1. CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS & SCHOLARS
The Center provides counseling and advising to over 800 degree seeking and visiting students, 275 researchers, scholars and faculty and 500 ESL students from 100 countries and organizes cross-cultural social activities for the entire campus community. The Center coordinates two International Living Center Residence Halls in conjunction with Housing and Residence Life. Administratively, the Center processes all temporary working visa applications for faculty and researchers in all uptown and downtown divisions.
In addition to providing orientation all new international students, the Center offers workshops and services for American students who wish to travel, work or study abroad, including special orientations for JYA and Semester Abroad participants and serves as Fulbright Program Adviser for entire university; assisting candidates with their applications and chairing the campus Fulbright interviewing committee. The Center also has several outreach programs that provide international hospitality, educational and cultural programs to the New Orleans community.
Recently the Center has assumed responsibility for the coordination of the following new international academic programs:
Tulane/ Mexican Ministry of Education Faculty Training Program
This is a unique ten year jointly funded contract to provide post-graduate training for faculty and researchers from Mexican public universities. The program presently has more than 70 Mexican students in the Graduate School, Law School, Business School, Engineering School and School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine.
American Collegiate Consortium - Tulane/Russia Program
Tulane has joined a national consortium of universities who are participating in the USIA funded Freedom Support Act Program to provide for undergraduate exchange programs with Russia and other former Soviet states. Tulane students receive funding to study in Russia and Russian and other students from Eastern Europe come to Tulane on this jointly funded exchange program.
ESL/BGS - High quality international undergraduate students who may have some weaknesses in English are admitted through this special program into University College. ISSS recruits these students, evaluates their transcripts with Undergraduate Admissions, corresponds with them after admissions, and provides special counseling after arrival.
Year At Tulane (YAT)
YAT is an innovative program that provides an opportunity for foreign undergraduate students to study at Tulane as regular students and receive partial financial aid. Social sciences and the humanities are featured although any major can be accommodated. A Core Seminar on the unique culture of the city of New Orleans is a requirement . The Center coordinates the advertising, recruiting, admissions and advising of YAT students and works closely with the Provost's Office on all aspects of the program.
Other Undergraduate Exchanges - LAS, Engineering and Business have greatly increased the number of special undergraduate exchange students. The Center provides logistical support for these programs and facilitates these students' integration into the Tulane community.
2. English As A Second Language (ESL)
ESL provides 12 four-week intensive sessions per year to an average of 90 students per session. An innovated integrated language learning approach has been developed which facilitates rapid improvement in communication skills using the culture of New Orleans as a focus of discussion. About 500 students per year participate in the intensive program. Approximately 70 % of the ESL students come for language and culture training and the remainder plan to study at Tulane or other U.S. universities after completing ESL. A free TOEFL Prep course is available to all advanced students.
SPECIAL PROGRAMS IN ESL
T.A. Training Program - ESL instructors test the speaking ability of all new foreign graduate students who are receiving Tulane Teaching or Research Assistantships. These students are required to take a two credit "English & Classroom Techniques" course during their first semester at Tulane. This course, taught by ESL instructors, assists the Foreign T.A. in becoming a more effective teacher.
Legal Writing - At the request of the Law School, ESL has developed and teaches a non-credit writing course for new foreign LLM students who need some reinforcement of their English skills.
Legal English - This is a three week non-credit course held in July for young lawyers and advanced law students. The courses include language skills, legal vocabulary and research, a mini-course taught by a Law School professor along with visits with local lawyers and to the courts.
Pre-MBA - A six week program offered in conjunction with the Business School that combines ESL and cross-cultural training with two business courses.
Japanese Teachers Program - Tulane ESL is one of five U.S. university programs contracted by the Japanese Ministry of Education to train Junior and Senior High School English teachers. About 23 participants come for five weeks every summer to improve their own communication skills, to experience American culture and to learn new methods of teaching English.
University of Costa Rica - ESL serves as a consultant to the UCR in its development of M.A. in TESOL Program. ESL staff has gone to Costa Rica to give mini-courses and consult with Costa Rican officials.