For more information, contact Cindy Young, (937) 775-3232.
September 1, 1999
WRIGHT STATE PROGRAM OFFERS STUDENTS
STUDY, WORK OPPORTUNITIES IN CHILE
Students from Wright State University and three other colleges and universities will increase their understanding of international business, heighten their global awareness, obtain valuable work experience, and improve their Spanish language skills through Project CHILE. Begun at Wright State in 1995, Project CHILE provides students with language study in Santiago, Chile, for one semester, followed by an internship in Concepion. This year's group of four students left for Chile last week and will return in June 2000.
In the past, students in international internships spent much of their work time mastering a new language and determining the expectations of the host company. This left them with less time to become more skilled in international business. In Project CHILE, students concentrate on improving their Spanish language skills before beginning the internship with a company.
"What I really liked about Project CHILE is that I was prepared when I began my internship," said Tracy Porter, who went to Chile two years ago and is currently an MBA student in international business at Wright State. "I had taken a class before I left the United States to learn more about Chile and its culture. I also had a course in international trade management where I prepared a marketing plan for the company I worked for."
The following students are participating in Project CHILE: Elizabeth Luloff, an MBA student in finance at Wright State; Douglas Wermert, majoring in marketing and international business at the University of Toledo; Craig Morrisey, who graduated from Babson College in Babson Park, Mass., this past May with a bachelor of science in business administration; and J. Mario J. Santizo, majoring in international business administration at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa.
Over the past four years, 14 students from six universities have participated in the program. Wright State is one of 11 universities in the University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC), which collaborates with Wright State in accommodating students who wish to participate. Wright State's Division of Community Programs within the College of Business and Administration contacts study abroad coordinators nationwide seeking applicants for Project CHILE. Students must have completed two years of college-level Spanish or the equivalent prior to the internship. Juniors, seniors and graduate students in all majors may apply.
For more information on Project CHILE, contact Traci Thompson, director of International Trade Programs in the Division of Community Programs in the WSU College of Business and Administration at (937) 775-2814. Information is also available on the Wright State Web site at: http://www.docp.wright.edu/projectchile.
