On February 13, 2009 Representative Sam Farr (CA-D) who is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer introduced the Peace Corps Expansion Act of 2009 (H.R. 1066) with 40 co-sponsors. Farr’s bill calls for $450 million to be budgeted in FY 2010 to support and expand the Peace Corps followed by $600 million for FY 2011 and $750 million in FY 2012.
Please see my previous post on the More Peace Corps movement and President Obama’s frequent campaign pledge to double the number of Peace Corps volunteers.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Cross-Cultural Awareness in the U.S. Military
During the recent Forum on Education Abroad conference in Portland I was talking with my friend and colleague Bruce LaBrack about some his consulting projects which reminded me about a post I wanted to add to IHEC Blog.
I’m writing today about an article from insidehighered.com and a subsequent discussion on SECUSS-L (study abroad listserv) entitled Toward a ‘Cross-Culturally Competent’ Air Force”. I won’t summarize the article but will simply provide this link for those of you who haven’t read it yet.
Additionally, credit should be given to Joshua Burns who is a graduate student at S.I.T. Graduate Institute who forward a link to SECUSS-L for an excellent bibliography entitled Culture Awareness and the Military which you can access here.
Please refer to my previous post on Project Go – The ROTC Language & Culture Project here for another example of the military's effort to increase cross-cultural competence and understanding among it's ranks.
I’m writing today about an article from insidehighered.com and a subsequent discussion on SECUSS-L (study abroad listserv) entitled Toward a ‘Cross-Culturally Competent’ Air Force”. I won’t summarize the article but will simply provide this link for those of you who haven’t read it yet.
Additionally, credit should be given to Joshua Burns who is a graduate student at S.I.T. Graduate Institute who forward a link to SECUSS-L for an excellent bibliography entitled Culture Awareness and the Military which you can access here.
Please refer to my previous post on Project Go – The ROTC Language & Culture Project here for another example of the military's effort to increase cross-cultural competence and understanding among it's ranks.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2009
February 25, 2009 Special Edition NAFSA.news reports that Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) introduced the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2009 today on the floor of the U.S. Senate. You can read this special edition of NAFSA.news here.
Additionally, NAFSA has set-up a webpage on their public policy website devoted entirely to the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act that includes some historical background on this bill and a video of Senator Simon from November 13, 2003 discussing the importance of U.S. students studying abroad and establishing what, at the time, was known as the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program.
Those of you who are interested in the history of the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act might remember that on November 18, 2003 NAFSA released Securing America's Future: Global Education for a Global Age - Report of the Strategic Task Force on Education Abroad to the general public and that the concept behind the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program was introduced by the late U.S. Senator Paul Simon (D-IL) in this report. Inspired by President Lincoln’s understanding of international matters and his signing of the Morrill Act, the Land Grant College Act, Senator Simon envisioned a Fellowship of up to $7,000 a year awarded to 500,000 college students to study abroad annually for a least a summer or semester with priority given to those students seeking educational opportunities in developing nations. The cost of this program would be $3.5 billion a year which is only one-seventh of 1 percent of the federal budget. In the words of Senator Simon, “The question is not whether we can do it, but whether these fellowships should be one of our priorities.”
You can access the video of Senator Simon that was previously mentioned here.
Additionally, NAFSA has set-up a webpage on their public policy website devoted entirely to the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act that includes some historical background on this bill and a video of Senator Simon from November 13, 2003 discussing the importance of U.S. students studying abroad and establishing what, at the time, was known as the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program.
Those of you who are interested in the history of the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act might remember that on November 18, 2003 NAFSA released Securing America's Future: Global Education for a Global Age - Report of the Strategic Task Force on Education Abroad to the general public and that the concept behind the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program was introduced by the late U.S. Senator Paul Simon (D-IL) in this report. Inspired by President Lincoln’s understanding of international matters and his signing of the Morrill Act, the Land Grant College Act, Senator Simon envisioned a Fellowship of up to $7,000 a year awarded to 500,000 college students to study abroad annually for a least a summer or semester with priority given to those students seeking educational opportunities in developing nations. The cost of this program would be $3.5 billion a year which is only one-seventh of 1 percent of the federal budget. In the words of Senator Simon, “The question is not whether we can do it, but whether these fellowships should be one of our priorities.”
You can access the video of Senator Simon that was previously mentioned here.
