Thinking globally
Yesterday we looked at the work of the Public Service and Outreach Commission, part of the Virginia 2020 planning commission. Their ideas applied to expanding the University's impact in the Commonwealth. Now we look at the work of the International Activities Planning Commission, aimed at making our impact truly global.
The commission took on all aspects of the University's interaction in an international academic community. The report covers activities of our scholars and students abroad, activities of foreign scholars and students here, and the degree to which our curriculum is truly global.
The commission says the University makes good use of its resources, but lags far behind the schools whose success we aspire to. For instance, the commission hopes that by 2020, 80 percent of students will study abroad, compared to today's 16 percent. The commission hopes to see a system of language instruction that creates real competency, as opposed to the current one in which students often gain simple language familiarity en route to completing a requirement. These goals indicate the report's overall theme: there's a long way to go.
Because many of the commission's suggestions take time, money or manpower, the task ahead is hard. It also is worth the worry. The world becomes with each passing day a more global community. Opportunities for partnerships between states, business between countries, and learning between cultures abound, increasing rapidly. Whether we're motivated by prospects for learning, building peace or landing profits, the world is our oyster.
The commission recognizes the first step as building an appropriate structure for globalization. Our international study staff is relatively tiny, and simply not up to pursuing a large-scale vision.
The addition of a Vice Provost for International Activities -- the highly able Prof. William Quandt -- is a first step, but he needs help. If funds are found for a sufficient international staff, the real work can begin.
The commission has many ideas for what that work entails. The most important is the internationalization of our curriculum. This touches on much of the report, providing the best vehicle for a truly international culture.
The fundamental task is establishing a mindset among faculty and administrators that encourages integration and coordination of activities along an international track. This includes: incorporating language use into other disciplines, including international models when studying various disciplines -- ie, Commerce School cases including international scenarios -- and capitalizing more fully on the experiences of foreign-born students and faculty or students and faculty who have studied abroad.
This kind of thinking will diffuse an international perspective throughout the academic experience. That could increase the number of students who want to study abroad, because they'll have been heavily exposed to other cultures, and would come into contact with the kinds of opportunities found in abundance abroad. The commission makes other recommendations for encouraging study abroad, such as assistance with costs and a possible fifth-year study abroad program. But if the University creates an international mindset, much of the rest will follow.
More international faculty and students would come here, seeking not just an American but an international education. More students would study abroad, live in language houses, and continue applying here the lessons they learn abroad.
As with public service, creating universal frames of mind is difficult, but possible. What's more, it'll enhance education at all levels and disciplines. More students would want an international experience, and the University would begin providing something like that experience right here. The planning is in place and on target. It's time for the hard task of doing.
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