By Adrianne Lorenzo Corpuz, StratCom Correspondent

It was a gratifying 10-month stint for Dr. Kirsten Dyck, an American studies professor of the James Madison University in Virginia, USA, who has concluded her service as an English Language (EL) Fellow of Mariano Marcos State University. 

In an exit program held on June 5 at the MMSU Center for Flexible Learning, Dr. Dyck shared her experiences as visiting professor at the College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School. 

From September 2022 to June this year, the EL Fellow taught the BA English Language students on multimodal communication, language of literary text, and introduction to language, culture, and society. She also lectured the Master of Arts in English Language and Literature and MA in Education-English students on the development of linguistics. 

In addition, Dr. Dyck participated in various extension activities that promote literacy in English language and literature. 

She thanked the university, especially the CAS-Department of Languages and Literature, for the warm accommodation, saying that her stay in the university was fruitful and meaningful. 

MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis thanked the EL fellow for sharing her expertise to the university, saying that her invaluable service has made an exceptional impact to the academic community. For her part, Dr. Marivic Alimbuyuguen, CAS dean, said Dr. Dyck has performed exceptionally well in delivering instruction to the graduate and undergraduate students. 

“We are confident that her dedication, passion, and commitment has left indisputable learning that our students would carry on throughout their lives,” remarked Dr. Dexter Adriatico, chairperson of CAS-DLL. 

The EL Fellow program is conducted once every two years. The university will accommodate another visiting professor in 2025. 

In the same event, the ABEL, BA Communication, and Bachelor of Elementary Education students and DLL faculty members of MMSU, and teachers from Batac National High School were recognized for completing the Massive Open Online Courses provided by the Pennsylvania and the Embassy of the United States in the Philippines. (HLY/JVBT/DPT, StratCom)