By SHANNON O. WELLS
In March 2023, discussions among Pitt’s administration, the Union of Pitt Faculty and the University’s English Language Institute (ELI) proved productive enough to at least temporarily reverse a proposal to close the ELI based on declining enrollment and financial concerns and instead keep the program operational through June 30, 2024.
As that date approaches, while the long-term future of the ELI appears uncertain, Director Dawn McCormick indicated she would continue operating the ELI’s Intensive English Program through this fall.
“Beyond operating the ELI’s intensive English program through fall 2024, I don’t have any specifics to share about programming, unfortunately,” she told University Times in June.
Meanwhile, Amanda Godley, vice provost for Graduate Studies, recently announced that the Office of the Provost and ELI will take a new approach to the Assessment of English Language Proficiency for incoming international students.
Starting this summer, new international students enrolling for fall 2024 and future semesters will not be required to take the ELI’s English Placement Test (EPT) during the summer to determine recommended English as a second language (ESL) course placements, the announcement said.
Recommended placements in ESL courses instead will be based on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)/Duolingo/International English Language Testing System (IELTS) scores students submit with their applications, which can be accessed via students’ PeopleSoft records.
No other part of the Assessment of English Language Proficiency process or decision-making will change, the announcement said. International students are asked to meet with their academic advisor to “discuss the English proficiency test results and any ESL course recommendation or requirements determined by their academic department or school.”
Looking ahead
In other ELI-related news, Scott Kiesling, Department of Linguistics chair and professor, noted his six-year term limit expires at the end of August, and Matt Kanwit, associate professor in the Department of Linguistics, will take over as department chair in September. ELI falls under the linguistics department. Kiesling explained that department bylaws limit chairs to no more than six years of service. Linguistics faculty, including Kiesling, suggested Kanwit as his successor in the role.
Regarding the ELI’s future beyond 2024, Kiesling told the University Times that “The final answer is still being awaited, although ELI is running at least in the fall. We do not know what will happen after that,” he said.
When asked about the ELI in April, Provost Joe McCarthy told the UTimes there are multiple moving parts in determining the best approach going forward to meet Pitt’s needs in providing intensive English language instruction.
“We talked about ELI like it’s monolithic, but there’s a number of components to what we used to term the English Language Institute,” he explained. “The planning for how we structurally achieve the necessary outcomes of what ELI had done is still a bit ongoing.”
McCarthy added that the discussions are “not surprisingly tied up a little bit with the union negotiations,” because bargaining unit faculty members are part of ELI’s operation. “We’ve been working very closely with the Office of International Services and the Dietrich School to figure out what’s the right structure to achieve the goals of that unit. The jury’s a little bit still out on what form that takes.”
A primary ELI function is providing non-credit intensive English training to speakers of other languages. Learners often come from overseas to improve their English while being immersed in it in Pittsburgh. Students are generally at Pitt for a semester or a year, but also make arrangements with foreign schools, such as Yasuda Women’s University in Japan, to have a group of students visit Oakland for five or six weeks of English training.
Transition period
The Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences announced in December 2022 that the ELI would close in June 2023 because of declining enrollment and financial concerns. The announcement resulted in some measurable fallout for the University and a substantial outpouring of support throughout the Pitt community.
McCormick said the closure news had immediate consequences, including the need to turn away applicants for the summer term and the following academic year during peak recruitment time and possibly losing a contract with an overseas partner university poised to send 30 students to the ELI in fall 2023.
Other university-based English-language programs the ELI worked with were turning to other programs because of the closure news, she said in February 2023, “and we have to battle against a loss of confidence in the University from our continuing students because of the announcement.”
Senate Council President Robin Kear announced during a March 2023 Faculty Assembly meeting that the ELI would remain open at least through June 30, 2024. Kear explained then that discussions between the administration, the Union of Pitt Faculty and the ELI proved productive.
After that change of course, McCormick said she thanked “every individual, group, unit, school, committee, organization and any other entity at University, local, national and international levels who have shared their support for the ELI or have taken any action to support the ELI over the last two months,” she said.
“We greatly appreciate your words and your wisdom.”
Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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