"Work in composition and rhetoric [due to my fundamentally crucial time at IUP] has remained for me both practical and exciting.... The faculty were knowledgeable and demanding.... I was offered mentoring that mostly consisted of being treated as an intelligent peer.... Best of all, the coursework had a domino effect, raising questions and then suggesting answers that, when put into practice in the classroom, raised more questions."
Wendy Bishop
Florida State University
"I am excited about all the experiences and opportunities that I am gaining through my studies at IUP. I am very satisfied with the program and the education I am getting. My experiences at IUP are definitely having a huge impact on my life direction. Thank you very much for all the work you do in the program."
Shannon Tanghe
"As IUP doctoral students, we found ourselves immersed in authentic learning, supported by faculty members who are experts in their field. We were challenged and encouraged to apply what we were learning to our individual professional lives. Being an IUP graduate has actually defined who we are as teachers, researchers, and writers."
Kathleen ('93) and James ('84) Strickland
Slippery Rock University
"One of the most distinctive features about the IUP program was some of the mature students that had been admitted to the program. Thus, right from the beginning I was learning not just from the professors, but also from a group of peers who had taught in college for five years, ten years, or, in a few cases, more than twenty years. Another special feature about the program was the really international composition of the course members, who came from not only from almost all parts of the US but also from the UK, India, China, Japan, Thailand, Latin America, Indonesia, Malaysia, and other countries. The diversity of the experiences of the students and faculty, the demanding yet flexible curriculum of the program, and the nonthreatening environment for learning, with the professors being facilitators and learners themselves, empowered the course participants to experiment, make mistakes, and create and recreate ideas."
Lian-Aik Wong
Director, Centre for English Language Communication
The National University of Singapore
"I cannot say enough good things about my experience with IUP as a grad student. I enrolled in the doctoral program at IUP because I wanted to learn how to teach writing better. What I learned surpassed any expectations I might have held for the program or myself. IUP prepared me well for a career as a teacher, writing program administrator, and publishing scholar. I would heartily recommend IUP to anyone wishing a career in Composition and/or TESOL."
Brian Huot
University of Louisville
"Studying in the graduate program at IUP has had a significant impact on my professional life. The program was organized so systematically that it helped me achieve academic growth step by step. Because the classes in the program covered both practical as well as theoretical issues in writing and ESL/EFL, students could develop naturally as teachers as well as researchers. By studying in the program, we were initiated into the academic discourse community of literacy education and applied linguistics. In addition, every professor was extremely considerate and helpful."
Taeko Kamimura
Senshu University, Japan
"As a student of IUP's Rhetoric and Linguistics Program (TESOL emphasis) in the early 1990s, I was amazed at both the breadth and depth of the program. The comprehensive curriculum of the program provides students with sound theory as well as knowledge of effective pedagogical practices. Shortly after graduation from the program, I was hired to develop an Intensive Academic ESL program in a community college; I have used the very valuable theoretical and pedagogical insights that I gained at IUP to develop this program and a subsequent ESOL teacher training program. Both programs are doing very well, a testament perhaps to the quality of IUP's Rhetoric and Linguistics Program (TESOL)."
Jacinta Thomas
Lake County College
"The IUP faculty turned out to be one of the big bonuses of the program. At an advanced point in my career, I appreciated being treated as a colleague and not as a graduate student. The collegial nature of the relationship was a bonus as we were warmly encouraged to bring to the PhD program our experiences and educational issues."
Paul Hurley
President, Trocaire College
Buffalo, New York