2005 Internationalizing the Campus

Introduction

The members of the 2005 selection jury for this project faced a very difficult task. NAFSA received many fine submissions from across the nation, and each had to be  given careful consideration. We believe this report speaks to both the seriousness with which the jury ap-proached this task and ...

The members of the 2005 selection jury for this project faced a very difficult task. NAFSA received many fine submissions from across the nation, and each had to be  given careful consideration. We believe this report speaks to both the seriousness with which the jury ap-proached this task and the high caliber of the schools who submitted their programs for consideration.

  • The panel sought institutions that could demonstrate some or all of these characteristics:
  • The campus has been widely internationalized across schools, divisions, departments, and disciplines.
  • There is evidence of genuine administrative or even board-level support for internationalization.
  • The campus-wide internationalization has had demonstrable results for students.
  • The institution’s mission or planning documents contain an explicit or implicit statement regarding international education.
  • The institution’s commitment to internationalization is reflected in the curriculum.
  • The campus-wide internationalization has had demonstrable results within the faculty.
  • There is an international dimension in off-campus programs and outreach.
  • There is internationalization in research and/or faculty exchange.
  • The institution supports education abroad as well as its international faculty, scholars, and students.

The institutions selected for their overall excellence in internationalization were presented with NAFSA’s Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization at the NAFSA anual conference in Seattle in May 2005. The late Senator Simon of Illinois served his state and the nation as a strong voice for civil rights, peace initiatives, and international education. He was a strong advocate throughout his career for international education, using his positions on various committees in the Senate to advocate for exchange. His leadership in this area was especially evident in his robust support, along with Senator David Boren, for the creation of the National Security Education Program, which addresses critical national security deficiencies in language and cultural expertise.

Each of the five institutions chosen by our expert selection jury to receive the Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization has been profiled in-depth here. Together they illustrate amply one of the great strengths of U.S. higher education—they all demonstrate impressive levels of internationalization across their entire campus structure, have each has achieved this level of excellence in its own way.

Among the winners this year are schools of widely varying sizes and resources. Colby College, Waterville, Maine; Colgate University, Hamilton, New York; Howard Community College, Columbia Maryland; University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas; and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) are all excellent examples of internationalization. But each school has come to this commitment to internationalization in their own way and based on their own circumstances and means.

In addition to the five schools that were chosen to receive the Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization, three other institutions are spotlighted here for their outstanding accomplishments in specific areas of internationalization. Columbus State Community College, Columbus, Ohio, is included because of its outstanding array of international education connections that have assisted the school in improving campus internationalization. The University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, is noted for its innovative Cherrington Global Scholars program. And finally, El Camino College in Torrence, California is recognized because of its tireless and very fruitful efforts to locate and take advantage of outside funding to back internationalization.

As the leading association for international educators in the world today, NAFSA is firmly committed to the notion that the world will be a more stable and more prosperous place when all the citizens of the globe are better able to understand each other through educational experiences that draw us all together. The future leaders of the United States must be women and men who have knowledge of the ways of other peoples, their customs, and their worldviews. Likewise, offering the opportunity to the next generation of leaders from other nations to come to the United States to study and enjoy a firsthand experience of our culture and values will undoubtedly pay dividends as we all work to share our ever shrinking globe.

NAFSA is hopeful that by recognizing the five Simon Award recipients and shining a spotlight upon the special achievements of three additional institutions, we will help to encourage at all institutions of higher learning the kinds of innovative thinking and holistic approaches that these schools have amply demonstrated in their attempts to look further beyond the horizon to a world ever more integrated, peaceful, and tolerant.

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Acknowledgements

A project of this magnitude is the work of many people. The constraints of space prevent us from listing everyone who contributed, but we do want to single out several people for special acknowledgement. First, NAFSA gratefully acknowledges the considerable work of five volunteers who constituted...

A project of this magnitude is the work of many people. The constraints of space prevent us from listing everyone who contributed, but we do want to single out several people for special acknowledgement.

First, NAFSA gratefully acknowledges the considerable work of five volunteers who constituted the selection jury that chose the institutions that are profiled in this report:

  • Stephen Curtis, President, Community College of Philadelphia
  • Stephen Dunnett, Vice Provost, University at Buffalo, State University of New York
  • Connie Perdreau, Director, Office of Education Abroad, Ohio University
  • Wendy Weiner, Interim Director of educational planning, Virginia Community College System
  • Jim Williams, Director of International Education, George Washington University

Their thoughtful deliberations were truly invaluable.

This report was researched and written by Christopher Connell. He also contributed many of the fine photographs used in the profile articles on the Simon Award winners. Formerly the national education reporter for The Associated Press, and later assistant chief of the AP Washington Bureau, Mr. Connell is a freelance writer, editor and consultant who works with foundations, nonprofit organizations and government agencies. He is also a frequent contributor to International Educator magazine.

