Language and Culture Institute partners with Radford University to open new center
Virginia Tech has partnered with Radford University to establish the Language and Culture Institute at Radford University.
The collaboration combines the 40 years of experience the Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute has in providing English language programs and the unique academic opportunities available at Radford.
Operated by the Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute, the new center will provide instruction in English language and academic study skills geared toward international students while also facilitating intercultural understanding and offering support and guidance on nonacademic issues. The institute is scheduled to open in March.
"The Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute has long been committed to providing successful intensive English and degree-preparation programs to the best and brightest international students,” says Don Back, director of the institute. “This partnership builds on what we have already established at Virginia Tech while also enhancing Radford’s reputation internationally for high-quality academics.”
The institute will accept international students seeking opportunities at American universities and will offer an intensive English course that will provide those students with the language skills necessary for their academic success. These sorts of courses have been shown to encourage the growth of international communities on campus.
"We can bring the world to Radford University," says Kate Hawkins, dean of Radford’s College of Humanities and Behavior Sciences, who helped organize partnership. "It's better for the international students because the more they practice their English the more successful they can be in American universities. We are really fortunate to have such a great partner in the folks at Virginia Tech."
The program will provide full-time classroom instruction in all skill areas, including listening and speaking, reading and writing, and pronunciation, from beginning through advanced proficiency levels, supplemented by self-paced, interactive computer-assisted training.
Back said Virginia Tech will work with Radford to market the new institute and recruit international students.
The Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute serves more than 500 students from over 50 countries each year. It has a main campus in Blacksburg and a new center in Northern Virginia. Through its work, the institute contributes to Virginia Tech’s diversity and intellectual capacity by helping to attract international students, scholars, and professionals.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
