Expand the section navigation mobile menu

ESL Institute/Office of Global Engagement

O'Dowd Hall, Room 326
586 Pioneer Drive
Rochester , MI 48309-4482
(location map)
Phone: (248) 364-8803
Fax: (248) 370-3587
[email protected]

ESL Institute/Office of Global Engagement

O'Dowd Hall, Room 326
586 Pioneer Drive
Rochester , MI 48309-4482
(location map)
Phone: (248) 364-8803
Fax: (248) 370-3587
[email protected]

A group of adults posing for a photo.

Current Students

Current students can explore the variety of opportunities offered at Oakland University. Contact [email protected] for more information.

ESL Courses

Class Schedule

Academic Calendar

ESL Attendance Policy

In all ESL courses, you are considered absent if you are late more than 10 minutes. You must attend the entire session to receive participation credit or complete the alternative assignment for that day. If you are absent from class, it is your responsibility to contact the instructor or a classmate to find out what you missed. You should also plan to watch the class recording posted on Moodle if your teacher has made these available. You will be expected to be prepared for class when you return.  If you must miss a class due to illness or an unexpected emergency, notify the instructor as soon as possible and provide official documentation so that an evaluation of the situation can be made on a case-by-case basis. 

Absences affect academic progress.  Unsatisfactory academic progress may affect your visa status. 

It is important to note,  that the instructor will only wait for 10 minutes at the beginning of class.  If no students log in online or are in the classroom for a face-to-face session during that time, the instructor will create a recording of the material to be covered during that class session for students to view prior to the next class session. The recording will be posted on Moodle.

The ESL Institute follows the Oakland University Academic Calendar. Some religious and national holidays of our international students are not recognized by this calendar and classes may be scheduled. If students want to celebrate a holiday and choose to miss a regularly scheduled day of class, they must notify their instructor in advance in order to make arrangements to complete missed assignments and class work.  Please, plan ahead if needing to miss class because of a holiday.

Academic Policy

For further information about policies and penalties, students should consult the syllabuses for their classes and also the sections on Academic Policies in the Undergraduate Catalog.

Progress in all classes is expected. For each class, academic progress includes earning a B- overall. Students who do not show academic progress are subject to probation and/or dismissal.

Policy for Responding to Student Grievance/Problems

If you have any problems or concerns, you are asked to follow the guidelines below:

  1. Problems with instructor/coursework/program or other issues, you are advised to address the problem directly to the instructor for a resolution.
  2. If #1 does not resolve the issue, you are advised to address the problem directly with Melissa Vervinck, Director of the ESL Institute. Please contact her by email for an appointment: [email protected].
  3. If #2 does not resolve the issue, you are advised to contact the Rosemary Max, Executive Director of the Office of Global Engagement. Please contact her by email for an appointment: [email protected].
Waitlist Policy

ESL students who receive notification for permission to register for an academic course for which they are wait listed must forward the notification email to [email protected]. The ESL hold will be removed to allow the student to register only for the wait listed course; no additional changes can be made to the student's schedule.

Once the student has registered for that course (or until the time limit for doing so has expired), the ESL hold will be reinstated.