September 25, 20082:30pm-4:30pm

Task Force membershipTask Force processTask Force subcommitteeswww.uky.edu/ITF

Vision (DRAFT)

The University of Kentucky will be recognized world-wide for excellence in teaching, research and service. The university will provide the support needed to ensure that all members of the university community can be engaged effectively in the international educational and research marketplace. Every student will develop a broad international perspective through curricular, extracurricular, on-campus, and/or off-campus experiences. Faculty, staff and students will take full advantage of connections across academic programs at all levels of study to encourage international experiences that broaden perspectives, emphasize interdisciplinary and inter-professional training, and inspire student partnerships with faculty to explore knowledge at the fluid borders of academic disciplines.

Research-related recommendations• Funding decisions and resources for

international research should largely remain in the Colleges, since each College knows best where its investments will yield dividends.

• Multi-College grants should be managed from a centralized International Research entity.

• This entity would also manage such issues as housing for international visiting scholars or collaborators, and other such arrangements that enhance and facilitate the efforts of individual Colleges.

Research-related recommendations* Some funds should be available centrally, to

incentivize international research or travel; but these funds should mainly be allocated as a “match” or enhancement to individual College investments.

Research-related recommendations Each College should designate an Associate

Dean or other representative to guide investment in the area of international research.   Such decentralization will support creativity within

disciplines and Colleges, while also providing an avenue to centralize information and to increase the visibility and coherence of such efforts.  

These College representatives should form an Advisory Board that could meet periodically to exchange information, foster collaborations among Colleges, exchange best practices, and strengthen linkages between on-campus international expertise and curricular/co-curricular initiatives.

Partnership-related recommendations• Each college should establish a point person

for international agreements• UK’s international collaborations should

become more centralized so that certain activities are performed that assist the Colleges and other units establish international agreements and deal with hosting of international scholars and groups. • While programmatic efforts to establish international

relationships should remain at the unit level, some common activities supporting UK’s international collaborations should be performed through a more centralized organization.

• Such activities include hosting visitors, assisting with international agreements, coordinating multi-college research projects and other activities that go beyond the capabilities of most colleges.

Partnership-related recommendations• The Provost should encourage Deans to work

together on collaborations and exchanges.• Consider offering UK degrees on

international campuses.

Curriculum-related recommendations* Conduct an in-depth search on:

a) potential for including international study within each curricula of each college

b) curricular approaches to international activities at each of the benchmark universities

Curriculum-related recommendationsExplore the feasibility of establishing a

certificate in Intercultural Competence beginning with undergraduate students (e.g., Penn State Model). Students would work with an International Advisor

regarding coursework and intercultural experience required to obtain this certificate.

The certificate would require students to take a common core course focused on intercultural awareness and then select two courses from a list of existing courses to be identified by an advisory committee. The required intercultural experience might form the basis of one of these courses.

Curriculum-related recommendations• Curriculum Integration. The University of

Minnesota Curriculum Integration (CI) program, Assess, Match, Motivate, should be adopted by UK. 

• This project would entail working closely with departments/ divisions to produce Selected Education Abroad Sheets (SEAS) for each major, highlighting EA opportunities favored by departments/divisions.

* USP/General Studies. Participation in an Education Abroad program (3 week minimum) should satisfy a USP requirement, either a cross-cultural or experiential education requirement.

Communication-related recommendations

Create a centralized web presence for internationalization, ideally through an international link off the UK home page.That link would include links to international content

housed on college sites, but we see a number of benefits to having a centralized web presence. Such a site will provide a convenient, easy-to-find, easy-to-use portal to international activity at UK for both internal and external audiences.

The site would be maintained by the communications staff member in OIA; once the site is built, updating should be such that it could be handled out of that office.

Communication-related recommendationsDevelop a component of a website on

International Experiences at UK that will describe in detail all opportunities for international study. Courses would be identified according to a

number of categories, for example: Epoch: Historical, Contemporary

Language: any modern foreign language

Countries: China, Ecuador

Non-country Specific: International Law, Introduction to Comparative Religion

Communication-related recommendations• Increase international visibility of the

Commonwealth of Kentucky and the University of Kentucky• Engage the professional services of national recruitment

organizations such as Peterson’s, Hobson’s, etc for increasing name recognition and recruitment of international students.

• Participate in international students recruitment fairs worldwide.

• Pursue greater involvement with international alumni through visits when abroad and international alumni e-letter and to solicit their help in international recruitment efforts.

• Pursue greater involvement with international alumni through visits when abroad and international alumni e-letter and to solicit their help in international recruitment efforts.

Communication-related recommendations• Invite the active participation of University of

Kentucky international student groups in outreach activities aimed at prospective international students.

• Build relationships with overseas advisors and engage them in promoting the university to overseas students.

• Further develop UK’s relationship with internationally focused education organizations, such as IIE, Fulbright Commissions, AMIDEAST and others.

• Collaborate with local organizations such as Rotary Club, World Trade Center (WTC) and Sister Cities in recruiting international students.

• Establish an International Student Ambassador Circle to advise prospective students.

