Internationalization/Globalization/Diversity Action Team Report

Objective 1.b.  Develop learning opportunities for USC Aiken students that will increase their exposure to, and awareness, understanding, and appreciation of global differences and interconnections.

Strategy 1.b.1. Create a Center for Diversity and Global Studies with an administrative structure and staff.  (See Addendum)

Strategy 1.b.2.  In the interim, create a standing committee consisting of faculty and staff representing USCA colleges/schools and staff.   (See Addendum)

Cost for the establishment of the Center: While temporary housing of the center can be provided in the existing facilities, consideration must be given for a permanent location.  The main cost will include salaries and benefits to the six permanent positions proposed above, two of which are already funded annually. The estimated cost will be roughly $120,000.  

Cost of creating a standing committee: The creation of a standing committee that will plan and direct diversity and internationalization efforts is cost free. Recognizing, however, that one additional standing committee would add to faculty workload, this committee will assume a less active but important advisory role after the Center is well established.

 Designated person/unit:  Re. Center: Chancellor; for the committee, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

Strategy 1.b.3. Increase support for faculty and staff development in increasing students’ exposure to, and awareness, understanding, and appreciation of global differences and interconnections. (See Addendum) 

Cost: Set aside a Faculty International Initiative Fund, a minimum of $10,000, for the following purposes; international conference papers, course development, and substitute hiring to give time release.  Designate a minimum of $500 per year allowance (possibly through the Family Fund) for a staff member to join a USCA study abroad program.

Designated person/unit:  Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and the Diversity and Internationalization Committee.

Strategy 1.b.4. Promote offerings in Global and Diversity studies by assembling and distributing a list of Global and Diversity Studies courses across campus, with the objective of increasing student exposure to these concepts.

Cost: Promotional materials $500.

Designated person/unit: Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Courses and Curricula Committee, and the Diversity and Internationalization Committee.

Strategy 1.b.5. Consider revisions of the General Education requirements to include courses in Global and Diversity studies.

Designated person/unit:  Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Courses and Curricula Committee

Strategy 1.b.6. Promote and increase opportunities for participation in high quality Study Abroad Programs.

·        Provide information to departments on opportunities to develop new study abroad programs.

·        Seek support for faculty and staff to develop Study Abroad Programs

·        Encourage departments and advisors to emphasize study abroad opportunities.

Cost: The establishment of a travel fund for faculty to travel abroad in order to visit and research a potential partner institution for a study abroad program will require earmarking funds  ($2,000, 1or 2 awards per year) for this purpose and will be necessary for three consecutive years. Promotional materials $500.

Designated person/unit: Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Director of International Programs, school and department heads.

Strategy 1.b.7. Promote and Increase opportunities for participation in high- quality diversity programs and activities

·        Create alternative spring break activities, service learning, exchange programs with Historically Black Colleges and Universities

·        Create interdisciplinary minor programs in Diversity and Global Studies

Designator person/unit: VCAA, Offices of International Programs and Multicultural Affairs

Strategy 1.b.8. Develop and expand upon links with Sister City and Partnership Programs.

§         Strengthen partnership programs (such as that with Gujerat, India, currently coordinated by the School of Education) and Sister City programs (like the ones with Orvieto, Italy and Shoalhaven, Australia) with the aim of developing enrichment opportunities (such as study abroad programs) for the campus community.  Another way of strengthening the ties is to sponsor art exhibits and other cultural programs on a regular basis.

Cost: $300 for communication (letter, telephone, fax transactions) and $500 for organizing an art exhibition.

Designated person/unit: Office of the Vice Chancellor, Director of International Programs, and appropriate departmental units.

Strategy 1.b.9.  Consider requiring all students at USC Aiken to take foreign language courses.

Designated person/unit: Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Strategy 1.b.10.  Increase funding for Internationalization/Diversity Efforts from external sources (See also Objective 1.k.).

·        Establish a special fund through the USCA Partnership, and also seek funding from groups, business (for example from the SKF, Bridgestone-Firestone SC, BMW, Michelin) and individuals for scholarships for programs and initiatives designed to promote diversity and internalization.

·        Seek funding from federal and state entities (e.g. Undergraduate International Education and Foreign Language Program administered by the U.S. Department of Education; the Bush Foundation Grant of Study Abroad Curricular Integration).

