Universidade Federal Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Improving Student Exchange between UFV and American Universities

Universidade Federal Viçosa’s program consisted of four activities: (a) undergraduate classes in English at UFV; (b) Portuguese training for U.S. students; (c) Creation of a UFV Ambassadors program in which UFV students help U.S. students become orientated with life at the university; and (d) English training for UFV students planning on studying abroad. UFV cited many successes in each of the program activities.  

Before offering classes in English, 18 faculty members participated in a course, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), which was offered and facilitated by the University of Queensland. The upcoming academic year introduced four upper-level courses taught in English (INF100: Intro to Programming; NUT339: Functional Foods – Microbiological, Nutritional & Health Aspects; FIP300: Plant Pathology I; and BQI100 – Fundamentals of Biochemistry); however, due to lack of student enrollment from UFV, only INF100 was offered at this level, which had 42 students, and the rest were cancelled. The primary reason cited for the low/no enrollment was that the English language level was far too advanced for UFV students. So for the summer semester, UFV offered two additional new courses but in Basic English (NUT35 – Special Topics on Nutrition & Food; TAL493 – Special Topics on Food Science & Technology), which resulted in a more successful turnout with 40 students enrolled in each course. As for the other activities, 38 students from the university’s U.S. partner institutions took Portuguese classes at UFV; the UFV Ambassadors Program interacted with and helped 68 U.S. students and 14 faculty members become acquainted with university life, and 1440 students took advantage of the free English classes offered!  UFV plans to take the lessons learned from the program to develop more basic courses in English for UFV students and to also target the courses more so that it attracts interest from students coming from their U.S. partners.

As a result of the grant, UFV engaged with students and faculty from 122 higher education institutions from 42 U.S. states.

Auburn University, Alabama University of Alabama Arizona State University Northern Arizona University University of Arizona University of Arkansas California State University, East Bay Humboldt State University, California Loyola Marymount University, California San Diego State University, California University of California, Davis Colorado State University University of Colorado Boulder University of Colorado Denver The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. University of Delaware Florida Atlantic University Florida Institute of Technology Florida State University University of Florida University of Miami, Florida Georgia Institute of Technology Kennesaw State University, Georgia Oglethorpe University, Georgia Savannah College of Art And Design, Georgia University of Georgia Valdosta State University, Georgia Boise State University, Idaho University of Idaho DePaul University, Illinois Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois State University Loyola University Chicago, Illinois Roosevelt University, Illinois Southern Illinois University University of Illinois at Chicago University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Western Illinois University Indiana Institute of Technology Indiana State University Indiana University Purdue University, Indiana

Purdue University Northwest, Indiana Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Indiana University of Evansville, Indiana Iowa State University Kansas State University University of Kansas University of Kentucky Western Kentucky University Dillard University, Louisiana University of New Orleans, Louisiana University of Maryland, College Park University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Western New England University, Massachusetts Michigan State University University of Michigan Wayne State University, Michigan Minnesota State University, Mankato University of Minnesota University of Mississippi Missouri State University Missouri University of Science & Technology Missouri Western State University University of Central Missouri University of Missouri Montana State University University of Montana University of Nebraska at Kearney University of Nebraska-Lincoln University of Nebraska, Omaha University of Nevada, Reno University of New Hampshire College Of New Jersey Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey Rider University, New Jersey Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Mexico State University University of New Mexico Western New Mexico University Cornell University, New York

Rochester Institute of Technology, New York Saint John’s University, New York Stony Brook University, New York Syracuse University, New York University at Albany, SUNY University at Buffalo, SUNY Vassar College, New York North Carolina State University North Dakota State University Kent State University, Ohio Ohio Northern University Ohio State University Ohio University University of Oklahoma Portland State University, Oregon Allegheny College, Pennsylvania Clarion University of Pennsylvania Saint Francis University, Pennsylvania Temple University, Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Roger Williams University, Rhode Island University of Rhode Island College of Charleston, South Carolina Angelo State University, Texas Pace University, Texas Rice University, Texas Texas A&M University University of Texas at Austin University of Texas at El Paso Old Dominion University, Virginia Eastern Washington University Gonzaga University, Washington Washington State University Marshall University, West Virginia West Virginia University Lakeland University, Wisconsin Milwaukee School of Engineering. Wisconsin University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee University of Wisconsin – River Falls University of Wisconsin – Stout University of Wisconsin-Madison