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Academic Vision 2016

Intentional Internationalization

Intentional internationalization emphasizes the pursuit of intercultural and ethnic understanding, both at home and abroad. This desire for global engagement calls for an active exploration of events, institutions, peoples, problems, and issues within and beyond our nation’s borders in order to promote the peace, joy, and love of God and to help form culturally competent faculty and students. Together, the diversity and internationalization initiatives refer to deliberate, systematic, and related efforts to integrate an intercultural and international dimension into teaching, research, and service functions of the university. For example, every academic program will include an opportunity for a cross-cultural educational experience so that all graduates may demonstrate intercultural competence as defined by their discipline.

Current Five-Year Goals (PDF)

Recommendations:

A. Recognition and valuing of intentional internationalization
  1. Communicate an expectation that all students attain a specified level of global competence as an integral part of their educational experience at APU.
  2. Validate global scholarship and the development of global competence as an intellectual and professional ideal by means of a special certificate or transcript designation.
    • Implemented apprioval process for new transcript designation for service learning courses (includes South Africa semester)
  3. Support an array of co-curricular activities that value diversity, foster interaction among multiethnic and multinational populations, and promote a global mindset.
B. Faculty and student scholarly development in global competence
  1. Hire or develop more globally competent faculty within each school.
  2. Develop the global education programs and support infrastructure (field sites, strategic partnerships, funding sources) necessary to enable all undergraduate students to study and serve in crosscultural settings.
    • The Center for Global Learning and Engagement (CGLE) operates two full semester abroad programs, one 12-week summer language program abroad, about 8-10 short-term summer programs, and over 25 approved partner semester programs (cross-cultural domestic and abroad).
    • The Center for Global Learning and Engagement (CGLE) supports the LA Term (operated by the Department of Global Studies, Sociology, and TESOL), an innovative semester program “providing opportunities for students to listen to, learn from, and live among the many diverse people of Los Angeles.”
    • The Center for Global Learning and Engagement (CGLE) also supports the Global Learning Term (operated by the Department of Global Studies, Sociology, and TESOL). These projects “immerse students in a country, culture, or city significantly different from their own for a long enough time (at least four months) to maximize involvement in the host culture...”
    • Three doctoral programs operate short-term study abroad course opportunities
    • The HIS Years Program offers new graduates the opportunity to serve abroad for two years, while paying student loans during their period of service.
    • The Peace Corps: APU “was named the top producer of Peace Corps volunteers among all small colleges in California.”
    • Two major grants provide support and seed money for campus internationalization, MATUL, HIS Years, and South Africa programs.
        • Private anonymous major donor gift of $2M
        • Graduate Fulbright: Twenty-two APU graduates have been named Fulbright Scholars to date.
        • Faculty Fulbright: APU supports faculty Fulbright awards with advising and coordination as well as providing leaves and sabbaticals.
C. Funding
  1. Establish an Internationalization Committee through the Faculty Senate to serve as a focal point for strategy development and to implement academic recommendations and significant funding for new projects.
    • In 2009, APU established the International Collaboration Committee (ICC) to approve and monitor new and ongoing international programs, provide internationalization oversight/planning/strategy, and manage funding issues. The ICC report directly to the President’s Council, coordinates with the Academic Cabinet. It includes a representative from the Faculty Senate.
  2. Support the seeking of external grant support and funding to support research on social issues that cross national borders.
    • Two major grants provide support and seed money for campus internationalization, MATUL, HIS Years, and South Africa programs.
      • Private, anonymous major done gift of $2M
D. Assets and evaluation
  1. Assess the extent to which programs/schools already foster the acquisition of an expected level of “global competence,” and how this level is reliably and holistically measured.
  2. Commission a self-study of existing programs and policies within the university and assess how well they integrate an international or intercultural dimension.