University President Teresa Sullivan kicked off International Education Week Monday afternoon with an address to a crowd of about 120 people in the Dome Room, discussing how the University has adapted to an increasingly international student applicant pool in the past 20 years and how those demographic changes to the student body have affected culture on Grounds.
She said these changes, to her, meant having a “culture among students, faculty and administrators that embraces global research, learning and outreach as central components of our mission.”
The University is already undertaking to become more globally oriented, she said, including recruiting more international students and faculty, sending students abroad and on the Semester at Sea program and incorporating more international perspectives into the classroom. “All universities are global now … or they should be if they want to remain relevant,” Sullivan said.
“More and more international students are applying to come to U.Va.,” she said, citing a 60 percent increase in international applications during the last three years. Increasing applications from China each year have fueled much of this growth.
Opportunities for global learning abound once students arrive on Grounds, Sullivan emphasized throughout her presentation. The Virginia 2020 plan, a long-range strategic plan for the University, has a strong international component among its goals. The plan calls for the University to “make available language and cultural programs of quality, variety and depth, while integrating language and cultural learning with the rest of that curriculum.” Sullivan said the International Residential College, Shea House and the position of the vice provost for global affairs have all been successful.
International scholars will also be a focus in faculty hiring, Sullivan said. International faculty hiring extends back to Thomas Jefferson, as the University’s founder also “looked beyond American shores to recruit faculty members from other countries,” she said.
International Education Week, which is jointly sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education, will run for the rest of this week, and features many events promoting an international perspective for the University. The University is hosting a language fair featuring micro-lessons in 22 languages Tuesday at 3 p.m. in Clark Hall.
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