2007- 2008 Annual Report Office of International Programs A. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR Major accomplishments (including student accomplishments) of unit/dept./college during the year. The Office of International Programs continues to make progress toward strengthening the campus’ international dimension. We continue to work on our goal toward campus internationalization as we engage more and more faculty, develop creative programs, and continue to connect with the campus and the Charlotte community. We are dedicated to our role on campus, and we believe that we continue to make progress. Some of our most notable accomplishments over this last year include: Faculty Support: OIP supported faculty members in a variety of ways through travel grants (62); an ongoing co-sponsored initiative with the COAS to send faculty on professional faculty development trips abroad; as well as co-sponsoring numerous events and speakers. We also developed several new institutional partnerships abroad as a result of faculty interest. Incoming and Outgoing Visitors: OIP hosted a record number of visitors and delegations from international organizations and universities as well as offering a host of events including speakers and an exchange partner reunion event with Kingston University held in March 2008. OIP also coordinated several official international trips for University administrators including a Provost trip to China, a Dean of College of Arts and Sciences trip to South Africa and a Chancellor trip to Australia as well as a faculty delegation to China in Fall 2007. International Education Week: OIP hosted various events on-campus for International Education Week, November 12-16, 2007, including: faculty workshops, guest speakers, a film festival, and a Phi Beta Delta reception. The Office of International Programs University Council (OIPUC): OIPUC was established to engage members of the faculty, to strengthen the relationship with the various colleges and to foster an environment which solicits feedback as to how OIP can better serve and add value to the various international initiatives on campus. The first meeting was held in April, 2008. The Office of Education Abroad (OEA): OEA continued to see growth in the number of student advisees. 577 students came to advising this year which is a 27.65% growth from 2005-2006 and 11.8% gain from 2006-2007. OEA also coordinated an unprecedented 23 short- term programs in 2008. Although not all of these programs recruited sufficient numbers, OEA was able to engage various departments that traditionally had less involvement with study abroad programming. The International Student and Scholar Office (ISSO): ISSO launched a successful cross-cultural workshop series in fall 2007. This series received favorable feedback and it will be continued in Fall 2008. ISSO also responded to frequent opportunities to conduct or consult on cross-cultural programs and classroom presentations around campus. English Language Training Institute (ELTI): An English as a Second Language Advisory Board was created in Fall 2007 and met four times throughout the year to discuss ESL issues on campus. An ELTI core instructor received a Chancellor’s Diversity Challenge Fund award for a web-based project to increase communication and teamwork in a diverse environment. ELTI hired a Coordinator of the International Faculty Language Support Program and a record number (29) attended the ITA communications course in the fall. Intercultural Outreach Programs (IOP): IOP Developed the following programs in 2007-2008: Language, Culture and Global Citizenship; Mini-Internship for Japanese Elementary Teachers; Faculty Development Program for Nara Institute of Science and Technology; and, the Long-Term Educational Administrators Program. Fifty-three members of the Charlotte area community, along with thirty-two businesses, one school and forty-eight UNC Charlotte departments and offices contributed to the success of these programs.
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The 32nd Annual International Festival (IFest): IFEST was coordinated by OIP and continued to draw thousands from the community to campus. We continued to make efforts to encourage more UNC Charlotte students to attend and participate. The World Affairs Council of Charlotte (WACC): WACC Continued to provide collaborative programming for UNC Charlotte specifically relating to guest speakers. Each event normally generated a crowd of over 100 faculty and students. WACC received recognition as the best mid-size council at the annual national World Affairs Councils of America conference in February, 2008. Overall staff accomplishments: In addition to these highlights, the OIP staff is highly engaged and active in professional associations through leadership, session presentations, chairing and co-chairing professional conferences and remaining current on the many issues that relate to our field. We have a dedicated staff that is recognized well beyond our campus community with both national and international reputations. B. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF ANNUAL PROGRESS IN ACHIEVING 2005-2010 STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS 1. OVERALL PROGRESS IN ACHIEVING GOALS IN 2005-2010 STRATEGIC PLAN: Briefly comment on the unit/dept./college’s overall progress in achieving goals in the 2005-2010 Strategic Plan. OIP is pleased to report that we continued to make progress over the last year as it relates to our 2005-2010 Strategic Plan. We are mindful of our goals as we develop new programs and initiatives as well as how they relate to this plan. Our three major strategic goals remain at the forefront of our efforts. As you will note in the more detailed annual report / strategic plan section of this report, we have routinely allowed our plan to guide us in our work. Over the next several years, it is our goal to infuse a stronger international dimension into campus life, increase the visibility of OIP and to strengthen its infrastructure in order to better serve the institution. Further, it remains critical that we continue to integrate faculty into OIP programming and to strengthen the connection between OIP and the academic life of campus. A brief synopsis of our progress is as follows: 1.
