India Walton/Courtbouillon
Sophmore Makeda Royal of Birmingham, Ala., purchases blue book in preparation for the ENG199 Writing Proficiency Exam.

NEW ORLEANS (February 15, 2019) – Some 325 students have registered for the ENG199 Writing Proficiency Exam, set for 3 p.m. Friday, March 15, in Georges Auditorium, and English faculty are planning preparatory workshops the Tuesday and Thursday before, according to Dr. Nancy Dixon, assistant professor.

Some 20 percent of students who take the exam fail it, meaning they have to either retake the following year (if they’re a sophomore) or add another three-hour class to take and pass ENG200 Review of Writing Strategies. Twenty percent of the number registered would be 65 people.

Dixon, who coordinates administration of the annual exam, said preparatory workshops have been tentatively scheduled for 11 a.m. March 12 and 14 in Stern Hall.

All Dillard students are required to take and pass the exam or take ENG200 once they have taken and passed ENG112 Argument and Research with a “C” or better, typically in the spring semester of the sophomore year.

“If a student has done well in ENG111 and 112, then they should be able to write a very clear essay,” said Dixon.

Dixon said the topics are selected to be subjects to which students can relate. For example, she said, one recent exam asked students to explain what former U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton meant when she said “It takes a village” and then describe what that means in the student’s community.

The doors open at 2:45 p.m., and students must bring a blue book, a writing utensil (pencil or pen) and Dillard identification card. Dictionaries will be provided, but if a student may bring his or her own, if desired. Cell phones are banned during the exam.

(Dionne Delpit contributed to this report.)