UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Global Programs hosted the third annual meeting of a CIC summit on integration programming April 7-8 at University Park. Generous support from the Center for Global Studies, the College of Liberal Arts, World in Conversation and Student Affairs made the summit possible.
During the summit 45 administrators in international education and 21 international students from 14 institutions from across the Big Ten and the University of New Mexico shared ideas and best practices on international and American student integration.
“This year we added a student track that met parallel to the administrators,” said Jennifer Campbell, director of engagement and operations for Global Programs and lead organizer of the summit. “With the help of World in Conversation, student facilitators we were able to add a tangible component to the outcome of this year’s summit. The students and administrators were brought together at the close of the summit to share ideas. It was a great success and important to hear the student voice.”
This was the third annual meeting of administrators who direct and facilitate programming for international students on CIC campuses. International student populations are growing, and universities are seeking to meet the unique needs of that population while also helping American students to engage with the dynamic resource that international students bring to campus.
Penn State’s own Global Programs has a dedicated Global Student Engagement Team (GSET) that organizes international student orientation, the first-year integration experience (FiGE,) and the award-winning Global Engagement and Leadership Experience (GELE), as well as field trips and gatherings throughout the year.
“GELE is a unique opportunity to bring equal numbers of American and international students together for a weekend at Bald Eagle State Park’s Nature Inn to help the students learn to listen to one another and share their unique perspectives and culture,” said Jana Clinton, team leader for GSET. “It was a pleasure to share the GELE program with our colleagues at the summit.”
The CIC Summit 4.0 will be hosted by Ohio State in spring 2017.
“This is an ongoing and dynamic discussion,” said Campbell. “As a group we decided to continue to share best practices, create a website and a listserv, and develop a support network through the Commonwealth and the CIC.”
For more information on the summit, participants and materials, please visit http://sites.psu.edu/cicsummit/. For more information on the GSET team, visit www.global.psu.edu or email Clinton at jmc5558@psu.edu.