Intensive English Program

www.wwu.edu/iep

Introduction

The Intensive English Program (IEP) provides a variety of English language courses designed to prepare international students for academic study at American colleges and universities. IEP classes, which are mostly noncredit, focus on preparing students for these academic experiences, as well as helping them to adapt socially and culturally to living in the U.S. The program emphasizes creating opportunities for Western students and IEP students to interact, both in the classroom and through informal conversational situations.

IEP, in cooperation with the Office of Admissions, manages the conditional admissions process, in which international students, as admitted undergraduates, enroll in a combination of regular academic classes and advanced English-language classes. Conditional admission functions as a bridging process from ESL to university coursework and is designed to better prepare international students for study in degree programs.

Other academic collaboration areas of the University include the following:

IEP works with Western faculty to facilitate intercultural experiences for current Western students in communications, management, psychology, anthropology, education, and world languages courses by arranging joint classes, projects and other interactions with IEP students.
IEP is closely linked to Western’s TESOL certificate program by providing practicum experience, tutoring experience, and employment opportunities for TESOL students.
IEP provides opportunities for Western faculty who have professional relationships in other countries to bring students, individually or in groups, to campus for language and content-area study or for eventual matriculation into Western.

Accreditation

Western’s IEP is accredited by the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation for the period April 2017 through April 2022 and agrees to uphold the CEA Standards for English Language Programs and Institutions. CEA is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency for English language programs and institutions in the U.S. For further information about this accreditation, please contact CEA, 1001 North Fairfax Street, Suite 630, Alexandria, VA 22314, (703) 665-3400, www.cea-accredit.org.

Faculty and Staff

ee.wwu.edu/intensive-english-program/faculty-and-staff

Courses

Intensive English Program

Courses numbered X37; X97; 300, 400 are described in the University Academic Policies section of this catalog.