• Collaborate with UK Internationalization Taskforce and subcommittees on identifying faculty and staff involved who are willing to recruit undergraduates while traveling abroad.

Communication-related recommendations•Include a segment on international students in the current SEE BLUE Campaign to enhance the marketing of UK to international students.

•Include “Global UK” pages in the next edition of the UK’s View Book

•Improve visibility of the University of Kentucky and the Commonwealth of Kentucky by producing appropriate recruitment materials for global distribution.

•Send promotional materials to Education USA overseas adviser centers, schools, and US schools with high international populations.

•Work jointly with Communications subcommittee to develop a website for international students recruitment.

•Advertise the strengths and rankings of the various programs (Medicine, Pharmacy, Engineering, Health Sciences, Dentistry, etc) through an aggressive marketing strategy with the Communications subcommittee.

Incentive-related recommendations

• Mini-grants• Award mini-grants to faculty, staff and students for the

development of innovative ideas for expanding and intensifying international student experiences on campus.

• Fund mini-grants that support activities designed to increase the academic engagement of study abroad students.  One such grant could be modeled after the U Minnesota Intercultural Engagement Grants, "offered for programs that engage both international students and returned study abroad students with a focus on intercultural engagement and student development.“

• Fund mini-grants "offered for activities to increase faculty and staff involvement in and awareness of study abroad at the college, department or unit level.  Successful proposals should enhance the culture of study abroad within the unit, college or department by engaging faculty or staff." (U Minnesota- Innovation for Broader Engagement Grants)

• Fund competitive mini-grants for faculty development and familiarization tours to EA sites.

Incentive-related recommendations• UK Sponsored (faculty-led) EA Programs.

• Pay minimum salaries and stipends for directing and teaching UK-Sponsored programs from the General Fund, rather than the program fees charged to students. 

• Continue to offer the programs without charging tuition for the associated academic courses.

• Where possible, the Research Office should assist with starting projects that show promise of becoming self-sustaining financially.

Development-related recommendations• Structure for Development.

• A central structure should be set up to focus on Development and promotional work with international corporations, foundations, and donors, and to facilitate such efforts that might be ongoing within each College. 

• This would provide potential new funds directly to the Colleges, in order to further enhance international research, curriculum development, education abroad, etc. 

• Because of its potential to attract corporate investment or corporate support of particular programs, and to involve multiple Colleges, as well as to reduce duplication of effort, this initiative should be housed within an international research center.

Development-related recommendations• Scholarships for students studying abroad.

• Increase the International Education Fee (IEF), current $3/semester

• Increase College-Specific Scholarships for EA

• Work with UK Development Office to develop an EA fund-raising campaign and to locate potential donors.

• Work with UK Alumni Association to develop an EA Alumni communication strategy that will target UK EA Alumni for fund raising.

• Work with the office of the vice president for research to explore grant opportunities for EA support, such as first-generation students, students from Appalachia, multicultural students, students from non-traditional disciplines, students going to non-traditional destinations, and students with disabilities

Development-related recommendations• Funding for undergraduate international

students.• Explore issues of financial aid, scholarships and other

funding opportunities within and outside the University for needy international students.

• Create academic scholarships for incoming international undergraduate freshmen and transfer students.

• Explore local/external funding sources for the establishment of an international student scholarship endowment.

• Revise institutional policies so as to extend in-state tuition and reduced tuition to attract more international undergraduate students of high academic standing.

Development-related recommendations• Create an integrated application process for scholarships

and for admissions, where eligible students would be automatically considered for academic scholarships without having to submit a separate application.

• Establish a working inter-departmental team, consisting of OIA, Admissions, Academic Scholarships, colleges and schools to ensure that UK’s international student recruitment, admissions processing, student services, and orientation activities follow the cutting edge of best practices.

Assessment-related recommendations

Develop an international assessment plan that: 1) articulates with the UK strategic plan for

internationalization; 2) addresses the purposes for assessment, as defined by

the Task Force, Task Force Subcommittees, the Internationalization Strategic Plan, and college-level strategic plan goals and objectives having an international focus; and

3) serves internationalization efforts at the university and college levels, thus providing a mechanism for ongoing monitoring, evaluating, and modifying internationalization initiatives.

Assessment-related recommendationsDevelop a structure for centralized oversight

of the assessment process that: 1) promotes university and college internationalization

efforts; 2) recognizes the value of both university- and college-

wide efforts; and 3) encourages ongoing cooperation and communication

between colleges and the administration.

Assessment-related recommendations* Allocate sufficient financial resources,

physical space and equipment, and skilled personnel to ensure fidelity to the assessment process, including the use and adaptation of existing tools and development of additional assessment tools, such as the Faculty/Staff Survey of International Experiences and Interests, as needed.

Assessment-related recommendations• Develop and implement an ongoing plan for

analyzing, interpreting, and disseminating accurate information that can be easily understood and interpreted by multiple stakeholders.

• Create sustainable mechanism for tracking international research activity, through a system which has the appropriate parameters for easily identifying international research/program projects.

Assessment-related recommendations* Work with UK Assessment Office to develop

instruments to measure outcomes of EA experiences.