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Global Learning for All
Portland State University
http://www.pdx.edu
Contents
General Institutional Overview
http://www.pdx.edu
Portland State University (PSU) is Oregon's urban public university,
located on 36 acres in the central business district of downtown
Portland. As such, it is positioned in the heart of the state's economic
and cultural center. Founded in 1946 as Vanport Extension Center to
provide training for returning members of the armed forces under the GI
Bill, PSU today is the largest and most diverse academic institution in
Oregon, with more than 24,000 students. At the beginning of the 2003-04
academic year, the university experienced a third consecutive year of
all-time high enrollment.
PSU is rapidly and successfully moving from a predominantly
undergraduate teaching institution to a driving force at the highest
level of graduate education, academic research, and industrial
partnerships. Students and faculty in the humanities, public policy,
urban planning, sciences, engineering, and technology are drawn to PSU's
quality of life, easy access to a variety of geographically distinct
regions, and proximity to high-technology industries that are fueling
the 21st century economy. As Portland evolves into a world-class city,
its university is evolving into a major instructional and research
institution.
The university comprises the colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences,
Urban and Public Affairs, and Engineering and Computer Science; the
schools of Business Administration, Fine and Performing Arts, and
Extended Studies; and the graduate schools of Education and Social Work.
During the 2000-01 academic year, PSU awarded 2,194 bachelor's degrees;
1,199 master's degrees; and 38 doctoral degrees. The university offers
bachelor's degrees in 55 fields, certificate programs in 13 areas at the
undergraduate level and 16 at the graduate level, master's degrees in 53
fields, and doctoral degrees in 10 fields. In 2000-01, PSU awarded
doctoral degrees in Educational Leadership, Electrical and Computer
Engineering, Environmental Sciences and Resources, Mathematics
Education, Social Work, Public Administration and Policy, Systems
Science, and Urban Studies.
PSU is nationally recognized as an innovative institution. The entire
undergraduate experience has been redesigned and now includes a
four-year curriculum that integrates service and community-based
learning. This curriculum, which engages students in the application of
scholarly theory to the real-world issues of business and community, has
been nationally recognized and funded by several prestigious
organizations, including the Pew Charitable Trusts and the W. K. Kellogg
Foundation. The PSU motto, "Let Knowledge Serve the City," reflects only
one side of the university's relationship with its local and
international partners, as knowledge gained from them also serves
teaching, learning, and research at the university.
Overview of Internationalization Efforts
PSU has made a commitment to internationalizing the campus. With the
turn of the millennium, PSU has been working systematically to implement
a comprehensive internationalization plan. In 2001, the president
announced a formal internationalization initiative. In 2002, during the
first year of this initiative, an Internationalization Action Council
was formed. The main focus of the council is to revise and refine the
2001 goals and recommendations created by the International Working
Group and to draft an Internationalization Action Plan that will be
taken to the campus community for review and input. As a consequence,
the Internationalization Goals are the basis for the
Internationalization Action Council's work. Complete details are
available on the PSU web site, under the category "Presidential
Initiatives."
Throughout the campus, there is consistent evidence of PSU's
commitment to the internationalization process. The Office of
International Affairs, the Middle East Studies Center, the Institute for
Asian Studies, the undergraduate International Studies Program, and the
Internationalization Action Council have initiated, monitored, and
supported campus-wide schools and programs that highlight PSU's
connection to the world.
The School of Business houses the Master's of International
Management (MIM) program. This program provides students with
international as well as general business skills, proficiency in a
foreign language, and a deep knowledge of political and economic
environments in which global business leaders work, all gained while
working with a culturally diverse group of students from around the
world. The main focus of the program is the Asia Pacific region. The
School of Business has also crafted short-term overseas study programs
in France and Italy that allow business majors at both the graduate and
undergraduate level to study outside the United States in a manner that
does not impede timely graduation and accrediting body requirements.
The College of Urban and Public Affairs has hosted sustainability
workshops for Chinese officials and worked collaboratively with the
School of Extended Studies to host watershed workshops in Turkey and to
support the Southeast Anatolia (GAP) Project in Eastern Turkey. The
School of Engineering and Computer Science has crafted new partnerships
with institutions in Germany, India, China, and Korea. Some partnerships
allow undergraduate students to complete a dual 3+1 degree program;
others provide accredited courses via distance delivery, and yet others
send American students overseas to work in internship settings.
New, innovative programs are supported with a grant from the Pew
Charitable Trusts, which has enabled the Department of Foreign Languages
and Literatures to revamp its Spanish classes by adding an online
component. In addition, the grant has supported service-learning
capstones with international dimensions for seniors. PSU also has
established different partnerships with international philanthropies
such as Global Portland, a cooperative service program affiliated with
the International Refugee Center of Oregon (IRCO), and the Somali
Capstone, a program that also is affiliated with IRCO but focuses
exclusively on the needs of recent African refugees. Yet another
Portland-based capstone crafted a handbook for mentors who are assisting
incoming international students on campus. Most participants were
students who had recently returned from overseas sojourns or
international students themselves. Two capstones located outside the
United States have taken students to the Caribbean to participate in
social service programs and to Ghana to participate in a variety of
individual projects. Other capstones will likely be added in Gambia and
Guatemala in the 2003-04 academic year.
