On January 21, Dr. Richard A. Hanson, president of Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College, will sign an agreement with Winona State University to open a branch of Winona State’s English Language Center on the BSU campus.
The signing ceremony will be held at the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system office in St. Paul, Minn. The schools are entering into a three-year partnership, which officially begins May 1. BSU’s English Language Center will open this fall.
“This partnership allows two state universities to cooperate in delivering services not currently available at BSU to students from all over the world,” said Martin Tadlock, BSU provost and vice president for academic affairs. “We believe it is an exciting first for the MnSCU system and a model for future collaborative opportunities. The center will help BSU move forward in its goal to increase the international presence of the university, prepare students for working and living in a global society, and help BSU pursue its goal of raising our international student enrollment to 10 percent of the campus population.”
The center, which will be located in Bridgeman Hall, will provide intensive language training to students who speak first languages other than English and are required to meet certain language proficiency requirements before enrolling at BSU.
The center will serve:
• prospective undergraduate students with no Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score, or a score that is below the admissions requirements for U.S. colleges and universities;
• international students who are seeking conditional admission to BSU or Winona State;
• students who have been admitted to other colleges or universities in the U.S. who are looking to further improve their English skills;
• students who wish to develop English skills for professional purposes;
• American students whose first language is not English.
The center’s purpose will be to strengthen the academic and interpersonal English language skills for international students conditionally admitted to BSU, orient students to the expectations and resources available at BSU, or at other U.S. institutions, and in the surrounding community and provide students with opportunities to share their culture with the community.
The center’s curriculum will include courses in speaking, reading, writing, grammar and integrated skills.