A.C.E. - Associates in Cultural Exchange Blog

Obama issues Executive Order to expand tourism through increased visa processing capacity

acebook — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:54:28 +0000

On January 19, 2012, President Obama issued executive order designed to increase tourism in the U.S. by expanding and accelerating visa-application processing by at least 40 percent for countries like Brazil and China and adding more countries to the Visa Waiver Program, which currently allows tourists from 36 nations to skip the visa process. The order also calls for the creation of Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness charged with creating a national strategy for increasing domestic and international travel to the U.S.

Click here to read the full Executive Order.

A.C.E. /STEP-EIKEN sign Memorandum of Understanding with The American Association of State Colleges and Universities

acebook — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:29:05 +0000

On December 11, 2011, A.C.E. /STEP-EIKEN signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), a non-profit, association of 400 accredited public colleges, universities and systems of public higher education throughout the USA. The MOU agrees “to work together to assist member academic institutions in U.S. and Japan to develop cooperative programs that will be mutually beneficial to Japanese higher education institutions and American AASCU member colleges and universities.”

A Grand Beginning for the New Year as A.C.E. Opens at URI

acebook — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:08:59 +0000

A.C.E. celebrated the opening of the new A.C.E. Language Institute at the University of Rhode Island on January 19, 2012, just days before the celebration of the Lunar New Year on January 23. This holiday marks the upcoming year of the Dragon in many Eastern cultures – a symbol of good fortune and power. A.C.E. wishes all of our institutes and partners a fortuitous and productive year ahead. Congratulations to all those who helped make the launch of A.C.E. at URI possible.

Former WLCA student Arman Kehlhofer wins year abroad in Trabzon, Turkey

acebook — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:26:07 +0000

A.C.E. World Language & Culture Ambassadors (WLCA), formerly World Language Programs, recently received a touching email from the father of a former WLCA student saying, “We appreciate the work A.C.E. does in getting young people interested in learning languages and learning about different cultures!”

In 2009, his son Arman Kehlhofer attended WLCA’s STARTALK summer camp on Farsi language and Persian culture, an experience Arman says “really helped him with his Farsi skills.” Since then, Arman has continued down a path of international exploration and education. While continuing his Farsi studies, Arman has also taken on Turkish, Spanish, and German. Most recently, he was awarded a NSLI-Y Scholarship from the U.S. State Department for a year-long immersion program abroad in Trabzon, Turkey during the 2011-2012 academic year. When he returns, Arman plans to attend the University of Washington to pursue his studies in Linguistics and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, also hoping to add Arabic to the mix.

Arman really sums up what WLCA desires for all its students when he says, “I really do love learning languages and exploring the world.” Congratulations to Arman on this great award and best of luck in your future studies!

Commencement of the Carols!

acebook — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 23:46:51 +0000

By: Special Correspondent Serafima Healy, age 12, grade 7 (daughter of Tim Healy, Assistant Director at A.C.E. Language Institute at SPU)

The holiday festivities have begun at A.C.E., introduced with a lively performance of A Christmas Carol by the ACT Theater. This annual trip to the ACT is a great way to start the season, and for me the ‘official’ start of Christmas. Not only is this a fun group activity that anyone can enjoy, but it really brings to life the great English literature and language of Charles Dickens. On the day of the play the entire A.C.E. party showed up to be a part of the audience of Charles Dickens’ well-loved A Christmas Carol. And, boy did we enjoy it! Well, with the signature “bah humbug” and antagonistic Ebenezer Scrooge, who wouldn’t?

Every year I see this play with my dad and sometimes brother and it really paints the wonderful world of Dickens for me. It is truly one of my favorite winter activities because I love to see the reaction of my brother when Marley jumps out of the bed, and even though I have seen it plenty of times sometimes I check the mattress just to make sure there is no captive spirit underneath waiting to tell me of my fate.

Now when we go see it we go during the time when all of the other schools do. And it is really cool to see which students (besides the A.C.E. group) I might know because the schools that attend are usually private and we are tightly knotted together. Not to mention to see the few brave ones who try and carry on my dad’s immortal attempts of starting a wave.

A.C.E. Shares Thanksgiving Potluck at SPU

acebook — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:26:03 +0000

By Kate Spoor, Program Coordinator - A.C.E. students, A.C.E./SPU Culture Partners, and the First Free Methodist Church hosted an International Potluck Event on Tuesday, November 15, 2011, on the SPU campus.

