News from the International Education Center

Kenney lands NASA summer internship and French Embassy language assistantship

Susan Kenney '08, a two-year student assistant in the IEC, has put her French major to good use over the past academic year.  This summer Susan will be serving as an intern at NASA's Langley Research Center in Tidewater, helping NASA work with visiting French engineers as they collaborate on an important project.  Susan will then pack her bags for an exciting year as an English language teaching assistant in a French school.  The program, sponsored by the French embassy, places US students in French schools and universities to help them in their teaching of English.  Susan studied abroad for a semester in the RU-Universite Catholique de l'Ouest semester exchange program in Angers, France.

Upon the completion of her year in France, Susan intends to continue her studies of French at the graduate level, preferably at an Ivy League school in New England, in preparation for a career as a professor of French. 

RU wins US Department of Education Grant for Business and International Education

Radford University has been granted over $136,000 by the US Department of Education to develop an international internship program for business majors that combines foreign language training and business skills enhancement to maintain US global business competitiveness.  IEC Director Jon Stauff serves as the director of the project, which will provide $6,000 in scholarship assistance to ten RU students to participate in an RU-sponsored language program abroad and spend a summer in an approved internship program, using the target language.  Career orientation activities and cultural competency workshops are also part of the grant program.  Ellen Taylor, Academic Outreach office director, and the Experiential Learning and Career Services office will be working together with the IEC to develop multiple opportunities for business majors overseas. 

 

This is but one part of a campus-wide project on "international internships" that the Experiential Learning and Career Services office will coordinate over the next academic year.  Keep your eyes open for exciting new opportunities as the year progresses.

 

NAFSA selects Teresa Dalton King for Trainer Corps position

 

Teresa Dalton King, IEC Assistant Director and Immigration Counselor, has been awarded a position in the national trainer corps for NAFSA, the Association of International Educators.  King, about to begin her twentieth year working with international students at RU, brings a wealth of experience to her work on the trainer corps.  Check out the March 2008 press release about Teresa's achievement - congratulations, Teresa!

 

In addition to Teresa's work, IEC administrative assistant Mechelle Hypes completed the first step of training to work with international students in the US on F-1 visas at last November's regional NAFSA conference in Baltimore.  Congratulations, Mechelle!

 

The IEC is on the move to Cook Hall's first floor

 

Over the summer the IEC will be moving to vacant offices on the first floor of the Cook Hall of International Education.  We hope to be better able to serve students from this new accessible location and to breathe some life into the first floor of this building.  105 Cook Hall will house the administration of the Center, while 108 Cook Hall will be a multipurpose room for study abroad advising and international programming.  Our new RU Global Highlander Clan will help us program the lounge space across the way from 108 Cook, so be on the lookout for an exciting new addition to our campus internationalization efforts!

 

For more information, contact the IEC in Cook Hall at iec@radford.edu.  We are open 7:30am-4pm during the summer and 8:00-12noon/1pm-5pm during the regular academic year.