The Barometer Online

Issue date: 7/1/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Andrew Soltis Volunteers Almendra Lopez, Nicholas Rhodes and Caroline Charlton present INTO student Haruna Negishi with an Oregon State shirt during a raffle at the INTO Orientation meeting in the CH2M Hill Alumni Center.

By Andrew Soltis
The Summer Barometer

Last Monday the CH2M Hill Alumni Center was buzzing with activity as international students talked amongst themselves and INTO faculty during the first orientation for OSU's newest students.
The international students would begin their first English language courses on United States soil later that day.
INTO, the academic and English language preparation program offered at Oregon State University, sponsored the orientation, which served to familiarize new students with INTO and life in Corvallis. The orientation consisted of a conversant partner survey, a meet and greet with INTO instructors and brief speeches from both the OSU Center Director of INTO and the Mayor of Corvallis, Charles Tomlinson.
Center Director Steve Walters introduced INTO, which has replaced the English Language Institute as the international student language educator on campus.
"INTO faculty will instruct more than 120 students during its inaugural session at OSU," Walters said. He hopes many other INTO centers will open around the country, as the OSU branch is the first in the U.S.
Though different from the ELI, some important aspects of the ELI remain, such as volunteer conversant partners and cultural education.
INTO offers three academic programs: Academic English, General English, and Pathways.
Academic English prepares students to enter the academic setting at an English-speaking university at either the graduate or undergraduate level.
General English is a flexible program that both acquaints students with the cultural and social aspects of their respective career of choices and provides them with the means to communicate in everyday life.
Pathways allows students to complete first year course material in partnership with INTO in order to ensure a successful transition into the university setting.
The INTO program brings students from around the world to Corvallis, which both connects it to the international community and cultivates diversity on campus and throughout the city. The INTO program will offer international students the tools they need in order to excel in whichever career or personal path they embark on.
"Students in Corvallis bring an air of excitement to community that we really appreciate," Tomlinson said. He urged them to visit City Hall any time they wish in order to discuss culture in Corvallis as compared with their home countries.
Tomlinson also encouraged students to get involved in the community through volunteering. He asserted that volunteering drives culture in the U.S., especially in smaller cities like Corvallis.
At the end of the orientation a raffle was held in which students had a chance to win various OSU apparel.

Andrew Soltis
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231

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