Develop a new comprehensive plan to internationalize the University: This is the only previous goal that has required significant modification. Rather than developing a comprehensive plan for the entire University, it was determined that it would be more effective at this time to collaborate with individual colleges to address their specific international needs and agenda. As the various colleges articulate their international vision, we will incorporate those specific plans into a larger institutional document. Over the course of the 2007-2008 year, OIP developed the Office of International Programs University Council (OIP UC). The purpose of this group is to facilitate each college sharing its international perspective with the other colleges and to provide OIP with an opportunity to solicit feedback to strengthen its services to the campus community. This group will eventually include various divisions of campus outside of the colleges to insure that we are developing a plan that reflects the needs of the entire campus rather than only those of the academic colleges. Successful progress toward this goal was seen last year in the development of the College of Arts and Sciences (COAS) international working group. This body, made up of faculty from the COAS and co-chaired by Mike Doyle from the Department of Languages and Culture Studies and Joël Gallegos, Executive Director of International Programs, was established to determine the best and most coherent way for the college to strengthen the international dimension of its teaching, programming and scholarship. The College of Education’s internationalization committee continued its work on developing and advancing an international plan specific to the COE. Joël Gallegos served on this committee and offered guidance and support. The Executive Director of OIP will continue to sustain similar initiatives in other colleges in support of this goal.
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Strengthen the infrastructure of the Office of International Programs: During this last year, OIP conducted three searches for new staff (staff replacements as well as new positions). A strong motivated team no doubt strengthens the unit infrastructure. We continue to examine and identify ways to become efficient in our unit. In the administrative area of OIP, we made a strategic hire of a Coordinator of International Initiatives. This individual is responsible for special projects, coordinating visitors’ and delegations’ schedules and on-campus programming. An International Teaching Assistant Coordinator was hired during Summer, 2007. This specific position greatly enhances the services that our ELTI program offers including ITA and international faculty language training. We anticipate that the ITA coordinator will also teach a credit bearing graduate course in ELTI. We continue to examine our financial structure and consider new ways of generating non-state appropriated funds in order to more actively support our work on campus.
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Increase the visibility of the Office of International Programs: We continue to vigorously promote OIP and its functions on campus and in the community. The Global Perspective newsletter and our campus events, including recognition ceremonies, guest speakers, and faculty workshops, continue to receive positive feedback. In 20072008, we co-sponsored events with the World Affairs Council of Charlotte and several on-campus departments including Geography and Women’s Studies. We participated in events supporting local Charlotte community internationally-focused non-profits, the Mayor’s International Cabinet Awards and World Citizen Award Dinner. The development of our OIP University Council also contributed to our visibility on campus. It provides the opportunity to engage various representatives on campus whose international focus enhances our programs. The plasma display screens located across campus were used extensively to promote unit events and for general advocacy. Additionally, the visibility of our campus’ internationalization efforts was increased by the numerous presentations and workshops conducted by OIP Staff both on and off campus. Many OIP staff members were involved in numerous on and off campus presentations and workshops.
2. MAJOR NEW ACTION STEPS PLANNED (IF ANY) TO ACHIEVE GOALS IN 2005-2010 STRATEGIC PLAN: Describe major new action steps planned (if any) to achieve goals in the 2005-2010 Strategic Plan. (Note: this section was included in the event that major new action steps became necessary after the 2005-2010 Strategic Plan was finalized. For many units/depts/colleges or divisions, this section will be blank. In 2008-2010, OIP will more clearly articulate the goal that relates to a comprehensive international campus plan. As described above, we will collaborate closely with the various colleges and other campus divisions to develop a single international vision for UNC Charlotte. In addition, the OIP UC faculty committee will be used to assist us in developing this vision as well as looking closely at how UNC Charlotte “packages” or “brands” international.
3. QUALITY ENHANCEMENT PLAN: Develop a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) for the coming academic year that identifies a major issue in the unit/dept./college or that is critical to enhancing student learning and/or educational quality. The QEP should identify the issue the unit/dept./college plans to address, the action steps the unit/dept./college will take, and the effectiveness measures that will be used to assess the success of the QEP. While the enhancement of the connections to the UNC Charlotte faculty was also our QEP from last year, it was determined as a unit that this should continue as our QEP for 2008-2009. While OIP receives ongoing positive feedback on this front, we would like to strengthen our role as a resource for the faculty and develop a stronger engagement with them.