·        Identify and publish a list of funding opportunities related to activities associated with internationalization and diversity.

Cost: will vary

Designated person/unit: Office of Development, various departments.

Strategy 1.b.11.  Determine the extent to which diversity is currently addressed in various programs in order to identify opportunities for expansion across campus

Designated person/unit: International Programs Office, Diversity and Internationalization Committee

Measures: 

·        Add diversity and international questions to the General Assessment Test, which is currently given to freshmen and senior students. Annually analyze the results of the diversity and international sections of the General Assessment test.

·        Track the number of students participating in study abroad programs.

·        Track the number of students taking Global and Diversity Studies courses.

Objective 1.k.  Enhance opportunities to experience, explore and appreciate diversity.

   Strategy 1.k.1.  Actively recruit and retain a diverse faculty and staff.

Strategy 1.k.1.a.  Make wider use of  the database of minorities in graduate programs to track potential candidates for positions at USCA and make that information readily available to campus search committees. 

Strategy 1.k.1.b.  Develop a "Grow Your Own" program for recruiting USCA graduates for positions among the professional staff. 

Strategy 1.k.1.c.  Identify ways to retain our diverse faculty and staff, such as protecting them from too much service responsibility.

Cost:   $4,000/per person for tuition for a two-year Master's Degree program at USC. $500 for the graduate databases. 

Designated person/unit: Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs; Office of Human Resources.

Strategy 1.k.2. Actively recruit students from underrepresented minority populations and international students. (See Addendum)

Cost:  $4,000 would cover the cost of attending one SCIS (travel, hotel, $325/per program registration fee), the purchase of the attendance list (NSSFNS list of students is $200 per session), printing, and postage. Annual cost of $3,500 for international student recruitment will include postage, advertising, and an hourly pay for a student worker to mail the materials.  Increase by 5% yearly or as budget permits.

Designated person/unit:  USCA Administration will approve increase in the recruitment budget.  The Admissions Office will do the travel and make the student contacts (mail and phone). The Office of Admissions will mail USCA materials to a number of Educational Advising Centers in various countries.  The Office of Admissions will place advertising in the US Journal of Academics or a similar publication. 

Strategy 1.k.3. Actively retain minority and international students. (See also Objective 6.g.)

Strategy 1.k.3.a. Restructure and increase funding for the Minority   Assistance Peer (MAP) Program, a program that assists freshmen and transfer minority students with the transition to USCA.
 

         Strategy 1.k.3.b.  Lobby for additional need-based scholarships that will enable students to spend more time on academic pursuits. 
 

Strategy 1.k.3.c.  Encourage underrepresented minority populations to participate in the University Honors Program, as well as other programs in which there are underrepresented populations. 
 

Strategy 1.k.3.d.  Provide cultural programs with which minority students can relate and which encourage positive self-identity.

Strategy 1.k.3.e.  Develop new programs and activities to orient new international students to campus (e.g. including an international student breakout session in orientation programs, developing a handbook for international students with information on cultural, legal and social aspects of life in the US). 

Strategy 1.k.3.f.  Establish a mentoring program for international students.  This program will involve student-to-student support to ensure academic success, increase international student participation in the International Club, and encourage students to become engaged in all aspects of campus life. 

Strategy 1.k.3.g.  Provide cultural programs with which international students can relate and which encourage positive self-identity.

Strategy 1.k.3.h.  Enhance the existing international student admission webpage to include new interactive elements, for example, greetings in different languages and links to current international students' e-mails.

Cost:  MAP Program - $5,000 to supplement the grant provided by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (SC CHE), which has been decreasing each year. Developing a mentor program will require small start up amounts for advertising materials and food (approx.$500). The cost of printing of the international student handbook for orientation will be approx. $100 per year.

Designated person/unit:  USCA Administration will allocate funds for the MAP Program, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs will coordinate the program.  The USCA Chancellor and other appropriate administrators will lobby for more need-based scholarships. The Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs will oversee efforts to encourage minority-student participation in Honors Programs and other programs, involving the appropriate faculty, staff, and administrative units. The International Programs Office in conjunction with the Office of Multicultural Affairs will develop a mentoring program. The International Programs office will develop the International Student Handbook to use at orientation. The International Programs office in conjunction with the Student Life Office and the Multicultural Affairs office will develop cultural programming. The International Programs Office will work with the Admissions office and the Webmaster to enhance the webpage.

