ACE | Global Learning for All

We use global learning as a shorthand for three related kinds of learning: global (denoting the systems and phenomena that transcend national borders), international (focusing on the nations and their relationships), and intercultural (focusing on knowledge and skills to understand and navigate cultural differences). Thus, we define global learning as the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that students acquire through a variety of experiences that enable them to understand world cultures and events; analyze global systems; appreciate cultural differences; and apply this knowledge and appreciation to their lives as citizens and workers.

Global Learning for All

With financial support from the Ford Foundation, institutions serving high numbers of minority, adult, and part-time students are providing examples of good practice in setting international learning goals, reviewing their internationalization activities, aligning international activities with learning goals, partnering between institutions, and developing strategic internationalization plans that best serve their constituents.

Through a national competition, ACE selected the following eight institutions to participate:

During phase 1 of the project, participating institutions attended project meetings, visited other project institutions, and hosted ACE peer review teams. Each institution has created an internationalization leadership team, conducted a review of their international education activities, and developed recommendations for improvement.

During phase 2 of the project, institutions are again hosting an ACE team and sharing their progress in developing and implementing strategic internationalization plans.

Background

Global Learning for All (GLA) is rooted in the belief that international and global learning is important for all students—not just an elite few—and should be integral to every degree program. Higher education has made significant strides in extending its reach to all segments of society during the past 30 years. Colleges and universities must take similar steps to make global learning available to all students, regardless of background or mode of study. To achieve this goal, the curriculum must be the major vehicle for global learning. Because institutions cannot rely on opportunities outside the classroom to deliver important knowledge to students, particularly adult learners and part-time students, global learning must be embedded into the curriculum.

Today’s higher education system includes a wide variety of learners. In 2003, only 27 percent of students could be called “traditional”—that is, 18 to 22 years of age, attending college full time immediately after high school, and financially dependent upon their parents. Increasingly, the new majority students are racially and ethnically diverse, 25 and older, attending college part time, and working. In addition, these highly mobile students will likely attend several colleges before graduating. Institutions play a vital role in helping students integrate the knowledge and skills acquired through these multiple educational encounters.

In addition, the higher education community increasingly recognizes the need to identify and assess international learning outcomes. This effort becomes even more important when an institution does not supply all of the learning experiences for students—as is the case for many adult learners and part-time students. While many institutions identify global learning goals for their students, few have developed strategies for assessing these goals.

Important Members of the Internationalization Team
• Respected senior faculty who have
   international expertise or interest.
• Other faculty committed to
   internationalization.
• Deans or their associates.
• Administrators specializing in
   international education services
   and programs.
• Faculty member or administrator
   specializing in assessment.
• Faculty serving on critical governance
   committees (such as curriculum
   review and institutional planning).
• Faculty from a few academic units not
   involved in internationalization to
   date—"the skeptics."
• Senior administrators or their
   representatives.

Campus Activities

Establishing Campus Leadership Teams
The first task for the selected institutions was to create an internationalization leadership team charged with leading the institutions’ involvement with the ACE project. ACE encouraged team leaders to include on their team key faculty leaders from across the campus, administrators who specialized in international education, a faculty member or administrator who specialized in assessment, and the chief academic officer or deputy. It was understood that these teams would evolve as institutions progressed through the project activities.

Campus Visits

In spring 2003, ACE staff members visited the participating institutions to learn more about the institutional contexts and help team leaders launch their campus project activities. These visits generally included meetings with the Global Learning for All leadership teams, the president, the provost, and students. Following the site visits, each institution received a letter from the project director, who offered observations on the following themes:

A second visit took place in spring 2004 and a third, which included a team leader from another participating institution, occurred in fall 2004. These visits helped institutions assess their progress and identify future directions for internationalization. A final round of site visits to review progress during phase 2 of the project will take place in the spring and fall of 2006.

Communication with Participating Institutions

Project Meetings
The first project meeting took place in April 2003 in Washington, DC. The primary objective was to build a learning community for the project. Team leaders joined ACE staff for a working dinner and full-day meeting. ACE staff provided an overview of the project goals, explained the expected products, outlined the proposed activities, and proposed a timeline for accomplishing the stated goals. During the meeting, ACE staff also advised the team leaders on how they might launch conversations on their campuses about the tasks of crafting international learning outcomes and shaping the internationalization review process. A second meeting took place in February 2005. A final meeting reviewing the lessons learned during phase 2 of the project will take place in January 2007.

Deans’ Conversations
During the initial site visits, the project director discovered varying degrees of engagement on the part of deans at the four participating universities. For the Global Learning for All activities to have maximum impact on campuses where deans play important decision-making and resource-allocation roles, it is important that a core group of deans support the leadership teams’ efforts. A series of “Deans’ Conversations” between the deans of arts and sciences and deans of business at the four universities in the project were conducted to help foster such engagement.

Bimonthly Calls of Team Leaders
The objectives of these calls were to continue building community, provide opportunities for collective learning, share strategies for overcoming challenges, hold one another accountable, and sustain the momentum of project activities. In addition, a Blackboard site was developed to share resources.

Project Deliverables

International Learning Outcomes and Assessment Planning
The Global Learning for All project has helped institutions articulate and develop models for assessing international learning outcomes. Each of the campuses has crafted a draft statement of international learning outcomes to guide internationalization efforts and continues their work in developing plans to assess for students' achievement of these outcomes.

Institutional Reviews and Strategic Planning
Institutions have developed instruments and procedures to conduct their internationalization reviews. This process normally takes six to nine months to complete; institutions finished their reviews and produced reports in summer/fall 2004. After completing the review, each institution developed recommendations and preliminary strategic internationalization plans for advancing their institutions internationalization efforts.

Working Paper Series
ACE has prepared two publications building on lessons learned during the Global Learning for All project. The first title in the series is Building a Strategic Framework for Comprehensive Internationalization. The second publication, A Handbook for Advancing Comprehensive Internationalization: What Institutions Can Do and What Students Should Learn, will be released in fall 2006.

For more information, please contact: