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Johnson and Wales University
Institutional Overview
Johnson & Wales
University (JWU) is a private, independent,
not-for-profit-university with an enrolment of over 16,000 students
representing all 50 states and over 90 countries. The university
offers a variety of undergraduate career programs in business, culinary
arts, hospitality, and technology supported by a strong liberal arts
core. Graduate programs in business and education and a doctoral
program in educational leadership are also offered. In addition to
its flagship Providence, Rhode Island campus, the university now has
three regional campuses located in North Miami, Florida; Denver,
Colorado; and Charlotte, North Carolina- each offering an array of
undergraduate programs and a comprehensive set of services.
The institution was established in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and
Mary T. Wales as a school to train mostly young women for what was then
known as “office work” in Providence businesses.
Throughout its nearly 100 year history, JWU has steadfastly pursued the
mission of preparing its students for successful careers. In terms
of program offerings and the breadth and depth of the education provided
the mission has evolved to match the changing career opportunities
afforded originally in the local economies and subsequently in the
national and global economies. The JWU mission statement
reflects this historic institutional goal, shows the university in its
current state of development, and speaks to its aspirations: The
mission of Johnson & Wales University is to empower its t diverse
student body to succeed in today’s dynamic world by integrating
general and career-focused education and professional skills. To this
end, the University employs its faculty, services, curricula, and
facilities to equip students with the conceptual and practical tools
required to become contributing members of society. This mission
statement is supported and affirmed by the university’s Core
Values which guide and motivate the institution in the fulfillment of
its mission and are in turn embodiments of the mission: Student
Centered, Experientially Based, Industry Relevant, Employment Focused,
Globally Oriented.
The global orientation of the university is most clearly manifested
in its sizable international student population (over 1200 students or
7.5% of the overall enrolment). An International Enrolment Team made up
of administrative and academic leaders from around the university was
founded in 2006 in order to strategically manage the growth of the
international population through recruitment and retention
efforts. JWU’s global orientation is also evidenced in the
wide array of study abroad and exchange programs accessible to students
in all academic majors at all campuses. Over 400 students participate in
programs annually. A key strength of these programs has been the
predominance of home-grown, faculty developed, faculty led study abroad
programs which has resulted in a teaching faculty rich in international
experiences as well as programs well tailored to the JWU’s career
oriented, experientially based academic programs.
Overview of Internationalization Efforts
Vision & Progress
Johnson & Wales University’s strides toward comprehensive
internationalization have derived much of their strength from the
inclusion of internationalization in the statement of its five core
values- “Globally Oriented” which states that JWU
“respond(s) to the increasingly global nature of business by
fostering multiculturalism and providing an international educational
experience”. This inclusion has led to the dedication of
resources towards the development and support of internationalization
efforts ranging from the growth of the international student population
and expansion of the international programs portfolio to the development
of internationally focused majors, concentrations and courses.
While the process of internationalization is ongoing, there is much in
place that currently supports our self definition as globally
oriented.
Study Abroad
JWU has quadrupled its number of students participating in study
abroad and exchange programs since 2001 and is able to offer
international programs tailored to nearly every academic major we
offer. This growth has been achieved through the construction of a
centralized, fully staffed and financially supported Study Abroad Office
which has worked closely with the academic college leadership and
faculty to develop, market and administrate a full array of study abroad
programs. A key strategy towards achieving this growth has been
the work with the college deans and curriculum teams that has assured
each academic major has clear opportunities within the credit structures
and requirements of their degree program for participation in study
abroad programs. Advising systems within the college and within Student
Academic Services clearly underline these opportunities to
students. A second strategy has been prioritizing faculty led
programs. Faculty led programs lead to greater international
experience on the faculty and greater support of study abroad options
for students from the faculty.
ESL
Enrolment in JWU’s ESL program has doubled in recent years to a
current annual population of over 200 students enrolled enroute to a JWU
degree program. This increase in population has led to a
redoubling of efforts to link these students to the larger university
and city community and facilitate and support their transition to their
degree programs. A robust set of co-curricular offerings including
a Conversation Partner program, weekly Coffee Hour, Buddy Program for
new students, Community Host program, international student club and a
calendar of special advising sessions has been put in place as part of
the work of an iSET subcommittee focused on the improvement of services
and increased retention of ESL students.
