1908 | Records show that students from India were attending OSU at this time. |
World War II | OSU was known as Oregon State College at this time and language training for international students was the responsibility of the English Department. At this time, the number of overseas students was growing rapidly. |
1954 | OSU’s first Foreign Student Advisor appointed. |
1956 | OSU begins to offer short-term language programs and University orientation programs. |
1958 | A resolution was passed by the Administrative Council requiring all foreign students to take a test before they would be allowed to register. |
May 20, 1965 | The English Language Institute (ELI) was officially organized at OSU. It was one of the first Intensive English Programs in the US and an early member of the University Consortium of Intensive English Programs. |
1968 | The first ESL trained staff member joined OSU working 0.5 in the English Department and 0.5 in the ELI. The Institute offered three levels of instruction and was operating from the basement of the Memorial Union. Classes were taught in the College Inn, later at the Methodist Church, and still later at St. Mary’s Church. |
1970 | Establishment of the first of the ELl’s free classes for spouses of OSU faculty and students. |
1976 | $8,000 NAFSA grant enabled the ELI to address the question of the special language needs of students in science and technology. |
1977 | The ELI’s relationship with the Division of Continuing Education was ended and it was made part of the Office of International Education. |
1984 | The OSU ELI hosts the annual TESOL Summer Institute and Summer Meeting. The first ELI computer lab is established. |
1985 | The ELI was awarded a 5-year, $7.5m USAID grant to operate the Yemen-American Language Institute in North Yemen. |
1986 | The provisional admissions program was established (now known as the Conditional Admissions Program (CAP)). |
1989 | The ELI became involved in design and delivery of programming for students from Tokyo’s Asia University. OSU was one of five Northwest universities to participate in the Asia University America Program. |
1990 | In 1990 the Learning Center moved to Education Hall.The LC’s prior location had been a remodeled space in Withycombe Hall. |
1991 | The ELI moved from Extension Annex to Snell Hall. |
1998 | Due to a combination of economic factors, ELI enrollment dropped by more than 35%. |
1999 | The ELI received three one-year Eisenhower grants whose purpose was to develop the intercultural and ESL skills of teachers in five nearby school districts. |
2001-2003 | The ELI’s involvement with Oregon schools and with the College of Education continued in 2001 with a multi-year Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Affairs (now Office of English Language Acquisition) federal grant. The ELI and the College of Education also cooperated on a large project to provide teacher training for Pakistani educators.Overseas, the ELI carried out a multi-year AMIDEAST project in Cyprus, which provided teacher training and facilities upgrades to the public secondary schools.Another teacher training effort involved groups of public school teachers from Mexico. |
2006-2008 | The ELI secured CEA accreditation. |
2006-2011 | Three-week English Teacher training and U.S. culture programs provided to 152 teachers who teach in the State Department-sponsored English Access Microscholarship Programs in their 55 different home countries. |
November 2008 | An agreement was signed between OSU and INTO University Partnerships (IUP) resulting in the creation of INTO Oregon State University (INTO OSU).The Undergraduate and Graduate Pathway programs are established giving international students a direct route into OSU subject to meeting the defined progression requirements.The Intensive English Program (IEP) becomes known as Academic English (AE), and a General English (GE) program is established.INTO OSU’s International Admissions unit process all international student applications at undergraduate level for OSU. |
March 2013 | INTO OSU funded 40 faculty to attend TESOL in Portland, OR. |
August 2013 | CEA accreditation was awarded to the Academic English and General English programs for the maximum period of 5 years. |
Fall 2013 | INTO OSU started fall term with 1,293 international students in the INTO OSU Center from 39 countries. |
Fall 2013 | INTO OSU returned to Heckart Lodge using it as a teaching building in order to provide classroom space for the growing number of students. Additional teacher space was also created in University Plaza as faculty numbers continued to grow. |