By SHANNON O. WELLS
More than a year after the Office of the Provost gave the English Language Institute’s (ELI) Intensive English Program (IEP) a renewed three-year lease on life, the program is humming along on the momentum of increased enrollment, new instructional space, spruced-up website and other positive reinforcements.
Now under the purview of the Office of the Provost, the ELI has access to broad support across operational, financial and administrative areas and help with aligning the program’s processes with institutional systems. It was previously in the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences.
“The program has always provided strong educational programming to its students through its dedicated faculty and staff, and that continues. What has changed is our access to support for ELI operations,” said Dawn McCormick, ELI director and teaching professor in the Dietrich School’s Department of Linguistics, of being under the provost’s office umbrella. “We now can reach out to colleagues within the Office of the Provost for the support needed for day-to-day activities like solving technology problems or activities related to potential program growth like securing service agreements with new partners.”
Since fall 2024, the Intensive English Program has seen enrollment numbers shift from 14 part-time students and 39 full-time students to six part-time and 62 full-time. The Commission on English Language Program Accreditation-approved program offers classes at five proficiency levels.
McCormick attributes some of the growth to the ELI’s 10-year-plus collaboration with Yasuda Women’s University (YWU), providing a site for their Study Abroad for Yasuda Students (STAYS) program.
“We are very happy to have a group of YWU students with us again this fall. We greatly appreciate our ongoing partnership,” she said, noting the Japanese university was able to send a larger group to Pitt’s ELI/IEP this year compared to 2024.
The ELI also has seen an enrollment increase of individual students in the fall 2025 term. “We believe that the quality of our program, our position as an educational unit within a well-respected and world-recognized University, and the growing positive image of Pittsburgh all contribute to the appeal of the ELI,” McCormick explained.
And few things are more encouraging for a revitalized program than a new, user-friendly physical environment. In August, the ELI moved from the Cathedral of Learning’s 32nd floor, where it shared space with the Frederick Honors College (FHC) during the 2024-25 academic year, to room 355 on the third floor.
Being with the (FHC), McCormick noted, provided a “wonderful opportunity to learn more about their role at Pitt and the outstanding programming that they provide.
“We now have a larger, dedicated space with increased accessibility to prospective and current students, all while remaining in a centralized campus location,” she said. “The space includes a small conference room, which is proving very helpful. It’s a great space for teachers to meet with students.
“We love that students can pop their heads in to say hello as they make their way to their next class.”
Program Manager Ryan Golder is positioned in the main office “so that they welcome visitors as soon as they walk in.”
Another bright spot in the ELI realm this academic year is the program’s freshly updated website. “The branding was updated and the organization adjusted for easier navigation,” McCormick said of the new online portal.
Back from the brink
These renewals mark a striking contrast to the atmosphere of late 2022, when the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences announced that the ELI would close in June 2023 because of declining enrollment and financial concerns. The announcement resulted in some measurable fallout for the University and a substantial outpouring of support throughout the Pitt community.
Immediate consequences included the need to turn away applicants for the summer term and the following academic year during peak recruitment time, as well as ELI possibly losing its contract with Yasuda Women’s University.
In January 2023, Faculty Assembly voted to support a reconsideration of the closure decision. In late summer 2024, the Office of the Provost announced that it would support the program for at least three additional years, to help it rebuild enrollment following the COVID pandemic period in 2020-21.
All ELI faculty on full-time contracts in the 2024-25 academic year received contract renewals.
In the restructured ELI, Vice Provost Amanda Godley provides overall guidance on ELI operations, coordinates communication within the Office of the Provost and collaborates on Pitt’s English language proficiency assessment procedures, one of the ELI’s responsibilities.
The provost’s business operations and resource management team handles ELI’s administrative functions, including service agreements with recruiting agents, invoice and membership payments, financial monitoring, staff recruitment and logistics of the recent office relocations.
Ryan Golder, who started as the ELI’s program manager in fall 2024, serves as the primary point of contact for prospective students while supporting current students with everyday issues such as email access, learning about University resources, and coordinating student activities.
“Golder brings great enthusiasm for the value of international education and skills that help us compete in today’s market,” McCormick said. “For example, their multi-lingual skills and cross-cultural communication skills are significant assets.”
Stacy Ranson, longtime ELI instructor and student services coordinator, teaches ELI non-credit and International Teaching Assistant support classes, providing academic counseling to students. She also takes the lead on all ELI Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS)-related work and serves as the testing coordinator.
Both Golder and Ranson “truly focus on the well-being of our students, from application to program completion,” she said. “They thrive on interacting with students, working to provide them with varying types of support. Ryan could be answering questions about how to find the right bus to the Strip District while Stacy is answering questions about letters of recommendation for degree programs.
“Dedication to supporting student well-being and language-learning goals are common denominators for all ELI personnel,” she added.
‘Lasting friendships’
The ongoing partnership with Yasuda Women’s University continues to enhance the program’s mission. The connection started when YWU, looking to increase diversity in study-abroad options for their English-majoring students, approached the ELI in early 2016.
“They were quickly impressed by (Pitt’s) reputation and the quality of the (ELI’s) program,” McCormick said.
YWU officials visited the ELI the next month, formulating a plan to send their first 40 students to ELI that fall. The university has continued to send students to the ELI’s fall Intensive English Program each term, except during the height of the COVID pandemic, when a cohort instead visited in summer 2022.
“Since the program began in 2016, 401 students have come to (Pitt) to study in the ELI,” McCormick said, noting that the program is in the process of renewing its memorandum of understanding with YWU.
Another bright spot for the revitalized ELI is its Conversation Partner program, which, she said, is “still going strong.”
“Essentially, the program allows Pitt matriculated students and ELI students to practice English and/or a target language that the Pitt student is studying or knows. The students also are able to engage in a cultural exchange. This fall, more than 50 partner pairs are in place, and we are continuing to work on connecting partners.”
Calling the program an “ongoing opportunity for decades now,” she noted that the number of Conversation Partner pairs varies each term depending on the quantity of ELI students and interested University students.
“Perhaps the simplicity of the program is what makes it effective. Students connect to practice language together and share insights into the cultures that they represent,” she said. “They negotiate their own path as they get to know each other.”
Noting that program has allowed students to build “lasting friendships that have transcended borders,” McCormick said the staff has received messages from Pitt students who continue a dialogue and “even occasionally meet with their conversation partners years after the partner has completed their studies at the ELI.”
Senate Council President Kris Kanthak said she considers the ELI's revitalization following its near extinction a "great victory for shared governance." She praised the "hard work" of past Senate Council president Robin Kear and others who "made a strong case for why the ELI was important" as well as the administration "who was willing to listen."
"This shows some of what’s best about Pitt," Kanthak noted. "I think in a lot of places, administrators would have made a decision and dug in their heels and stakeholders would have just gone away bitter and mad. Instead, the administration was willing to take a chance, and stakeholders were willing to put in the work."
Working hard to get "real results that make this place serve them better" exemplifies "how we support our English language learners in these trying times, not by demonizing others or engaging in platitudes," she added. "And it raises the bar for the rest of us to do the same in our areas. Dawn (McCormick) and her team have set a high standard for the rest of us to meet."
Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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