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In order to accomplish this, we will do the following: 1. The OIP University Council, consisting of faculty representatives from each College, will meet once in Fall 2008 and once in Spring 2009 to discuss ideas and issues related to internationalizing campus programming and curriculum; 2. OIP will explore how to best provide current and relevant resources to faculty to support their initiatives in pedagogy and research as it relates to strengthening the international dimension of campus; 3. Our inbound cultural programs will increase the promotion of international opportunities for UNC Charlotte faculty and staff and increase the number of faculty and staff who actively engage in our programming; 4. In response to results from the follow-up faculty survey, efforts will be made to engage the self-identified, interested faculty in incorporating international student panels into their courses; 5. The Office of Education Abroad will launch a more active campaign to engage faculty in short term study abroad programming and semester/year-long study abroad recruitment. This will be accomplished through general information sessions for faculty as well as a marketing campaign aimed at specific departments. The feasibility of specific contacts in individual departments for study abroad will be explored; 6. ELTI will seek to establish more interactions with related units on campus through the ESL Advisory Board; 7. OIP will continue to strengthen the services that we offer academic departments as it relates to international scholars.
C. ANNUAL EVALUATIONS BY UNIT: Briefly describe any annual evaluations conducted by units/depts./colleges to assess outcomes that are not included in the unit/dept./college’s 2005-2010 Strategic Plan (e.g., scholarly productivity.) 1 page maximum OIP: A follow-up survey was sent to participants in the Faculty Survey of last year to gather more specific information regarding international competencies and interests. OEA: Office of Education Abroad Online evaluation tools were used to track student applications and participation in programs and advising sessions. Data taken from these systems was used to adjust advising session frequencies, advertising patterns and to guide interest in program development. An online evaluation tool was also used for all returning study abroad students. This instrument asked students to assess the quality of learning, accommodations, level of support offered through the Office of Education Abroad and level of preparedness during their education abroad application process and subsequent experience. It consisted of both quantitative and qualitative questions. Currently, the rate of response is at 41%. Paper evaluations were distributed at the end of each pre-departure orientation session and the results were discussed among staff members to determine possible improvements. ISSO: International Student and Scholar Office Advising tally sheets were used by the Director and Assistant Director for the past year to track the number of students/scholars advised and the areas of advising. Results of this assessment identified trends in the areas requiring the most amount of advising time and the period of the year at which they fall. Based on these results, ISSO will be able to better anticipate increased periods of activity and find ways to improve service at those times. An email survey was sent to students who participated in the Spring 2008 orientation. The results demonstrated that the orientation was helpful; suggestions were made to increase publicity though respondents acknowledged they were aware of the orientation already. A paper survey was distributed to participants of the International Coffee Hour in May 2008. Suggestions for improvement included the addition of other activities such as dancing, games, competitions and other cultural activities. Most respondents indicated an interest in attending Coffee Hour during the summer. ELTI: English Language Training Institute ELTI added a new assessment instrument to the course and program evaluations currently used. As part of the new faculty evaluation process, team coordinators are now evaluated by their team members to assess their administrative performance. The first of these evaluations were conducted at the end of the spring semester. Results indicated general satisfaction with administrative performance within the teams. The course and program evaluations have also shown overall satisfaction. 4 of 6
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IOP: Intercultural Outreach Programs The Office of Intercultural Outreach Programs, in an effort to provide the highest quality programming, has implemented a system for evaluating the experiences of individual program participants as well as IOP’s effectiveness in meeting the overall goals of the sending institutions. The success of each program is evaluated through the use of written mid-point and final program questionnaires that are completed by each of that program’s participants as well as written and oral feedback from program faculty and staff. Each questionnaire is intended to collect the participants’ genuine thoughts and opinions on various aspects of the program including, but not limited to: program curriculum; instructor effectiveness; relevance of academic and recreational activities; and meeting participant goals and expectations. Although similar in concept, the questionnaires are customized to reflect the specific activities, classes and lectures in each phase of the program. QEP (2007-2008): Enhancement of OIP connections to UNC Charlotte Faculty Members A significant success in engaging faculty with the Office of Education Abroad was their effort in helping Dr. Charisse Coston of the Department of Criminal Justice to create a new program, “Justice Studies Abroad”. It began with a summer program offering to Kingston University for 2008 and will continue to identify and promote study abroad opportunities for Criminal Justice majors and minors. ISSO worked to strengthen services offered to departments and international faculty in order to better serve the campus community with regard to documentation for employment and other related matters. Efforts were made to address this need within the current staff resources available. In addition to an increase in the number of visiting scholars and international tenure track faculty, there has been an increase in the number of departments requesting assistance from ISSO. IOP worked closely with faculty from various departments in the development, implementation and assessment stages of their program initiatives. The Office of International Programs created a follow-up survey for faculty who responded to the earlier campuswide survey that originated from OIP. The results allowed for better understanding of the current level of international engagement among our faculty and their specific areas of interest for development or improvement of services. ELTI created an ESL Advisory Board, consisting of representatives from various units across campus, to discuss ESL issues at UNC Charlotte. The Board met four times during the year and interactions between the units have increased as a result.