One of PSU's most outstanding programs began as a cooperative venture
among Oregon's public and private universities, the Oregon-Waseda
Transnational Program. Now housed at PSU and supported through a
nonprofit organization, this program is a model for
inter-institutional/international collaboration. Students from Waseda
University in Japan join American colleagues at PSU in the fall and take
interdisciplinary, theme-based courses in the nationally recognized
University Studies program. Then they travel to Waseda for winter and
spring coursework through the Waseda International Transnational
Program. http://www.wasedaoregon.org/
PSU offers study-abroad programs in 38 countries in different parts
of the world. In the past two academic years, almost 600 PSU students
participated in these programs. PSU's American students have
participated in not only the traditional overseas sojourns but also
various internship programs throughout the world. They also have
participated in short-term overseas programs in the Caribbean (Trinidad,
Tobago, and Curacao). In the 2002-03 academic year, a group of PSU
students traveled to a variety of countries--including Austria, Costa
Rica, Ghana, and Guatemala--as part of required coursework. Some PSU
Capstones also offer students an opportunity to "study the world at
home" through the Global Portland-Hmong Children program, which involves
students in learning about and assisting Hmong children through tutoring
that concentrates on their ethnic heritage and English literacy
skills.
PSU's international students participate in the International
Cultural Service Program (ICSP), a community education program that
provides a significant tuition reduction to roughly 30 students per year
who spend 80 hours in the community speaking about their countries and
cultures.
http://www.intl.pdx.edu/InternationalEd/index.htm
During a typical academic year, an average of 30 international
students attend classes at PSU. In addition, every summer the PSU campus
sponsors the International Visiting Professor Program, which brings
approximately 12 to 15 scholars from different parts of the world to
teach summer classes and deliver a set of public lectures titled "Tour
the World at Home," in collaboration with the World Affairs Council of
Oregon.
During the past two years, PSU has strengthened its relationship with
Canada. In November 2002, boosted by a grant from the Canadian
government, PSU hosted "Canada Days," a week of activities that included
cooperative events with the Portland City Government, the Oregon Zoo,
and the World Affairs Council of Oregon. PSU also is fortunate to have
secured a three-year Fulbright grant to bring Canadian scholars to
campus every year. The grant began in 2003-04.
Foreign Fulbright scholars offer a rich resource to the campus and to
the Portland and Oregon community. These visiting academics and
professionals teach, conduct research, provide short-term guest
lectures, and bring a unique international dimension to the campus.
Between 1990 and 2002, PSU hosted 15 Fulbright scholars from different
parts of the world, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Hungary,
Russia, Israel, Austria, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Korea, Malaysia,
Bulgaria, and Morocco. PSU also shares its faculty expertise with the
world; in the past 10 years, 25 faculty members have conducted research
and taught overseas in 18 countries.
Within the past year, PSU faculty and staff have designed a protocol
for the implementation of new international partnerships and have
written a comprehensive case study of the university's international
commitments in Korea. The process of international asset mapping has
begun, and PSU's professional schools of Business, Engineering, and the
College of Urban and Public Affairs have all expanded their programs
internationally in different ways. PSU also is fortunate to host many
internationally recognized scholars as visiting professors.
The International Special Programs Office, which is part of the
School of Extended Studies, develops training and educational programs
in partnership with international universities, organizations, and
agencies serving approximately 750 students and visitors a year. These
programs are custom designed to meet the specific needs of each group
and draw on the expertise and resources of PSU and the Portland
community. Current and past programs include the Intensive English
Language Program, short-term American Culture and English Language
programs, English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher training, and
Cross-Cultural Training and Orientation Programs.
http://www.isp.pdx.edu/
PSU has developed a number of partnerships with the Portland
community: the World Affairs Council of Oregon; the Multicultural
Resource Center; the Japanese, Mexican, and Canadian Consulate Generals;
the Oregon Peace Institute; the Oregon International Council; the United
Nations Association; Global Portland; the Peace Corps; the Global and
Multicultural Resource Center; the Ancient Egypt Studies Association;
the Portland Art Museum; Portland Public Schools; the American Research
Center in Egypt (Portland chapter); the Northwest Film Center; Mercy
Corps; and the Andisheh Center.
Internationalization and the New Majority Student
Aligned with PSU President Daniel Bernstine's Internationalization
Initiative, which PSU inaugurated in January 2000, PSU seeks to broaden
the understanding and involvement of the campus and the global community
through integration, travel-abroad opportunities, increasing the
international presence on campus, and engagement with others throughout
the region, state, nation, and around the world.
