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INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES PLANNING COMMISSION ATTENDEES: Brantly Womack, Melissa Bowles, Tico Braun, Joe Cronin, Robert Conroy, Daniel Ehnbohm, Leslie Grayson, Richard Guerrant, Robert Johnson, Denise Karaoli, David LaRue, Chinh Quang Le, Allen Lynch, Martin, David Newsom, Farzaneh Duane Oshiem, William Quandt, Len Schoppa, Sarah Womack, Carol Wood, John Woodworth,
SCOLA
International Living and Learning Center (ILLC)
USIA Exploration Visit – John Woodworth
(For more information regarding this visit, please see the below information, see the USIA website, or contact John Woodworth directly) Academy of Educational Development
Program in the Commerce School – International Tax and International Business Law
(For more information regarding this program, please call David La Rue.) Duke University Field Trip
(For more information regarding this program, please see below or contact Nat Howell and Bill Quandt) Report on Metrics (Hand outs given at the meeting and hard copies sent to the members who were unable to attend the meeting).
(For more information regarding this program, please see below or contact Sarah Womack) Conference (please see website address http://faculty.virginia.edu/unitheuni0
Tasks
USIA Trip
TEXT OF MEETING OUTLINE NOTES: INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES COMMISSION USIA FIELD TRIP - JULY 15, 1999 (Participants: Brantly Womack; Nancy Faux; Allen Lynch; Steve Schnatterly; John Woodworth) People we met: Dr. William Bader, Associate Director, Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau Bill Kiehl, Staff Director, Interagency Working Group on USG-sponsored
International Exchanges and Training Leslie Wiley, Director of the Office of International Visitors Ray Harvey, Office of Citizen Exchanges Marianne Craven, Deputy Director of the Office of Academic Exchanges Bader overview: USIA Transfer to State Department - operations will continue unbroken Funding - likely to hold steady Bader will continue to lead current activities in a new State Bureau Fulbright Program - USIA flagship program USIA programs (website - http://e.usia.gov/education/general.htm): Fulbright English Teaching Exchanges and Overseas Resources Russia and Newly Independent States - individual fellowships and institutional linkages Humphrey Fellows (UVA has not been a participant) Overseas Educational Advising (UVA should make sure it is plugged in) Study of the United States - Summer Institutes for Foreign Faculty College and University Affiliations Program - sustainable overseas linkages in the humanities and social sciences Sub-set: NIS College and University Partnerships Program Allen Lynch and John Woodworth met with program manager: Progam funding up to $150,000, mainly for faculty assistance/participation with NIS educational institutions; some room for student participation Other members of UVA team held separate discussions Interagency Working Group on USG-sponsored International Exchanges and Training Extensive catalogue of all US Government foreign educational and training programs - available for review Conclusion: Visit underscored essential role of information gathering and dissemination within UVA community to make sure opportunities are known. Duke University Field Trip
Duke's International Programs
Nat Howell and Bill Quandt visited Duke on August 24, 1999 to learn about the university's internationalization effort. Duke set out in 1993 to add an international dimension to the university. It addressed all the issues that are on our agenda and seems to have done very well. We spent most of our time with the Vice Provost for International Programs, Bruce Kuniholm. Bruce is a full professor at Duke, a historian/political scientist who came to his present job after having set up the Sanford School of Public Policy. (He is also a former Marine and he noted that sometimes that training seemed more important than his academic credentials when it came to finally making decisions!) He explained that the decision to develop a position of Vice-Provost was largely due to the Provost's authority across schools. He said that there was a strong feeling at Duke that the incumbent of his role had to be an insider, familiar with the University, and able to coordinate and facilitate many of the activities that already take place. Bruce reports directly to the Provost and President and that is central to his success. From the outset, his office has had a substantial fund available for the Vice Provost to spend at his discretion. With his funds, he is able to leverage activities throughout the university that fit his criteria of adding to the international dimension of the university. He has set up competitions among departments for funds, has offered funds contingent upon individuals and departments matching those funds, and so forth. But he has had full discretion in how the funds are used. To assist him, he has one secretary, and also a committee made up of the heads of area studies centers, representatives from each of the schools, heads of the International Center and so forth. This group may meet as often as every two weeks. By contrast, an advisory council consisting of potential funders did not work out well and has been disbanded. What has worked well? When Duke began its assessment, about 20% (I forget the exact number) of its students spent some time abroad. Now, about 45% of the graduating class has spent time studying abroad. (Wisconsin was one of the universities that they initially looked to as a model - at the time, it had 40% of its students studying