TTU Enrolling For New Center For English As A Second Language Program

Tennessee Tech is currently enrolling students at its new Center for English as a Second Language for the spring session starting March 7th.

Director of International Education Charlie Wilkerson said that the main idea behind the center is to give students who speak English as a second language an opportunity to succeed. He said that they realized they were running into issues of students not having a high enough level of English to enter the university.

“We realized when we working with an outside vendor that we couldn’t ask for any changes, any changes were pretty much ignored,” Wilkerson said. “The reason why we are doing it in-house this time is so that we can tailor-make this program to our students.”

Wilkerson said that the program sees students from all over the world, including China, Japan, Peru, and Saudi Arabia. He said that they have four disciplines that have a heavy emphasis on speaking and writing.

Wilkerson said that it has two dedicated instructors to teach a set curriculum. He said that once students go through the program, it makes it easier to matriculate into Tech.

“When we didn’t have ht program, the only two centers that were within a one hour drive from us we had one in Nashville or one in Murfreesboro,” Wilkerson said. “Unfortunately when a student goes to Murfreesboro or Nashville, we never see them again. They go to MTSU or Tennessee State University or Vanderbilt or wherever. So having a program in-house means they’re going to be here, they’re going to study here, get comfortable here, and matriculate here.”

Wilkerson said that although enrollment starts March 7th, they try to be pretty flexible should students get a late sign-up.