By 1st Sgt. Sean Cherland
Senior Training Developer, Faculty Development
Dr. Megan Pifer (standing), assistant director for College for Education and Human Development at the University of Louisville, observes Sgt. Baojun Marie Cui’s instruction in Chinese to military service students aiming to become professional linguists Oct. 27. (U.S. Army photo by Natela Cutter/Released)
MONTEREY, Calif. – Military service members in Monterey, California are taking advantage of their military training as foreign language instructors and are applying their experience toward achieving higher education degrees through the University of Louisville, Kentucky.
Staff from the University of Louisville visited the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Oct. 27 to observe foreign language classes being conducted by half a dozen Military Language Instructors who are enrolled in their program.
“I feel very fortunate to be able to pursue my Master Degree in Higher Education through the University of Louisville by using my experience from DLI. There was a two-month in-residence part of the course which I found useful to bring back to my students,” said Sgt. Baojun Marie Cui, who teaches Chinese.
The University of Louisville offers 15 credits toward a Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration and an 8-week accelerated resident track to complete the graduate degree. Awarded credits include material focusing on program development and assessment, teaching and learning styles, and instructional strategies. The program was designed by the Department of Educational Leadership, Evaluation and Organizational Development at Fort Knox, Kentucky, with the intent to support Army University, a nascent Army organization that focuses on providing college credit and credentialing to Soldiers for their military education and experience.
“The emphasis here is on excellence in teaching and learning,” said Dr. Megan Pifer, assistant director for College for Education and Human Development, who observed Cui’s instruction in Chinese to military service students aiming to become professional linguists. “It gives me a chance to see if she is applying what we had been doing in the classroom, explained Pifer. “She has great mannerisms, sets the tone, and students are relaxed. Laughter helps with retention and is also a learning strategy.”
Sgt. Baojun Marie Cui’s instructs military service students aiming to become professional linguists in Chinese Oct. 27. (U.S. Army photo by Natela Cutter/Released)
As part of the site visit, Dr. Jeffrey Sun, who designed the program, gave an informational briefing to all interested DLIFLC leadership on the CFDC Program, as well as about the University of Louisville online Bachelor and Master Degree Programs in Educational Administration and Leadership.
“We started out with designing a similar program for West Point,” said Sung, who mentioned that his university has a very strong online program that is nationally recognized. “Our goal is to tailor affordable accredited higher education programs for DLIFLC participants.”
The University of Louisville is a Carnegie-classified Research 1 University and is nationally ranked and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
DLIFLC provides resident instruction in 17 languages at the Presidio of Monterey, California, with the capacity to instruct another 65 languages in Washington, D.C. The Institute has graduated more than 220,000 linguists since 1941.
In addition, multiple language training detachments exists at sites in the U.S., Europe, Hawaii and Korea, spanning all the U.S. geographic combatant commands in support of the total force.
