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Bemidji State University

http://www.bemidjistate.edu/

Contents

General Institutional Overview

1. Vision and Goals for Internationalization
2. Progress
3. Successful Strategies
4. Future Plans

General Institutional Overview

Mission
Bemidji State University provides comprehensive educational services and opportunities to students from the region, state, and other countries. Its mission is to deliver at the undergraduate and graduate levels affordable educational opportunities that enhance student access to leadership roles and encourage responsible citizenship. The university recognizes that sweeping changes in society and technology require that students be taught new ideas and new skills while remaining grounded in the best of American values—including the pursuit of knowledge, excellence, civic responsibility, and respect for the environment. Only then will students be able to meet the demands of life in the 21st century. In all of its educational and experiential programs, Bemidji State University seeks to instill in students the habits of scholarship and lifelong learning. Internationalization of the curriculum, faculty, and student body is among the university’s top goals.

Brief History and Enrollment
Bemidji State University is a public comprehensive residential institution that was founded in 1919. Although the northern tier states are its primary service region, the university regularly enrolls nearly 5,000 students who originate from 44 states and 34 countries worldwide. (The university actively recruits students from around the world: Currently, 197 international students are enrolled.)

The university occupies 89 acres in the lakes region of northern Minnesota. It has 19 academic and student services buildings, seven residence buildings, an off-campus Center for Research and Innovation, and a 240-acre private forest. The city of Bemidji is recognized as the first city on the Mississippi River and as one of the 110 best small cities in America. Besides being the county seat, Bemidji is the financial, cultural, and social hub of north central Minnesota.

Academic Offerings
Students who attend Bemidji State University pursue degrees in 24 disciplines that offer 45 majors and programs of study. In addition to traditional areas of study, such as professional education, liberal and creative studies, social and natural sciences, and business, accounting, and economics, the university offers courses and degrees in several unique areas, such as aquatic biology, environmental science, Indian studies, and selected languages, including Spanish, Chinese, and Ojibwe. The university offers master’s degrees in nine disciplines.

The university regularly offers students the opportunity to engage in study-travel in Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa, and other international destinations as part of their degree courses. Travel-study courses may occur in summer session or fall and spring semesters.

Institutional Climate
A public, liberal education institution, Bemidji State University’s main goal is to provide the best undergraduate and graduate education experiences possible. The university strives to keep current in the teaching of its disciplines and for several years has ensured that its faculty and students work with the most up-to-date educational technology available. The campus is fully networked with fiber-optic cable and has hard-line and satellite connectivity.

Overview of Internationalization Efforts

I. Vision and Goals for Internationalization

Bemidji State University believes that study in another country is an important learning experience and a valuable complement to classroom learning. Understanding other cultures helps us understand ourselves and the world in which we live. The university teaches that appreciation of other world citizens and their cultures not only enhances our personal lives but also increases our professional opportunities. Study abroad complements many majors and increases opportunities in careers that require understanding, appreciation, and knowledge of other cultures.

The university’s goal is for every student to have a travel and/or living abroad learning experience prior to completing their undergraduate study. Consequently, the university has developed several study-abroad programs, including:

• Study in China: Sinosummer Program
  
• Study in England/Europe: Eurospring Program
  
• Study in Japan: Minnesota State University-Akita
  
• Study in Japan: Kansai Gaidai Student Exchange Program
  
• Study in Malaysia: Petaling Jaya Community College Exchange Program
  
• Study in Malaysia: J Term in Malaysia
  
• Study in Sweden: Vaxjo University Exchange Program

In addition, the university participates in a 3 + 1 program with Canadian students and is working to develop a study-abroad program in Africa.

Bemidji State University offers a minor in international studies and has submitted a pending application to offer a major. This interdisciplinary degree may include concentrations in several disciplines; it also requires students to taken an integrative course and a capstone experience involving study abroad. Students pursuing the international studies degrees are required to take a foreign language.

II. Progress

As discussed above, the university in the process of converting the international studies minor to a major. This curriculum work indicates the university’s increased attention to international studies in its long-range mission and goals. In addition, discussions are underway to accept international studies and travel experience as part of the liberal education honors curriculum.

Bemidji faculty are encouraged to teach courses in their disciplines that focus on a particular country or region of the world. Several faculty—particularly in business, economics, geography, and languages—have added to their course material to reflect the global knowledge and scope of their disciplines.

The university invites speakers with international backgrounds to the campus and celebrates its international students each year with a major event. The Feast of Nations is the most widely attended international event on campus and serves to acquaint students, faculty, and the public with the variety and cultural richness of the international student body.

The university delivers courses and instruction to Canada, China, Iceland, England, Sweden, Japan, and Malaysia.

III. Successful Strategies

The Study in China: Sinosummer Program is Bemidji State University’s most successful study-abroad program. Each year, approximately 20 students combine two weeks of lectures, field trips, and cultural activities sponsored by Liaioning University in northeast China with a two-week study tour of the country. Activities include lectures on Chinese society, geography, history, business, economics, and the arts. Students travel on field trips to events and areas of interest such as the Peking Opera and rural villages. The university promotes cultural interactions by arranging for Sinosummer students to share meals with Chinese families and share dormitories with students from Japan, Germany, Russia, and other countries. The Kansai Gaidai student exchange program includes courses in Japanese language, politics, history, business, marketing, society, literature, and studio arts. Students may live in a Japanese-style dormitory or with a Japanese family. Similar arrangements and activities occur in the Malaysia exchange programs. Students can apply their earned credits to a bachelor’s degree at Bemidji State University.

The Study in England/Europe: EuroSpring Program combines five weeks of study in Oxford, England, with a three-week tour of continental Europe. Study in Oxford focuses on a different period of English and European culture each year on a four-year rotational cycle. The cycle begins with the medieval period and progresses through the 19th and early 20th centuries. While at Oxford, students live in Wycliffe Hall, one of the constituent halls of Oxford University. Travel in Europe includes a study tour of the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Students can apply credits earned through this program to liberal education, general electives, and selected majors.

Bemidji State University promotes diversification of its educational programs by employing a portion of its faculty from other countries. The Bemidji State University modern languages department employs faculty members from Liaioning University on an annual exchange basis. Currently, the university employs faculty members from Bosnia, Canada, China, England, Germany, India, Puerto Rico, and Russia.

IV. Future Plans

Bemidji intends to further develop and diversify its education abroad offerings. Future program developments under consideration include:

• A short-term travel program in Africa (during the “J-Term” between winter and spring terms) that would involve travel/study in Kenya.
  
• An “education-course” tour of Europe.
  
• A program for faculty and student exchange with counterparts in Iceland.

The university will continue to actively recruit students from around the world, particularly Asia, and is planning a new emphasis on recruiting students from African countries. The university is developing online courses, successful completion of which will count toward degree requirements in several disciplines.

Last updated: April 27, 2005