by Carol Song With the success of 2013, IEE (International Education and Exchange) Division and MCU-Michigan Location join hands to kick off the ‘Learning away from Home Program (LHP) –2014’. The program is designed to provide a 35-day summer study experience on the campus of SVSU (Saginaw Valley State University) where MCU-MI is located. Selected students will receive a scholarship of NT$ 30,000 provided by IEE. The students are required to take 3 courses (9 credit hours) in an all-English environment and host Mandarin Camp for local students during the period of June 22 – July 27, 2014. LHP is an exciting cross-cultural opportunity plus an efficient way of earning credits. MCU students are encouraged to apply for the LHP through 3 channels – the departments of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language (TCSL), International Business (IB), and Applied English (AE). To fulfill the purpose of Mandarin camp, TCSL solely recruits second- and third-year TCSL majors so that the American learners can be served with expertise, plus students’ internship hours can be completed within a month. Similarly, IB recruits from its own student cohorts; both undergraduates and graduates may apply. AE accepts applicants from all departments, but an interview will be conducted in English during the screening process to evaluate potential students’ English proficiency. Please check with the staff of your department or school for credit waiver regulations before submitting your application. For those interested in more information, the Department of Applied English will host a public orientation for all students on Friday, November 29 starting at 12:10 pm. The venue is EE310 on Taoyuan campus. Applicants will need to prepare transcripts showing academic grade average and conduct grades of no less than 80. (A faculty member’s recommendation letter is required if the grade average is lower.) Only 10 students will be recruited via AE. International Business majors need to prepare transcripts of academic grades for preliminary screening. Applications should be submitted by December 10 to Ms. Ming-Jia Wang (ext. 8025) at Jihe Complex. Selected students will be informed about final interviews. Only 5 IB students will be recruited for the program. With the responsibility of hosting Mandarin Camp, TCSL will be responsible for recruiting 10 students. The application criteria are: average conduct grade of 80, TOEIC score of 500 (or iBT score of 61); ability to organize lesson plan and teaching materials (submit a sample). All the documents for the application should be prepared and submitted to TCSL by December 3. An extra bonus for the selected TCSL majors is an extended trip to the California Bay Area, San Francisco (July 27- August 6), where they will lead another Mandarin Camp hosted by the Association of Northern California Chinese Schools. Please note that each of the 25 winners selected through these recruiting channels will be entitled to a NT$ 30,000 grant to subsidize program costs and held accountable for the follow-up steps: paying a deposit, turning in 2 signed letters of agreement and signed health statement, etc. Related paperwork will need to be completed punctually so that the cross-cultural voyage can be launched as scheduled.