Promising Practices for Internationalizing the Campus
By Patricia LeMay Burr
The concept of studying promising practices that lead to internationalizing a campus is all about identifying and adopting successful activities that fit with the campus’ institutional mission and that can be measured in some way.
Broad categories of activities that may be initiated to internationalize a campus might be categorized as shown below.
- Faculty going out of the country for international academic purposes
- International faculty coming into the country to the campus for international academic purposes.
- Students going out of the country for international academic purposes
- International students coming into the country to the campus for international academic purposes
- Non-travel faculty development activities for international academic purposes
- Non-travel student development activities for international academic purposes
- Library acquisition and development activities for international academic purposes
- Audio visual acquisition and development activities for international academic purposes
- Resources for faculty development use in curriculum design for international academic purposes
- Assessment of the successes in each category listed above that leads to refining activities for continuous improvement.
These sample activities should support a general campus strategy that is derived from the mission statement related to:
1. Student learning goals, and, therefore,
2. Faculty development goals that lead to reaching the student learning goals.
Any campus committee charged with developing a planning document to reach various levels of success in internationalization can benefit from examining how other campuses have succeeded. This representative list includes campuses of various sizes and covers private as well as public institutions.
● Gerstacker International House, a living-learning residence for upperclassmen with interests in French, German or Spanish, houses native speakers as language mentors who arrange weekly activities in each language. Meetings include scavenger hunts with clues in the respective foreign language.
● Student Health Service supports a travel clinic designed to provide medical advice and immunizations for international travel preparation.
● Hosts residences of prominent international individuals for ten days to two weeks. Visitors give major addresses, meet with classes, hold panel discussions on international issues. Visits are brief and concentrated.
● Matches international students automatically with local mentor families who will provide assistance with the transition to American customs and lifestyles.
● Career Center offers resources for international students in different fields, including internships, short term work, and volunteer opportunities, along with help with work permits and international résumés.
● Volunteer service-learning program, The Bucknell Brigade, links with Nueva Vida, a Nicaraguan resettlement of 14,000 residents impoverished by natural disasters. Service learning trips are provided annually to the area, and a medical clinic has been incorporated into the program.
● Study Away/Teach Away programs offer small groups of student opportunities to live and work together a semester in India, Mexico or Vietnam.
● “Opportunity After Dickinson” provides support for Alumni to do graduate work abroad and to participate in international internships and other international employment.
● Allows student to upload personal photos for Pictures from Abroad web site, and staff manage actual photo posting to web site.
● Offers a student listserve for potential study abroad candidates.
● Faculty Development Program of three weeks offers intensive research opportunity with colleague at foreign university.
● Peer Connection matches first-year international students with multicultural student mentors who provide assistance in the acclimatization process. Social integration activities are scheduled and students are introduced to multicultural resources in the surrounding Iowa communities.
● Sponsors an International Visiting Lecture Series to bring invited lecturers from around the world to discuss international perspectives and expertise. Reflection and discussion of global issues follow the lectures, led by faculty and students.
● Students must attend at least 80 college-wide convocations, programs and foreign language films during each academic year, for which they receive two hours academic credit.
● Its International Association, composed of students from 30 countries, addresses enhancement and understanding of cultural diversity. It hosts an International Food Fest and the International Fair to spread the culture of unity.
● Fulbright Interest Day provides information for faculty and students interested in the Fulbright Programs and other grants that support international study opportunities.
● International Week highlights various countries’ food, culture and histories.
● Offers study abroad vouchers to incoming honors students.
● Awards certificates and recognition to achievers in internationalization work on campus—International Student Leadership Award and Provost’s Award for Leadership in International Education (for faculty).
● Diplomat in Residence position hosts visiting senior U.S. Department of State officers who help advise students interested in international careers.
● Hewlett Grant Program for international policy study offers students the opportunity to collaborate with faculty in summer to conduct special research during study abroad programs.
● Hosts public International Brown Bag Series as forum for visiting scholars to discuss international issues.
● Distributes 16-page International Review newsletter each semester to feature international activities and campus achievement.
● Offers international internships for groups of students, led by a faculty member, in Europe. The faculty member teaches a three-hour course while on site. Students receive academic credit for internship work, also. The program in Madrid requires students to perform internship work in Spanish.
● Web site information in multiple languages to attract international student interest.
● Schedules frequent Scholarship Forum Lunches where faculty present international research.
● Funds group study abroad fact-finding student programs, after which students make presentations to community groups on their findings. Student Government Association officers have studied role of student government at Sister Schools in Turkey and Cyprus.
In summary, planned activities that fit the institutional Mission and that are affordable either with internal support or external grant funding can serve as the impetus for consistent and sustainable development in a campus’ international education successes. Each success, if widely celebrated, draws increased focus to the campus potential and initiates further conversation among the entire campus constituency about possibilities.
Dr. Patricia LeMay Burr is Distinguished Chair of International Business at University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, where she has also served as Vice President of International Programs and Dean of the School of Business.
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