ELI supports UD global initiative

In spring 2008, Dr. Patrick Harker, president of the University of Delaware, launched a groundbreaking strategic plan entitled Path to Prominence.

“At this moment, we are setting out on a new path designed to engage closely with the critical issues of our day, to increase the global impact of the University, and to raise its prominence in the world,” Dr. Harker wrote.

Under the heading Extend Our Reach, the report emphasized the importance of recruiting, welcoming and nurturing international students. The report drew specific attention to the “University’s well-established English Language Institute,” and pointed to further integration of the ELI into the greater campus community.

“As one of the most widely respected intensive English programs in the country, the ELI exemplifies the relentless pursuit of excellence characteristic of so many UD programs, and it's this spirit that will drive the University's progress on its path to prominence,” commented ELI director Dr. Scott Stevens.

Furthermore, Stevens observed, one of the plan’s six strategic milestones, the Global Initiative, is closely aligned with the ELI’s own long-standing mission, to “enrich the University of Delaware and the local community, fostering cross-cultural communication and interaction.”

Dr. Stevens cited a number of ways in which the ELI helps UD extend its reach.

“Our Conditional Admission Program, brings diversity to the University's student body by attracting many highly qualified international graduate and undergraduate applicants, who are able to fulfill their language requirements through the ELI while also developing the academic and cultural skills necessary for success in a major U.S. university.

“Our International Teaching Assistant Training Program supports all campus graduate programs by ensuring their graduate students assigned instructional duties will be comprehensible and effective in the classroom.

“ELI’s Teaching English as a Foreign Language training programs have provided state-of-the-art professional development to over 1,000 teachers from 45 countries for over 20 years, making ‘University of Delaware’ synonymous with excellence in TEFL training in dozens of countries.  • GW