Degrees & Concentrations
Johnson & Wales University has long offered internationally
focused majors in the College of Business and the Hospitality College,
which offer International Business and International Hotel & Tourism
Management respectively. These majors are made up of internationally
focused core courses complemented by the inclusion of multiple overseas
program options. In addition, the university has more
recently offered students the ability to achieve a variety of
internationally themed concentrations by completing a set of 3-4 courses
in that concentration. The university currently offers four such
concentrations: International Business, International Hospitality
Operations Management, Global Perspectives and World Languages.
Some of these concentrations are achievable through participation on a
specific study abroad program.
An interesting feature of the Johnson & Wales approach to
curriculum development and study abroad programs has been the
development of courses specific for delivery on study abroad. For
example, our College of Culinary Arts has developed a Pan-Asian Cuisine
for delivery in an intensive, short term program conducted in Singapore
and Thailand. Our Marketing department has developed a course,
titled Marketing Communications in an International Context in which
students construct and present an advertising campaign while situated in
an overseas setting. In this way our study abroad destinations
become integral players in the exploration of the student’s
specific major and academic focus.
International Enrolment
In Fall of 2006, as part of the current strategic plan FOCUS 2011,
the university established an International Strategic Enrolment Team
(iSET) charged with growing international student enrolment. In
two years this team has grown the undergraduate international population
by 33% pushing the percentage of international students up over 7% of
the total population. The success of this team is attributed to
the inter-departmental make up of the team which includes
representatives from academics, student services, admissions and
recruitment. As a result of the diverse make up of the team, iSET
has constructed a plan for growth built not only on increased
recruitment goals, but also on improvement of retention rates through
better support services and programs for international students. A
key feature of this plan for JWU has been the inclusion of a plan to
better meet the career promise to international students through a
fuller use of and support of the CPT and OPT programs.
International Programming
As an offshoot of the retention focus of iSET, the university
invested in a new position of International Community Coordinator who
was charged to add to the current services of the International Student
Service office by developing programming targeted to connect
international students to the domestic population and the larger
university and city communities. This position was provided an
associated budget and has been in place for one full year. Through
intensive collaboration with key university departments and the
mobilization of a student volunteer core this resource has transformed
the international student experience at JWU while offering an array of
new opportunities to domestic students as well.
Successful Strategies
-
Establishing the International Enrolment Team (iSET)- This
standing committee keeps the focus on sustaining international enrolment
through collaborative efforts around recruitment and retention,
maintains open lines of communication between departments and
facilitates the sharing of ideas as well as the sharing of
responsibility around the achievement of university enrolment
goals.
-
Centralizing the Study Abroad Office- This decision has allowed us
to develop consistent policies and procedures around study abroad
programs which has in turn increased visibility of programs across our
four campuses, improved student access, improved efficiencies and
allowed for greater quality control.
-
Hiring a Dedicated Staff for International Programming- This
resource has allowed us to prioritize student programming, which
sometimes gets lost behind the imperative of immigration advising and
arrival and orientation services. This resource has
benefited both international and domestic students as well as enriched
faculty and staff connections to students. This position liaisons with
ESL, the Multicultural Center, Student Activities, Residential Life,
Community Service Learning and other key areas in order to ensure
university offerings engage international students as well as connecting
domestic students to international offerings and experiences.
Future Plans
Johnson & Wales University plans to build on its global
orientation by planning for and initiating the internationalization
assessment process, the first step of which is to establish a leadership
team and join and begin learning from the work of the International
Collaborative. By taking part in this assessment process we hope
to identify specific internationalization goals which will augment the
university’s overall strategic plan and develop a long term plan
to achieve those goals. Areas of particular interest to Johnson
& Wales University will be those areas which will ultimately further
our overall institutional mission and embody our core values, such as
but not limited to:
-
A faculty training and development program to 1)better prepare our
faculty for the growing international population and 2) aid in the
internationalization of the curriculum
-
A robust international co-op program for students in all academic
colleges.
-
A focused domestic co-op program through CPT for international
students which allows for deeper and longer work experiences leading to
greater opportunities for OPT placement upon graduation
Please direct questions about this page to:
jill_wisniewski@ace.nche.edu
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This page last updated on 03/10/2009
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