International exchange opportunities continue to grow
7/18/2010 4:57:10 PM
(July 18, 2010) - With implementation under way on the university’s recently adopted internationalization plan, opportunities are expanding for students, faculty and staff to participate in exchange programs with institutions around the globe. It’s also bringing more international faculty and students to the North Georgia College & State University campus.
This fall, faculty and administrators from China’s Liaocheng University will visit North Georgia to learn more about American higher education administration.
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| Elementary school children in China. |
“They want to study American higher education… what are its historical roots, how is it structured, how does it operate across the board – academically, fiscally, student affairs, governance – all pieces,” Dr. Bob Michael, dean of North Georgia’s School of Education, said.
The program is a result of a visit to Liaocheng University by North Georgia administrators and faculty in May. The meetings at Liaocheng University involved Michael, Dr. Chris Jespersen, dean of the School of Arts & Letters, Dr. James Badger, education faculty member, and Billy Wells, vice president for executive affairs. While in China, the North Georgia team also visited Tsinghua University and Shaanxi Normal University to discuss existing or emerging exchange programs.
At the beginning of September, three of the university’s deans – Jespersen, Michael, and Dr. Max Burns, Mike Cottrell School of Business – will run seminars for about two dozen Chinese senior faculty, deans and managers. Then in October, ten of the administrators will come to North Georgia and to other schools to see best practices, instructional settings, and the array of services the university provides.
The university’s internationalization plan, which is tied to the institution’s strategic plan, is focused on helping students become globally competent citizens and developing an awareness of other regions of the world and their relationship with the United States and its interests. Study abroad experiences and faculty exchange programs are critical elements of this effort.
International experiences enhance career opportunities
North Georgia’s School of Education, like other parts of the university, heavily promotes opportunities for students to have international experiences. This summer, 10 students visited Panama for language immersion experiences where they visited and taught in schools for about four weeks and two students visited Shaanxi Normal University. Additionally, for the past seven years, graduate and undergraduate students have traveled to Poland, where they spend two weeks in elementary and high schools, teaching English. The school has been sending interns to England, too, for about four or five years. Education interns may spend four weeks there – either in the spring or the fall – working in the schools, according to Michael.
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| School of Education students in Poland. |
Much of the emphasis for these types of programs is coming from the local school systems, where many of North Georgia’s graduates work as teachers and where dual-language and language immersion programs are becoming more common, Michael said.
“We’re looking at two really big questions,” he said. “First, what are the language expectations of our graduates, and second, what are the international experience expectations of our graduates. Optimally, we would have students emerging from our program with bilingual capabilities and an international experience.”
Students who are unable to participate in a study abroad program may still have an international experience close to home at Atlanta’s International Community School. The K-6 charter school and International Baccalaureate World school is focused on refugee, immigrant, and local children, and its students collectively speak more than 15 languages.
All of these initiatives support career opportunities for students preparing to be teachers.
“A teacher walking in with a resume showing an international experience who can speak Spanish, for example, is able to work with parents and community organization… that’s powerful,” Michael said.
Faculty exchange opportunities enrich teaching
As part of the internationalization plan, the university also encourages faculty members to take advantage of the international experiences as opportunities arise.
“It changes your world view,” Michael said. “You don’t look at schools the same; you don’t look at your work the same.”
Dr. Joyce Stavick, assistant professor of English at North Georgia, recently returned from a four-month teaching assignment at Tsinghua University in Beijing, where she taught two sections of Western Literature to Chinese students, none of whom were English majors. She also conducted a writing tutorial, through which she helped graduate students revise and edit articles for publication.
“My semester in China was one of the most meaningful periods of my life,” Stavick said. “I got to know China through my students even as I introduced them to western literature. I hope my students learned from me, but I also learned from them. My students inspired me to begin a study of cross-cultural naming practices among university students.”
Stavick urges other faculty to pursue opportunities to teach abroad and says her experience is already influencing her teaching at North Georgia.
“My summer course is currently studying sarcasm, and I learned in China that English sarcastic expressions don't really translate well into Chinese, so we have learned something more about Chinese and American cultures,” she said. “I will also be teaching World Literature II this fall, a course that includes study of Chinese literature. Because I understand Chinese culture better now, I should be better able to help students appreciate the literature.”
Other units from North Georgia are also investigating ways to increase partnerships and exchange programs with academic institutions in other parts of the world.
Dr. Patricia Donat, acting vice president of academic affairs, visited Tanzania in late spring, along with COL Tom Palmer, commandant, and COL Mike Pyott, professor of military science. The group met with administrators of a Tanzanian military academy, where North Georgia cadets may be able to participate in an exchange program. The Tanzanian students would be more likely to visit Ft. Lewis or some other similar installation, according to Donat.
“Their military training follows the Sandhurst model, rather than ROTC model, and their schedule would be more conducive to visiting that kind of facility.”
Donat added that, on the civilian side, a Tanzanian school is interested in developing an exchange program with North Georgia in psychology.