D. EXAMPLES OF DATA-BASED IMPROVEMENTS DURING THE YEAR: Describe 3 examples of how the unit/dept./college or division has used assessment data for the purpose of improvement during the year. Feedback from OIP’s faculty survey follow-up provided important information relating to specific faculty skill sets or international contacts (i.e. foreign language proficiency, engagement in international research projects, specific partners abroad) and specific areas in which OIP can better serve as a resource to faculty. The results of the survey were used and will continue to be used in conjunction with discussions with the OIPUC to determine the next steps. In addition, those who indicated interest in including student panels in their classes will be contacted to provide support in that capacity. Advising tally sheets were used by the Director and Assistant Director in ISSO for the past year to track the number of students/scholars advised and the specific topics of advising. Results of this assessment identified trends in the areas requiring the most amount of advising time and the period of the year at which they occur. Based on these results, ISSO will be able to better anticipate increased periods of activity and improve service at those times. Peak advising points were identified as September (coinciding with the visit from Social Security) and July (coinciding with work authorization applications). ISSO implemented a survey for their Orientation session and received favorable feedback. Results indicated that most students were aware of the event and planned to attend, although there were also comments indicating further publicity would be helpful. At this time, ISSO is exploring ways to better communicate with students about the orientation. Feedback indicated a high level of usefulness for the orientation.
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E. ASSESSMENT OF EVALUATION METHODS Comment on the strengths and weaknesses of unit/dept/college’s assessment methods and describe plans (if any) to strengthen outcomes assessment during the coming year. Considering the broad spectrum of international experiences and support provided by OIP for the campus community, we believe that relevant surveys are being conducted that provide us with appropriate feedback. We are, however, committed to on-going improvement. As we continue to examine our assessment methods, it is clear that there is need to not only identify areas of improvement for our services, but also ways in which we can continue to strengthen and enhance the overall student learning experience. OIP will continue to incorporate a more theoretical perspective into various program evaluations to better evaluate the actual intercultural understanding and competency developed as a result of our programs. In an effort to incorporate a more theoretical perspective, this year OIP investigated best practices in the field of international education. In particular, the use of StudentVoice as a qualitative/quantitative tool was examined closely and the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI: a survey tool developed to assess the capability of individuals and/or groups in working and living effectively across cultures) was explored through conversations with counterparts at other institutions as a method for gauging intercultural competence. In addition to these initial contacts, OIP supported one staff member to attend a pre-conference workshop examining trends and tools in international education. This workshop and other sessions identified several options for incorporating deeper assessment into OIP efforts. OIP will explore these options in more depth this year and determine the next steps regarding implementation.
REQUIRED ATTACHMENTS TO 2007-08 ANNUAL REPORT 1.
ANNUAL PROGRESS ASSESSMENT OF PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES FOR 2005-2010 STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS: After completing sections III I. and III J. of your 2005-2010 Strategic Plan (i.e., the annual report section of the strategic plan template), print and attach here your entire 2005-2010 Strategic Plan.
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OUTCOMES DATA ON STUDENT LEARNING: Attach department/college student learning outcomes assessment plan with assessment data collected since 2005 embedded. All departments and colleges MUST include student learning outcomes assessment data here. Departments and colleges without student learning outcomes data in the 2007-08 annual report will be contacted by OAA.
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(FOR DEANS AND ASSOCIATE PROVOSTS ONLY) MEMORANDUMS TO DEPARTMENT AND UNIT HEADS: Deans and associate provosts are to attach copies of their written feedback to department and unit heads on the status of outcomes assessment in the department or unit, and identifying any areas meriting priority attention in the coming year.
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