IDOT showing off transportation practices to prospective students

Posted on September 16, 2018
Chicago traffic
Students from Japan are getting a close-up look at the Illinois Department of Transportation. (Photo courtesy Facebook/Illinois Department of Transportation)

By Dave Dahl

Engineering students from Japan are getting a close-up look at the Illinois Department of Transportation. IDOT’s Geno Koehler is in charge of the itinerary.

“Ashikaga is our sister city. We developed this through the University of Illinois Springfield years ago. Eighteen years, we’ve been participating back and forth,” Koehler said. “We send students over there for several weeks. They entertain and educate our students over there; then, to be reciprocal, we do that for their students, and we bring ‘em over here.”

The benefits are tangible, says UIS’ director of international studies, Jonathan GoldbergBelle (cq). “The students who come here through the Ashikaga program, when they get back to Japan and graduate, their actual success rate in jobs is higher. They get some very good placements. Our students come back – it’s a life-changing experience,” he said.

Nursing students are also on the trip, and some high schoolers from Japan are coming soon and will visit Springfield classrooms.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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