Support LINC
Consider making a gift
The Language and Intercultural Learning Center appreciates the generosity of the Valpo community as we expand our offerings in support of language learning and intercultural development. If you wish to make a gift to the Language and Intercultural Learning Center, your donation will primarily support Valpo student participation in intercultural and language learning. Our funding priorities for 2024-2025 are described below.
Use the link below to make a gift to LINC. To designate your donation, simply write LINC in the field provided.
The development of intercultural competence closely aligns with specific aspects of Uplift Valpo: Our Beacon for the Journey Forward.
- As it relates to the University’s initiative to become an Hispanic Serving Institution (Thrive), intercultural development first brings about an awareness of our own cultural perspective(s). We can then begin to build our capacity to navigate difference with greater complexity, adopting a nuanced approach to serving our Latinx and First-Generation students.
- Participation in an intercultural assessment, the Intercultural Development Inventory, can provide faculty, staff, and administrators with a foundational framework as we pursue practices that help us effectively serve and appropriately engage with these and other growing Valpo populations. Student participation in this intercultural assessment supports University Student Learning Objective #5: Students will engage in cross-cultural dialogue and experiences with the requisite knowledge to succeed in a diverse, global community.
- Uplift Valpo contains additional thematic threads that directly relate to intercultural learning:
- Recognition of the complexities that surround us while embracing opportunities to work toward solutions (Learn, Lead);
- Reflective engagement that begins with the self and meets people where they are in their development (Serve);
- Compassionate and ethical leadership in the larger world (Lead).
- Intercultural learning also aligns with Valpo’s cross-disciplinary commitments and has the potential to intersect with future iterations of Valpo Connect.
Expand above to learn about how intercultural learning supports Uplift Valpo: Our Beacon for the Journey Forward.
LINC Funding Priorities
2024 – 2025
First priority: Student access to take an intercultural assessment
The Intercultural Development Inventory, or IDI, measures intercultural competence and is one of the foundational entry points into intercultural learning at the center. The fee to access the IDI assessment is $16 per student. (Note that this fee is set by the outside organization IDI, LLC which developed the assessment and makes it available through their website.) A gift of $80 will allow five additional Valpo students to take the IDI and learn about intercultural competence. Read about the IDI.
Second priority: Resources for student language groups
Sometimes various materials, such as textbooks and other study supplies, are needed to enhance LINC’s informal language interest groups. These student-led language groups include ASL, Korean, Spanish for Health Care, Japanese, among others. Read about language groups.
Third Priority: Intercultural programming
With the relaunch of the language center in August 2024, LINC now facilitates new learning opportunities to help the Valpo community develop intercultural skills. We anticipate a need to purchase supplemental materials to better support this programming that will benefit students, as well as faculty and staff. Read about intercultural learning.