Our students can expect teachers who
are both professional and experienced. All our ESL instructors are native
speakers of English. Our minimum requirement for teachers is 2-3 years teaching
experience, relevant baccalaureate degree, and a TESOL certificate. However,
the average number of years of teaching experience is much higher and the
majority of our faculty members have advanced degrees.
Adding to our qualifications,
teachers and staff regularly participate in AEI’s professional development
program. By having continuing education as a requirement, we aim to keep both
staff and instructors abreast of the latest research and practices relevant to
their field.
Within the framework of AEI's
curriculum and standards, instructors have liberty to creatively develop lesson
plans. They are encouraged to master their discipline and incorporate the
latest implement technologies and methodologies in ways that best suit the
courses and students.
Oversight Committee
AEI’s oversight committee reviews
budgets and provides feedback on major administrative plans and projects. The
committee is composed of the Directors of each of AEI’s major departments.
Ms. Julie ResslerMs. Julie Ressler,
School Director
Julie Ressler founded the Atlanta
English Institute (AEI) in 1993. AEI has a reputation for providing superior
English instruction to international students from all over the world. Julie
has served as Admissions Officer, Director of School, and Dean of Students. She
provides high-quality counseling and guidance to non-native English speaking
students. As an administrator, she is considered to be both caring and detail
oriented.
Julie presented her work, “A Holistic
Approach to English Grammar”, at the Southeast TESOL Conference in Nashville,
Tennessee, fall 2004. As a highly experienced English as a Second Language
(ESL) instructor, she has successfully taught beginner through advanced levels
of grammar with a holistic approach. Her earlier accomplishments include
teaching ESL overseas and in the U.S., highlighted by three years on Atlanta
Radio Korea, a daily live morning show. Julie holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree
in English Literature and Linguistics, from Ho Nam University in South Korea.
Barbara J. RobertsMs. Barbara
Roberts, Dean of Students
As Dean of Students at AEI, Barbara
Roberts brings more than forty years of experience as an English as a Second
Language educator, trainer and Licensed Professional Therapist (LPC). Her combined
knowledge allows her to address cultural adjustment issues and ESL program
management in order to best serve students.
She began her career teaching ESL in
New Jersey where her professional work included ESL curriculum development and
instruction for multi-level classes. She conducted programs for corporate and
multi-lingual senior citizen communities. Barbara taught test preparation
courses for college students taking the TOEFL test. She developed and conducted
ESL teacher training programs for the Parsippany Board of Education in New
Jersey. Additionally, she developed curriculum and supervised teachers for
Amnesty International. Her ESL work includes private tutoring.
Barbara’s work in the field of
psychotherapy spans community outreach to private practice, with a focus on
adult individual, couple, and family therapy. She has expertise in counseling
multi-cultural clients, and group therapy. She has conducted seminars for
various communities on child abuse awareness and prevention and various other
topics. She has been a supervisor for therapists preparing for the licensing
exam. Barbara has been a Fellow of the American Psychotherapy Association (APA)
and a member of the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) since 1991.
Barbara served as Assistant Director
to the Office of Family Concerns, at the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta. There
she recruited and managed teams of volunteers and professionals. She developed,
implemented, and supervised programs for marriage preparation and enrichment.
Barbara offered psycho-educational workshops, for pastors and deacons, covering
a variety of mental health issues. Additionally she facilitated administration
and interpretation of bi-lingual, personality assessment tools.
She received her ESL teaching
certification while doing post-graduate work in linguistics and holds an MS in
Counseling/Psychology.
Mr. Ray SweatmanMr. Ray Sweatman,
Director of Academic Affairs
Mr. Sweatman was born and raised in
Atlanta, Georgia. He has been teaching ESL for over 20 years. He has taught in
Los Angeles, Saudi Arabia and for the past eight years at A.E.I. He has also
taught Humanities at the College level and is a member of TESOL. He enjoys teaching,
inspiring, encouraging and helping others. He holds two degrees, one a MFA from
Columbia University and the other an ABJ from the University of Georgia.
Shaheena Abdul Sultan, Director of
Operations
Ms. Shaheena Sultan began her administrative
work at AEI in 2010. Her previous professional career provided her with the
expertise to serve in the position of United States Medical License Exam
(USMLE) Coordinator. Ms. Shaheena’s study in Pakistan in the field of medicine,
and her experiences as health educator, clinician, clinical supervisor, and
administrator bring combined knowledge and management skills to best serve AEI
in the school’s Operations. Currently she is working as Director of Operations.
With her vast experience at AEI Shaheena has participated in the school’s
accreditation process by assisting in data collection, compilation of
documents, and multiple other tasks to support the effort.
In her professional career in
Pakistan she has been a member of College of Physicians and Surgeons since
2002. She is a life member of College of Family Medicine, Pakistan as well as
World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) since 2005. She is certified by
the American Heart Association and Federal Emergency Management Agency for
Disaster Management and Community Emergency Response Teams.
Ms. Shaheena has provided not only
the willingness and dedication to do whatever it takes, but also she has
demonstrated support and motivation to promote maximum performance while
working at AEI.
Mr. Syed Ahsan RazaMr. Syed Ahsan
Raza, Senior Accountant
Mr. Raza has more than thirty years
of “Auditing and Accounting” experience. His expertise allows him to address
auditing, accounting and budgeting matters for AEI. He holds three Master’s
degrees in the fields of Economics, Business Administration and History. He
also has numerous other professional certificates.
He began his career as “Senior
Auditor” in a Pakistan Audit Department. He served the Audit Department as
Accountant, Audit Officer, and officer in charge of several Audit and
Inspection teams. His expertise includes budgeting, bookkeeping, tax
consultancy and auditing. He has audited a large number of government,
semi-government, private and autonomous entities in Pakistan.
He has been at AEI since 2007 and is
currently working as the Senior Accountant in the Department of Accounting and
Finance.
