PaCIE:

Pennsylvania Council

for International Education

______________________________________________________________________________________

Christina Good, Executive Director                                                            web site: www. pacie.org

1854 Old Orchard Road

Abington, PA 19001

phone: (215) 884-9430

e-mail: ceagood@comcast.net

 

April 6, 2004

 

 

Senator Arlen Specter, Chair

Appropriations Sub-Committee on

Labor, HHS and Education

711 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington DC 20510

202-228-1229

 

Dear Senator Specter,

 

            The Pennsylvania Council for International Education (PaCIE) provides professional development and networking opportunities for international educators in Pennsylvania, promotes linkages for K-12 teachers and administrators with colleges and universities, collaborates with other organizations in the state and coordinates and participates in advocacy activities on behalf of international education in Pennsylvania, across the US and around the world.

 

            I write to you today as Chair of the PaCIE Advocacy Committee to urge you and your colleagues on the Appropriations Sub-Committee on Labor, HHS and Education to restore the funding of the HEA Title VI international education programs. In these perilous times where international and language expertise can make the difference between simply reacting to terrorist acts and preventing them, Title VI is one of the most essential federally supported higher education programs. Over the years Title VI has trained more experts and linguists and prepared more faculty to teach about world areas and languages than any other federal program except perhaps Fulbright.

 

            Today, when government spending is couched in terms of billions of dollars, we should be able to find 4 or 5 million to restore Title VI funding to its 01-02 level. I am sure that you know that Europe, the UK and Australia have made huge commitments to international education and they are reaping the benefits in terms of larger numbers of international students and greater intercultural and linguistic expertise.

 

            In our own state, Title VI has funded a multiplicity of programs at small and large institutions. A few examples are É.

• Title VI funded programs at University of Pittsburgh's University Center for International Studies are nationally recognized for their community and K - 12 outreach programs.
• Dickinson College's "Assessment of International Learning" project examines the linguistic and cross-cultural gains from study abroad.
• Last month it was announced that Arcadia University was awarded a Title VI grant to support the creation of an undergraduate major in international studies and the implementation of a languages across the curriculum initiative.
• At the University of Pennsylvania, four critical area studies centers (Africa, East Asia, Middle East and South Asia) have Title VI funding.
• The Community College of Philadelphia has received three Title VI UISFL Grants during the last ten years. These grants have allow Community College of Philadelphia to establish international studies programs in Asian, African, Latin American and Middle East Studies and to establish courses in Japanese, Chinese, Arabic and Hebrew, helping to train students with the languages needed by our country. This has allowed the College to be national recognized for the excellence of its international education program.

 

            We are grateful for your work on behalf of education in Pennsylvania and hope that we can count on you to authorize the funds necessary to keep Title VI alive and growing. If you would like more details about the benefits of Title VI for Pennsylvanians, please feel free to contact us.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

JoAnn deArmas Wallace, Chair

PaCIE Advocacy Committee