AN APPEAL FOR INVOLVEMENT: Knowledge of English language is key to future Ukrainian-Western relations (01/24/93)

AN APPEAL FOR INVOLVEMENT

Knowledge of English language is key to future Ukrainian-Western relations

by Ronald Czebiniak

The Ukrainian American Educational Exchange Association, formed in February 1992, is dedicated to fostering educational exchange between the United States and Ukraine by promoting contacts in academia, federal agencies/ministries and private foundations; by furnishing academic information to students and faculty in both countries; and by conducting student and faculty exchange programs.

On April 30, 1992, the association's certificate of incorporation was filed with the Secretary of State of New York in Albany. The association is also a tax-exempt organization under Internal Revenue Code 501(c) (3).

Opening lines of communication between institutions is the first step in any exchange effort, whatever its nature. As president and founder of the Ukrainian-American Educational Exchange Association, I visited Ukraine from May 26 to June 30, 1992.

I toured Ukrainian universities and spoke with administrators to assess and prioritize their needs; identify their strengths and determine the areas in which American institutions might benefit from cooperative programs; and advise administrators on directly contacting American schools with their own proposals.

An infrastructure was also established and today the association has branch offices in Kyyiv and Cherkasy, as well as representatives in numerous cities and regions of Ukraine.

Here in America the headquarters staff in Castle Creek, N.Y., and the association's representative in Washington work continuously to promote the purposes of the association.

My personal dream is to have at least one English teacher in every Ukrainian university, academy and secondary school before 1995. Speaking English as a second language is the key to interaction with Western industrialized countries, and crucial to rapid development and modernization in Ukraine during the coming decade. No less important is the teaching of economics as Ukraine strives to create a free market economy with virtually no formally trained experts in this field.

To this end, the association invites U.S. faculty, post-graduate, graduate and undergraduate students to submit applications for teaching positions in Ukraine. Ukraine's major universities, as well as its numerous technical colleges and secondary schools, all are in desperate need of assistance in filling this gap in their newly broadened academic curricula. Openings are readily available for applicants.

Applicants for positions teaching English need not necessarily be qualified teachers in the U.S. Many Ukrainian schools already have English programs which instruct students in the theory of the language, but they have no native English-speaking staff to teach the practical end. Other schools have no English program at all and are desperate to find a qualified teacher.

If you would like to spend six months or more in Ukraine teaching English to teenagers or college students, please get in touch with our headquarters office today.

Conditions will be very difficult, at least for the next couple of semesters. Guest professors, teachers and teaching aides will be afforded room, board and the normal faculty salary of the given institution. However, such a salary is a pittance compared to Western standards; taking such a position, then, is tantamount to volunteer work. Air fare also is the responsibility of the applicant.

On the other hand, in many cases this will be a rewarding experience both professionally and personally. The Ukrainian people's hospitality and good will are quite remarkable, and their gratitude for such assistance is never left unexpressed.

The educational exchange service is not, however, limited to one-way initiatives focused on the teaching of English and economics. Proposals for cooperative research, faculty and student exchange as well as joint university development programs are all promoted and fostered by the association.

Another project under development is the collection of catalogues and application materials from as many of the 10,606 post-secondary degree granting institutions in the United States as possible. These will be shipped to the association's resource center in Ukraine to assist Ukrainian institutions, students and faculty in contacting American schools.

Members of the association's board of directors and I are supporting these initiatives through our own private means. Our limited financial resources do not, however, in any way suppress the zeal with which we pursue our goals. A Washington office under the direction of the association's vice-president, Renee Bouchard, conducts liaison with the Ukrainian Embassy and U.S. federal agencies, and assists in project development. The director of Ukrainian operations in Kyyiv, Valery Kikot, manages the association's work in Ukraine. He is assisted by board members Dr. Petro Bekh of Taras Shevchenko University, Maryellen Hickman, programs manager, and James Philippoff, financial officer.

If you can't take the time off to teach in Ukraine but would like to somehow help out, all donations to the association are tax-deductible. We are also looking for computer equipment to ship to Ukrainian educational institutions; all donated equipment is tax deductible for the donor at fair market value. If you have a used PC, printer, fax machine or other computer/office equipment you'd like to see put to good use, please get in touch with us without delay. Remember that our used, outdated equipment is light years ahead of the technology that most schools over there are training their students on now - if they have any at all. Small businesses and corporations also qualify for tax deductions as donors, and mainframe computers would be extremely useful for developing university data processing, business and economics departments. And office equipment is always welcome. Taras Shevchenko University in Kyyiv, one of the largest and most prestigious schools in Ukraine, has very few typewriters of any kind, whether English or Cyrillic. Do you have a good manual, electric or electronic typewriter at home or in the office to donate?

Please write to: Ukrainian-American Educational Exchange Association, P.O. Box 116, Castle Creek, NY 13744; or call (607) 648-9968.

| Home Page |