GET News

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GET News
The latest stories about from Global Education and Training's programs, activities, and alumni.

The latest stories about from Global Education and Training's programs, activities, and alumni.

list of blog posts

  • Letter from the Director: August 2020

    On behalf of GET, I am pleased to welcome students and colleagues to the fall term, while also reflecting on this past summer.

    In response to COVID-19 lockdowns, we pivoted rapidly to online delivery. The results: from June through August, GET hosted nearly 600 international students in various online programs, covering topics such as telecommunications, optics, energy materials, mathematics, and more.

    We look forward to the time when we can again welcome groups of international students and professionals to our campus and community. Until then, we will keep using online formats. As always, we invite ideas and partnership for future programs from GET’s many friends and collaborators.

  • GET Program Spotlight: Ready, Set, Undergrad!

    GET Program Spotlight: Ready, Set, Undergrad! 

    In summer 2020, Global Education & Training and the Intensive English Institute offered a summer enrichment course for Saudi Arabian students participating in the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Gifted Student Program. Called “Ready, Set, Undergrad,” this course was geared toward KGSP students who completed a Foundation Year program at one of six host institutions in the United States, including Illinois. In the fall of 2020, they were enrolling as first-year students at prestigious U.S. colleges and universities.

    Ready, Set, Undergrad was designed to have students work on researching and identifying specific resources they would utilize at their new universities in the fall, so they would be better prepared to “hit the ground running.

  • GET Program Spotlight: Undergraduate Summer School Co-Curricular Sessions

    Meet Guangzhou. Guangzhou Chen is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Recreation, Sport, and Tourism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. For the past two years, Guangzhou has been a graduate student employee at Global Education and Training. 

    During GET's summer school programs in 2020, Guangzhou worked with Rob Marinelli (Assistant Director), Meng Liu (Program Coordinator), and Nanjie Yu (PhD student, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and GET graduate student employee) to arrange co-curricular program sessions for GET’s undergraduate summer school students.  Guangzhou explains why the GET team incorporated these sessions into our summer school programs and the value these sessions have for our students.

  • Student Spotlight: Jiayi Li

    Meet Jiayi. Jiayi Li is a current student at the Harbin Institute of Technology in Shenzhen, China. Jiayi was a 2019 undergraduate summer school student in GET's Engineering Research Academy program. Her hometown is Chengdu, located in the Sichuan province of China. 

  • GET Staff Spotlight: Melissa Belcher

    Meet Melissa. As Associate Director for Administration at GET, Melissa provides administrative oversight of GET, including programmatic and business operations, the Intensive English Institute, and the Shanghai Office. Her responsibilities include overseeing day-to-day operations; supervising and leading staff to foster a culture of innovation and high-level performance; and implementing GET, Illinois International and campus policies and procedures.

  • GET Programs: COVID-19 Update (April 15)

    As the world continues to adapt, so too, does our approach to facilitating international learning experiences. As an update to our April 8 message, we are excited to share that GET is now developing online versions of undergraduate summer school programs for international students, with start dates to begin following July 10, 2020. 

  • GET Programs: COVID-19 Update (April 8)

    During these unprecedented times, the health of our global community is paramount. At Global Education and Training, we continue to adhere to the guidelines put forth by the University of Illinois, as well as U.S. federal and state agencies.

    Following the April 2 message about Summer 2020 courses and the April 6 message about Summer camps and events from Chancellor Jones and Provost Cangellaris, we are canceling GET’s on-campus summer programs with a start date before July 10, 2020. This decision was not made lightly and we understand the disappointment this may bring to our program partners and participants.

    For select GET programs with a start date before July 10, we are exploring possibilities to offer modified versions of the programs through online delivery, or with a postponed start date. We are communicating on a case-by-case basis with international partner institutions as well as partner units and faculty at Illinois to explore alternative options.

    For GET’s on-campus summer school programs with a start date after July 10, at present we continue to prepare for these programs. Our team is monitoring the situation closely. We will share the most up-to-date information with you, aligning our decisions with University and government guidance. We expect to provide our next update on April 15.

  • GET Programs: COVID-19 FAQS

    The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is monitoring developments surrounding COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) globally. This page includes updates and FAQs relevant to our program participants as well as our global and campus partners.

  • GET Programs: COVID-19 Update (March 17)

    During this challenging time, as we are all affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Global Education and Training (GET) extends our best wishes to our friends around the world.

    GET’s programs involve, at their core, create opportunities for international professionals and students to come together at the University of Illinois for shared learning experiences. Confirmation of future programs will be on hold until public officials and health authorities affirm that it is safe to resume activities as usual.

    We will pledge our best efforts to provide high-quality academic content through online delivery formats for ongoing programs, while continuing to build towards successful programs for international participants in the future.

    Our office will contribute to safeguarding public health and mitigating risks to students, instructors, professional colleagues, and the broader community at Illinois by implementing social distancing practices.