During the first two years of this initiative, PSU formed an
Internationalization Action Council. The main focus of the Council is to
(a) revise and refine the goals and recommendations created by the
Initiative's International Working Group in 2000, and (b) draft an
Internationalization Action Plan for the campus community to review. PSU
presented these goals to the Faculty Senate in March 2003.
The basis for the Internationalization Action Council's work, as of
fall 2003, is presented in the following goal statements. Further
iteration of each goal can be found here.
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Goal #1: Increase opportunities for every PSU student to
have meaningful contact with other cultures through: (a) our academic
curriculum, (b) study-abroad opportunities, (c) distance learning
through the use of technology, (d) international students, (e) faculty
visiting our campus, (f) all other aspects of the campus environment,
and (g) community-based learning opportunities.
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Goal #2: Develop university policies and procedures that
encourage leadership and innovation in the creation and delivery of a
world-class international education program.
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Goal #3: Increase opportunities for PSU faculty, academic
professionals, and staff to incorporate international dimensions into
their teaching, scholarship, and professional development.
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Goal #4: Build on Oregon and Northwest Washington's emerging
sense of themselves as places with an international character and
critical links with the rest of the world.
PSU's formulation of these goals represents the university's need to
devise innovative strategies for meeting the international education
needs of its students. Typically, due to their part-time character and
financial circumstances, the majority of PSU's students cannot
participate in the longer semester- or year-abroad programs, despite the
fact that the university presently offers more than 100 study-abroad and
internship opportunities. The President's Internationalization
Initiative creates the impetus to look at new ways to develop
international experiences for these students, both at home and abroad.
The decision to offer and award Internationalization Mini Grants
(beginning in winter 2003) is an important new step in this direction,
aimed at increasing "opportunities for PSU faculty, academic
professionals, and staff to incorporate international dimensions into
their teaching, scholarly agendas, programs, and professional
development." Two awards pertain to the direction that PSU
administrators wish to go in terms of short-term international
experiences. Examples of recently approved awards include an
investigation of two-week 'border plunge experiences' conducted by the
PSU Center for Academic Excellence and Center for Science Education
titled, "Strengthening International Community-Based Learning at PSU: A
Model Course to Build a Model Program" (on the U.S./Mexican border). The
second award example is an investigation by the School of Social Work on
the potential for a "Summer Overseas Experience Program in Ghana."
In the 2003-04 academic year, the university plans to create
categories for incentive grant competition in two other areas, both
short term: heritage learning (focused on Vietnamese, Spanish, and
Italian, the latter tied to Portland's new Sister City relationship with
Bologna) and expanded study of ethnic minorities in Oregon (e.g., there
are 40,000 ethnic Vietnamese residents in Oregon, and Portland's Somali
refugee population was augmented with a new group of Somali-Bantu
immigrants in 2003.
International Learning Goals
PSU graduates should leave the university with certain knowledge,
attitudes, and skills that will enable them to function as citizens of
the world. Specifically, they should have acquired or developed the
following attributes:
Knowledge
- Understands prevailing world conditions, developments, and trends
associated with such world issues as population growth, economic
conditions, international conflict, human rights, and the like.
- Understands how human actions modify the physical environment, and
how physical systems affect human systems.
- Demonstrates in-depth knowledge of a single culture (other than
their own).
Attitudes
- Recognizes and appreciates differences among cultures; has developed
tolerance for the diverse viewpoints that emerge from these
differences.
- Has moved beyond ethnocentrism to a position approaching
empathy--or, the ability to see others as they see themselves, given
their conditions and values.
- Has developed self-awareness and self-esteem regarding his/her own
culture, with all its inherent diversity.
Skills
- The ability to communicate effectively across cultures.
- The ability to use maps and other geographic representations to
acquire, process, and report information.
- (Recommended) The ability to use another language to accomplish
basic communication tasks, including the ability to understand a
newspaper, technical reports, and everyday instructions.
Assessing International Learning Goals
Since PSU's International Learning Goals are themselves a work in
progress, so are the university's specific strategies for assessing
them. The university community feels confident that work in the year to
come will yield a number of new strategies.
At present, PSU administrators are thinking more about the big
picture, namely, how the assessment of international learning goals
meshes with the larger "climate of assessment" that prevails on the
current campus.
In response to a group of graduate students who noticed that PSU had
nearly a dozen assessment-related initiatives underway simultaneously,
the university launched a new effort called, "Connecting the Dots," to
integrate the many endeavors already in progress, link the various
assessment activities, and provide a more comprehensive view of the
inter-relationships among the different campus initiatives, including
internationalization. The recently published brochure, "Connecting the
Dots," states, "The President's Internationalization Initiative is
integrally related to each of the other initiatives." International
priorities inform admissions and enrollment management alike. Global
citizenship is thus becoming part of PSU's institutional mission.
Last updated: April 27, 2005
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