University of Wyoming
Executive Summary
Final Report on Advancing Internationalization
Created in Consultation with the ACE Internationalization Laboratory
2011-2013
During the summer of 2011, Provost Myron Allen accepted the American Council on Education’s (ACE) invitation to be a part of its Internationalization Laboratory. As part of the Internationalization Laboratory, experts from ACE worked with UW to form an internationalization leadership team, review current internationalization activities and clarify institutional goals, and develop a strategic action plan based on analysis of UW’s current activities.UW Academic Affairs appointed a broad range of persons including faculty, staff, and administrators from a comprehensive array of UW units to the Leadership Team. For the past two years, the Leadership Team has gathered data from faculty, students, staff, departments, colleges, and units across the university, as well as holding town hall meetings and focus groups with colleagues in ten Wyoming communities to find out what UW and our state can do together to enhance international education. The input gathered was analyzed extensively and,based on this analysis, six recommendations were formulated for further strategic action by UW.
To guide the Internationalization Lab Team’s efforts, a vision statement for UW’s efforts and definition of internationalization were also articulated. They can be found at the end of this executive summary.
VISION STATEMENT
It is imperative for the University of Wyoming, as the state’s sole four-year public baccalaureate and research-intensive institution, to provide knowledge, skills and opportunities for our students, faculty, and staff to lead and excel in a world that is increasingly globally interconnected.
•Wyoming’s future business leaders, entrepreneurs, and workforce must be able to work with and understand people across the world as our industries and economy face expanded connectedness and global competitive pressures.
•Our students need to find pragmatic and thoughtful solutions to the increasingly complex global problems they will face.
•International research cooperation and enterprise will continue to be a source of excellence for the University of Wyoming.
•The University of Wyoming must be able to recruit the best, brightest, and most talented students, faculty, and staff - no matter where they come from - to continue to be a world-class university. The University of Wyoming’s staff, students, and faculty must be provided with avenues to benefit from interactions with our international colleagues both inside and outside of the classroom, in the curriculum and in the co-curriculum environments, with enhanced research opportunities, and be provided with access to the tools of cultural competency in order to maximize that benefit. Likewise, our international colleagues must be provided with as many opportunities as possible to integrate and interact with our communities.
To this end, the University of Wyoming has participated enthusiastically in the American Council on Education Internationalization Lab project to assess our strengths and growth opportunities, and to formulate strategies to provide sustainable access to excellent international education, research, and outreach opportunities.
DEFINITION OF INTERNATIONALIZATION
The Leadership Team adopted ACE’s definition of internationalization and added a brief statement in order to help situate that definition in UW’s specific context. This statement was adopted under the title of ‘What Internationalization Means for the University of Wyoming’. It reads as follows:
“The American Council on Education defines internationalization as ‘the process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the teaching, research, and service functions of the institution.’ How the University of Wyoming utilizes this definition is shaped by its context, history, and mission.
“UW’s setting in the rural Rocky Mountain West creates certain challenges for internationalization. Its relative isolation makes it all the more important that the UW community be exposed to the complexities of an interdependent, global society and to comprehend and value diversity. UW’s commitment to internationalization is clearly stated in University Plan Three:
‘UW will cultivate an environment that attracts international scholars and students, we will enhance our students’ international awareness through the curriculum, and we will expand opportunities for UW students to study abroad’ (pp.12-13). ‘
“This commitment demonstrates our recognition of the importance of providing international perspectives to our students, positioning them for competitive success in the 21st century workforce, and providing value to our partners throughout Wyoming.”
“As Wyoming’s sole research university, we embrace the opportunity to extend internationalization not just on the Laramie campus, but throughout UW’s state-wide presence, and in partnership with our community college and K-12 colleagues.”
