Murray State University

Overview

Suzhou Industrial Park Institute of Vocational Technology (IVT) is located in Suzhou, China. Suzhou is the historic silk capital of China, and lies about one hour's drive northwest of Shanghai. The city has a rich history going back over 2,500 years. IVT is a higher vocational institute initiated by Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and approved by Jiangsu Provincial Government. Since its inception in December, 1997, by drawing on the experience of vocational education from Singapore, Germany and other developed countries, IVT has constituted a new pattern of vocational education featuring a pro-business mindset, an intensive operation system, a module-based training mode, flexible management, and international cooperation. IVT maintains three campuses. The Headquarters Campus, founded in 1998, is located at Suqian Road in the core area of multinational corporations such as Hitachi, Solectron, Loreal, and Auchan. The North Campus, founded in May 2004, is located in the Loufeng hi-tech industrial zone and contains the departments of Electronic Engineering and Information Engineering. The South Campus, founded in April 2006, is located in Dushu Lake higher education district and is home to the departments of Business Management, Foreign Languages and Architectural Engineering.

Duties

Interns will teach English courses to IVT students ages 19 to 25 years old for 16 teaching hours per week (1 teaching hour = 40 minutes). Interns will be provided with textbooks and teaching materials and will plan and execute all lessons. Interns will not have teacher training on-site, but are required to observe ESL courses pre-departure. Interns will share office space containing a computer with internet access. The daily schedule is Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.

Dates

Spring 2009 semester: February 19, 2009 to July 5, 2009
Fall 2009 semester: September 17, 2009 to January 1, 2010


2008-2009 Chinese Holidays
National Day: October 1-7
New Year's Day: January 1
Winter Holiday at IVT: January - February
Ching Ming Festival: April 4
Labor Day: May 1
Dragon Boat Festival: June 8
Summer Holiday at IVT: July- August
Mid-Autumn Festival: September 14

Accommodations

Students will be provided double occupancy, furnished, air-conditioned apartments equipped with a bathroom and kitchen and including a television, cooking utensils, and a washing machine. Students will be able to have inexpensive lunches in the campus cafeteria daily.

Costs

$1300 estimate

Estimated cost includes roundtrip airfare and Chinese visa. Students are responsible for purchasing their own airfare. The Study Abroad Office will assist with obtaining the Chinese visa if your materials are submitted by the deadline set for this purpose.
All program costs are subject to change without notice.

Travel

Interns will purchase their own airfare to and from China and be met at the airport by an IVT representative. Once on-site, IVT will provide transport to and from work daily. Interns will also have some time to travel independently for pleasure.

Academics

Participants may arrange to earn credit at MSU for internship hours within their academic discipline.