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Getting
someone
drunk
isn’t the
tsanlSlar<
Siting
permission!
Alcohol is
involved in
75 percent
of campus
1 sexual
assaults
in the U.S.
(Koss, 1988)
I Sponsored by
S.A.F.E.
(346-0644)
A student group working
towards creating a sexual
assault free environment.
Office of the Dean of Student Life
Printed with permission from
Minnesota Institute of Public Health
Testing for credit
eases course load
The testing center also
offers WR 121 and
WR 122 waiver exams
By Leanne Nelms
Associate Editor
The University Testing Center
is much more than just the office
that inflicts placement tests on
incoming students.
Last year, the center adminis
tered more than 12,500 exams
that helped students enter gradu
ate school, qualify for overseas
employment, earn teacher’s certi
fications or even waive Universi
ty writing requirements.
“In a way, it’s a Fred Meyer ap
proach — one-stop shopping,”
said David Espinoza, testing cen
ter psychometrist.
The center offers the usual al
phabet soup of national exams —
GED and SAT; PRAXIS and
CBEST for future teachers; GRE,
GMAT and LSAT for graduate or
law school hopefuls; and TOEFL
and AEIS for non-native-English
speakers. “We serve as a clearing
house for information about all
the national tests,” Espinoza said.
In addition, the center also ad
ministers waiver exams for WR
121 and WR 122, as well as ex
ams that can help students earn
University credit, such as the
College-Level Examination Pro
gram (CLEP).
Writing waiver exams are of
fered during the first week of
each term. During the two-hour
test, students develop a thesis
and write an essay — either long
hand or on a computer — in re
sponse to a short reading chosen
by the writing department,
which also scores the essays. The
tests are $3 each and can only be
taken once.
While the writing tests merely
waive a particular requirement,
credit-by-examination programs
such as CLEP can actually help
students earn credits toward
graduation. Espinoza said quite a
few students take the Spanish
CLEP subject exam in an attempt
of fulfill the language require
ment for a Bachelor of Arts. In
addition to Spanish, subject ex
ams are also available for French,
U.S. history, economics, U.S. and
British literature, chemistry and
calculus, just to name a few.
Espinoza also said CLEP can
be a good alternative for students
who did not score high enough
on Advanced Placement (AP) ex
ams, but still seek some Universi
ty credit for their learning. “We
get people coming in who scored
twos or threes on AP tests,” he
said.
According to a flier available at
the test center, the University
generally grants four to 12 credits
for each passing score on CLEP
subject examinations and 12
credits for each passing score on
CLEP general examinations in ar
eas such as humanities and nat
ural sciences.
Espinoza said other credit-by
examination options available at
the testing center include depart
ment-approved tests for the sec
ond-year German sequence and
Introduction to Geography
(GEOG 101). Information is also
Upcoming tests
■SEPT. 21-25: Placement test
ing for incoming students. Con
sult the Week of Welcome
booklet for times and places.
■ OCT. 1 -2: Writing waiver tests
for WR 121 and 122. Advance
sign-up required.
■ OCT. 2: Registration deadline
for Nov. 7 GRE.
■OCT. 20: Registration deadline
for Nov. 21 PRAXIS.
■ NOV. 6: Registration deadline
for Dec. 5 LSAT.
■ NOV. 6: Registration deadline
forDec.5CBEST.
For more information, contact
the center at 346-3230 or visit
their Web site at darkwing.uore
gon.edu/~testing/. The center is
located in Room 238 of the Stu
dent Heath Center.
SOURCE: University Testing Center
available about the procedure for
challenging courses, he said.
Because the University doesn’t
give direct credit for life experi
ence, writing waiver exams and
CLEP are especially valuable for
non-traditional students, said Es
pinoza.
Some other services offered by
the testing center include scoring
of personality and interest inven
tories given by the Career Center,
providing specific testing
arrangements for students with
documented disabilities, admin
istering state licensing and certi
fication exams for trades such as
plumbing, and providing stan
dardized-testing services for
home-schooled children, which
Espinoza said has turned into
“quite a niche market.”
“We wear a lot of different
hats,” he said. “I think our main
goal here is to provide competent
service to the University commu
nity and the community at
large.”
One new addition planned for
the center is expanded computer
based testing. Recently, the cen
ter won a contract with the Edu
cational Testing Service to
administer TOEFL, GMAT, the
GRE general test, and the PPST
section of PRAXIS using comput
ers instead of traditional paper
md-pencil tests. “We’ve been
working on this since ’94,” Es
pinoza said.
“We’re anticipating being ‘in
stalled’ by mid-September,” Es
pinoza said. The computer-based
testing will be up and running
shortly after — “just as soon as
the software and hardware is set
up and the staff is trained,” he
said.
Espinoza stressed that even
though test-taking is an experi
ence filled with anxiety for
many, the testing center is a ser
vice working to help University
students reach their academic
and career goals.
"Primarily, we are a student
services operation,” he said. “All
students are welcome to come
here. We have an open-door poli
cy. We stand ready to answer any
questions people might have —
testing-related or not.”
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