The UTPB courses prepare the Chihuahua students for the Test of Official English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), which now can be administered at UTPB.

Armendariz also wants to do an exchange for her doctorate and needs to learn English for that.

"The program is excellent. I like the discussions and the way they have all the different classes scheduled," she said through translator UTPB Vice President for Student Services Susan Lara.

Garbriela Velasquez, a nutrition teacher at Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua, and her peers said they have found the teachers qualified and helpful. "I like them a lot. They try to help me become successful," she said.

Armendariz and her colleagues also appreciate the way the students have been treated by Director of Continuing Education Rey Lascano and Director of Bilingual Education Gilbert Sanchez. Students are given a pre-test to gauge their English knowledge and an exit test, the results of which are reported to the U.S. government for the university's Hispanic Serving Institution grant, he said.

Jorge Perez and Karen Olivas, both 22-year-old international economics majors, are required to learn English for their majors. "They've been trying to learn English for the last four years. They understand it, but they lack the fluency," Sanchez said.

The university in Chihuahua has 15 colleges and schools with an enrollment of 21,000 students. Norma Trejo is registrar for the dental school and one of the administrators with the group. She expressed appreciation on behalf of the Chihuahua school's president, Raul Arturo Chavez.

"We feel very happy being here," she said, with Lascano interpreting. "The program and the structure of it is high quality. It is way beyond their expectations of what they thought it would be," Trejo said.

 

Story located at the Midland Reporter Telegram .