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Term dates: January - march 2020
Maoloud Dabab is an IELP alum who joined the PSU community in the winter of 2015. He is currently finishing his Ph.D. degree in Engineering and Technology Management at PSU. He grew up in a town called Zwara in northwest Libya. His first Language is Tamazight which a minority of people speak. At the age of six, he started learning Arabic since it is the only official language in Libya. Maoloud earned a BA in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Tripoli, Libya. After graduation, he worked for six years in the telecom industry. While he was working, he faced many issues regarding how to integrate management and technical situations. Therefore, he decided to gain an advanced level of knowledge in management skills to solve multifaceted problems with innovative solutions. He believed that mastering the English Language was as important as earning a graduate degree, so that is why he decided to come to America. Maoloud’s story in America started in 2014 when he was selected by the Libyan government to finish his graduate study abroad. When asking Maoloud why he chose Portland, he remarked, "I defined my selection criteria including safety, the level of education, and how friendly are the people. This led me to select Portland and the IELP." He elaborated, "It was impressive because a friend of mine, Nader Beltife, did his own search and made the same choice, but both of us did not know anyone here, and we said let's go and try. Now I will say, it was one of the best decisions in my life. I feel that Portland is my second hometown." Coming from a Muslim country that has different traditions and culture than the US was not an easy step. He said that "As a part of my daily life I believe that the IELP opened the doors for me to be more engaged in society and know more about the American culture." After three terms in the IELP, he was able to start his master’s in Engineering and Technology Management at PSU. His story with the IELP did not come to an end by finishing his English study. He was delighted to join the IELP Mentor and Leadership team for a year and a half, and he was very active in helping new students to the program. Also, he did many presentations in the IELP Learning Center to give new students the confidence in themselves to speak and overcome their anxiety to present in English; which is one of the most important factors for international students learning a new language. He said, "Working with the IELP required me to connect with students from different countries with diverse backgrounds, which taught me to respect different viewpoints, collaborate well, and connect with a better understanding of my work." Maoloud is really happy with his IELP journey. He said: "I’m fully aware that the IELP experience added more value to my life." Maoloud made a valuable contribution to PSU and has contributed effectively to the international community by sharing his culture and background knowledge. He was a Libyan cultural messenger in the International Cultural Service Program for the PSU international office. While finishing his study, he has been working various jobs on campus including as an AV technician at the Office of Information Technology and a Sustainability Data Analyst with the Campus Sustainability Office. At the same time, he was active in doing some research, teaching, and tutoring. He is also involved as a member of several professional groups and organizations. As a result of working hard, Maoloud obtained several awards such as the Student Employee Award Nomination Certificate in 2017, the 3 Minutes Thesis 2018 competition People’s Choice Award, the Ph.D. Poster Form 2019 People’s Choice Award, the Outstanding International Student Recognition Award 2019, the Academic Excellence Award, Student Activities and Leadership Programs 2019, and many Scholarship Awards. His interpersonal skills have helped him to build successful relationships with a lot of people in and outside of PSU. He explained that "My study in the IELP has provided me with a strong grounding in English, which helps me to contribute my enthusiasm and share my ideas easily in English." Maoloud has been working with the City of Portland as an Engineer since March 2018. He started as an intern and now has a full-time position even before finishing his degree. We hope that his innovative research and work will lead him to join the ranks of elite scientists in the management world. His Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Timothy Anderson, stated, "Maoloud is an excellent student, reflecting very positively on international students, and his contagious enthusiasm has won him friends throughout the department and university." Maoloud is very grateful to have had the privilege of being an IELP student, and he wants to thank all of the IELP faculty and staff for helping him to be one of PSU’s outstanding students. Maoloud encourages new IELP students to "ask questions in class and do not hesitate, use as much as you can the resources in the IELP, and take advantage of every single minute; this is your time to learn and you can do it." For fun, Maoloud likes traveling, meeting new people, discovering new cultures, and he loves to get outside and enjoy the natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest. His favorite activity in Portland is hiking on trails and meditating while sightseeing.
WHAT'S INSIDE
Maoloud Dabab
Maoloud Dabab, Alumni Story, pages 1-3 WETSSL 2020 overview, page 4 IELP Faculty and Staff Achievements and Presentations, pages 5,7 International Alumni Network, page 6 Partner University Highlight, page 7 35 years at PSU, page 8 Thank you for your support, page 9 The IELP Responds to Coronavirus
IELP alum 2015 Phd candidate etm, psu 2020 from LIbya
Stay Connected with the IELP
winter Newsletter 2020
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Alumni stories
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Alumni Stories: Maoloud Dabab, Continued
© Photographer Name
ETM
regina weaver senior instructor 2, IELP & etssl academic coordinator On February 3rd, the English Through Sustainability and Service Learning (ETSSL), formally the Communication and Culture Program (CCP), began its winter 2020 session by welcoming 43 students from three universities: Kangwon National University (South Korea), Meisei University (Japan), and Hosei University (Japan). The program, now in its fifth year, introduces content-based English language instruction on sustainability through the lens of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and sustainable practices at PSU and in the Portland community. This winter’s ETSSL students studied SDG #1: No Poverty, and SDG #11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. They toured the PSU Food Pantry, heard presentations by Portland State’s Emily Quinton and Melia Tichenor, and took part in a discussion with Greater Portland Sustainability Education Network (GPSEN) vice president, Serena Dressel. Groups participated in service-learning projects at Free Geek, Sunshine Division, The Children’s Book Bank, Northwest Children’s Outreach, and the ReBuilding Center. They also took green business tours at the Port of Portland and Go Forth Electronic. During their final week of classes, students create culminating experience presentations that demonstrate their learning and reflection. ETSSL’s curriculum encourages students to connect sustainability initiatives at PSU and in Portland with ones taken at their universities and in their home countries, with the aim of inspiring students to become global agents of change. The ETSSL program has grown significantly since its commencement in 2015, perhaps signaling an increased awareness of the SDGs and their importance. The program was also featured in PSU's Sustainability newsletter!
