Humanities News, Features, and Other Updates

After undergoing a rigorous three-year process of measuring its performance against the 44 standards of the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA), Michigan Tech’s Intensive English as a Second Language (IESL) program has secured a five-year initial CEA accreditation (August 2015-August 2020). CEA is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as a national accrediting body for English language programs and institutions. The Commission leads the field of language teaching and learning via rigorous standards and processes of transparent and accountable peer review.

Tech’s IESL program was established to help improve the English language proficiency of international students who meet all of the university’s academic admissions requirements. This accreditation review, the first external evaluation of the program since its inception in 2000, culminated in a three-day site visit last spring.  Tech’s was one of twelve programs seeking initial accreditation, and was one of only five programs granted the full five-year accreditation.

According to Bruce Seely, Dean of the College of Sciences and Arts, the visiting accreditation team was extremely complimentary about Tech’s program.  To a significant extent, that positive stance stemmed from the efforts of Beatrice Smith, director of the program and professor of Humanities, and the IESL faculty, who have revamped and significantly improved the IESL curriculum and content in recent years.  As a result, the visitors stated they would recommend that Beatrice’s report become a model for other schools.  “Beatrice worked incredibly hard to insure that the Tech program met the CEA accreditation standards and this outcome is a tribute to the dedication and commitment exhibited by her and the IESL faculty. They did a superb job, and we deeply appreciate their efforts.”

With accreditation, IESL agrees to uphold CEA standards for language programs and institutions.  The letter granting accreditation states, “In reviewing a program or institution, the Commission seeks to determine that mission and educational objectives are being communicated and met; that performance with respect to student achievement is being realized; that the program or institution is organized so that its mission and educational objectives are supported by adequate human and fiscal resources…and that the CEA Standards for English Language Programs and institutions are being met. The Commission had determined that the IESL Program meets these requirements and commends the program for its achievements”.

With this accreditation, IESL also joins EnglishUSA—the American Association of Intensive English Programs—a group that promotes quality and advocates for English language programs.

(This article originally appeared in Tech Today.)

Michigan Tech students Ameya Narkar and Amie Ledgerwood have been awarded grants to benefit Michigan Tech and the local community.

Narkar secured a $5,000 grant from the Office for Young Adult and Campus Ministries of the Episcopal Church for Michigan Tech’s Canterbury House, an organization to support international students and their families.

Ledgerwood won a $5,000 grant from the Michigan Space Grant Consortium to provide funding for local elementary students to study the Keweenaw’s unique geo-heritage.

Both students wrote their grants as part of the fall 2014 grant writing course, HU 4694.

Valorie Troesch, Adjunct Faculty in the Pavlis Honors College and a doctoral candidate in Rhetoric, Theory and Culture (Humanities) has published an article in the June 2015 issue of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine. Her article is entitled, “Teaching Engineering Ethics: A Phenomenological Approach.”

This article first appeared in Tech Today

From Tim Colling PhD., P.E., Director – Center for Technology & Training Michigan Tech University:

Over the past few months Andi Barajas (full time CTT  staff and part time STC student), Cassandra Matchinski and  Stephanie Hubble (both full time STC student and CTT interns) have been working with Shaughn Kern and Carol Reynolds (full time professional technical writers at CTT) to develop logos for the National Local Technical Assistance Program Association (NLTAPA http://www.ltap.org/about/) as part of a national competition.  The NLTAP Association represents the 58 LTAP and TTAP (tribal) centers across the US.  On an annual basis the centers jointly  train over 174,000 people, in  nearly 6,200 training sessions, and circulate more than 795,000 publications according to the NLTAP website.  The LTAP/TTAP program has been in existence since 1982 when it was formed by the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

I’m happy to announce that  Stephanie Hubble’s entry was selected to be the new logo for the national association and will be used on official NLTAPA business systems such as letterhead and the website.  I also understand that two of the Michigan Tech submitted entries for the competition made the top three.  I think competing and winning on a national level is a testament to the skills and creativity that our staff and students have.  The winning logo will be announced/unveiled at the NLTAPA annual conference in Savannah, GA on July 20^th.  Unfortunately Stephanie is overseas this summer and will not be able to attend the conference to receive the award, however a Andi will be at the conference accepting the award for the center.

Congratulations to all of the staff and students that worked on this competition.

The Graduate School has announced the awarding of finishing fellowships to the following outstanding PhD candidates, including the Humanities Department’s own Gary Kaunonen:

Abraham Romney (Humanities) Published “Rhetoric from the Margins: Juan Francisco Manzano’s Autobiografía de un esclavo” in the Journal Rhetoric Society Quarterly.

(This article originally appeared in Tech Today.)