Introduction
It is the conviction of the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) that all students attending Rhode Island College (RIC) and the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) are entitled to be instructed by persons proficient in the English language. Therefore, the CPE has established this policy on oral English language proficiency; the commissioner of postsecondary education will promulgate the policy; and the presidents of RIC and CCRI will administer the policy.
Policy
It is the intention of the CPE that each person who provides classroom instruction to undergraduate students at RIC and CCRI shall be orally proficient in the English language. (Classroom instruction shall include lectures, laboratories, seminars, recitation sessions, and other settings where students are taught in groups.)
Accordingly, each institution shall establish appropriate policies and programs to assess, and where necessary improve, the oral English language proficiency of all newly hired teaching personnel. Only those persons who demonstrate oral proficiency in English shall be permitted to deliver classroom instruction.
