Overseas Educational Advisors Come to ODU Campus
Old Dominion University, The College of William and Mary, Tidewater Community College, Virginia Wesleyan College, and Hampton University will host five EducationUSA Advisors during their visit the week of May 17-22.
EducationUSA Advisors posted at U.S. Embassy Public Affairs offices help foreign students learn about higher education in the United States. There are about 450 overseas advising centers in the EducationUSA network worldwide, affiliated with the U.S. Department of State. Last year nearly 600,000 international students were enrolled in accredited U.S. higher education institutions, enhancing the diversity of our classrooms and communities while contributing to the local economy and balance of trade.
"It is a privilege to host the EducationUSA advisors in Hampton Roads and participate in this U.S. State Department sponsored program," said Steven M. Risch, Director, International and Graduate Admissions. "These advisors are an invaluable resource to us as international educators and the relationships we build will benefit the five schools they will visit. The itinerary not only showcases each institution, but will provide an opportunity for the advisors to explore and experience Hampton Roads."
The campus visit program will be more than just a tour of area colleges and universities. Advisors will discuss the admissions process with campus officials, sample orientation and other programs available to foreign students and meet faculty and staff to gain a picture of current trends and practices on American campuses. The advisors will also serve as resources to the institutions they visit, by reporting on their home country educational systems, policies and academic training needs and responding to questions and concerns about international student needs. The visiting advisors are:
Tetyana Kotko, of the Educational Advising Center Kyiv (EAC) at the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Gantumur Bat-Erdene, Program coordinator and Educational Adviser at the Educational Advising & Resource Center in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Gail Brown, Director of Educational Advising and International Exams for the Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano, a binational center in Lima, Peru.
Saltanat Erkimbaeva, Educational Adviser in Karakol at the Issyk-Kul Educational Advising Center, Soros Foundation Kyrgyzstan (SFK).
Sardar Khan, Educational Adviser at the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (Fulbright Commission).
This U.S.-based training program is supported financially be the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State under the authority of the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961. The program is administered by the College Board.
An open forum is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Monday May 19 in the Williamsburg Room at the Webb Student Center. For more information, contact Scott M. Lowe, Jr. at 683-6394 or e-mail at slowe@odu.edu, or Steven M. Risch at 683-3701, or e-mail at SRisch@odu.edu.