Strategic Positioning Subcommittee
Purpose: To explore the issues of:
- Institutional commitment for global education, including financial support for the various facets of international education
- The extent to which international activity is visibly present on the college’s website.
- The administrative structure for internationalization
- Institution-wide tracking and assessment to monitor current international activities
Members and Invited Guests: Members: De-Shawna Yamini – Student Enrichment, Dawayne Kirkman – Regional Campuses, Karla Knepper – Advising, Jacquelyn Housel – Geography (Liberal Arts), Carolyn Reno – Vet Tech (Health Sciences), Derek Petrey, Center for Teaching and Learning, Scott Markland (co-chair), Michael Carter (co-chair), Amaha Sellassie – Sociology (Liberal Arts), Meng Riddle, International Education, Paul Carbonaro, International Education, Faheem Curtis-Khidr – History (Liberal Arts), Furaha Henry-Jones – English
Past Meeting Dates and Topics:
Strategic Positioning Subcommittee past schedule based upon topics
Date |
Topics |
January 16, 2020 |
Organizational meeting; overview of issues and topics |
February 10, 2020 |
Institutional mission and intersection with international education; goals for internationalization |
February 24, 2020 |
Institutional commitment: funding and support |
Future Meeting Dates and Topics:
Strategic Positioning Subcommittee upcoming schedule based upon topics
Date |
Topics |
TBD |
Visibility and messaging |
TBD |
Administrative structure and roles |
TBD |
Assessment and tracking |
Findings/Observations to Date:
- Internationalization efforts should be aligned with the college’s strategic priorities of Alignment, Growth and Equity; internationalization “fits” best under Equity.
- Sinclair’s mission does not address internationalization specifically.
- The International Strategic Plan does not seem to be integrated campus-wide; it seems to be operational only at the departmental level; implementation is not consistent.
- There is uncertainty about whether we are making our curriculum more internationally focused and relevant.
- Sinclair Talks and the International Series provide opportunities to learn about other countries and hear from international speakers.
- Why should we do internationalization at a community college? Or in Dayton? Why should a community college be involved with internationalization?
- There is a culture at Sinclair of not wanting to deal with what is uncomfortable.
- Fear exists about international travel and international students.
- It is to every student’s benefit to connect with a global community; we are not being responsible educators if we do not connect our students to the world.
- How can we make a global curriculum more accessible to all Sinclair students?
- How do we make internationalization at Sinclair sustainable?
- The local community is international and diverse. Internationalization relates to the Sinclair’s student body because of the many immigrants and students of African descent at Sinclair.
- Some faculty and staff do not support international students and/or studies.
- How do we educate the community about the benefits of an international curriculum and campus?
Data Needed:
- Need a rubric for diversity and cultural awareness.
- Need more information about we are serving local international communities and immigrants.
Preliminary Recommendations:
General – Entire Campus
- Add “global” in front of “community” in college’s mission statement.
- Strengthen the dotted lines, for example, between Diversity, International Education and the curriculum.
- Update travel policies and processes to make them more global.
- Create the expectation of Sinclair as “international”
- Be transparent about struggles with internationalization and why a community college should be globally connected.
Curriculum and Facilitating Global Understanding
- Make the curriculum global and make it accessible to all Sinclair students.
- Find ways so that every Sinclair student has an international interaction – either on-campus, study abroad or a COIL course.
- Educate faculty and staff first about internationalization.
- Determine a “threshold” for what it means for a course to be deemed as “international.”
- Create a map identifying faculty/staff and student country of origin.