The ELI Weekly
Commencement Ceremony
Friday, August 8, Innovation Room A & B (Reitz Union), 10:00am-noon
Congratulations on making it to the end of the semester! We hope you learned more English, made some wonderful friends and had some fun this semester. You should all be very proud of yourselves, and we’d like to celebrate your accomplishments at our Commencement Ceremony on Friday. At the ceremony, we will recognize our scholarship and award winners and reflect on this semester at the ELI.
Please invite your family and friends to join us for Commencement and help celebrate. All of your teachers and language assistants and ELI administration will be there too!
Last Day of Classes
Thursday, August 7, is the final day of ELI classes this Summer. Teachers will be submitting final grades and attendance reports at the end of the day on Wednesday, August 6. If you are absent on Thursday, your absence will not be counted for immigration, class grades, or any petition you have submitted. Because all absences on August 4, August 5, and August 6 still count, you should not miss class these days.
We hope all ELI students will attend class on Thursday, August 7. Your teachers and LAs have fun and interesting lessons and activities planned. However, we know many ELI students are preparing to leave Gainesville, so are very busy the last week. If you will not be attending class on Thursday, August 7, please inform your teacher by Tuesday, August 5. Your teachers and LAs need to know how many students to plan for.
All of your teachers and LAs will be at the ELI Commencement Ceremony on Friday, August 8. We hope you will be there, too!
Certificates and Grades
Semester certificates will be available immediately after the Commencement Ceremony, and grade reports will be available in my.ELI by Monday, August 11. Certificates can also be picked up in the ELI Main Office after Commencement when the office opens at 2:00pm. If you would like a friend or family member to pick up your certificate for you, please stop by the ELI office by Thursday, August 7, to fill out a form so someone else can pick it up for you.
Notes from the Office
The ELI main office will be open from 8:30am-4:00pm 8/11-8/22. Daryl, Christine, and Patricia will be out some days, so please check in advance to be sure they are there before you visit if you need to meet with them! Christine will be out August 11-August 13 and August 18-August 21. Patricia will be out August 13. Please plan around these dates if you need to talk to any one of them.
Check your I-20s: If you are traveling during the break (for example, leaving the US and coming back), make sure your I-20 is signed. Also check the expiration date. You can make an appointment with Daryl to sign your I-20 or to renew your I-20 before it expires.
As a reminder, all people in the US on a visa should always have their I-94 with them. The I-94 is proof that you are a registered alien in the US and shows that you are here on a non-immigrant visa. You can access your I-94 at https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/home. Contact Daryl if you cannot access your I-94.
Also, have access to copies of other important documents, like your I-20, visa, passport, letter from USCIS, or other government issued documents related to your status in the U.S.
Gatorlink: If you are not returning to the ELI in the Fall semester, you will not be able to access your ufl.edu email address, one.uf.edu, Canvas, or other Gatorlink service after August 29. You will need to download any emails, assignments, or information that you want to keep.
Fall C Check-in: Remember, you must check in using myELI between August 18 and August 22, 2025. Even if you completed the Returning Student Survey, you must check in online to save your space. All students must attend classes beginning on Tuesday, September 2.
Fall C 2025 Important dates:
- August 18 – August 22: Returning students must check in online in myELI
- August 26: NEW STUDENT Welcome and Registration (returning students are not required to attend)
- August 30: Welcome Picnic
- September 1: Labor Day Holiday (ELI Closed)
- September 2: Classes begin. Your teachers will start taking attendance on this day
- September 29: Instructor Workday – No classes, but the ELI office will be open
- October 17: UF Homecoming Holiday – No classes and the ELI office will be closed
- October 27: Instructor Workday – No classes, but the ELI office will be open
- November 11: Veteran’s Day Holiday – No classes and the ELI office will be closed
- November 24 – November 28: Thanksgiving Break – No classes and the ELI office will be closed
- December 4: Final day of classes
- December 5: ELI Commencement Ceremony
Charges Due: Every ELI student should log in to ONE.uf.edu and look at the “Campus Finances (Bursar)” tile to see if you owe any fees to the university. For example, you may need to pay for services you received at the Student Health Care Center or printing in a library. If you have a scholarship, it will not pay these charges. You must also pay any outstanding non-UF charges or fines you may have, like court fees, speeding fines, or parking tickets.
Financial Guarantees for Fall: Dear scholarship students, we hope to see you again in the Summer! This is an early reminder to request your new financial guarantee letter for the Fall semester, if you plan to return. If you need an enrollment letter or if you have any questions, please email us at fiscal@eli.ufl.edu.
Thank you and Congratulations to Tara Mace: Please help us say thank you, goodbye, and congratulations to Tara Mace. Tara is leaving the ELI at the end of the summer to start a new position at the UF College of Education. Tara’s last day at the ELI will be Thursday, August 14th. Be sure to stop in to say goodbye to her before then. Thank you, Tara! 😊
CIP Photo of the Week: Skate Station
CIP News
CIP Passport Finishers!
Felipe Lascano
Ayah Zatari
Mikail Abdul Hamid
Congratulations and thank you for your involvement with the CIP this semester!
Birthdays
| Students | Staff | ||
| Maria Moncada | August 14 | Megan Forbes | August 13 |
| Viadelis Guerra | August 18 | ||
| Luca Poggi | August 29 | ||
| Jinxuan Zhou | August 31 | Happy Birthday! |
Manners and Culture
Q: Halloween is my favorite holiday in the U.S. But I learned last October that it’s not really a holiday. People still work and schools are open. So, is it a holiday or not?
A: That is a good question! Halloween (October 31st) is not a federal holiday. It is a cultural tradition. People of all ages have a lot of fun on Halloween with parties, costumes, decorations, candy, but everything is still open on Halloween including schools, banks, stores, and government offices.
Here is the list of federal holidays from 2025:
| New Year’s Day | Wednesday | January 1st, 2025 |
| Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. | Monday | January 20th, 2025 |
| Washington’s Birthday | Monday | February 17th, 2025 |
| Memorial Day | Monday | May 26th, 2025 |
| Juneteenth Independence Day | Thursday | June 19th, 2025 |
| Independence Day | Friday | July 4th, 2025 |
| Labor Day | Monday | September 1st, 2025 |
| Veterans Day | Tuesday | November 11th, 2025 |
| Thanksgiving Day | Thursday | November 27th, 2025 |
| Christmas Day | Thursday | December 25th, 2025 |
Joke of the Week
Q: What’s an English teacher’s favorite breakfast?
Synonym rolls!
Leaving the ELI
| If you are leaving the ELI, we hope you will share your experiences with your friends and family. Also, please keep your email updated with us. When the ELI travels internationally for conferences and events, we invite alumni to join us.
If you are interested in acting as an ELI Ambassador to assist future Gators in your country apply to the ELI, please let Lia Brenneman know (lia@ufl.edu, MAT 220A). If you are interested in becoming an Educational Consultant for the ELI, ask Lia for details. You are the best source of information about the ELI and Gainesville for new students. We appreciate our alumni! If you want to stay active with English study in your country, please contact our friends at EducationUSA (https://educationusa.state.gov/find-advising-center). They have centers all over the world where they advise students about studying in the USA. It is a great place for you to network, practice English, and help other students learn about your experience studying in Florida.
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If you do anything fun during the break and want to write about if for the Weekly, please feel free to email me: jenramos@ufl.edu. |