Over 50 members from the church, A.C.E. staff, teachers, and students attended and the event was a wonderful success! A.C.E. students brought food from all over the world – including Japanese Mochi, Korean Bulgogi , and Arabic coffee, dates, and kapsa. Church members prepared the turkey and potatoes while the A.C.E. staff provided stuffing, green bean casseroles, corn muffins, and scones. SPU Culture Partners brought an array of traditional plates for Thanksgiving. Pumpkin pies, stuffing, cranberries, and rolls graced our colorfully decorated tables.

A.C.E. Executives, David Woodward and Anthony Fantham made an appearance and greeted the students.

After we all enjoyed the wonderful meal, Fumika, Ahmed, Jinny, Fabio, and Pitch shared stories of fall festivals and traditions within their families in their home countries. Eid-al-Adha is a Muslim celebration that happened within the last month, so many Muslim students also shared what the special holiday meant to them.

Later on we broke into small groups and shared what we were thankful for in our lives. Some students shared very deeply, personal stories and we all felt very honored to hear them.

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with their hosts, friends, and families.

Cheers from Student Services,

Kate, Kara, and Isaac

A.C.E. Visit to Turkey Explores Educational Partnerships

acebook — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 22:50:00 +0000

A.C.E. Senior Advisor Colin Davies recently traveled to Turkey to continue A.C.E.’s latest outreach to the region. According to a recent IIE report, Turkey ranks 10th for sending international students to the U.S., making it a key country with whom to develop educational partnerships. Davies was joined by former A.C.E. Instructor Cindy Herter and two A.C.E. alumni Pelin Kisar and Rabia Karaca in meetings with several top universities and educational agencies. The visit from October 23-30, included Istanbul, Antalya, Ankara and surrounding areas. A.C.E. expresses appreciation to Colin Davies and the Turkish relations team for developing these connections.Click to view slideshow.

A.C.E. hosts seminar on “US Higher Education: Instruction, Academic Programs, and Management”

acebook — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:30:30 +0000

From October 9 – 22, 2011, A.C.E. had the pleasure of hosting 18 top-level Russian university administrators for its seminar entitled “US Higher Education: Instruction, Academic Programs, and Management.” The 18 delegates included vice provosts, deans, vice-deans, and department heads from two leading Russian public universities – National Research University “Higher School of Economics” in Moscow and Far Eastern National University in Vladivostok.

Dr. Tatyana Tsyrlina-Spady, Senior Advisor for Russia and Ukraine, coordinated the project. The project was a resounding success and provided the opportunity for productive and meaningful dialogue between the visiting administrators and representatives from six public and private universities in Washington and Oregon. As Russia goes through a serious reconstruction in its higher education system, the delegates were interested in meaningful and successful models that have been incorporated into the US higher education system. The seminar included visits to the following institutions:

In addition to looking at the overall structure and organization of US universities, the seminar covered the following topics: the design and implementation of new academic programs; faculty involvement in planning, promotion and tenure issues; as well as a variety of issues that universities deal with such as program budgeting, diversity, institutional scholarly support, etc. The group also had the opportunity to visit other sites of interest in the area such as the main campus of Microsoft in Redmond, Washington.

Institute of International Education’s 2011 report shows positive trends for international education

acebook — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:00:35 +0000

In honor of International Education Week, the Institute of International Education (IIE) released its annual report Open Doors 2011 this past Monday, November 14. The report shows positive enrollment trends in international education with growing numbers of both international students studying in the USA and American students studying abroad. Growth in international student enrollment far outpaces the other, however, with 723,277 international students studying at U.S. universities this past year, a five percent increase from the previous year. In a video address commemorating this week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised these trends, saying that:

“International students enrich classrooms and communities with their ideas, perspectives and cultures. And when they return home they bring new knowledge, new perspectives, and a deeper understanding of the world.”

Read IIE’s full press release at: http://iie.org/en/Who-We-Are/News-and-Events/Press-Center/Press-Releases/2011/2011-11-14-Open-Doors-International-Students

Watch Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s full video address at: http://bcove.me/zfhnjhwx

A.C.E. Staff Present Teacher Training Programs at NAFSA

acebook — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:07:35 +0000

A.C.E. Instructor Suzanne Tierney and Director of Marketing Lori Maxfield attended the NAFSA Region I and XII Conference in Reno, Nevada on November 8-11, 2011. The two shared a presentation titled “Professional Development and Teacher Training Programs: Comparing Styles Through Personal Experience in the U.S. and Latin America.” The interactive 90-minute session discussed case studies of teacher training programs in Panama and of Korean teachers attending the A.C.E. Language Institute in Seattle. Attendees made comparisons on the impact of one’s cultural background on teaching and learning styles in Panama, Korea, and the U.S. While attending the NAFSA conference, A.C.E. also served as the North American liaison for the Eiken test of Japan by encouraging U.S. universities to recognize the Eiken test for English language proficiency.