Provost Seeks Global Domination

A focus on international programs will ramp up in the coming years. At the Dec. 2 Academic Senate meeting, Jeremy Haefner, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, gave a presentation on the status of RIT’s global presence, which includes study abroad, international campuses in Dubai and Dubrovnik, Croatia, and co-ops abroad.

Haefner illustrated the relevance of global programs through the lens of his family. He took a year-long sabbatical to do research in Spain after receiving his tenure; his children also joined him there. He thinks of that as a defining and transformative year in his and his children’s lives. A solid study abroad program attracts students, he added, citing the criteria his son’s peers recently used in making their own school choice.

Haefner set targets for a dramatic expansion of international ties by 2013 (see table).

There was no opposition to Haefner’s assertions that RIT needs greater international participation. Eli Saber, senator from the Kate Gleason College of Engineering, said simply, “I love it.” Tim Engström, vice chair of Academic Senate, joked that the discussion was, “far too congenial.”

The semester conversion was called the key to increasing the number of students able to study abroad. It meshes smoothly with the calendars and schedules of other universities in the world, which often follow semester systems.

Haefner additionally suggested the creation of a new director or assistant provost for globalization who would be tasked with serving as a liaison for these sorts of programs, developing the global campuses, and furthering RIT’s global efforts.

This proposal was also well received by the senate and is being considered.

Provost’s Targets for Global Programs