August 2005 Friday Focus
Vol. 1, No. 2
This second issue of Friday Focus concentrates on the importance of international education to SMS/Missouri State students in the 21st Century.
But first, I want to thank you for the many thoughtful and favorable comments to the first issue, which addressed the benefits of higher education to the state and nation. One of the goals of Friday Focus is to engage the campus community in conversation, and the first issue seemed to spark that reaction. (I even appreciated the couple of responses that challenged either the content or style of the first issue.) In case you are interested, past issues of Friday Focus are posted on the web site: http://www.missouristate.edu/president/fridayfocus
Now, back to the importance of international education at SMS/Missouri State….
By now, you are familiar with the Five Goals, one of which is to "Help Make Missouri's Future." In order to accomplish that goal, we must prepare our graduates to be well-informed, confident, and conscientious leaders, which is the result of both a breadth of opportunities and a depth that comes from rigorous standards in the classroom, in research and in co-curricular activities. There is no better visual representation of the centrality of this goal to the University than the Citizen-Scholar statue, a powerful image of our public affairs mission. Certainly, international education is part of that breadth and depth.
International education also relates to the goal of democratizing society, both here and abroad. While "ensuring access to high-quality public education for students from diverse backgrounds" is essential to further democracy at home, an international education for our students and inculcating democratic values in foreign students attending American universities contribute to the global challenge of spreading democracy. Missouri State University, with its public affairs mission, can be at the forefront of these endeavors.
We must prepare our students to live and thrive in what Thomas Friedman has called the "flattened world," a world that has been shrunk by discoveries in science, technological advances in communication, enhancements to transportation, and the growth of new economies. The world is becoming simultaneously more interdependent and more competitive; outsourcing, off-shoring, and supply-chaining are transforming the world in the 21st century. The dangers and opportunities of this transformation require that our students understand, and be ready to live in, a world that is becoming smaller. We must educate them in a way that allows them to compete and to collaborate in the new, flat world, and we must recognize that a failure to do so will increasingly imperil our nation's security and economic leadership.
Whether I listen to Friedman's voice, consider my personal experiences traveling abroad, or examine world affairs, I am convinced that this University must strengthen its internationalization agenda and the global literacy of its students. We have made a very good start, particularly in Asia. Our exchanges and collaborative efforts in research and education with partners in China such as Liaoning Normal University and Qingdao University, the extension of selected degree programs in business to students in India, and plans for new internationally oriented curricula are excellent advances. However, the University must establish itself in other regions such as Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa, to assist in these regions' struggle with establishing market economies and democracies, and the University must continue to work with the local community to facilitate international business ventures that Springfield will be able to exploit.
The demand for internationalization has several sources. A first-rate liberal education must educate students to succeed in an increasingly pluralistic world. Economic growth and entrepreneurial success will depend on students possessing global competencies that encompass language skills, multicultural sensibilities, and the ability to live in diverse environments. An informed foreign policy and effective strategies for national security require that students develop an appreciation, if not an expertise, in the causes of regional conflicts and ideologies of terrorism. Most fundamentally, universities must help their students and their communities learn to accept and understand the individual and cultural differences that too often serve to divide us. This emphasis is even more obligated at a University that is a leader in public affairs education.
Recognizing these needs, I believe it is important that Missouri State University identify International Studies as one of the academic priorities it will advance in the future. Some initial steps have been taken to support that goal: (1) the University has made rapid, excellent progress with the aforementioned programs in China and India; (2) we offer a successful English Language Institute; (3) our Defense and Strategic Studies program and a number of area studies and international programs enjoy or are gaining very solid reputations; and (4) the Task Force on International Programs has recommended an interdisciplinary undergraduate Global Studies Major that I believe should be readied for evaluation by the Faculty Senate and then the Coordinating Board for Higher Education (CBHE).
These initiatives, along with the international expertise and outreach that is already in place in other units, offer a reasonable base from which we can grow our international activities. However, a major set of questions need to be addressed as we enlarge this base. What intermediate and long-term goals should we pursue in this area? How can the University best promote global learning as part of its degree programs as well as ensure its proper role in general education? What curricular and co-curricular developments will stimulate student interest in global issues and international perspectives? How can we make our campus a more inviting and supportive environment for international students, and how can we encourage more of our own domestic students to study abroad? What organization can help overcome the fragmentation of our international activities and move those activities from the margins of the University to its center?
As we consider these and other questions around the international agenda, let me also suggest six initiatives that I believe could have a direct and prompt impact on the University's internationalization efforts. I would like to see:
- Missouri State students support a new modest fee of no more than $2 per semester to be used for need-based scholarships in support of travel abroad and to support additional programming for international students on campus.
- The University increase its instructional capacity in less commonly taught foreign languages – particularly those spoken in the Middle East, China and elsewhere in Asia, and Africa.
- The implementation of a B.A. degree in Global Studies/International Affairs.
- An increase in international studies content throughout our curricula.
- A 20 percent growth in the number of international students enrolled at Missouri State University.
- The development of academic and administrative structures that will facilitate educational and scholarly achievements in the international area.
I ask that you send me your thoughts and suggestions concerning these ideas. And I look forward to future discussions on other topics that will be vital to our development as a premier comprehensive public university.