Liberal Studies

• Teaching College of Liberal Arts core courses, and certain other courses, using direct instruction. All students in the classes taught using direct instruction are deaf or hard-of-hearing, and faculty use sign language, spoken language, fingerspelling, printed/visual aids and Web-based instructional materials. Courses include: Written Communication I, Written Communication II, Writing Seminar, Literary and Cultural Studies, Arts of Expression, Fine Arts: Visual Arts, Modern American History, Introduction to Psychology and Foundations of Sociology.

• Teaching sections of some College of Liberal Arts courses with hearing, deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the same class. Access services are available, including sign language interpreting, real-time captioning services and notetaking.

• Tutoring deaf and hard-of-hearing students in College of Liberal Arts courses.

• Providing academic advising to deaf and hard-of-hearing students who are pursuing majors, minors or concentrations in the College of Liberal Arts.

• Partnering with each department in the College of Liberal Arts to maximize student retention and performance.

As a student in an NTID program of study, you must take at least two English tests when you enter, the NTID Writing Test and the NTID Reading Test. Your English scores are based on performance on these two tests. These scores are used to place you in the NTID English curriculum. For more information about English scores, please refer to the Department of Liberal Studies Handbook, under "Initial Course Placement." This flowchart explains where students will be placed in the English sequence, based on their NTID Reading Test and NTID Writing Test scores.

Your placement in English courses at RIT/NTID depends on what scores you get on the English tests you take when you first arrive here. The English curriculum at RIT/NTID is divided into two parts. If you have very strong English skills, you begin your coursework in the writing sequence in the College of Liberal Arts. If you have weaker English skills, you are placed in developmental courses designed for four different levels of ability (Levels A-D).

For more information, please look in the Department of Liberal Studies Handbook under "Curriculum Framework," "Initial Course Placement," and "English in the College of Liberal Arts." You can see where your scores will place you by looking at the chart of English courses.

Grades in English courses are assigned just like in other courses at RIT/NTID. The most common grades include A-D, W (withdraw), and I (incomplete).

It is very important to understand that the English curriculum at RIT/NTID is mastery-based. That means that in order to pass any English course with a satisfactory grade, you must demonstrate competence in all or most learning objectives for that course. In other words, English course grades are assigned to give an accurate reflection of your achievement. According to a review of recent grading patterns in NTID English Academic Writing and Nonfiction Reading courses, 25-30% of students earn "A" or "B", 40-45% earn "C", and 25-30% earn "D", "F" or "W."

According to the Department of Liberal Studies Handbook: 

"A" means that there is a strong reason to believe that the student will perform satisfactorily in the next course in the strand. "B" means that there is fairly good reason to believe that the student will perform satisfactorily in the next course in the strand. "C" means that there is some question that the student will perform satisfactorily in the next course in the strand. "D" means that it is doubtful that the student will perform satisfactorily in the next course in the strand. Students who earn a "D" grade are advised to repeat the course. "F" means that the student has failed the course and must repeat it to progress in the curriculum.

If you have already passed English Composition, or its equivalent, at another college you should check with the Liberal Arts Support office (tel: 585-475-6849; larnge@rit.edu) for policies concerning transfer credit. This flowchart shows you the process by which RIT decides whether to accept your credits from another college.

Depending on your performance on the NTID Writing Test and the NTID Reading Test, you may also be required to take the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency (the "Michigan"). Performance on all three tests determines access to a fourth test, the Liberal Arts Placement Test (LAPT), which is used to place you in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) writing sequence. 

If you are matriculated into an AOS degree program, you are required to successfully complete the three-course Career English sequence. If you are matriculated into an AAS, AS, or BS degree program, you are required to successfully complete courses in the CLA writing sequence as well as other CLA courses in the humanities and social sciences.

For advice on which English course to take next, please ask your current English instructor or your academic advisor.