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Stephen C. Dunnett, is vice provost for international education and director of the English Language Institute.
Your career at UB began in 1971, when you founded the English Language Institute (ELI). What led you to establish the ELI and what made it successful?
My involvement in establishing the ELI represented a homecoming of sorts, since I had been an undergraduate at UB in the mid-1960s, prior to pursuing graduate work at the University of Kansas and the University of Montpelier in France. In fact, I originally came to UB as an international student from Toronto. I subsequently returned to UB to do my Ph.D. in higher education administration, one of the best programs of its kind at that time. In summer 1971, I was asked by the Division of Student Affairs to develop an intensive English language program for international students preparing for academic programs at UB that fall. This summer intensive program was so successful that we continued offering intensive programs year-round. Our first semester program was very small—only 30 students—but the ELI grew rapidly, and by the mid-1970s, the institute was enrolling more than 500 students per year. Having a major English-language center was obviously a big draw for students from overseas. Many of the graduates of the ELI eventually went on to study at UB. We had a great staff and gained an excellent reputation for high-quality English language and pre-academic training programs. Kathy Curtis, who was also there at the founding of the ELI, continues as associate director and is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the institute. The ELI and UB had another advantage: the friendly and welcoming people of Western New York, which many international students came to appreciate as one of our area's great assets. During my recent trip to Japan with President Simpson, I was amazed to speak with Japanese alumni of ELI and UB who were in Buffalo 30 years ago and recalled their days at UB as the happiest of their lives. Some ELI alumni from those early days have since sent their children to study at the institute. Now that's customer loyalty!
When the ELI was founded 36 years ago, what was the state of international education at UB?
It was a very different picture back then. Following UB's merger with SUNY in 1962, there was a rapid increase in UB's enrollment, particularly once construction began on the North Campus. At the same time, a growing number of international students were drawn to UB—most on government scholarships. The numbers then were small, and the campus tumult of the late 1960s and early 1970s tended to overshadow the initial stages of UB's internationalization. Like their U.S. counterparts, the international students at UB at that time tended to be more politically informed and active than are students of today. Moreover, the international student community of that period was quite different from the one at UB now. In the early days of the ELI, we enrolled many students from Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, whereas now by far the largest number of students, both at UB and the ELI, come from Asia. While the number of international students on campus was far smaller than it is today, UB faculty members were very engaged internationally. This was the heyday of area studies and UB had leading scholars doing important work on Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Back then, there was no central office for international education; international activities were decentralized and were the responsibility of the individual departments and schools. The establishment of the Office of the Vice Provost for International Education came much later—in 1991. As I mentioned, the ELI initially reported to the Division of Student Affairs—it wasn't until 1976 that it became part of the academic structure of the university, within the Graduate School of Education (GSE), where I became a faculty member.
In what ways did the ELI contribute to the internationalization of the university?
Having been established to prepare international students for higher education in the U.S., the ELI was instrumental in establishing English-language proficiency standards for admission to UB, specifically the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) requirements. The proficiency standards developed at the ELI eventually were adopted by SUNY system-wide. Moreover, the ELI was one of the first English-language institutes in the United States to offer formal testing and pedagogical preparation for international teaching assistants (ITAs) assigned teaching responsibilities at the university. The institute had a significant impact on the larger institution through some of the major externally funded contract programs it conducted in the 1970s and '80s. For example, the ELI won a three-year U.S. Department of State contract to train teachers of English from the Soviet Union, who spent the better part of a summer studying at UB. We also partnered with a variety of schools and departments to deliver international programs on campus. One of the most important was the International Executive Program, a summer program jointly developed and conducted by the School of Management and the ELI to provide English and management training for managers from leading companies around the world. The ELI also collaborated with colleagues in the GSE to develop master's and doctoral programs in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and the ELI served as a laboratory for teachers in training, as well as researchers studying second-language acquisition. Beginning in the 1980s, the ELI became directly involved in overseas programs, and thereby helped promote UB's position and visibility in other countries, particularly in Asia. One of the most important initiatives of this kind was the development by the ELI of an English Language Center in Beijing following the signing of UB's landmark exchange agreement with universities in Beijing. This was the first center of its kind in China and played a role in UB's winning contracts to deliver other pioneering programs in Asia, including the first M.B.A. program in Dalian, China, and the $15 million cooperative education program in Malaysia, which we developed in partnership with the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences under then-Dean George Lee. The ELI subsequently developed centers in Indonesia, Taiwan, Cambodia and Riga, Latvia. These overseas programs made UB well known throughout Asia and ultimately helped us recruit large numbers of students from the region.
What do you consider your most important contribution to the university?
The founding of the ELI, which led to many other important opportunities to contribute. I am extremely pleased that, thanks to our outstanding staff and faculty, the ELI continues to serve the university in vital ways, despite a very challenging post-9/11 environment, which has caused a sharp decline in intensive English-language program enrollments across the country and, in fact, driven many university-based institutes out of business. The ELI remains an important part of UB's success internationally, and I am confident it will be around for many years to come—even if I am not.
Does this mean you plan to retire soon?
After 36 years, it is natural to think about doing other things. However, I am thinking less about that at the moment than I am about the many new opportunities UB currently has in the international area. Like the 1970s, this is a very exciting time to be in the field. My office is working with a strategic planning task group convened by the provost to formulate a plan for the future of international education and engagement at UB. I expect the plan will be ambitious and far-reaching, and I am looking forward to working with my colleagues to implement it.