Conference Tips for NAFSA Newbies

Today I pleased to have a second guest post here on IHEC Blog by Frank Merendino.  You can read Frank's previous post "Twitter + NAFSA's Advocacy Day: A Perfect Match" here.

I am a recent newbie myself (DC 2008) so hopefully my perspectives will be useful to newcomers and it is possible some experienced NAFSAns may benefit from this advice as well.

I.         I.  Seek the wisdom of the silver-haired NAFSANs--Someone told me this in DC and it was great advice. I sat down next to silver-haired woman for lunch, struck up a conversation, and the next thing I knew I had an invitation to be picked up in a limo and driven to the George Washington Masonic National Memorial for a private tour and five-star dinner that night (all free!). Fantastic experience.

II.       Take time to breathe--There is a lot going on and it can be overwhelming. Try to soak in as much networking, time in the expo hall, and attending sessions that you can handle, but don’t be afraid to take an hour off here and there to collect your thoughts and relax.

III.     Take part in the social events at night--NAFSA national is a great opportunity to network with colleagues and meet new people and sometimes the best way to do this is over a drink after all the sessions have ended. Make friends with people working the booths at the expo hall to find out where the “scene” is each night.

IV.    Utilize something you learned--Whether it is from a stellar session you attended or from an interesting conversation with a colleague about best practices, capitalize on the revitalized feeling you have when you return to work and implement a new idea. Change is good.

V.      Have fun!--This is your conference experience so make the best of it. If it’s your first time I recommend attending a wide variety of sessions to gain a better understanding of the field in general. It will help you become a better professional throughout your career if you know what other people involved in different areas of international education do on a day-to-day basis...and you might make some new friends along the way too.

I will be presenting with colleagues on Going Green in International Offices on Wednesday, June 2 at 8:00am. If you can fit it into your schedule we would love to have you!

Cheers,

Frank J. Merendino

NAFSA Region VI State Rep-Ohio

International Student Advisor

Miami University

Frameworks for Higher Education in Homeland Security

During my research activities last night I came across an interesting report entitled Frameworks for Higher Education in Homeland Security (2005) the Committee on Educational Paradigms for Homeland Security, Policy and Global Affairs of the National Research Council and available for reading on the National Academies Press website.  It's an easy and quick read (68 pages) and of particular interest to me, and perhaps many IHEC Blog readers, is chapter/section four entitled "Parallels Between Homeland Security and Area Studies, International Relations, and Science Policy" (pages 9-14) which discusses the National Security Education Program among other matters.  Just thought I would mention this report and highlight that you can access it for free.  Click on the book cover below to be taken to the website.

Dissertation Proposal Writing -Stage 2

There will be a limited number of IHEC Blog posts (and Facebook and Twitter posts) this week as I'm on the second stage of my dissertation proposal writing (all is getting down to the wire) and all my focus outside of my family and job is on reading and writing.  The photo to the left are the books I had the pleasure of consulting last night and will revisit again tonight.  It will be a late one again tonight!  We'll see what happens...

#NAFSA2010 Tweet Up x2

Those of you attending the upcoming NAFSA 2010 annual conference in Kansas City and are interested in attending the #NAFSA2010 Tweet Ups here are the details:

Tuesday, June 1, 2010
3:00pm-4:00pm
EA Networking Center, Kansas City Convention Center

Thursday, June 3, 2010
5:00pm-6:00pm
EA Networking Center, Kansas City Convention Center

I won't be able to attend the first Tweet Up as I'm a late addition to the "The U.S. Army Approach to Exchanges: A Dialogue with Colonel Steven Boylan" session which overlaps the time.  More on this session in a later post.  I do plan to attend the second Tweet Up and hope to meet many new people in person that I have connected with online.

There are many ways for conference attendees to network and you can learn more about these networking opportunities here.

Photo credit:  Webtreats

Video of the Week - Be A Citizen Diplomat

Another great Google Search commercial related to our field has been produced and is now available on YouTube.  This Google Search commercial is entitled "Be A Citizen Diplomat" with many familiar search results. Two things in particular caught my attention.  One was the fact that the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy was highlighted in one of the searches and the second is that a search was started for "volunteer in Pakistan".



I'm reposting this video of the week as it didn't format well last time (two weeks ago).

The National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) Pipeline

Back in January, 2006 then-President George W. Bush announced the launch of the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) with the Secretaries of State, Education and Defense along with the Director of National Intelligence coordinating this national effort to dramatically increase the learning, speaking and teaching skills of U.S. citizens in foreign languages deemed critical to U.S. national security. 

The NSLI is a “long-term investment in the nation’s critical foreign language learning capabilities and competencies” working to accomplish the following three goals[1]:

1.      Increase the number of U.S. residents studying critical-need languages and starting them at an earlier age;

2.      Increase the number of advanced-level speakers of foreign languages, with an emphasis on mastery of critical-need languages; and

3.      Increase the number of teachers of critical-need languages and providing resources for them.

The following figure provides a great visual of the National Security Language Initiative Pipeline and the various programs that are available for critical language learners.[2]

Those of you who are interested in learning more about NSLI and the preliminary results of the program will want to download the following report:

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, Enhancing Foreign Language Proficiency in the United States: Preliminary Results of the National Security Language Initiative, Washington, D.C., 2008.

Related IHEC Blog posts:

National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y)

The Language Flagship – Statements Before the House Armed Services Committee

Project Go – The ROTC Language & Culture Project

Cross-Cultural Awareness in the U.S. Military

Towards a More Cross-Culturally Competent United States Air Force

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[1] U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, Enhancing Foreign Language Proficiency in the United States: Preliminary Results of the National Security Language Initiative, Washington, D.C., 2008, 1.

[2] Diagram of the “National Security Language Initiative Pipeline” obtained from Ibid., 2.

"Review of Global Studies Literature" a pilot project of NAFSA's Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship (TLS) knowledge community

The NAFSA Teaching, Learning and Scholarship (TLS) knowledge community has just launched their new and exciting pilot project entitled “Review of Global Studies Literature” and I thought IHEC Blog readers would be interested in checking out.  Under the leadership of Rebecca Hovey and Bryan McAllister-Grande (co-editors), this e-compilation of book reviews features 12 different international educators analyzing sixteen recent books related to our field.  The Review encompasses not only traditional international education literature, but also literature from converging fields: comparative education, global studies, human rights, and academic textbooks.  The Review can be found at: www.nafsa.org/GSLreview

Since this is new project, the editors welcome any and all feedback. They are also looking for contributors for upcoming additions to the compilation, and a call for reviewers will be announced in the next few weeks.

Please contact the editors using the email addresses below with your feedback

Rebecca Hovey
Rebecca.Hovey@sit.edu

Bryan McAllister-Grande
bgrande@brandeis.edu

Photo credit:  G & A Sattler