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Support for Global Initiatives
At a meeting of the Faculty Affairs Committee of the Board of Regents in October 2013, a group of faculty members (Margaret Crouch, Judith Kullberg, Michael McVey, and Shiri Vivek) recommended the establishment of an international center that would coordinate and provide support for EMU’s many international programs and initiatives. With the encouragement of the Regents and Provost Schatzel, the Faculty Senate subsequently created the Global Engagement Council (GEC) comprised of elected representatives from every college and the library in December 2013. The mission of the GEC is to develop a plan for a faculty-led international center and to serve as the governing body of the center after its creation.
With the support of Academic Affairs, the GEC began the planning process by conducting a comprehensive inventory of the university’s international programs, activities, and initiatives in Fall 2014. Information was collected through interviews with deans, department heads and directors as well as an online survey of all faculty and staff. The Council presented the results of the inventory and general recommendations regarding the structure and role of an international center to the Educational Policies Committee at the March 17 meeting of the Board of Regents. The report concludes that, "EMU has the international expertise and capacity to move toward comprehensive internationalization." We are pleased to announce that as a first step toward that end, Michael McVey has been appointed Interim Senior International Officer (SIO) for the 2016–17 academic year. Following the GEC's report, Dr. McVey will be instrumental in developing the role of the SIO and laying the groundwork for a Global Engagement Center. We look forward to all the benefits for students, faculty and staff that this centralized approach to international endeavors at EMU will bring, as we becomes increasingly integrated into the global marketplace.
