Aspects of internationalized academic departments

Posted date: 07 Oct 2021

Without buy-in from the numerous academic divisions on campus, producing globally competent graduates is difficult. But what does it mean to tailor globalization to certain academic disciplines, and how might international education experts help? A purposely internationalized academic department should, in an ideal world, contain the following characteristics:

A vision for what internationalization implies for that department that is well-articulated

Here, efforts have been made to consider and respond to the question, "What does this department "look like" as an internationalized department?"

The existence of explicit ties between academic aims and internationalization at the departmental level

This procedure entails reaching an agreement on how internationalization may and should help the department achieve its basic academic goals, which are often related to learning, teaching, and research. The following are some key questions to consider: How might internationalization help students improve their critical thinking within the discipline or their professional development as they progress through their careers?

Global learning outcomes for each academic field that is well-defined

Internationalizing teaching and learning necessitates the integration of internationalized learning outcomes. This method entails reaching an agreement on the following question: What international knowledge, abilities, and attitudes will assist graduates from each department thrive in their fields?

Within each academic department, there are various faculty engagement techniques for internationalization

Internationalization activities have been linked to the scholarly interests of faculty members. Explicit links may be made in terms of how course-embedded short-term study abroad, international student involvement, transnational research, transnational classroom partnerships, global problem solving, and international development activities might be beneficial in advancing individual faculty members' specific teaching and research agendas.

The presence of departmental support for faculty participation in internationalization

This will almost certainly entail creating an institutional concept for a "internationalized course" and encouraging teachers to think about how their courses relate to global challenges. This could also entail creating a rubric to determine whether or not a course is internationalized. Faculty excellence in international teaching and research awards is frequently beneficial to institutions.

Global learning outcome evaluations are being developed

It is helpful to encourage departments to establish desired global learning outcomes unique to their specialties as part of this approach. Consider utilizing the following rubrics: (1) knowledge, (2) skills, and (3) attitudes. A capstone essay indicating mastery of global learning, a worldwide learning portfolio exhibiting global learning between semesters, a capstone global learning inventory, or intercultural competency survey instruments could all be used as assessment approaches.

Faculty involvement in internationalization assessments is growing

This method includes requesting that departments quantify and evaluate faculty participation in internationalization. Creating a department-level assessment of faculty engagement in internationalization could be part of this approach. Consider creating a rubric that incorporates the department's internationalization vision and goals, as well as the department's global learning outcomes (including targeted learning outcomes, student evaluation, and graduate accomplishment) and curricular internationalization.

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