Strategy 1.k.4. Improve and expand multicultural and international programming.

Strategy 1.k.4.a.  Expand USCA permanent art collections, performances, and/or sponsor more exhibits of minority and international art. 

Strategy 1.k.4.b.  Apply and complete the steps necessary to become a campus affiliate chapter of the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI), an international organization committed to diversity awareness and coalition building activities. 

Strategy 1.k.4.c.  Continue to provide lectures, film series, etc.

Cost: $750 per year membership in NCBI; $5,000 for training and programming (some of these costs will be recovered by charging membership fees for a conference USCA will host for member institutions).

Designated person/unit: The Chancellor's Office, The Office of Multicultural Affairs, schools and departments.

Measures:

·        Yearly assess enrollment and retention rates of minority students.

·        Yearly assess enrollment and retention rates of international students.

·        Add diversity issues to the Campus Climate, Student Life and other existing surveys. Yearly analyze results of the diversity section of the Campus Climate and other surveys

        Addendum

Strategy 1.b.1.  The center will have the following personnel:

·        Executive Director (faculty position, time release, possibly endowed chair) who will coordinate center activities, research, and curriculum development;

·        Director for Diversity Programs (staff) who will coordinate campus-wide diversity programs, cultural programs, the NCBI program, and Access and Equity programs;

·        Director for International Programs (staff) who will coordinate the Study Abroad Programs and international programming, as well as serve as a primary designated school official (PSDO) for INS contacts;

·        Coordinator for Minority Student Outreach Programs (staff) who will coordinate the MAP Program, retention programs, and other minority student support services;

·        Coordinator for International Student Services (staff) who will coordinate the international student mentoring program, retention programs and international student support services;

·        administrative assistant (staff) who will manage office duties and oversee special collections;  and

·        3 graduate students - one to assist the Executive Director with research (from the Master’s in Education program), one to assist the Coordinator of Minority Student Outreach Programs with the MAP Program (from the Master’s in Clinical Psychology program), and one to assist the Coordinator of International Student Outreach Programs with the international mentoring program (from the Master’s Program in Education).

Strategy 1.b.2.  The committee will assess and report on existing initiatives and the development of new ones until the Center for Diversity and International Programs is established. It will then be transformed into an advisory committee with the same representation once the Center is established.  It should be co-chaired by the current Director of International Programs and the Director of Multicultural Affairs.

Strategy 1.b.3.  Examples:

·        Where applicable, reward faculty efforts to incorporate international and diversity perspectives into teaching, research or service activities.

·        Provide incentives (stipends, time release) for faculty pursuing opportunities of research and paper presentation abroad.

·        Promote faculty exchange with institutions abroad.

·        Offer time release/stipends to support faculty who develop new courses with intercultural/international perspective or include such perspective into existing courses.

·        Provide regular diversity training for all faculty/staff.

Strategy 1.k.2.  The following suggestions are offered as recruitment tools:

·        Allocate $4000 per year for the recruitment of minority students from underrepresented populations (e.g. African American male and Hispanic students). 

·        Attend one National Scholarship Service (NSSFNS) Student College Interview Session (SCIS) per year. 

·        Purchase a listing of students who attended select SCIS programs.

·         Develop a minority-student recruitment search piece to mail to the students on this list. 

·        Provide additional follow-up with minority students who attend programs that we currently implement.

·        Allocate funds on a yearly basis toward international student recruitment.  Start with an allocation of approximately $3,500 (0.5% of the total recruitment budget) and increase it annually by 5%.  The starting amount of $3,500 will cover mailing costs to send USCA recruitment materials to Educational Advising Centers in various countries and purchase a yearly advertisement presence in the US Journal of Academics or a similar recruitment publication. 

·        Increase international student enrollment by 10% a year until it reaches 3% of total student enrollment (current international undergraduate enrollment at USCA is 1.5% compared to USCS 2.1%; Georgia College 3%; Lander University 1.8%; Coastal Carolina University 2.1%; Winthrop University 2.3%).