFS/ITA informing you of the exemption. 
  • For questions about ENFS exemptions, please see ENFS.  

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.

©