When registering for his fall 2004 classes, senior music major Daniel Jalkut noticed his registration time was significantly later than other students.

He was completely unaware of what was holding him back: the Junior English Proficiency Test, otherwise known as the JEPET.

Because Jalkut was a senior and had not completed the JEPET, he lost his priority registration time. On Sept. 18 Jalkut took the exam, but only because a friend was already taking it. He was unaware that the exam was the reason for his late registration time.

“I was not well informed and I think I was more informed than a lot of people,” Jalkut said. “I actually talked to people after I took the exam who didn’t even know it existed.”

According to Joan Starkovich, JEPET faculty support coordinator, the rule has always been that students must complete the JEPET after finishing English 114, 214 and before completing 80 units of classes. In the past this rule was never enforced, but penalties started being implemented this semester.

Starting in fall 2004, students who have completed more than 100 units and have not taken the JEPET will lose priority registration. In spring 2005, students with more than 90 units will lose priority and in fall 2005 the penalty will come into full enforcement, with students who have taken more than 80 units without passing the exam losing priority.

Starkovich also dispelled one myth that an academic hold could be placed on a student who has not completed the JEPET. The only penalty a student faces is loss of priority registration for not completing the JEPET. No academic hold will be enforced.

A second myth of the JEPET is that a mandatory number of people fail the exam. This is untrue, said Starkovich. JEPET exams are read by two SF State faculty members and graded on a scale of one to four; one being “inadequate” and four being “superior.” If there is a difference of opinion on a test’s score, the exam is read by a third faculty member. A student must score a three or better to pass.

To earn a score of three or four on the exam, the student must exhibit the ability to create and develop a solid thesis that is both logical and coherent in the context of the test question. Examiners also watch for mechanical errors as well as clear and direct style.

An example test provided on the JEPET Web site talks about the residents of Bay City, who have to decide whether to build a new stadium for their football team. The writer is provided with a list of facts to use to support an argument either for or against the new stadium.

Another issue surrounding the JEPET is the cost. On Sept. 18 the test cost was officially increased from $20 to $40. According to Testing Center director Jerry Carrig, 1,343 students took the exam on Sept. 18, generating more than $53,000 for SF State. The JEPET will be given five times this academic year.

Carrig said that these fees went to costs such as supplies, mailings and the faculty that administer and grade the exams. He said it also pays for counseling sessions that are provided to educate students who did not pass the JEPET about why they failed.

Carrig also stated that for the fall 2004/spring 2005 academic year, the SF State Testing Center was forced to reduce its budget by 70 percent, and any overage of money from the exam would go towards compensating for that loss. Carrig refused to detail exactly how the money was used, how much overage was generated and where that extra income went.

“The cost issue is kind of interesting,” said Jalkut. “It’s not like an SAT where it’s paying people lots of money to design questions. To be honest it seemed it was a poorly constructed question…I didn’t feel like it was written particularly well.”

The definition of the JEPET provided by the University is an essay examination where “students are given one and a half hours in which to construct a well-organized and developed expository essay on a given topic of general interest.”

The exam is part of a CSU system-wide requirement called the Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR). According to Starkovich, GWAR was, “designed to make sure all students could handle upper division writing before they take the bulk of their upper division coursework.”

CSU schools have the option of offering a proficiency exam like JEPET or forcing students to take an upper-division English course such as ENGLISH 414. Starkovich said that in the 1970s SF State did not have the JEPET and required all students to take English 414, but that the cost became prohibitively expensive.