College Honored for International Education
Concordia College is one of only five schools to be honored with the Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization by NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Other recipients included Purdue University, Michigan State University, Arcadia University and Earlham College.
“This recognition affirms Concordia’s role as a national leader in global education,” says Concordia President Pamela M. Jolicoeur. “It validates our historic and continually evolving efforts to provide our students with a rich global perspective that prepares them for effective service and leadership in the world.”
The five award recipients will be featured in the NAFSA report “Internationalizing the Campus 2006: Profiles of Success at Colleges and Universities,” to be published this fall. The awardees will also be recognized at a ceremony May 24, during the NAFSA annual conference in Montréal. Named for the late Senator Paul Simon of Illinois, the award recognizes innovative and creative efforts in campus internationalization. Senator Simon was an advocate for international education throughout his career.
Concordia, a leader in sending students abroad as well as bringing students here from other countries, is currently is ranked 10th among baccalaureate institutions for the number of students studying abroad. Each year, about 200 students study abroad on month-long May Seminars and nearly 100 spend their spring breaks studying overseas on Exploration Seminars. Concordia also offers semester and yearlong global curricular experiences.
“We believe it is critical that we keep expanding opportunities for our students to engage in the world,” says Mark Krejci, dean and vice president for Academic Affairs. “International education experiences have transformative power in shaping students’ lives and their sense of purpose in the world.”
Concordia’s curriculum continues to evolve toward more effectively integrated internationalization, both in campus classrooms and across the globe. Other popular offerings include World Discovery Programs that allow students to design their own semester or year abroad, the international business major and career-shaping internships in cities such as Bangalore, Beijing, London, Mainz, Mexico City, Paris, Pamplona and Segovia. A new global studies major is in place, examining the complex interactions between diverse nations and cultures in an ever-flattening world, as well as each person’s responsibility as a global citizen. And last fall the faculty voted on a revised core curriculum that will include required courses in international and global perspectives, and U.S. cultural diversity.
“We’re moving toward a stage where international education is integral to the undergraduate experience,” says Dr. Per Anderson, director of international education. “It’s not an extra; it’s fundamental, essential to quality liberal arts. We now have a program that permeates everything and that’s huge.”
