Monday (July 27th 2015). Prof. Dr. Rochmat Wahab, M.Pd., M.A., YSU Rector, officially opened the Intensive 75 hour English Course, a collaboration program between YSU and USINTEC (U.S./Indonesia Teacher Education Consortium). USINTEC is a consortium of 15 top-ranking state universities in the U.S. and Indonesia and a Southeast Asian regional center for open and distance learning. Broadly stated, the USINTEC goal is to improve Indonesian education, teacher preparation, and teacher quality.
“We encourage lecturers and students to improve their English Skills since international publications and participation in international conferences require those skills in writing and presenting their reseaarch findings to international audiences,” Prof. Dr. Rochmat Wahab, M.Pd., M.A. explained.
Prof. Suwarsih Madya, Ph.D., Vice Rector for Cooperation Affairs and Partnerships further explained the general description of the program. “The intensive 75 hour English Course involves seven instructors from USINTEC US and is designed for 115 participants divided in 7 classes. The program is held from July 27th to August 14th 2015, five hours each weekday,” she said.
The classes are Group of Professor, Doctors, and Masters: Focus on International Journal Article Writing (29 persons divided into 2 classes), Group of Lecturers of the Faculty of Economics: Focus on learning classroom English to deliver courses (17 persons), Group of Newly Apppointed (Novice) Lecturers: Focus on Improving English Proficiency (40 persons divided into 2 classes), Group of Lecturers of the Faculty of Sport Sciences: Focus on Improving English Proficiency (23 persons) and Group of Students: Focus on Improving English Proficiency with more attention to Classroom English (14 persons).
Meanwhile, the USINTEC instructors come from various regions in US. They are Jenice Rowekamp, Ashley Dallacqua, Dorothy Sutton, Colby Hirn, Linda Berton, Windyn Hines, and Allegra Elson.
“We are enthusiatic about this program to help the teachers and students improve their English,” Windyn Hines said. During the classes, the instructors are also assisted by buddy teachers from YSU.