Environmental Scan:

Internationalization/Globalization Efforts on College Campuses

Push/Pull of Globalization on College Campuses

• Strong public support and student interest in internationalization
• 48% of high school students want to study abroad
• 85% plan to participate in international courses or programs
• 57% plan to study a foreign language in college
• Discouraging picture of current internationalization ethos on campuses
• Only 3% of US students study abroad before graduation
• Foreign language enrollments declined by 50% over last 40 years

(16% -> 8%)

• Language degree requirements at 4-year schools declined from 89% in 1965 to 68% in 1995
• While 87.5% of 750 colleges surveyed highlight international education programs and activities, only 40% identify international education as one of top five priorities in strategic plans; only 40% require undergrads to take courses focusing on issues outside of US

Questions that every campus should be asking and thinking about:

• To what extent is global learning articulated as a goal of undergraduate education at the institution?
• Does the institution’s general education curriculum include global perspectives?
• Do collaborative activities with institutions in other countries affect the experience of undergraduates?
• Do the international activities of faculty members have an impact on undergraduates?
• How does the institution implicitly or explicitly encourage or discourage study abroad?
• To what extent do academic policies and practices, including promotion and tenure criteria and faculty development opportunities, emphasize and reward teaching and learning with a global focus?

Best Practices Case Studies

• Appalachian State University
• Expanded short-term Study Abroad – 3 months or less – led by ASU faculty from every academic college (108 faculty leading 211 programs since 1991); typically 25 groups go overseas each summer
• Encouraged semester and academic year aboard – enrollments increased 5X since 1996
• Increased international student exchange for one semester with partner institutions
• Arcadia University
• Identified internationalization as key focus in reaccredidation in 1999 – five goals
• Increase number of students who study abroad using increased financial aid, more country options, clearer curricular guidelines
• Inculcate internationalism throughout curriculum by providing faculty development and by hiring faculty with relevant experience
• Appoint administrator to oversea efforts to enhance international outlook among faculty and staff
• Increase recruitment of international students
• Enhance role of Center for Education Abroad – successful international programming center
• Expanded well-known London Preview Program – spring break program for freshmen to visit London for $245 (2001); 75% of eligible students participate; serves as marketing tool for school and motivation for students to study abroad
• Required freshmen interdisciplinary course, “Justice and Multicultural Interpretation”
• Set foreign language requirement
• Listed courses with international focus in undergrad catalogue
• Set study abroad opportunities as component of each academic department description
• SUNY Binghamton
• Set internationalization as one of three overarching institutional priorities
• Developed campus-wide vision with set of specific action objectives
• Develop new course offerings, research opportunities, and extracurricular programs with global vision
• Provide international experiences for students – aim of 25% of graduates will have “significant international experience”
• Provide opportunities for students to develop foreign language proficiency
• Increase number of international students on campus
• Developed two new curricular programs
• International Studies Certificate Program – program of language study, cross-cultural courses, experience learning, and independent study capstone project taken parallel with major
• Global Studies Integrated Curriculum – 40 credit concentration
• Increased number of study abroad options – now 37% of BU study abroad in non-Western European destinations; study abroad options available in 42 of 45 undergrad majors
• Dickinson College
• Developed Dickinson global education model within strategic plan; objectives/goals include:
• Expand partnership model for study abroad
• Become a center for research and policy related to study abroad
• Develop summer certification programs for h.s. language teachers and other professional groups
• Increase international students enrollment to 10% of total
• Support Diaspora & Community Studies program initiative
• Established Office of Global Education to coordinate and supervise all college international programming.
• Provided “global tracks” within many majors
• Established month-long language immersion programs for students and for faculty
• Provided low pricing and portable financial aid for study aboard opportunities – cost of study at home same as for abroad
• In some majors, entire junior class studies abroad; 1/3 of students spend an academic year or longer abroad
• Established active program of residencies by international scholars
• Enhanced library resources, especially in foreign languages
• Indiana University (Bloomington)
• Has had a reputation as an international university for more than 50 years
• Instituted new “strategic directions charter” with one plank dedicated to strengthening international programs in teaching and research
• Supported implementation of internationalized curricula in new fields
• Established international studies summer institute for high school students
• Improved contact and programming for international alumni
• Established Office of International Programs to provide oversight and guidance for international programs and resources for all 8 campuses of IU system
• At IUB, nearly 30% of university 1615 FTE faculty specialize in international studies research and teaching
• Much of program funding comes through title VI of Higher Ed Act
• Office of Overseas Study offers financial support for study aboard, with some funds targeted to minority students
• Established 12 internationally focused multidisciplinary centers at IUB with different area focus
• Has 8 foreign language departments – offers 40-50 languages each year
• Houses IUB’s Archives of Traditional Music, special collection of African and Latin American music; houses Mathers Museum of World Cultures
• Required cultural studies and foreign language requirements
• In 1999, introduced international studies minor focused on global and transnational issues
• Set up Foster International, living and learning residence housing native and international undergrads on campus

