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Comprehensive Universities
California State University–Sacramento
http://www.csus.edu/
Contents
General Institutional Overview
Overview of Internationalization
Efforts
- Vision and Goals for Internationalization
- Progress
- Successful Strategies
- Future Plans
General Institutional Overview
California State University–Sacramento (CSUS) was founded in
1947 as Sacramento State College. The university moved to its permanent
location in 1953 and was renamed California State
University–Sacramento in 1972. CSUS is the seventh largest
university in the California State University (CSU) system, which
consists of 23 campuses, 388,700 students, and 42,000 faculty and
staff.
CSUS has eight colleges: Arts and Letters, Business Administration,
Education, Engineering and Computer Science, Health and Human Services,
Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary
Studies, and Continuing Education. CSUS offers 60 undergraduate and 40
graduate degrees. Teacher education is the university's largest academic
program, followed by business, criminal justice, psychology,
communication studies, and computer science.
CSUS is classified as an MA I, Comprehensive Master's University, and
serves 22,562 undergraduate and 5,813 graduate students, including 700
international students.
In 2002, Time Magazine named Sacramento "America's Most
Diverse City." Sacramento is sister cities with Yongsan-gu, Korea;
Jinan, China; Manila, Philippines; Matsuyama, Japan; Chisinau, Moldova;
Liestal, Switzerland; and Hamilton, New Zealand. It is home to state
government, the legislature, and numerous councils, including the World
Trade Center, World Trade Commission, California Arts Council, and World
Affairs Council.
Numerous multinational organizations reside in the CSUS area,
including Hewlett Packard, NEC, and Intel. These organizations create
employment opportunities for current students and graduates. However,
CSUS is not taking maximum advantage of these business resources nor of
its location in the state capital.
Overview of Internationalization Efforts
At present, the primary responsibility for global education rests
with the Office of Global Education (OGE) in the Office of Academic
Affairs. Its mission is to internationalize the university and ensure
that faculty and students are prepared to live and work in a global
environment. The office currently supports 700 foreign students, 60
visiting international professors, and hundreds of students studying
overseas at dozens of universities. Yet, the OGE would agree that there
is more to do in terms of creating a comprehensive and cohesive
internationalization of the CSUS campus. Other internationalization
efforts are described below.
Presidential Leadership
Presidential leadership has been key in the development of the
university's commitment to global education. CSUS President Alexander
Gonzalez continues to support CSUS in moving toward comprehensive
internationalization.
Faculty Senate
In October 2003, the Faculty Senate approved a revision of the
academic program theme of the university's strategic plan. The modified
theme, approved by the Council for University Planning and then by the
president, notes, in part: "We seek to ensure that our curriculum
includes the 'ways of knowing' in different cultures and civilizations
and the contributions to knowledge of all groups. Such education
encompasses three stages: acquisition of a basic understanding and
appreciation of people and cultures within and beyond our borders; the
development of knowledge, skills, and perspectives necessary to interact
effectively in the global environment; and the development of an
analytical capability required to understand the short- and long-term
impacts of global social, economic, political, cultural, and ecological
interactions." This statement by the faculty is critical to the
development of an institutional plan to integrate internationalization
into all aspects of university life.
General Education
One of the objectives of the General Education (GE) program at CSUS
is to provide students with, among other skills, "perspectives on people
from various cultures and backgrounds, including awareness of the
contributions of non-Western cultures, women, and other ethnic and
underrepresented groups, to the rich diversity of human activity." In
addition, CSUS has had a foreign language requirement for all
undergraduate students, regardless of major, as part of its GE program
since 1992. Only two other CSU campuses require foreign language as part
of GE. These two requirements provide additional evidence that the CSUS
campus recognizes that students need foreign language education and
cultural literacy.
Curriculum and Co-curriculum
Undergraduate students at CSUS must complete nine units in the
following areas as part of the 51-unit GE requirement: World
Civilization, Race and Ethnicity, and World Cultures. Course offerings
include ethnic studies, government, archaeology, history, anthropology,
and sociology. CSUS also offers service-learning courses that provide a
service to the community and enhance learning of course content. Current
service-learning courses include Barrio Art for Ethnic Groups, Adapted
PE, and Human Development. The foreign language requirement for
graduation provides undergraduate students limited exposure to foreign
language competency. CSUS offers instruction in Chinese, French, German,
Italian, Japanese, Latin, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, and
American Sign Language.
In terms of the integration of co-curriculum and campus life, CSUS
has numerous student programs and activities, 20 to 30 percent of which
have an international focus. The Multicultural Center sponsors speakers
and workshops, and has an office centrally located on the CSUS campus.
First-generation students organize many cultural or religious clubs,
which boast a high level of outside community involvement. In addition,
the international clubs and student organizations assist in the
acclimation of international students and in their interactions with
U.S. students.
Study Abroad
The Office of Global Education coordinates and supports approximately
300 students studying abroad. There are academic exchange programs in
more than 27 countries around the world, including Argentina, Australia,
Canada, the Czech Republic, Greece, India, Korea, Mexico, Taiwan,
Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. The College of Continuing Education
(CCE), through its Travel Study Program, offers study-abroad programs in
Italy, Spain, and Mexico, plus a "European Experience" from Madrid to
Prague, and summer programs in Spain, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Peru
for the master's degree in Spanish. These programs involve both CSUS and
local university faculty. The CSU Chancellor's Office also offers
study-abroad programs open to students from all 23 CSU campuses.
