ITA Procedures

It is the responsibility of each department to ensure that all non-native English-speaking graduate assistants who serve in instructional capacities receive clearance before beginning their assistantship duties and that all graduate assistants who are required to take ESOL classes do so in the appropriate semesters.

• Each semester, departments will notify the ESOL Program (esolprog@bgsu.edu) of all incoming GAs (and GAs who are changing assistantship duties) who will serve in instructional capacities (teaching, tutoring, laboratory sections, etc.) and who are not native speakers of English, including U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Departments should complete this Qualtrics survey when new contracts are written and no later than two weeks before the start of the semester.  The Qualtrics responses should indicate:
  • GAs who are exempt from screening (GAs who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents who have completed undergraduate degrees from U.S. institutions (both criteria must be met); students from the country exemption list).;
  • GAs who are exempt from ESOL courses based on submitted TOEFL/IELTS scores (see the table with outcomes);
  • GAs who will need to enroll in specific courses based on submitted TOEFL/IELTS scores (see the table with outcomes);
  • GAs who need to take the ESOL Program’s Spoken English Test before they can begin their instructional duties.
• Departments will be notified each semester of the times and locations for the SET sessions, which will be set to correspond with International Student Orientation sessions in August and January, with additional testing times at the end of each semester. Each test should take approximately 20 minutes and will include an oral interview and a teaching demonstration. A department representative is welcome to attend the testing sessions.
• ITA Placement Results and course requirements will be sent to the Graduate College and to specific departments so they can ensure GAs register for appropriate ESOL or CDIS courses if required.