Grade Translation in Education Abroad Standards Project
During the Standards Committee meeting at the Forum on Education Abroad conference in Portland last week I accepted the task to coordinate the development of standards of good practice in grade translation/conversion in order to avoid discrepancies among different groups reporting grades.
I'm seeking volunteers to help with this project in support of the greater standards of good practice in education abroad. Volunteers are preferred from the Mid-Career group in the field. If you are interested in contributing to this project please let me know as soon as possible. I would like to move forward in the near future with the goal so that I can submit a completed project to the Standards Committee several weeks before the NAFSA conference which is when/where the next committee meeting will likely be held. I can be reached at: international.ed.consulting@gmail.com or dcomp@uchicago.edu.
I'm seeking volunteers to help with this project in support of the greater standards of good practice in education abroad. Volunteers are preferred from the Mid-Career group in the field. If you are interested in contributing to this project please let me know as soon as possible. I would like to move forward in the near future with the goal so that I can submit a completed project to the Standards Committee several weeks before the NAFSA conference which is when/where the next committee meeting will likely be held. I can be reached at: international.ed.consulting@gmail.com or dcomp@uchicago.edu.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Chemistry as a Second Language: Chemical Education in a Globalized Society
In my day job I work as the Senior Adviser for International Initiatives in The College at The University of Chicago. One of my responsibilities is to serve as the liaison between the Dean of Students Office and the undergraduate program chair of the Chemistry and Biological Chemistry majors so I thought I’d post the call for papers for the 2009 autumn meeting of the American Chemical Society scheduled in Washington, DC on August 16-20, 2009. As this upcoming ACS autumn meeting will focus in part on international and cross-cultural issues faced in the field of Chemistry I thought this was a perfect blend of my international education and Chemistry/Biological Chemistry liaison responsibilities.
The following description of the meeting is taken from IIE.Interactive: February 23-27, 2009:
“Collaborations between scientists often transcend borders and cultural differences. The fundamental nature of science allows scientists to communicate using their knowledge of their field but the institutions that support them are often hindered by financial and cultural barriers. As a result, US students are often unaware of opportunities for chemistry study in countries other than the United States.
This symposium will discuss ways in which barriers to cross-cultural scientific exchange can be lowered. Papers on international exchange programs, classroom methods, and international experiences are invited. In particular, authors from organizations with a vested interest in chemists with a global perspective are encouraged to present.”
For more information visit www.acs.org. Paper submissions can be done here.
The following description of the meeting is taken from IIE.Interactive: February 23-27, 2009:
“Collaborations between scientists often transcend borders and cultural differences. The fundamental nature of science allows scientists to communicate using their knowledge of their field but the institutions that support them are often hindered by financial and cultural barriers. As a result, US students are often unaware of opportunities for chemistry study in countries other than the United States.
This symposium will discuss ways in which barriers to cross-cultural scientific exchange can be lowered. Papers on international exchange programs, classroom methods, and international experiences are invited. In particular, authors from organizations with a vested interest in chemists with a global perspective are encouraged to present.”
For more information visit www.acs.org. Paper submissions can be done here.
Monday, February 23, 2009
International Education Blogs ~ A New Blogging Project by David Comp
International Education Blogs is a new blogging project I started today as an effort to bring all of the blogs on the web that touch on international education issues into one central location. Essentially it will be a blog roll with a few postings. Please bear with me as I learn the technology. This initial launch will have two different blog lists for you to review.
The first list of blogs will be those of people who are blogging on the field/state of international education and related matters.
The second list of blogs will be those of students and others who are currently blogging from a foreign location.
If you have any ideas for blogs to be added to International Education Blogs please send me an e-mail at: international.ed.consulting@gmail.com
You can access International Education Blogs here: http://internationaleducationblogs.blogspot.com/
The first list of blogs will be those of people who are blogging on the field/state of international education and related matters.
The second list of blogs will be those of students and others who are currently blogging from a foreign location.
If you have any ideas for blogs to be added to International Education Blogs please send me an e-mail at: international.ed.consulting@gmail.com
You can access International Education Blogs here: http://internationaleducationblogs.blogspot.com/
International Higher Education Expert Database
The Center for International Higher Education at Boston College now hosts an expert database that allows visitors to find scholars and practitioners around the world who have expertise in specific areas of international higher education. This new searchable database can be accessed from the CIHE homepage: www.bc.edu/cihe
For anyone who would like to be listed in the database, there is a form online at:
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/form/subscription.htm
For anyone who would like to be listed in the database, there is a form online at:
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/form/subscription.htm
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