(THE PICKET)—An influx of international students may be seen in the upcoming years at Shepherd University.
At a previous faculty senate meeting there was discussion about the introduction of an ESL (English as a second language) program that would allow international students to attend Shepherd.
Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Chris Ames said, “Shepherd University has been working with the HEPC (Higher Education Policy Commission) on a proposal where we would be the home campus for an HEPC partnership with an international pathways program.”
The introduction of a pathways program would allow students to attend Shepherd for a full academic year while engaging in a regular academic schedule and student life.
During their one year at Shepherd, students in the international pathways program would be receiving additional instruction in English. Once students have met a certain criteria they would be able to choose whether or not to continue at Shepherd or continue at another school in the United States.
“Not only would the introduction of this program bring more students to Shepherd, it would create a more diverse campus,” Ames said.
Numerous job opportunities would open at Shepherd if the program is introduced. More lecturers would be necessary and additional administration jobs would also become open.
“There will be some increased employment opportunities here at Shepherd because most of those people would be hired locally,” Ames said.
Currently the program is not under contract. If introduced, a gradual increase in international students may be seen, and will most likely pick up, potentially sometime in the year of 2017.
Brooke Binns is a writer for the Picket and can be contacted at tbinns01@rams.shepherd.edu.
Download the Picket’s app for more stories – application available for Apple and Android devices.