We are happy to announce that our Director, Scott Stevens, has been awarded NAFSA’s Cassandra Pyle Award for Leadership and Collaboration in International Educational Exchange!
UDaily, the university’s news outlet, has posted an article with details about his award as well as about his work that led to this prestigious accomplishment:
“The Cassandra Pyle Award honors the contributions of an international educator to international exchange on a global scale. This award extends NAFSA’s recognition of international exchange efforts beyond the organization and the profession in the United States to include exchange work around the world. The awardee will have had a lengthy commitment to the field as demonstrated by leadership positions in, and significant contributions to, organizations that foster international exchange.
Stevens, who has served as director of ELI since 1984, has made notable contributions to his field. In addition to overseeing the development of more than a dozen English for Specific Purposes Programs, and establishing a unique partnership with the Christina School District to provide on-site English as a second language (ESL) instruction, he has also served as president of the University and College Intensive English Programs (UCIEP) Consortium.
During this time and in his subsequent role as vice president for advocacy for the American Association of Intensive English Programs, Stevens collaborated with colleagues to gain passage of federal legislation mandating accreditation for U.S. Intensive English Programs (IEP). The current UCIEP body, along with ELI faculty and staff, came together to nominate Stevens for this prestigious award.
Stevens is the first leader from the intensive English program discipline to be chosen as the winner of the Cassandra Pyle Award.
For his success, Stevens recognizes his colleagues at ELI. “I’ve been so fortunate to be surrounded by such outstanding faculty and colleagues as we have grown,” he said. “They have been so dedicated. Over the years we have really worked hard to hone our mission statement, and have used it as our guide. The mission puts students first, in part by creating a kind of family, a supportive learning community in which we work as a team to help each student find their own path to success and self-discovery. That has really been the source of the innovation that characterizes the ELI and has made it so widely respected in the field of ESL.””
Read the full article on UDaily