Many thanks to the representatives of the colleges and universities who participated in the project, including all who submitted nominations. We especially thank the institutions featured in this report for their assistance in helping us research and report their stories.

We also express our gratitude to the family of Paul Simon for lending the late senator’s name to the Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization, bestowed upon the five institutions to receive campus-wide profiles in the 2005 report.

Finally, our deepest gratitude to our partner on this project, the Educational Information and Resources Branch (ECA/A/S/A) of the United States Department of State’s Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau.

Thanks to these colleagues and many others, we are able to present here a report that captures the breadth and depth of accomplishment in international education at colleges and universities—information that will be of interest and, we trust, inspiration for many in the field.

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It is the stuff of dreams of college presidents and international educators everywhere: A wealthy and generous benefactor comes along, opens a checkbook and says, “You can enroll some of the brightest, most able and accomplished international
Comprehensive Award

Colby College

Philanthropy Brings the World to Colby’s Door
It is the stuff of dreams of college presidents and international educators everywhere: A wealthy and generous benefactor comes along, opens a checkbook and says, “You can enroll some of the brightest, most able and accomplished international

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The origins of Colgate University’s elaborate array of off-campus study programs can be traced not to London or Paris or Venice but to Washington, D.C., where the liberal arts college dispatched a professor and handful of students during the
Comprehensive Award

Colgate University

For Many Colgate Faculty, A Passport Comes with the Job
The origins of Colgate University’s elaborate array of off-campus study programs can be traced not to London or Paris or Venice but to Washington, D.C., where the liberal arts college dispatched a professor and handful of students during the

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Near the end of the faculty’s first meeting with Mary Ellen Duncan after she became president of Howard Community College in 1998, Spanish professor Cheryl Berman stood up and asked with unwonted diffidence, “Can I start study abroad programs here?”
Comprehensive Award

Howard Community College

In a U.S. Shangri-La, Howard Builds Pathways to the World
Near the end of the faculty’s first meeting with Mary Ellen Duncan after she became president of Howard Community College in 1998, Spanish professor Cheryl Berman stood up and asked with unwonted diffidence, “Can I start study abroad programs here?”

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In the higher education world, college and university rankings are a source of endless fascination and endless frustration for administrations and admissions officers. They come in all sizes and shapes, some with impressive imprimaturs (i.e., the
Comprehensive Award

UCLA

A Great University in One of the World’s Greatest Cities
In the higher education world, college and university rankings are a source of endless fascination and endless frustration for administrations and admissions officers. They come in all sizes and shapes, some with impressive imprimaturs (i.e., the

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Tree-lined Mount Oread is the centerpiece of a sylvan, 1,000-acre campus in one of America’s great college towns—Lawrence, Kansas—with Massachusetts (”Mass”) Street the main artery for an academic community of almost 30,000 students and 2,000 faculty
Comprehensive Award

University of Kansas

In the Middle of America, a Campus That Looks to the World
Tree-lined Mount Oread is the centerpiece of a sylvan, 1,000-acre campus in one of America’s great college towns—Lawrence, Kansas—with Massachusetts (”Mass”) Street the main artery for an academic community of almost 30,000 students and 2,000 faculty

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To understand how Columbus State Community College built its formidable array of international education connections, consider the baggage claim area at Port Columbus International Airport, a gateway to the Midwest that serves more than 6 million
Spotlight Award

Columbus State Community College

Columbus State Builds Global Connections, One at a Time
To understand how Columbus State Community College built its formidable array of international education connections, consider the baggage claim area at Port Columbus International Airport, a gateway to the Midwest that serves more than 6 million

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In the state that fired the first shot in the property tax revolt with Proposition 13 more than a quarter- century ago, what are the odds that voters in the South Bay of Los Angeles would approve a $394 million bond issue for their community college?
Spotlight Award

El Camino College

Grant-Savvy El Camino Finds Partners Far and Wide
In the state that fired the first shot in the property tax revolt with Proposition 13 more than a quarter- century ago, what are the odds that voters in the South Bay of Los Angeles would approve a $394 million bond issue for their community college?

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A few years back, The Chronicle of Higher Education asked college presidents to muse on what they’d do with a $1 billion gift with no strings attached. The University of Denver’s then-Chancellor Daniel L. Ritchie immediately responded: “Send every
Spotlight Award

University of Denver

Cherrington Global Scholars Open Doors at the University of Denver
A few years back, The Chronicle of Higher Education asked college presidents to muse on what they’d do with a $1 billion gift with no strings attached. The University of Denver’s then-Chancellor Daniel L. Ritchie immediately responded: “Send every

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