Italian Undergraduate

Placement Guidelines

It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with College of Arts & Sciences and Departmental policies on placement and enrollment in language courses.

In keeping with the College of Arts & Sciences Area Requirements, courses taken to fulfill the foreign language requirement:

• Must be taken for credit and a grade.
• Must be fulfilled only at U.Va. or at a U.Va. - approved abroad program. (The College will NOT allow courses to transfer from other U.S. colleges/universities to fulfill the foreign language requirement.)

When selecting courses, please keep the following in mind:

• You may not enroll in a course different from the one into which you’ve placed.You are not permitted to enroll in a level different from your placement.
• If you place yourself incorrectly, you will receive an F for the course in which you enroll without permission.
• If you have prior experience in Italian you must enroll based on your score on the SAT II Exam, AP Exam, IB (high level) Exam, or the U.Va. online placement exam. If you have scores from more than one of these exams must enroll based on the higher placement. 
• If you have prior experience in Italian, but have NOT taken any of the above exams, you must take the U.Va. online placement exam to enroll in a language course.
• You will be required to show your instructor proof of placement on the first day of class.

Italian Course Sequence

• ITAL 1010 is reserved exclusively for students who have never studied Italian before.
• The sequence of courses, depending on the level at which the student begins, is as follows: ITAL 1010-1020-2010-2020; or ITAL 1020-2010-2020; or ITAL 2010 & 2020; or ITAL 2020. The sequence must be followed to complete the language requirement.

For additional about placement in Italian courses, please click here.

The Italian placement exam is an online exam that may only be taken once. Attempting to take the exam more than once, without permission, is considered an honor offense.

• If you experience a technical or computer malfunction while taking the exam, you must obtain permission to retake the exam by e-mailing the Italian Placement Coordinator.
• For guidance with Italian placement, please check the Italian Placement Chart.
• If you need a copy of your Italian placement exam score, please follow the instructions below.

Placement Exam Instructions:

• Submission of the exam in your name means that the score honestly reflects your current language abilities without assistance from other people or any materials.
• Print the grade confirmation page at the end of the exam. You should keep this page as proof of placement to show your instructor on the first day of class.
• You must enroll in the course in which you have placed. You are not permitted to enroll in a level different from your placement.
• If you place yourself incorrectly, you will receive an F for the course in which you enroll without permission. 

You may take the exam only once. Please read the following information fully, before starting the exam. Please remember to print a copy of your exam score at the end of the exam.

Follow these steps closely:

1. You will need an account to take the test.
   • If you have an @virginia.edu email address, you MUST use it in creating your account.
   • Include your SIS STUDENT ID in the Student ID field.
   • Please include your full name.
   • Create your account here.
2. Complete the pre-test survey in full.
3. Complete the placement test. Submission of the exam in your name means that the score honestly reflects your current language abilities without assistance from other people or any materials. Using such assistance is considered an honor violation.
4. Follow the instructions you receive at the end of the exam.
5. PRINT a copy of your exam score report, to use during registration and on the first day of class. You can access your score report after the exam by logging back in to the account you created (go to app.webcape.net)

If you experience a technical problem while taking the exam, please try the exam again later. If problems persist, please contact your language program’s placement coordinator.

This exam is to be used exclusively for the purpose of determining placement in UVA language courses.

If you took the exam after 10/7/2019 to go app.webcape.net and log in with your account information.

If you took the exam prior to 10/7/2019, you will need to contact the Placement Coordinator for your language in order to access your score.

If you have any questions or need any additional information, please e-mail the Placement Advisor.

Students considering courses in italian, should consult the departmental Course Listings page. In addition to the information provided by the department, students are encouraged to consult the Student Information System (SIS) and the Undergraduate Record.

Please note: Course enrollment in ITAL 1010-2020 closes earlier than the College of Arts & Sciences ADD Deadline

ADD Deadline for ITAL 1010 and 2010 Classes: Noon (12:00PM) on Friday, September 6, 2019

We do not course action students into ITAL 1010-2020 courses. Adding into these courses is done through the online wait list system. It is the student’s responsibility to understand how the wait list system works.

Please note: Course enrollment in ITAL 1010-2020 closes earlier than the College of Arts & Sciences ADD Deadline

ADD Deadline for ITAL 1010 and 2010 Classes: Noon (12:00PM) on Friday, September 6, 2019

We do not course action students into ITAL 1010-2020 courses. Adding into these courses is done through the online wait list system. It is the student’s responsibility to understand how the wait list system works.

Please note that the wait list system will not add you into a course if:

• You have a block on your registration.
• You are currently enrolled in another class at the same meeting time.
• Adding the class carries you over the credit maximum.

Placement

• Students who self-place without departmental permission will receive a final grade of F for the course. Students must enroll according to their placement through the UVA Italian placement exams, AP Exams, SAT II Exams, or IB (high level) Exam.
• All students with prior experience in Italian must take the placement exam. ITAL 1010 is reserved for students who have never studied the language before.
• Students are permitted to take the Italian placement exam only once. Taking the exam multiple times without departmental permission is an honor offense. The Italian placement exam is available online for you to take at any time.
• For more information on placement, please consult the placement page.

Attendance

• Students enrolled in ITAL1010-2020 who fail to attend the first day of classes will be dropped from the course.
• Attendance is obligatory for ITAL 1010-2020. In order for students to progress in their understanding and speaking of the language, they must be exposed to hearing and speaking it on a regular basis.
• Students are allowed three (3) unexcused absences. Beyond that, for each additional absence, one percentage point will be deducted from your final grade.)
• Students are expected to arrive to class on time. Being late to class (1-10 min.) counts as half an absence.
• Total Absences:
  • ITAL 1010/1020:  An excess of eight (8) absences, for any reason, excused or unexcused, will result in a withdrawal from or failure in the course.
  • Classes meeting MWF:  An excess of six (6) absences, for any reason, excused or unexcused, will result in a withdrawal from or failure in the course.
  • Classes meeting TR:  An excess of four (4) absences, for any reason, excused or unexcused, will result in a withdrawal from or failure in the course.

Honor

ITAL 1010-2020 students are expected to comply with the UVA Honor Code. Any violations of the Code in or outside class will be brought to the attention of the Honor Council. All work is to be pledged and completed by the student without assistance from classmates, advanced Italian students, native speakers, online translators or any online resource, unless otherwise indicated by the instructor. If you have doubts about what resources are permissible, you must contact your instructor. Tutors may help only after the student has completed his/her work independently. Tutors may not revise student work. Events for the Cultural Project and topics for the Video Project cannot be repeated from prior language courses.

The Italian Studies Major is designed to develop a student’s proficiency in the Italian language, while assuring that he or she receives a strong background in a variety of disciplines anchored in Italian culture.  It requires 30 credits beyond the 2020 level, and includes the possibility of completing the Distinguished Major program. For more information about the major, please visit our page for Italian majors.

The Italian Studies Minor consists of 18 credits beyond the 2020 level, and allows students to develop essential listening, speaking, reading and writing skills while introducing them to more advanced literary and cultural studies in Italian. 

Study abroad in Italy can greatly enhance the pursuit of the major or minor -- for more details see the Study Abroad section of this page, and visit the UVa Study Abroad website.

For additional information about the minor, please click here.

For information on our programs in Florence and Siena, please see our study abroad page.

The Italian tutor list is maintained by the Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese. The department does not offer free tutoring services. Individuals from this list are contracted independent of any participation by the department. They establish their own scheduling and fee rates for tutoring services. If you are interested in tutoring, you may contact one of the tutors in our department.

Please click here for the list of tutors who are currently available.