NEWS

One Thousand And Counting...

The graduation ceremony for Fall 2006, held on Friday, December 15, marked the graduation of over 1,000 students from the Academic English Program for University and College Entrance (AEPUCE).  Accepted in 1998 by the University of Manitoba Senate, AEPUCE is the culmination of our five-year Intensive Academic English Program (IAEP).  It was created as a means to meet the language requirement of the University of Manitoba.
Student Affairs has provided an Intensive Academic English Program since the summer of 1989.  These early programs were the result of a request from the Faculty of Engineering to teach academic English to Indonesian students preparing to complete graduate degrees in Civil Engineering.  All of these students had to complete language tests and so in 1990, we became a test site for CanTEST.  The program grew to include five levels and year-round programming.
The AEPUCE curriculum was written by Ms. Rosabel Fast, the Program Coordinator (on study leave) and also met the language requirement of Red River College and the University of Winnipeg.  The first class had 6 male and 6 female students (5 from Mozambique, 3 from Japan, 2 from China, 1 from South Korea, and 1 from Columbia).  In the fall of 1998, there were 11 students from 6 nationalities (China, Columbia, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, and Yemen).

The number of AEPUCE graduates staying at the University for degree study remains high.  During the last year, 95% of AEPUCE graduates went on to study in degree programs at the University of Manitoba.

Congratulations to Rosabel Fast for writing a successful curriculum, to Hannah Friesen, Lynn Smith and Peter Dueck for getting the curriculum passed by Senate, to instructors for the ongoing development of the curriculum as well as the successful implementation of the program, and to office staff for presenting this program to potential students.  Congratulations once again to the over 1,000 students who have graduated from AEPUCE.  We continue to wish you the best.

Garry N. Dyck
Director

Soon Kong (above) is a graduate of the first AEPUCE class.  She went on to graduate from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor's Degree in Commerce (Honours), and now works as an Academic Advisor in University 1, U of M's first-year program.