http://www.visitcolumbusga.com/

A well-organized and well run place to find out all you need to know about Columbus, Georgia and the surrounding area.  While we will visit at least 6 places per year in ELI field trips and several more in our American Culture classes, you’re going to want to get out and see this area on your own.  That’s where these guys come in.  They have tons of free information, brochures, and a pretty amazing DVD playing in their office right downtown on Front Avenue.

The 5-day conference entitled 3rd International Congress – Entrepreneurship: A Challenge for Local and Regional Development concluded on November 6th in Bogotá, Colombia. This event was hosted by the School of Entrepreneurial Sciences at Corporación Minuto de Dios and organized by Rudolf Infante. Special guest presenters included Maribel Lorenzo of Biadosa in Spain, Lorena Gomez of FOSSIS in Chile, Wilfredo Chavez of UPAGU in Perú, and Dr. Mike Daniels and Rachel Wilcox of Columbus State University. 

MBA Director Dr. Mike Daniels concluded his visit on Thursday after presenting three times to professional and student audiences at the conference. Another goal of this trip was to assess the quality of instruction and facilities in preparation for a CSU/Uniminuto collaborative alliance to build a Colombian version of CSU´s AACSB accredited MBA program. Upon his return to the United States, Daniels wrote to his host and conference organizer Infante about how pleased he was with the results of the collaborative discussion. 

As the Program Coordinator for the English Language Institute (ELI), Wilcox had goals on this trip which included the continuation of many international agent relationships, meeting with potential future CSU and ELI students, continuing Summer Immersion Excursion recruitment for 2010, and serving as interpreter for Dr. Mike Daniels when necessary. The Summer Immersion Excursion will bring visitors to CSU from Colombia to experience the American culture first hand. Fellow presenter Chavez was so intrigued by the Summer Immersion Excursion proposal offered to Uniminuto that he has plans to take the idea back to his university in Perú as well. 

Wilcox also made presentations in Spanish before audiences that included current students, business owners, and alumni at Uniminuto´s Bogotá campus. She will continue to present and meet with members of faculty and staff at the Popayán and Cali campuses during the upcoming week. In appreciation of the collaborative campus-wide effort that helped in preparation for this trip, Wilcox said, “The Continuing Education, marketing, recruitment, and CIE staff really pulled together to help make these presentations a success by adding a voice and a face to our university with DVD, print media, and captivating photography that brought our message home.”

Last November, the English Language Institute’s Rachel Wilcox made an inaugural visit to Colombia and officially began a new program working with international agents. The program is designed to serve as a point of introduction for the English Language Institute to potential CSU students from other countries. During this visit, agents Col. (ret.) Jesus Vivas and Manuel Lievano arranged several meetings with key contacts and began promotion efforts of this growing CSU program. The connection between Colombia and Columbus is strong, not only through the growing number of students at the university but also in the number of visiting Colombian soldiers at Ft. Benning’s WHINSEC. These soldiers are now well aware of CSU’s programs and make up the vast majority of students in the English Language Institute’s year-round Intensive Night Course. 

Recently, Rachel Wilcox has been invited by Rudolf Infante, one of the 11 Colombian delegates who visited CSU last summer, to Colombia as a special guest of Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios (Uniminuto). Wilcox will visit their Bogotá and Popayán campuses this month and will serve as a liaison to visiting professor Dr. Mike Daniels, MBA Director for CSU’s D. Abbott Turner College of Business. She has also been invited to speak about the alliance between CSU and Uniminuto to a crowd of up to 1,100 alumni. While in Colombia, Wilcox plans on participating in a variety of business endeavors including business conferences, forums and informative sessions, and negotiations for future alliances between Uniminuto and CSU. When speaking of this opportunity, Wilcox says, “It is both a great pleasure and an honor to be able to fill this need for my hometown, my employer, and my program to travel and to extend our reach into a country that has been so kind and generous to us and that has such a great vision for our future successes together.”

Getting and F-1 Visa

Michelle Midgette (B.A., Journalism, Univ. of Georgia; Master of Education, Secondary English, Boston University) has been an instructor in the English Language Institute since 2002 when the program was created. Before coming to the English Language Institute, she taught English at Harris County High in Hamilton, Georgia. Her interest in teaching international students began when she taught at an American International School in Singapore. Later she taught English as a Second Language at Osborne High School in Manassas, Virginia. From 1988 to 1990, she taught English at the Korean Language Institute in Seoul, Korea.

In addition to teaching, Midgette has worked for the U.S Army as an Education Specialist at the Army Engineering School, Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, and as a the managing editor of an Army newspaper at Ft. Shafter, Hawaii. She enjoys studying foreign languages and traveling to learn about other cultures. She teaches advanced Grammar, Writing, and TOEFL Prep.

Midgette will wrap up her career as an English as a Second Language instructor at the completion of the Spring 2009 semester. She came to us in 2002 with a diverse background of experience and has added much to the lives and to the learning of her fortunate students ever since.

Welcome to the English Language Institute at Columbus State University!  We are currently accepting applications for Summer 2009 – July session starting July 6th and for Fall 2009 for local and international students.  Chat with me or visit our website now for more info: eli.colstate.edu.