International Engineering Program

Living and Learning Community

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Have questions about the IEP LLC? Write to Angela Graney, Associate Director for Business and Administration of the International Engineering Program, at agraney@uri.edu.

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The Heidi Kirk Duffy Center for International Education offers IEP students a welcoming, convenient, and safe living and learning community for IEP students while supporting a culture of language learning for the university. The Center includes two neighboring houses–the John Grandin IEP House and the Texas Instrument House–known as IEP House and TI House.

Residents of both houses enjoy single and double bedrooms, comfortable common rooms and an exclusive dining hall serving international cuisine. They enjoy programming tailored just for them, gathering frequently for foreign language conversation hours, cultural activities or movies on the big screen in the Texas Instruments House. The learning experience is enriched by native speaking exchange students, who often serve as language tutors. Students can choose to have international exchange students as roommates for outside of the classroom language and culture learning.

All residents enjoy easy access to IEP staff and advisors. Career-minded students appreciate the opportunity to meet corporate recruiters who frequently visit the IEP houses.

The two houses have a combined 75 beds and are open to students at the sophomore level and above. Preference is given to IEP students and students with GPAs of 3.0 or above.

Max Kade German Language Learning Community

The Max Kade community in the TI House provides a unique living environment for students studying German. The floor combines German IEP students and German exchange students to immerse residents in the German language and culture. The community also hosts German film and television screenings, lectures, discussions and cultural events.

The center is named in honor of Dr. Heidi Kirk Duffy, a powerful supporter of the International Engineering Program. A native German, Duffy now lives in Rhode Island and has chaired the IEP Advisory Board since its inception in 1994. She has worked tirelessly to forge connections with business and industry in Germany and generously donated to the program. For her dedication to the University and the program, the University awarded her an honorary doctorate in 1995. The German government also recognized her work by bestowing on her the Federal Cross of Honor.