Attendance

Attendance is an important factor in student progress. Students with good attendance are more likely to succeed.  EPI and US immigration expect you to attend 100% of your classes.  If you do not attend at least 80% of the class sessions for THIS class, you will be placed on probation.  If you attend less than 50% of ANY of your EPI classes, your I-20 will be terminated.  If you have more than 23 total absences in all your EPI classes, your I-20 will be terminated.  If you are late to class, you will be counted tardy; 3 tardies = 1 absence.  If you are late to class by 15 minutes or more, you will be counted absent. 

• Medical Issues and Attendence - If students become sick or have a medical problem, the problem must be documented by a medical doctor and communicated to the EPI office and to their EPI instructors as soon as possible. If a student is not in class, that student is absent. However, if ALL of the absences are due to sickness or to a medical condition documented by a doctor, students should bring their medical records to the EPI office as soon as possible to discuss what they need to do.

Progress Policy  

U.S. immigration requires students studying in the U.S, to attend and make satisfactory progress in their program. In EPI “satisfactory progress” means that most students should take no more than two terms to complete a level. In the next term, EPI will give a warning letter to any students who are repeating a class for the third time that they MUST progress to the next level in that course or they must either return to their country or transfer to another program where they can be more successful. 

For example, if a student is in RV3 for the second time this term and at the end of this term does not make enough progress to move to RV4, that student will be on probation. If he or she does not move to level 4 at the end of that term, that student must transfer to another program or return to their country. 

Promotion to a Higher Level 

Promotion to a higher level is determined by mastery of student learning outcomes (see the Student Achievement Scale [pdf]) as evidenced by a student's end-of-term grade. More specifically, to be promoted from one level to the next in any course, a student must: 

• Earn a grade of 'A' or 'B,' and; 
• Receipt of the instructor's recommendation of readiness to progress, which is based upon the mastery of SLOs outlined in the Student Achievement Scale. 

If a student earns a grade of 'A' or 'B' and demonstrates mastery of the student learning outcomes for the course but does not meet the minimum placement score required for placement in the next level, the faculty may recommend that the student retest. 

Academic Integrity 

Students at the English Programs for Internationals must be truthful and honest. Plagiarism or cheating of any kind is unacceptable. There are severe penalties for any student who cheats or plagiarizes (that is, takes text or ideas from another source and presents them as his or her own). 

In each case, faculty will evaluate the circumstances and determine if the honesty violation is accidental or deliberate. 

Expand allAccidental Plagiarism

If the faculty member determines the incident is accidental: 

• The student will be instructed in proper conduct to avoid future violations. 
• A report will be made and placed in the student’s file. 

Deliberate (Minor) Plagiarism

A minor plagiarism violation could be one or two sentences being copied, lack of proper citation, a second “accidental” violation, etc. If a faculty member determines the incident is deliberate, but minor:

• The student will be instructed in proper conduct to avoid future violations. 
• Student will be required to redo the assignment/paper, however, a grade penalty of -20% will be imposed. 
• A report will be made and placed in the student’s file. 

Deliberate (Major) Plagiarism

A major pliigarism violation could be whole paragraphs or more, a second “minor” violation, etc. If a faculty member determines the incident is deliberate, but major:

• Student will automatically fail the assignment. 
• Student will be required to redo the assignment properly and will fail the course if the assignment is not completed. 
• A letter of warning will be given to the student. 
• A report is made and placed in the student’s file. 

Second major violation 

• Student will automatically fail the course. 
• The student’s file will be updated and the future university will be notified of the violations when the student transfers. 

Third major violation 

• Student will be suspended from EPI; i.e., must transfer to another program. 
• New program will be notified of the reasons for the transfer. 

Academic Integrity Violations on Assessments

Academic integrity violations on assessments, such as quizzes, tests, and placement/proficiency testing may take many forms, including - but not limited to - copying, plagiarizing, unauthorized consultation of notes or other sources (e.g., mobile phones, textbooks, translation applications, etc.), and unauthorized communication with classmates. The penalties for academic integrity violations follow: 

• Cheating or plagiarizing on in-class assessments (tests/quizzes) is a major violation and will result in a zero grade on the assessment with, at the teacher’s discretion, no possibility of retaking the assessment. 
• Plagiarism or cheating of any kind during EPI final exams is a major violation and will result in failure of the course, a recommendation to repeat the course (level), and referral to the UofSC Office of Student Conduct & Academic Integrity. 

 

New Student Transfer-In Policy 

New students, who wish to transfer to EPI from another English language program, must complete the application process required of all new students.  In addition, students must request a transcript of their academic work from the program from which they intend to transfer be sent directly to EPI.  If the transcript shows attendance has not been sufficient to meet EPI’s requirement of at least 80% or poor performance (grades below a 2.0 GPA), that student will NOT be accepted. 

Returning Student Transfer-In Policy 

Former EPI students who transferred from EPI in good standing (no required transfer) will be accepted in EPI with the same standards as the New Student Transfer-In Policy.  

Former EPI students who were required by EPI policy to transfer-out MAY be accepted if they meet the following requirements: 

1. Have successfully* completed at least one full term of study at another program. 
2. Will be retested and placed according to the results of EPI's placement tests.  If a student was required to transfer out of EPI having been in levels WG4, RV4, SL5 and is retested into level WG3, RV4, SL4, the student will be placed in these “lower” levels and NO re-testing will be allowed. 

* Successfully completed is defined by a grade of C (2.0 GPA) or better and 80% attendance or better in all courses. 

Please note:

• Students who were required to transfer out due to poor attendance will be on probation the first term that they return. 
• Students who were required to transfer out due to poor progress will be placed according to EPI’s placement tests and given two opportunities to advance to the next level. 

Other Returning Student Policy 

Former EPI students who left EPI in good standing and have been out of the country for 2 or more terms may be accepted as new students.  However, they will be retested and placed according to the latest placement test scores, not on previous terms’ data. Additionally, prior study in EPI will continue to factor into students' EPI grade point average (GPA), which will factor into decisions regarding eligibility for admission to the University of South Carolina. 

EPI Registration Policy 

EPI expects students to attend 100% of their classes.  Therefore, EPI requires students to report to EPI and complete registration so that they can begin classes on the first day of class. 

• New students MAY be permitted to register late if they are able to provide documentation that proves their late arrival was due to delays with obtaining a visa or other delay beyond the control of the student. New students with no documentation will be required to transfer to another program. 
• Returning students must complete registration, have been tested and paid fees or presented an acceptable sponsor letter, no later than 5 pm on the day before classes begin. Returning students who have not completed registration by the day before classes begin will be required to transfer to another program.
• Returning students who have completed registration must pick up their schedule and begin classes no later than the first day of class.
• Returning students who pick up their schedule late (any time after the first day of class) will be marked absent.
• Returning students who attempt to pick up their schedule after the day of class will be required to transfer to another program.
• EPI does support the once-in-a-lifetime events in a student’s life (e.g., the wedding of a close family member).  However, the student MUST provide documentation.  Students who do not provide documentation will be required to transfer to another program.