Volunteering at the Rebuilding Center
ETSSL
Volunteering at the Children's Book Bank
Winter English Through Sustainability and Service Learning
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In January 2020, the IELP's Davida Jordan and Diana Lease were published in the Teaching English to Speaker's of Other Languages (TESOL) Connections newsletter. Their article, Creating your first ESL video, focuses on the work they both have been doing in regards to teaching English through video platforms. "You need a lot less technology than you think in order to create your own instructional videos"
L-R: Michele Miller, Ella Barrett, Kristi Kang
TESOL CONNECTIONS
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eLLA BARRETT sTUDENT LIFE COORDINATOR In January, Michele Miller, Kristi Kang, Kellie Gallagher, and I attended the 2020 EnglishUSA (formerly American Association of Intensive English Programs) Professional Development conference in San Francisco, CA. What makes this conference unique is that it is designed for practitioners and administrators in all types of English language programs. The four of us have very different roles in the IELP and yet we all found sessions that were relevant and interesting to us. The sessions we attended spanned a variety of topic areas such as pathway programs, peer mentor programs, advising strategies, recruitment and agents, curriculum development, change management techniques, IEP innovations, cultural competency programming, and more! Michele, Kristi and I also presented two sessions at the conference. The first, “Beyond Accreditation: Promoting Professional Excellence in IEP Student Services Practices” focused on the importance of professional competencies and standards in our work as student affairs educators. To conclude our session, we introduced a student affairs framework for ethical decision-making from Schuh, Jones, and Torres’ (2017) Student Services: A Handbook from the Profession. Our session participants then applied the framework to real critical situation scenarios. We were excited by the interest in our topic and the discussion generated by the activity. Our second presentation was a poster session titled “Thriving in Changing Times: Engagement through Intentional, Meaningful Interactions.” Again, we applied a student affairs lens to our work. Our poster provided an overview of student persistence and engagement theory and the unique barriers to success that IEP students face. We then suggested ways that individual IEP practitioners can directly impact student persistence as well as considerations for more intentionally supporting academic and social engagement at the programmatic level. Overall, attending and presenting at the EnglishUSA conference was worthwhile and informative. The conference is large enough to offer an array of thought-provoking and useful information from experts in our field, but small enough that it feels personable and conducive to networking. I encourage my IELP colleagues to attend this conference in the future!
IELP Faculty and Staff Achievements and Presentations
English USA Conference
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Nagoya Future Culture College
Partner University Highlight
NFCC
EnglishUSA
NFCC Instagram post: February 21
Every quarter we highlight one of our honored university partners, current and new. This term, we are putting the light on a new IELP partner from Japan, Nagoya Future Culture College (NFCC). NFCC is located in Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya, Japan. It is a junior college founded in 1950. It focuses on liberal arts studies, and have majors in fashion business, culinary arts, lifestyle and culture, etc. Samudra Kugel met with NFCC last summer to discuss what a partnership between our two programs would entail, both logistically and academically. This fall, we are happy to announce that NFCC will send around 20 students to study in our Academic English & English for Tourism program for one term. We are very excited to welcome our first cohort to our community in September. To learn more about NFCC and all the amazing programs they offer, check them out on Instagram or their website.
EnglishUSA, Continued...
NFCC Instagram post: January 14
L-R, back-font: Susan Westby, Jamie Radtke, Rasina Tabpla, Lisha Yu, Naoko Horikawa - IELP Front Office Support Team, 2020
Susan Westby
Length of Service Milestone Achieved by Few Others - 35 years at PSU!
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michele miller academic adviser & assistant director, student services All who have passed through the IELP in the past 28 or so years - students, instructors, staff, visitors - have been welcomed by Susan Westby’s smile and patience. This year marks the significant milestone of Susan’s 35 years of service at PSU. Susan is known on campus as an incredible repository of institutional - and IELP - history. Her experience at PSU started when she was an undergraduate student and has ranged across various offices and departments on campus. As a student, Susan majored in French literature and also pursued a certificate in TESL. During her studies, she worked in the Center for English as a Second Language in the English department, with the founder and director, Dr. Naguib Greis. As a staff member, Susan has worked in the Philosophy department, graduate admissions, payroll, and the Applied Linguistics department, when the ESL program was moved there in the mid-to-late 1990s and became the IELP. Susan has been working for the university’s English language program, in its various forms and names, for the majority of her tenure at PSU, around 28 years. Length of service honorees (10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 years) were feted by the PSU community on March 3rd at a celebratory ceremony. Congratulations, Susan, we’re lucky to know you and work with you!
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Help us continue as one of the nation's leaders in teaching English to international students and preparing students for undergraduate and graduate programs at PSU. The IELP also serves as a gateway to other U.S. universities. We hope that IELP alumni will support our ability to help generations of students to come here. We need your financial support to help make that happen. Every gift you make benefits IELP students through potential scholarship creation and deepens your connection with the IELP, PSU, Portland, and the United States. Please consider donating.
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Are you interested in a short-term program? We are now accepting applications for the 2020 English Through Sustainability and Service Learning Program (previously known as the Communication and Culture Program). Summer 2020 Session dates: Session 1: June 22 - July 10 Session 2: July 13 - August 7 Session 3: August 10 - September 4 Session 4: August 17 - September 4
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