TIEC GAZETTE - Texas International Education Consortium

In This Issue
 Mexican Students
and Faculty Explore
Texas Culture and
Campus Life at
Lamar University
 Mishima Students
and Teachers
Enjoy Array of
Experiences in
Austin
 First TIEP at
Lamar Scholarship
Awarded to
Vietnamese Student
 TIEC Welcomes
Texas A&M
UniversityTexarkana
More About TIEC
Overview
A unique association of 32
public universities in Texas
Programs and
Services
Offering assistance to
public and private
organizations worldwide
Study in Texas
Featuring a full range of
programs for students and
professionals
Contact Us
Web: www.tiec.org
E-mail: info@tiec.org
1103 West 24th Street
Austin, TX 78705
Phone: (512) 477-9283
Fax:
(512) 322-0592
TIEC is an Equal
Employment Opportunity
employer.
TIEC GAZETTE
Newsletter of the Texas International Education Consortium
September 2015
www.tiec.org
Mexican Students and Faculty Explore Texas
Culture and Campus Life at Lamar University
T
IEP at Lamar
hosted 32 Mexican
university students
and professors for one
month of intensive English
study, July 13 – August 7,
as part of Mexico’s Proyecta 100,000 initiative.
This was the third
Proyecta group to spend
several weeks in Beaumont, bringing the total
number of participants in
five special TIEC programs
to 397 since November
2014, including two
additional groups who
received their training in
Austin. The Mexican
government plans to send
up to 100,000 Mexican
learners to the U.S. over
the next few years.
The participants this
summer explored local
culture through outside
volunteer work and field
trips around Beaumont, in
addition to receiving 96
hours of English language
instruction in the
classroom.
A highlight of the program
was active participant
involvement in campus
activities and visits to
academic departments,
which included meetings
with department heads
and faculty in Lamar’s
College of Engineering,
College of Business, and
the Departments of
Chemistry, Speech and
Hearing, Mathematics,
Family and Consumer
Sciences, Computer
Science, and
Education. Several of the
Mexican professors took
the initiative to discuss
potential collaborations
between Lamar and their
respective institutions.
Participants also met with
Dr. William Harn, Lamar
University’s Dean of
Graduate Studies, and Dr.
Jeffrey Palis, Director of
Study Abroad.
Dr. Palis was pleased with
these interactions,
commenting that “Lamar
University values the
exchange of scholarship
and ideas among students
and faculty in the
Americas. We are
especially interested in
further developing these
links with scholars in our
neighbor Mexico as we
work together to address
mutual challenges and
opportunities in academia,
industry, and society.”
TIEC GAZETTE
September 2015
Page 2
Mishima Students and Teachers Enjoy Array of Experiences in Austin
T
IEC welcomed its sixteenth group from
Classroom instruction at TIEP for the 49 students
Mishima Senior High School in Japan for
and four teachers was augmented by 11 outside
three weeks of intensive English language
activities in and around Austin—including museum
study and enjoyment of American culture, July 18 – tours, a visit to the state capitol, a barbeque picnic
August 8.
at a park, and escorted stops at several popular
local venues—as well as a fieldtrip to San Antonio.
Additionally, conversation/activity sessions between
the Japanese students, local American students,
and other TIEP students were held each week of
the program.
Students also got a taste of everyday life during a
weekend home stay with local families.
Mishima students Takeumi Ishikawa, Kota Okamura, and Kenji
Kajino (left to right) work together to make guacamole, a popular Tex-Mex side dish, during their weekend home stay.
Home stay host Shelley Bielstein commented,
“Surprisingly, my husband and I seemed to learn
as much from the experiences as our children and
guests, because the Japanese students shed new
light on many of our American and family cultural
values. They often quizzed us on why we use
particular phrasing, and they noticed small things
in our lives that we overlook daily. We've probably
all had the experience of seeing our town through
different eyes when guests visit, but we now see
our home and culture differently.”
First TIEP at Lamar Scholarship Awarded to Vietnamese Student
C
hien Minh Dong was
selected as the first
recipient of a new
$1,000 scholarship provided by
TIEP at Lamar for former
students who are admitted to
Lamar University.
“I had known that Lamar
University has very good
education quality in
engineering. This is the reason
why I chose to study at
Lamar,” Dong explained. “In
Vietnam, with a degree
obtained from the U.S., people
can find a very good job and
earn better money.”
In high school, Dong volunteered in his district of Ho Chi
Minh City to help his impo-
verished neighbors, providing
them with needed food and
funds. As a student of TIEP at
Lamar, he showed a consistent
commitment to his academic
studies, and eventually received
a Certificate of Academic
Excellence in the highest level of
study.
Dr. Stephen A. Doblin, Lamar
University’s recently retired
Provost and Vice President for
Academic Affairs, praised TIEP
at Lamar and Lamar University’s
partnership with TIEC as
“mutually beneficial” and
explained that the new TIEP at
Lamar Scholarship encourages
“excellent students to remain at
Lamar University for their
education.”
TIEC GAZETTE
September 2015
Page 3
TIEC Welcomes Texas A&M University-Texarkana
T
exas A&M UniversityTexarkana (A&M-Texarkana)
joined the 32 Texas public
universities participating in the
Texas International Education
Consortium in July 2015.
Dr. Mary Luz Rincon, Interim
Director of the International
Studies Office at A&M-Texarkana
(spring 2014 — summer 2015),
explained that the university is
focused on giving its students “a
diverse experience on campus
through cultural events and
celebrations” as well as “direct
experience through study
abroad.” She emphasized the
importance of creating affordable
programs that encourage
participation from both faculty and
students, which includes efforts to
find grants as well as targeting
international university
partnerships.
A recent highlight of the university’s
international involvement included
participation this past year in a
White House initiative, 100,000
Strong Americas, in which A&MTexarkana collaborated with the
Universidad Autonoma of
Bucaramanga in Colombia to
develop an exchange program with a
focus on environmental education.
The Colombian students arrived on
the A&M-Texarkana campus in May
of 2015 and A&M-Texarkana is
sending students to Colombia in
December of 2015.
International student support program activities at A&M-Texarkana.
Students from Colombia at the A&M-Texakana campus on a short-term exchange
for environmental studies. Photos courtesy A&M-Texarkana.
A&M-Texarkana was also involved in
the Mexican government’s Proyecta
100,000 program for English
language preparation. The first
group of 56 Mexican students came
to A&M Texarkana for five weeks in
the fall of 2014.
of 2014, and has since brought
students to campus through
exchange programs with Latin
American and Asian countries,
in addition to sending out more
than 50 local students to take
advantage of study abroad
programs in Colombia, Costa
Rica, Peru, and Spain.
The university set up its new International Studies Office in the spring
Dr. Rincon concluded that, “Our
international and cultural activi-
ties will continue to support
A&M-Texarkana President Emily
Cutrer's institutional statement
for the next ten years:
expanding opportunities for
global education, establishing
opportunities for a significant
percentage of students to study
in other countries, and
increasing our own international
student population to at least
10%.”