Recommendations
Based on the report analysis and input from UW and external constituencies, the Leadership Team puts forward the following recommendations for university-level action items for UP 4. They are listed by (1) the length of the planning process required to implement them, and (2) the resource intensity required for the recommendations. The first group of recommendations requires, therefore, the longest planning periods and the most resources; the second group of recommendations is more resource-neutral.
Tier One:
Recommendation 1: Strengthening Support for Faculty Development. (Timeline: Set as immediate AY 2014 – 2015 fundraising priority)
There has been a significant increase in the level of student support and participation in international activities in recent years. There is a gap between student funding levels and resources that are available for faculty development in international scholarship and curricular development, as well as for development and implementation of field courses abroad. Our faculty’s international research activity, curriculum development, and delivery are the bedrock needed for our students to become globally proficient. Thus, there needs to be a corresponding growth in faculty support in order to maintain and increase the quality of UW’s overall efforts in internationalization.
Recommendation 2: Developing a UW English-Language Support Center (ELSC).(Timeline: Fall 2013 - planning for Center begins; Fall 2014 - Open Center)
UW has a large number of international students and wants to attract more. An ELSC would aid in recruitment and retention of international students by providing a pre- and post-TOEFL infrastructure. The ELSC would offer support for academic transition, writing and communications skills, and English-language instruction.
Recommendation 3: Appoint an International Implementation Task Force (IITF). (Timeline: Immediate implementation)
The leadership team believes that momentum going forward is critical in ensuring that internationalization remains a priority. As such, the IITF should be an interim task force appointed by the Provost charged with sustaining the forward momentum of the Internationalization Lab, guiding implementation of recommendations from this white paper, and working with the International Education Steering Committee to integrate policy recommendations that are put forward by that group. The IITF should be constituted for no more than five years. A subcommittee of the task force should be charged with examining financial models that will ensure sustainable and improved access to international education and research resources.
Tier Two:
Recommendation 4: Explore Opportunities for Providing Substantial Critical Language Learning and Augmenting Language Offerings.(Timeline: Fall 2014 – begin discussions with language faculty and stakeholders; Fall 2015 – priority languages identified; Spring 2015 – begin targeting resources)
Demand for Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese, as well as other languages, has grown dramatically in the past decade. The Hathaway curriculum in Wyoming schools, as well as local efforts in many Wyoming districts to promote foreign language learning in K-12 settings, have contributed to this growing demand in both upper-division courses for more commonly taught languages and critical less-commonly taught languages. As their popularity grows, institutionalizing this language instruction should be a priority. Further, lower-level language courses in general fill up quickly, typically before freshman can enroll and demand for upper division courses in Spanish exceeds course availability with other language instruction also nearing capacity, given the strong demand. Additional language faculty, including in Chinese or Arabic, may make it possible for UW to create a degree program in Chinese and a minor in Arabic language and culture. Also, it would deepen UW’s outreach to the state-wide community, since several school districts have added Chinese language instruction, and to the P-16 foreign language articulation group.
Recommendation 5: Expanding Internationalization Outreach to Wyoming Communities and Enhanced Commitments to P-16 Partnerships. (Timeline: Immediate implementation)
There is demonstrated, significant interest in Wyoming communities in the international speakers, forums, and activities that UW hosts. Community college personnel expressed interest in collaborating in ways that would help them and their students access international activities, including sharing programming and participation in UW exchange agreements. Additionally, a recurring request from state-wide constituents is that UW take the lead in developing and maintaining a communications channel where information about all international opportunities occurring throughout the state can be accessed. These efforts could help bring global awareness to the state and deepen UW partnerships with the state’s community colleges.
Recommendation 6: Developing Global Learning Outcomes. (Timeline: Begin Spring 2014)
Given the transition in the structure of the University Studies Program, there should be a systematic effort to ensure that global learning outcomes are built into the curricula at the disciplinary and college levels, and into the co-curriculum, in light of the institution’s stated commitment to internationalization. Ideally, this should be connected to UW’s ongoing assessment efforts.
1