abroad). This has been greatly facilitated by an impressive study-abroad office, well organized and staffed. Duke has some 12 programs that it runs abroad for its own students. These usually consist of arrangements with universities abroad, rental of some space for a director's office, a local hire director who helps to place students in families and helps them deal with the university, one core course taught just for their students, and sometimes a Duke professor who joins the students abroad and teaches a course. Otherwise the students take regular courses at the university and receive full credit. They pay normal Duke tuition and an added program fee to cover additional costs. Most of the programs are in Europe thus far, and the challenge will be to expand into other regions. Duke students also participate in many consortium arrangements abroad. These seem to work well with little cost to Duke. They have a list of some 150 programs abroad which offer courses for which Duke students will get credit. A student who wants to go to a university not on the list can petition for credit. Duke has many exchange agreements with other universities, but these do not amount to much. It is sometimes difficult to work out the precise nature of an exchange. The best arrangements have been those where a foreign scholar comes to Duke for one semester each year over a several year period. That way institutional links develop. One-time exchanges have not been as successful. To accommodate the many foreign students and professors who come to Duke, two offices exist. One is the International House which helps orient foreign scholars/students and their families. There are about six full time professionals at the International House, a nice structure in the middle of the Campus. Duke is well-endowed with buildings to house the components of its international program. We were impressed with both facilities and the quality and number of personnel. There is also an office that deals primarily with visa and green card issues. It has twelve full time professionals dealing with these issues in a shared facility. Duke has several Title VI area centers and has made a big effort to expand this number. They now require foreign language of all students, but still lag somewhat behind in language teaching. They do however have Scola readily available (two channels), and are building their international library holdings, in one case in a consortium with UNC. Internationalization has gone hand in hand with the encouragement of inter-disciplinary studies. There is also a Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary matters, and all of the Vice Provosts are co-located with the provost's office and President's office. We came away impressed with the quality of Duke's programs, with how quickly they have expanded their international outreach, with the importance of the right person in the Vice-Provost office, and with the need for funds. The associated programs were well staffed, well housed, and seemed highly professional. We were told that all of these positions had been upgraded in order to get high caliber people. We have quite a bit of material about the study abroad programs which we can share. ***************** A few more notes: Duke is in the midst of a one billion dollar fund raising campaign. There is talk of earmarking about $20 million of that for international activities. I full time fund raiser for international programs works in the development office and has been essential to the success of raising money. Area center directors report directly to the Provost; Duke has five Title VI area centers, and is trying to get Title VI funding for its Center for International Affairs. To do so, one needs a theme, plus lots of supporting material. The Center for International Affairs now groups some of the "orphan" area programs and there is an effort to get some of the established programs to move to a central building (which would help reduce expenses by consolidating some overhead costs). The Vice Provost uses some of his discretionary funds to help bring speakers support conferences and help with grant proposals. Some money can go to supporting international positions within departments (salary increments). In most cases, the program requesting money has to raise some of its own to qualify for matching funds from the Vice Provost. Bruce speaks at first year orientation and makes a strong pitch about he importance of study abroad as part of the Duke experience. Duke hosts 1300 foreign students, of whom 250 are undergrads. Duke is just beginning to offer fellowships to foreign students. The office for Foreign Academic Programs (the study abroad office) has six full time employees. Bruce is also the director of the center for International Affairs, which gives him more reach, some added staff (an Executive Director), and there he can invite speakers, organize conferences, etc. He stressed the importance of having a building where international activities are centered and of having a good conference room there. We saw the Sanford Institute for Public Policy which cost $12 million to build and had a remarkable layout, lots of informal space for students and faculty, meeting rooms, class rooms, auditorium, high tech. Quite impressive. A final note -- to stay in touch with their students after graduation (and thus make fullow-up fund raising easier) each Duke student is given a lifetime e-mail address. ** For the report on Metrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Land Grant please contact Sarah Womack at sww3a@virginia.edu. |
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