From: Promising Practices: Spotlighting Excellence in Comprehensive Internationalization. Edited by David Engberg and Madeleine Green. American Council on Education, Center for Institutional and International Initiatives. 2002.

Postscript: Toward internationalizing a campus, a few universities offer academic credit to Peace Corps volunteers.

• At Humboldt State University, program is part of TESOL degree in which students take most of required courses on campus, and then earn remaining credits applying their knowledge as volunteer.
• Peace Corp is trying to forge more links with higher education institutions – especially in areas of master degrees in international programs, and in medicine, technology, and agriculture.

Environmental Scan:

Academic Programming/Mission Issues for Comprehensive Institutions

Carnegie Classification System

DOCTORATE-GRANTING INSTITUTIONS

DOCTORAL/RESEARCH

UNIVERSITIES-EXTENSIVE

These institutions offer a wide range of baccalaureate programs and are committed to

graduate education through the doctorate. They award 50 or more doctoral degrees per

year across at least 15 disciplines.

DOCTORAL/RESEARCH

UNIVERSITIES-INTENSIVE

These institutions offer a wide range of baccalaureate programs and are committed to

graduate education through the doctorate. They award at least 10 doctoral degrees per

year across three or more disciplines, or at least 20 doctoral degrees per year over all.

MASTER'S (COMPREHENSIVE) COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

MASTER'S (COMPREHENSIVE) COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES I

These institutions offer a wide range of baccalaureate programs and are committed to

graduate education through the master's degree. They award 40 or more master's degrees

annually across three or more disciplines.

MASTER'S (COMPREHENSIVE)

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES II

These institutions offer a wide range of baccalaureate programs and are committed to

graduate education through the master's degree. They award 20 or more master's degrees

annually in one or more disciplines.

BACCALAUREATE COLLEGES

BACCALAUREATE COLLEGES-LIBERAL ARTS

These institutions are primarily undergraduate colleges with major emphasis on

baccalaureate degree programs. They award at least half of their baccalaureate degrees

in the liberal arts.

BACCALAUREATE COLLEGES-GENERAL

These institutions are primarily undergraduate colleges with major emphasis on

baccalaureate programs. They award fewer than half of their baccalaureate degrees in

liberal-arts fields.

BACCALAUREATE/ASSOCIATE'S COLLEGES

These institutions are undergraduate colleges with significant baccalaureate programs;

however, the majority of conferrals are at the sub-baccalaureate level (associate degrees

and certificates).

Character of State Colleges -- not so hot: In Chronicle article (Selingo, 2000) entitled “Facing new missions and rivals, state colleges seek a makeover,” focus on changing mission of previous state normal schools and issue of lost identity, decreasing retention and graduation rates, and growing remediation needs. Except for SU’s consideration of expanding mission to including doctoral degrees, none of the negative aspects of this article seemed to apply. SU is much more like a “public four-year university” than a state college as described in this article.

• But question still remains as to who we are uniquely? Are we a generalist four-year university or do we have a special identity or character?

Character of State Colleges – hot: Conversely, the recent follow-up report to the negative Boyer report on undergraduate education found considerable improvement in achieving recommendations in original report:

• Significant progress in creating research opportunities for undergraduates, especially in lab-science research.
• Increase in undergraduate writing requirements, with half of the university surveyed requiring two semesters of lower division writing and many requiring at least one upper division, writing intensive course.
• More emphasis on teaching in promotion and tenure decisions – with more administrators than faculty believing that teaching is now a “major consideration” in promotion (in Wilson, Chronicle, 3/2002)

New academic programs/focus in demand and/or need:

• Ethnic-studies programs – controversy exists as to whether these should be single racial ethnicity focused or comparative ethnic focused but “to understand the changes around us, we need a new and critical study of the increasingly complicated relationship between race and ethnicity.” (Marable, “We need new and critical study of race and ethnicity, Chronicle, 10/2002)
• Climate science – Bush administration recently announced pledge to full finance climate-change science over next five years as part of National Climate Change Technology Initiative.