Weather Closings
Sometimes Houston has storms or flooding. UHD may close due to severe weather. An announcement is made on the radio, on television (Channels 2, 11 and 13) and on the UHD website. Do not assume that UHD is closed unless you hear or read one of these announcements. Only if the school closes is your absence counted.
Student Attendance Policy
Students are required to come to class on a regular basis. You may not be absent more than 5 hours from any one class or 20 hours from all classes in any one six-and-a-half week session. Chronic absence of F-1 students is reportable to Immigration.
Students who are absent are required to make up any work missed. Students who are absent for an instructor’s test or who had work to turn in will be governed by that instructor’s make-up policies as stated in the instructor’s syllabus.
University Credit
ELI graduates who take at least 12 hours successfully at UHD will receive an additional 3 hours of elective credit in American Studies. A student planning to use this credit should not take American Studies as an academic course elective. Contact ELI for a letter.
Recommendation
Graduates from the ELI’s Level 7 may attend credit classes at UHD without a TOEFL score if recommended by ELI. (Residents and citizens have no TOEFL requirement, so do not need recommendation.) Eligible students submit a Recommendation Application at the end of the fourth week of the session and take the Exit exam in the sixth week of classes. The test results, along with successful graduation from Level 7, determine your readiness to begin academic work at an American university. You must take the ELI Exit test while you are enrolled in Level 7. It is not available to and ELI graduate sometime after graduation.
Graduation
A small graduation ceremony is held each session for students who have successfully completed Level 7. Students must achieve a passing grade in all four Level 7 classes to graduate (no IP or NP grades).
ELI Scholarship in Excellence
ELI honors one student each university semester with the ELI Scholarship in Excellence. This $200.00 reduction in tuition is awarded to the student who writes the best essay. All students on the Honors List the previous session may complete for this scholarship.
Academic Recognition
Class grades are used to determine your scholastic average. Students with three P+ and one P grades are placed on the Honors List, and students with 4 P+ grades are listed in the Special Honors section of the Honors List.
Transcripts
Transcripts of all of your ELI work are available (with 24-hour notice) for a minimal fee.
Promotion
At the end of the session, you may be promoted to the next level. This is determined at leveling meetings, attended by all the instructors at a given level. Your instructors will discuss your proficiency and progress for the session to determine whether you are ready to move on to the next level or whether you should stay at the same level for another session. The Level Coordinator completes your Student Evaluation form with your grades, your Gatekeeper test grade if it applies to your level, and your instructors’ comments for each skill. This form is placed in your file, and you receive a copy. It is available on the day after the leveling meeting.
Final Grades used on transcripts and on Student Evaluation Forms use the following grading system:
P+ Pass with Honors
P Pass
IP In Progress (student has worked hard but has not progressed sufficiently to pass the level)
NP No Pass (student has not completed assignments and/or has excessive absences and does not pass to the next level)
NPA No Pass due to Absence; student is permitted to take the placement test for the next session and, if placing in the next level, can pass to that level.
W Withdrawal
You must have a minimum of 3 P’s and 1 IP in order to be promotes to the next level (and a passing Gatekeeper score if appropriate). However, if you already received an IP in the same skill area, you will not pass. (Once a student has failed a level due to two consecutive IPs, the process begins over again.) If you receive an NP (for absences) in any class, you will not be promoted.
Grading
Every student in the English Language Institute receives a class grade at the end of each session. Your class grades are based on your performance on classroom tests, daily work and class participation. Instructors indicate the weight of various course assignments on the syllabus which is given to students at the beginning of the class. In ELI, the following grading system is used on class assignments:
P+ Pass with Honors
P Pass
IP In Progress
NP No Pass
Gatekeeper Testing
At the end of Levels 2, 4 and 6, ELI administers a Gatekeeper Test. This exam tests all of the language skills you have learned in your studies. A score of 70% is required on this test in order to pass to the next level. Even if you have passing grades in your classes, you must have a score of 70% or better on the Gatekeeper in order to be promoted.
