New International Student Coordinator

Heather Dellinger joined MC on February 19 as the International Student Coordinator. Prior to joining the college, she worked as an international student counselor at the Community College of Baltimore County and as the international enrollment manager for an English language program at Howard Community College. She will split her time between the Germantown and Rockville campuses with office hours on the following days and times:

 

Monday (walk-ins) & Thursday (appointments), 12pm-2pm, Rockville campus, SV 307

Tuesday (walk-ins) & Wednesday (appointments), 10:30am-12:30pm, Germantown campus, SA 257

 

She can be reached at heather.dellinger@montgomerycollege.edu or 240-567-1975.

 

UM English Proficiency Policy Change for Students Whose Native Language is not English

In previous years, students who indicated on a UM Transfer Application that their first language was not English were able to ask MC counselors to send UM a brief statement to confirm that they were in the process of graduating from MC during the semester that they were applying for Transfer Admission and UM granted those students a Waiver to the English Proficiency Test requirement.  This informal policy between MC and UM is no longer in effect.

 

Students whose native language is not English, regardless of citizenship, now need to review the UM English Language Proficiency Page https://admissions.umd.edu/apply/english-language-proficiency to determine whether they qualify for a Potential Waiver (shown below but you should also refer students directly to the Proficiency Page for the most accurate information):

 

UM Potential Waivers for English Proficiency Requirement

While a passing English proficiency test score is the only absolute way a student can meet the English language proficiency requirement, we may consider waiving the English proficiency test requirement, if a student has completed one of the following:

• Four years at a U.S. high school without English as a Second Language (ESL),

• Associate, bachelor’s or master’s degree earned from a regionally accredited U.S. institution,  [MC note:  by “earned”, this means that the degree must be stamped as completed on the institution’s transcript at the time of application]

• 55+ credits [showing as completed, not in progress] from a regionally accredited U.S. institution with coursework equivalent to English Compositions 1 and 2, or

• English is your primary language and you have a completed high school or university degree earned from one of the following countries or territories¹:

English-speaking countries
Antigua Australia Bahamas Barbados Belize Bermuda British Virgin Islands Cameroon2 Canada3 Cayman Islands Dominica	The Gambia Ghana Grenada Guyana Ireland Jamaica Kenya Lesotho Liberia Montserrat Namibia New Zealand Nigeria	Sierra Leone South Africa St. Lucia St. Vincent Swaziland Tanzania Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Uganda United Kingdom Zambia Zimbabwe

1. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, but an official English proficiency score is required.
2. English proficiency test is required for the French system only.
3. English speaking provinces only.

---

For students who do not qualify for a Potential Waiver, they must take one English Language Proficiency Test:

 

UM’s Accepted English Proficiency Tests

1. Duolingo English Test (DET)   [MC note:  cost is $59; test results are given in 2 days; Duolingo offers unlimited free practice tests] 
   UMD accepts official scores from the Duolingo English Test, which can be taken online and on-demand. UMD passing score: 120
2. International English Language Testing System (IELTS) [MC note:   The cost to take IELTS in the USA ranges between $245–255 USD]
   UMD accepts official IELTS and IELTS Indicator scores.  UMD passing score: 7
3. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)  [MC note:   The cost of the TOEFL iBT is $255]
   UMD accepts official TOEFL and TOEFL iBT (Home Edition) scores. At this time, we are not accepting TOEFL superscores known as MyBest Scores.  UMD passing score: 95

This is what UM’s Pre-Transfer Advisors Leslie Lindeman llindema@umd.edu and Yenti Sunarto yentigs@umd.edu say to students who ask about UM’s English Language Proficiency Requirement:

If English is not your native language, regardless of your citizenship, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions requires verification of your proficiency in English through one of the tests or potential waivers listed on this website: https://admissions.umd.edu/apply/english-language-proficiency. 

To determine if you are eligible for a waiver based on your situation, please contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions directly: ApplyMaryland@umd.edu.  Use the subject line "Transfer Student from Montgomery College English Proficiency".  Otherwise, plan to take one of the tests, such as Duolingo, before applying for transfer admission.