While studying at CSU and in CSUS-sponsored programs, students
receive CSUS resident credit, pay regular campus fees, and are eligible
for campus financial aid. Students may study abroad for either one or
two semesters, depending on the program. The study-abroad programs
offered through CCE generally last six weeks. Given the CSUS student
population, the number of students taking advantage of these study
abroad programs is relatively minimal.
Engagement with Institutions in Other Countries
CSUS maintains linkages with institutions in other countries for
instruction, faculty exchanges, and research. A summer Spanish program
awards a master's degree in Spanish after three summers in Spain, Costa
Rica, Guatemala, and/or Peru. The CSUS College of Continuing Education
operates a number of programs that provide students the opportunity to
study abroad during a summer. These include, for example, an art and
architecture program coordinated by faculty from the design program, and
an art, music, and culture program coordinated by faculty from the music
department.
CSUS also is home to foreign research scholars from eight countries,
including Brazil, Canada, Korea, and China. Faculty/student exchange and
special project/partnerships with institutions abroad involve
institutions in Canada (the Regional Academic Mobility Program, or RAMP,
faculty/student exchange), China, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Liberia, the
Philippines, South Africa, and Thailand.
I. Vision and Goals for Internationalization
The CSUS vision is "comprehensive internationalization of the
university," which means integrating international, intercultural, and
global content throughout the university's teaching, research, and
service functions. CSUS's three-stage definition of global education
describes the learning goals established for all students.
The first stage involves the basic understanding and appreciation of
people and cultures beyond our borders. In the second stage, students
develop the knowledge, skills, and perspectives necessary to interact
effectively in the global environment. The third stage builds on the
first two stages and prepares students for lifelong global learning by
developing the analytical capability required to understand the short-
and long-term impacts of global social, economic, political, cultural,
and ecological interactions.
II. Progress
In spring 2003, 100 classes were randomly selected to participate in
a campus climate survey. Several questions addressed student perceptions
of global/international issues. More than 50 percent of the students
indicated that CSUS already places some or considerable emphasis on
promoting an international community on campus. When asked how much
emphasis CSUS should place on this issue, students indicated the need
for a strong presence by answering that CSUS should place a high (39
percent) or considerable (28 percent) emphasis on promoting an
international community.
Respondents overwhelmingly agreed that a diverse campus community
enhances the educational experience of all students. The inclusion of
these questions in the campus survey and the responses suggest a
university-wide interest in exploring globalization/internationalization
and a student interest in promoting these issues on campus.
The concept of "comprehensive internationalization" is emerging as
part of CSUS culture. The institution can document particular pockets of
internationalization on campus, including classroom instruction,
faculty/student exchange programs, student support for CSUS's promotion
of an international community on campus, and the leadership provided by
the president, Faculty Senate, and key individual stakeholders.
III. Successful Strategies
The American Council on Education (ACE) invited CSUS to be the first
university in the country to participate in the Internationalization
Assessment Laboratory. The purpose of the ACE Laboratory is two-fold: to
help U.S. colleges and universities integrate international and
intercultural content into their teaching, research, and service
functions; and to refine an assessment instrument and process that other
universities can use to guide their internationalization efforts.
The CSUS-ACE Leadership Team, formed in spring 2002, includes
representatives from several academic departments, the Faculty Senate,
graduate studies, student affairs, and the Multicultural Center. Its
goal was to take an inventory of global education at CSUS, develop a set
of recommendations and a strategic plan for comprehensive
internationalization of the university, and begin to implement the
strategy in fall 2004.
The creation of the ACE Leadership Team and the personal commitment
of its members have been instrumental in generating campus dialogue
regarding the value of integrating international, intercultural, and
global perspectives throughout the university's teaching, research, and
service functions. The support provided by Vice President for Academic
Affairs Richard Brown to the ACE Leadership Team is vital because it
links the work of the committee with student learning outcomes.
IV. Future Plans
One ongoing CSUS initiative is the integration of its
internationalization strategy with the forthcoming accreditation review
by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). This document
will assist CSUS in partially addressing the issues of institutional
capacity and educational effectiveness, as defined by WASC.
WASC's definition of institutional capacity suggests the university
function with fiscal stability, a clear sense of purpose, and a
structure designed to fulfill its educational goals. Using this
framework enables CSUS to explore a comprehensive and sustainable
internationalization effort, and to align resources, structures, and
academic programs accordingly. The concept of educational effectiveness
requires the university to demonstrate clear and appropriate goals for
international learning, both at the institutional and program levels. In
terms of comprehensive internationalization, it provides an opportunity
for CSUS to assess whether its systems and structures are consistent
with the goal for international learning within a framework of
sustainability.
The ultimate goal is to build momentum, among all constituencies, to
value comprehensive internationalization within the university. The
leadership team of the Internationalization Assessment Laboratory is
committed to conducting focus groups in spring 2004; making
presentations to various faculty, staff, and student groups; and
securing their commitment to the process and the outcome.
The team also will continue assessing all aspects of the university's
structures, processes, and procedures that need to be modified to
promote and fully integrate international and intercultural content into
its teaching, research, and service functions. The final product will be
a strategic plan for the university's comprehensive
internationalization, which will then allow us to set a baseline against
which to measure future growth and improvement.
Last updated: April 27, 2005
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