International Update At Penn State

12-5-97
University Park, Pa. -- Since its first international link with the South China Agricultural University in 1907, Penn State has clearly become an international institution, and the point of connection is its Office of International Programs.

Over the past year, the office has refocused and reorganized its services to meet a growing demand for programs abroad and opportunities for international visitors to study, teach and conduct research at University campuses across the state.

"The University Office of International Programs is the strategic center of Penn State's goals to internationalize the University," says Beverly Lindsay, dean of international programs. "In the past year we have set new goals, enriched professional grants and increased our linkages with key international partners for both faculty and students going abroad, and for internationals coming to Penn State."

Lindsay, who has directed or worked closely with international programs at several universities since the 1970s, has been at Penn State for just a year and is putting international opportunities on the fast track.

In cooperation with the University's International Council, academic departments, Commonwealth College and special mission campuses, the office helps with curricular reform, establishes faculty and student exchange agreements, supports interdisciplinary research and scholarship on campus and participates in technical assistance programs worldwide through the Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities.

At last count, nearly 4,000 visiting and resident students and faculty are, or plan to be, engaged in an international experience at Penn State or abroad through a Penn State program this year.

The 1997-1998 fall enrollment report counts 2,582 international students at the University systemwide. This represents a 22 percent increase over the last five years, considerably higher than the national average during the same period. About half are from India, China, Taiwan, Korea and Thailand and most are enrolled in engineering, business, science or the liberal arts at University Park.

Nearly 800 Penn State graduate and undergraduate students are or will be studying, teaching or doing research abroad this academic year -- significantly exceeding the number enrolled last year when the University was ranked seventh among public research institutions with the largest numbers of students studying abroad. This is a participation rate the University hopes to increase over the next few years through new scholarships and programs.

The first study abroad program, offered in 1962 through the College of the Liberal Arts, has since grown to about 80 international programs, which have served more than 120,000 students. Some students also receive Penn State credit for study abroad offered by other Big 10 universities, the Council on International Educational Exchange or the Institute for the International Education of Students.

Lindsay notes that global understanding often begins with language study, and says departments are placing more emphasis on language and area studies to prepare students for employment in an international arena. (The University now offers classes in Arabic, Chinese, Swahili and 15 other languages.) This year, the Faculty Senate voted that all students admitted by the year 2001 will have to meet a two-year language requirement.

According to last year's faculty study conducted by the Office of International Programs, about 30 percent of all General Education courses now contain a substantial international component. More faculty are introducing an international perspective to their classes, using the experiences of other cultures as examples of key principles, and departments are adding international classes, options and majors.

This year, hundreds of faculty will conduct research, advise or teach abroad on faculty exchanges, international fellowships, research grants, sabbaticals and technical assistance programs, most of these facilitated by the international office.

The University also will be host to more than 1,000 international scholars who come to learn, collaborate or teach each year, involving nearly every department of the University. These are Fulbright Scholars, Hubert Humphrey Fellows, and others who come to conduct research or teach by invitation of individual departments. Hundreds of international scholars, professionals and business people also attend international conferences at Penn State offered through academic departments and Continuing and Distance Education.

Opening opportunities for faculty to engage in more cross-cultural research is the big reason for the University's formal linkages to more than 40 international institutions. And more are in the works -- the office is targeting key institutions in South Africa, Ghana, Australia, England, Germany, Asia and Latin America for multidisciplinary and multifunctional relationships. "Eventually, these universities will join Penn State in faculty and student exchanges and in joint curricular, research and outreach projects," Lindsay says.

As of last year, about 10 percent of Penn State's nearly 5,000 faculty members travel abroad annually for scholarly purposes, more than half report a working knowledge of a foreign language and 37 percent have had at least one month of professional experience overseas.

"Education abroad and exposure to international faculty and students who bring their cultures and experiences with them to the classroom, laboratory and informal gatherings have a profoundly positive impact on both the University and its graduates," Lindsay says. "They help students develop the understanding and intercultural skills necessary to take part in today's global community, and they enrich the University community for all."

For full information on the Office of International Programs, go to http://blue.ue.psu.edu/psu/ip/uoiphome.html on the Web.

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For Intercom:
LOOKING FOR INFORMATION?
International programs policies and strategic planning: Dean Beverly Lindsay, 814-865-7681

Fulbright adviser and outreach officer:
Robert Ott, 814-863-8199

International Education Programs and Studies office: Michael Laubscher, director, 814-865-7681

International Partnerships and Academic Linkages: Lillian Shyu, interim senior program officer, 814-865-0414

International Students and Scholars office:
Jim Lynch, director, 814-863-6222

Undergraduate Fellowships office:
Mary Gage, coordinator, 814-863-8199