The English as a second language department at LMC is getting back on its feet after the district fixed the software issue that had been affecting students en masse. The software issue, which was fixed in fall 2022, had been a problem for quite some time due to the onset of the pandemic. But more students have recently been receiving the awards that they had earned through those courses. 

When the Experience first reported about the certificates being awarded to ESL students in Feb. 2023, the number sat at 101 non-credit certificates that had been awarded to 47 students in fall 2022. According to ESL Department Chair Dr. Paula Gunder, at that time only three of those students weren’t in the ESL program. Since then, that number has shot up drastically.

“For the noncredit ESL certificates of competence, 301 certificates were awarded in fall of 2022 and 17 were awarded in spring of 2023,” said Director of Admissions and Records Riki Hall. 

Hall served an integral role in communicating with the district to get the software issue resolved and once it was, her team was presented with the task to award the certificates they couldn’t before. 

“We had to work with our other campuses in the district to make sure that all three campuses had the same programming set,” said Hall. “That’s what we needed help with and we reached out to our vendor for assistance.”

Once the issue was identified and fixed, Hall and many others got to work rapidly thanks to a quick system. 

“It’s a lot quicker to award a certificate of competency than it is like an associates degree and that’s primarily because the requirements aren’t as much,” said Hall. 

With no current backlog in the certificates, LMC has awarded ESL all the applications they had in their records. But it seems as though the other schools in the district haven’t.

“I did not hear that they were able to award any either, but I’m not really sure what the circumstances were,” said Hall. “I do know they haven’t awarded any. It’s just LMC that has.”

Even so, Gunder and the rest of the ESL department believe it’s great that the awards are finally available. An event was put together this past spring called ESL Fest to celebrate the students’ success and achievements. According to Gunder, she regards the event as a success. 

“We had to actually bring out extra tables. I’m gonna say around 80 people [showed up] including family,” said Gunder. 

Since the fix, Gunder says she has noticed a change in how students are viewing their work and accomplishments thanks to the certificates being available.

“The students who are exiting the program now that the certificates have been conferred, and even the ones that are continuing. I think they are starting to really value the time and effort they put in,” said Gunder. 

This all comes from the work Gunder did along with A&R. Gunder put in two requests for data at the district for info pertaining to students that took ESL that could’ve been applicable for a certificate. From there, she went through each semester and evaluated how many were eligible for a certificate.

Because of this work, students like Brianna Luna were able to get their certificates. Luna has taken 14 ESL courses and was eligible for many certificates as the issue was fixed. Upon being conferred, Luna was awarded five certificates and has applied for an additional ESL certificate among three other applications.

“My goal in taking ESL was to speak in English without feeling limited,” said Luna.

Since enrolling in fall of 2021, Luna describes her time in ESL with the utmost positivity for all aspects of the program. In her eyes, the faculty and students were excellent in creating a safe learning environment. 

“Therefore, I would always advise that if someone feels the same way I do, do not hesitate to enroll in these ESL classes. It has changed my life. It has given me hope,” said Luna.

It is through this program that Luna learned that language doesn’t have to impede her progress toward her goals. Thanks to the ESL program, Luna is hopeful of getting her associate’s degree. 

With the certificate issue being fixed and the aftermath being felt around campus, ESL looks to the future to solve problems around transcription and transparency, as well as working towards making their data readily available.