UM Pre-Transfer Advising Page specifically for MC Students:  https://sites.google.com/umd.edu/mc2umd/home

---

Thank you to Jan Shapiro who alerted us to this permanent change in policy –

Anne Schleicher, Part-Time Counselor
Montgomery College Online Advising Services

F-1/international Online/Remote Requirements

Hello colleagues,

Thank you for working with our international students.  As you may have heard, with the official end of the COVID Public Health Emergency, government regulations and operations are returning to ‘normal’.  We have had confirmation that the regulations for international students who must maintain full time enrollment to keep their status (F-1 and M-1 students who have a form I-20 from Montgomery College, and some other international students with parameters established by their own governments for funding or to be considered “dependents” of carriers of some other visa types once they are over the age of 21) have returned to the pre-COVID requirements: a maximum of one class or 3 credits of online study as part of the usual full time load.  Since we have several classes that are more or less than 3 credits, and we use Billing Hours to determine full time, we have previously used clarification from our government partners that the pertinent information was to be certain the preponderance of courses have a face-to-face component.  That preponderance being “9 credits”.

We sent the below [ ] to all F-1 students on April 24^th.   The final decision to return to the Pre-COVID requirements was issued last Friday so another email will go to students this week (with hope they will read it now that finals are over 😊 ):

[ During COVID, F-1 students have had “flexibilities” to enroll in more than the usual number of Distance or Online courses.  Since the United States’ government declared an end to the COVID National Emergency this month, those flexibilities may expire.

Plan your Fall Registration based on the original regulations; you should register for at least 9 credits of “face to face” classes (remember your 12 Billing Hour minimum for full time).  Under the regulations: Montgomery College classes listed as “Blended” are “face to face”.  Montgomery College “Remote” classes are not “face to face”.  In 2022 an extension of the COVID “flexibilities” was only implemented at the end of May so we might not have updates before you register for Fall.  We will post any updates on our Current F-1 Students webpage as soon as we receive them (see Current Students | Montgomery College, Maryland)

Please contact a Counselor or Program Adviser to help you select the best courses for you, contact your International Coordinators office at I20questions@montgomerycollege.edu with other questions. ]

Thank you all!!

Heidi Russell-Kalkofen, MEd

International Student Coordinator, Rockville and Germantown Campuses (pronouns: she/her/hers)

Please contact our Main Office Email I20questions@montgomerycollege.edu for additional information and to request appointments
Please see current schedule for Walk In and Appointments at https://www.montgomerycollege.edu/international-students/resources-and-support/international-student-office.html

Office webpage: www.montgomerycollege.edu/InternationalStudents

Montgomery College is ranked the 7^th best Community College in the United States with the 6^th greatest international population!

 

International Students - F-1 Enrollment Requirements / Spring 2023

I reached out to our international coordinators about a student and Heidi sent me this helpful information. 

• Any “blended” class (one that is part DL or Remote and part in-person) always counts as ‘on-site’ for F-1 students.

• This academic year (22/23) we continue to have ‘flexibilities’.  We reported our institution as ‘hybrid’ so almost all students can have more than the usual limit of one DL (or Remote) class.  

However, all students must have an in-person class (best if it is not a blended one).  

• Students who started in a school in F-1 status before March 2020, when the pandemic hit, can have all online classes if needed.

• I recommend to students that they document, document, document any need to be outside of the usual limits so they can also explain it in the future if needed.

Brenda M. Crist M.Ed./ NCC

F1 Extensions and Below Full Time Guidance - Fall 2020

Last year we created a form to help the Counselors in working with F-1 students on Below Full Time and Extension of time to graduate issues.

We have now created this as a fillable form that you can all email to our main office email.

The form itself is on our webpage as part of the instructions for students who need to extend the graduation date on their I-20.  (also saved to the Counseling One Drive - Counseling (CW) Discpline - Documents\Advising Docs\F1)

We are piloting a program to focus “Extension” mostly on students who are not just finishing ESL or ELAP and moving on normally.  We will want those students to work with a counselor, but not to feel as time pressured.  A true “Extension” is for a students who will not get finished in the time we originally estimated (or, perhaps, that their financial sponsor originally promised support for).

The first “Your I-20 is ending this semester, begin planning” email went out over the weekend.  At the end of each of the next 3 months, emails will become increasingly urgent as we approach the deadline (early December).

Thank you for all of your help and support for our international students!

Heidi Russell-Kalkofen,  MEd

International Student Coordinator, Rockville and Germantown Campuses

Working Remotely at this time – please contact I20questions@montgomerycollege.edu for additional information and appointment schedules

 

I-20 Extention - Academic Regulation

They can do a certificate while doing an Associate but we cannot extend the time needed for an associate based on time taken to do non-degree work. They can finish a certificate on OPT if it takes no more than their 12 months and they are never full time (and they can pull off full time work and the amount of study needed). CPT must also be done before their degree program ends so doesn't help in this situation.