Mission Statement

The Pathway Programs provide international students with highly structured, full university credit courses of study at the freshman and pre-master levels, empowering students to succeed through language, cultural and academic support.

About the Pathway Programs

Undergraduate Pathways

INTO Oregon State University’s Undergraduate Pathway programs combine intensive English language study, academic skills development and academic course work. The carefully constructed programs are designed to move students successfully through the first one or two terms, or first year, of an undergraduate degree program. The Pathway Programs have three components: English language skills classes, OSU content courses, and content course bridge classes. Although the various pathway programs are broadly similar, they differ in detail depending on the student’s major area of interest. The two most common programs are shown in the table below. All INTO OSU courses with the ALS prefix (Academic Learning Services) are taught by INTO OSU ESL instructors, and are OSU credit-bearing courses that apply towards undergraduate elective credits for graduation.

Initial Assessment of Pathway Students

To enter an Undergraduate Pathway, students must  meet specific language and GPA requirements.  Students who lack the required TOEFL score can meet Pathway entry requirements by successfully a specific level in the AE program (minimum C in all graded classes and pass in pass/no pass classes):

• 3-term Standard Pathway: TOEFL score of 60/500 (or completion of AE level 4)  and a high school GPA of 2.5.
• 3-term Advanced Pathway: TOEFL score of 70/525 (or completion of AE level 5)  and a high school GPA of 2.5.
• 2-Term Accelerated Pathway:  TOEFL score of 70/525 (or completion of AE level 5)  and a high school GPA of 3.0.
• 1-Term Accelerated Pathway:  TOEFL score of 75/540 (or completion of AE level 6)  and a high school GPA of 3.0.

Newly arrived pathway students are given diagnostic tests in their Reading/Writing and Listening/Speaking classes. If it seems that a student has lower than expected English proficiency, the student will be advised toward other options. Pathways instructors need to pay careful attention to student performance during the first weeks of each pathway so as to help the pathway management team to identify any other students who may not be ready.

Two Examples of Undergraduate Pathway Programs

Business		h/w	Cr	Engineering		h/w	Cr
Term 1				Term 1
ALS 150	Academic Rdg & Wrtg	6	3	ALS 150	Academic Rdg & Wrtg	6	3
ALS 151	Academic List & Spkg	6	3	ALS 151	Academic List & Spkg	6	3
MTH ___	Variable	4	4	MTH ___	Variable	4	4
HHS 231	Lifetime Fitness for Health	2	2	ENGR 111	ENGR Orientation I	3	3
HHS 241	Lifetime Fitness	1	1	ALS 181	ENGR Orientation 1 ESL Bridge	2	2
ALS 181	Lifetime Fitness ESL Bridge	2	2
		21	15			21	15
Term 2				Term 2
ALS 162	University Reading and Writing	6	3	ALS162	University Reading and Writing	6	3
COMM 111	Public Speaking	4	3
MTH ___	Variable	4	4	MTH ___	Variable	4	4
ANTH 210	Cultural Diversity	4	4	CH 231+261	General Chemistry + Lab	4	5
ALS 181	Cultural Diversity ESL Bridge	1	1	ENGR 112	Engineering Orientation II	4	3
		19	15			22	17
Term 3				Term 3
WR 121	English Composition	4	3	WR 121	English Composition	4	3
MTH ___ *	Variable	4	4	MTH ___	Variable	4	4
BA 101	Business Now	6	6	CH 232+262	General Chemistry + Lab	4	5
ALS 181	Business Now ESL Bridge	4	3	COMM 111	Public Speaking	4	3
		18	16			16	15
*Or ECON 201  Introduction to Microeconomics *OR another Bac Core course

Graduate Pathways

The INTO OSU Graduate Pathway Programs are designed for students who have undergraduate degrees but who need additional preparation before beginning graduate work. The graduate pathway in Business leads to admission to the MBA program; the graduate engineering pathways lead to admission to any one of 12 Master of Engineering degree options. A sample grad pathway is below.

Environmental Engineering Pathway
Fall	CBEE 211	ENGR 321	ALS 161	ALS 162
Winter	CBEE 212	ENVE 322	COMM 111	WR 121	GRE Prep
Spring	ST 511	ENVE 425	BIOE 320	WR 327

 

Pathways Course Description/Syllabus

On the first day of each term, instructors distribute a basic summary of course content, objectives, and grading. The idea here is to make such matters clear to students, giving them the information necessary to set their own goals and priorities. Having clear policies early helps avoid problems later. The syllabus also lists required and recommended texts and instructor office hours.

Course descriptions and syllabi should be consistent across multiple sections. A digital copy of each class syllabus should be placed on the server at the beginning of each term.

The development of course descriptions and syllabi for bridge courses must be based on the approved templates for ALS 150, 151, 161, 162 and 181, which are available on the server in the Pathways Curriculum folder.

 

Grade Requirements for Undergraduate Pathway Programs

Grades A-F are used for Pathway listening/speaking and reading/writing courses. In these courses, a grade of C- is considered a passing grade and will allow progress to next term’s courses. Grades of at least 70% on the mandated assessment activities are required in order to receive the passing grade.

Engineering Pathway students must earn at least a C grade in Math and Chemistry courses; all pathway students must receive at least a C- in Comm111, WR 121, and MTH 111.

ESL bridge courses (ALS 181) are graded Pass/No Pass, with grades of at least 80% on the mandated assessment activities being required in order to receive the passing grade.

Note that although grades of C or C- are sufficient to pass individual courses, an overall cumulative grade average of 2.25 is required for successful completion of a Pathway program and automatic transition to fully admitted status.

Students who receive any course grade below C- may be counseled to retake that course, to leave the current Pathway program and make additional preparatory study, or to explore other options.

Monitoring Student Progress

Pathway instructors should carefully monitor student progress and will be asked to make occasional reports regarding any circumstances that might negatively affect the student’s chances of achieving the course objectives. Such signs would include any of the following:

• Frequent late arrival to class
• Failure to complete assignments
• Evidence of insufficient language proficiency (despite best efforts)

Attendance is reported weekly via Blackboard.

Student Evaluation of Classes

ALS course instructors use the OSU online course evaluation system (eSET), rather than the paper-based system used in AE and GE.  Instructors can access completed evaluations through Online Services, and will receive a notification email when completed evaluations become available.

 

Updated September 2014