President's Perspective
Hello everyone, once again.
International Education Week at Murray State is upcoming. The schedule of events is available online at the Interactive Campus Calendar; I encourage everyone to attend as many of these activities as possible.
In this space and others previously, I’ve shared my beliefs about the vital importance of internationalizing our campus. I would share a few additional thoughts in anticipation of IEW 2008 at Murray State:
*International Education Week is celebrated annually across the nation. Murray State started the celebration in the 1990's with only one or two events for the week. This year we have an incredible 33 events taking place in the Curris Center from Monday, November 17th through Friday the 21st. Thanks to the many individuals who have planned—and will be working—these sessions.
*Internationalization “at home” since we’re located here in west Kentucky is critical for us. MSU faculty and staff are working to produce graduates ready to enter today's global marketplace, with the knowledge, understanding, and experience that can only come from dealing and interacting with people from other countries, cultures, values, and belief systems. Since we’re not in a metropolitan area, the University may be one of the few sources of these opportunities for our students.
*As MSU’s president, I believe that EVERY student who has a desire to Study Abroad should be able to do so, but only a small percentage of our students will take advantage of the many opportunities we provide. So, we’re going to continue to offer international exposure in other ways too. We attempt to do this through aggressively recruiting international students, expanding international campus programming efforts, socialization with returned Study Abroad students, and through increasing our faculty and staff’s international expertise and experiences.
*Campus programming is important to creating a culture on a campus. If we are to live up to our mission, we need signifiers across campus that remind the campus community that internationalization should always be on our minds. The international food offerings at Winslow, the international direction pole in the Curris Center, ongoing international forums and events throughout the year—these things remind us all that internationalization really does matter, and that we can’t truly call ourselves “educated” without having that perspective on a continuous basis.
*On a final note, it is interesting to hear the story of one of our new student advisors in International Studies: Jennifer Dickey, is an MSU graduate. She admits that she had little interest in doing Study Abroad and didn’t see the point. Three years later, after entering Murray State, she took a class with a professor who extolled the virtues of international education. Jennifer ended up studying abroad her last semester of college, and then as a graduate student she studied abroad again. Now, she is helping other students take advantage of the international opportunities afforded them at Murray State. I’ve heard a version of this same story numerous times during the two years I have been at Murray. If you’re still not buying the need for international education, make sure to attend the Global Alumni Distinguished Lecture Series next Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Curris Theatre and hear from some past Racers who are now living it.
Thanks again…hope to see you at International Education Week events…and have a great week.
Randy Dunn
International Education Week at Murray State is upcoming. The schedule of events is available online at the Interactive Campus Calendar; I encourage everyone to attend as many of these activities as possible.
In this space and others previously, I’ve shared my beliefs about the vital importance of internationalizing our campus. I would share a few additional thoughts in anticipation of IEW 2008 at Murray State:
*International Education Week is celebrated annually across the nation. Murray State started the celebration in the 1990's with only one or two events for the week. This year we have an incredible 33 events taking place in the Curris Center from Monday, November 17th through Friday the 21st. Thanks to the many individuals who have planned—and will be working—these sessions.
*Internationalization “at home” since we’re located here in west Kentucky is critical for us. MSU faculty and staff are working to produce graduates ready to enter today's global marketplace, with the knowledge, understanding, and experience that can only come from dealing and interacting with people from other countries, cultures, values, and belief systems. Since we’re not in a metropolitan area, the University may be one of the few sources of these opportunities for our students.
*As MSU’s president, I believe that EVERY student who has a desire to Study Abroad should be able to do so, but only a small percentage of our students will take advantage of the many opportunities we provide. So, we’re going to continue to offer international exposure in other ways too. We attempt to do this through aggressively recruiting international students, expanding international campus programming efforts, socialization with returned Study Abroad students, and through increasing our faculty and staff’s international expertise and experiences.
*Campus programming is important to creating a culture on a campus. If we are to live up to our mission, we need signifiers across campus that remind the campus community that internationalization should always be on our minds. The international food offerings at Winslow, the international direction pole in the Curris Center, ongoing international forums and events throughout the year—these things remind us all that internationalization really does matter, and that we can’t truly call ourselves “educated” without having that perspective on a continuous basis.
*On a final note, it is interesting to hear the story of one of our new student advisors in International Studies: Jennifer Dickey, is an MSU graduate. She admits that she had little interest in doing Study Abroad and didn’t see the point. Three years later, after entering Murray State, she took a class with a professor who extolled the virtues of international education. Jennifer ended up studying abroad her last semester of college, and then as a graduate student she studied abroad again. Now, she is helping other students take advantage of the international opportunities afforded them at Murray State. I’ve heard a version of this same story numerous times during the two years I have been at Murray. If you’re still not buying the need for international education, make sure to attend the Global Alumni Distinguished Lecture Series next Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Curris Theatre and hear from some past Racers who are now living it.
Thanks again…hope to see you at International Education Week events…and have a great week.
Randy Dunn
