{"id":17354,"date":"2012-11-09T10:03:25","date_gmt":"2012-11-09T14:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=17354"},"modified":"2013-10-14T16:54:08","modified_gmt":"2013-10-14T20:54:08","slug":"wave-of-international-students-gives-wright-state-a-foreign-flavor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2012\/11\/09\/wave-of-international-students-gives-wright-state-a-foreign-flavor\/","title":{"rendered":"Wave of international students gives Wright State a foreign flavor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Students from the Middle East don keffiyehs, traditional Arab headdress, while participating in the annual International Friendship Affair.<\/p><\/div>\n

In a globalized society, an understanding of other languages, cultures and customs is an invaluable stepping stone for success in all fields. For universities across the globe, the emphasis on international education has grown.<\/p>\n

International education is a high priority at Wright State, which has bridged linguistic and cultural divides across the board. For the 2012\u201313 academic year, a surge of international students has come to Wright State\u2019s campus in search of a quality American education.<\/p>\n

Wright State has gained more than 400 new international students by strengthening its foreign relations and academic networking. In 2008, Wright State had 639 international students. Although numbers fluctuated over the years, there was a dramatic spike in foreign enrollment between the years 2011 and 2012.<\/p>\n

This fall,1,058 international students from more than 65 different countries attend Wright State 434 of whom are from Saudi Arabia. A large percentage of Wright State international students also hail from China, India and Kuwait.<\/p>\n

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Indian students pose for a picture at the 2011 International Friendship Affair.<\/p><\/div>\n

Almost half of international undergraduate students are enrolled in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. In just four years, international enrollment in this college has grown from 19 to 269.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world is becoming increasingly connected and that\u2019s particularly the case with higher education,\u201d said Stephen Foster.<\/p>\n

As Wright State\u2019s associate vice president for international affairs, Foster has witnessed the university\u2019s international student population flourish over the years. He believes that each of these students play an integral role in diversifying the campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cInternational students bring to our region a new perspective,\u201d said Foster. \u201cThey share their experiences of a much different part of the world and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have partnerships with a number of universities in different countries,\u201d said Foster. \u201cThrough these partnerships and collaborations, Wright State participates in a degree completion program. This means international undergraduates and graduates can start college in their home country and finish their degree at Wright State.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Foster, there is an economic dimension to bringing international students to the area: more tuition paves the way for Wright State\u2019s future advancement and development.<\/p>\n

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Sharing culturally accurate dances, songs and celebrations is an important part of the International Friendship Affair.<\/p><\/div>\n

Similarly, when more people come to the Dayton region, the local economy receives a boost. Foster said international students are attracted to the area for a number of reasons. \u201cWe\u2019re in a lower-cost part of the country, and the Midwest is a friendly, laid-back region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In fact, when Wright State receives more international students, campus experiences a wave of culture and more opportunities for academic success and innovation, as well as extra tuition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile most international students gain a university degree at Wright State\u2014which will point them in the right direction for a technical career in engineering or business\u2014all international students will have gained a mastery of English,\u201d said Foster.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether or not they stay in the United States after they graduate, both Wright State and the student will have benefitted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Because Wright State understands the difficulties that come with assimilating into a new culture, students, faculty and staff have gone above and beyond to accommodate each and every foreign student.<\/p>\n

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Indian students share their native henna tattoo art with other students each year at the International Friendship Affair.<\/p><\/div>\n

Wright State has an intensive English program, known as Learning English for Academic and Professional Purposes (LEAP) that familiarizes foreign students with the American classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt bridges to our many strong academic programs,\u201d said Michelle Streeter-Ferrari. \u201cLEAP helps transitions foreign students into the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Streeter-Ferrari serves as the director of the University Center for International Education. Like Foster, she advocates immersion as the most effective way to learn a new language and to understand new cultures; this is why she encourages student to travel.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne percent of college students study abroad. To have foreign students in the classroom with a unique perspective is important for all Wright State students,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Streeter-Ferrari also said that an international presence on Wright State\u2019s campus occasionally inspires students to travel so they themselves become a foreign exchange student elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents are curious,\u201d said Streeter-Ferrari. \u201cWe had record numbers at our Study Abroad Fair in September. We know there\u2019s an interest because students are starting to see the importance of gaining an international perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a globalized society, an understanding of other languages, cultures and customs is an invaluable stepping stone for success in all fields. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":17359,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,725,747,715,717,719],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-home-news-sidebar","category-liberal-arts","category-news","category-photos","category-special-categories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17354"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24954,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17354\/revisions\/24954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}