A Detailed Prospectus on a Proposed Concept for

KSU’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)

Title for This QEP:    GLOBAL  LEARNING  FOR  ALL  GRADUATES  OF  KSU

In this new paradigm U.S. diversity would be understood and taught as the historical result of multiple overlapping diasporas created by the evolving process of globalization. And, concomitantly, understanding deeply different cultural and political perspectives from outside the United States would help develop the intercultural skills students will need as citizens within an increasingly diverse and globally interdependent nation. Today’s graduates need to be prepared for the complexities of the global [society] and be equipped to live and work productively with persons from other nations and different cultural backgrounds…Thus, we believe that students should be educated to read back and forth between the local and the global, between multiple forms of identity and difference.

Grant H. Cornwell and Eve W. Stoddard

Globalizing Knowledge: Connecting International

and Intercultural Studies, 1999

Focus of the Plan

The Critical Issues to be Addressed by this QEP

KSU has had almost two decades of institutional engagement in international education and has gained national recognition. Our accomplishments have been outstanding in many areas and impressive in others.  We were among the first in Georgia to establish an office of international programs, which was reorganized, expanded, and elevated in Fall 2003 to the Institute for Global Initiatives.  We were also among the first to internationalize the general education curriculum and establish undergraduate majors, minors, and certificates with an international focus.  Our campus-wide commitment to honoring diversity and multicultural perspectives has been impressive as well and complements the mission of global learning for all.

KSU has been intentional and systematic in its initiatives in international education.  Opportunities exist for interaction among the various units of the institution, and between the campus and the community.  More importantly, we established numerous linkages with higher educational institutions overseas.  These have provided excellent opportunities for international learning experiences for our faculty and students, either directly or through consortia arrangements.  Our annual country study program, popularly called the “Year of …”,  has attracted regional and national attention.  Since the mid-1980’s, the numbers of our international faculty and students have soared, as have the numbers of our faculty and students who have had international experiences.  Similarly, the campus community has become much more diverse in its racial and cultural representation.

As a result of these accomplishments, KSU has been recognized in the state and nation as a leader in internationalization.  Currently, KSU provides leadership for two of five World Regional Councils established by the Board of Regents’ Office of International Education.  These are the Americas Council and the Asia Council.  In addition, KSU was one of eight institutions selected in 2003 by the American Council on Education (ACE) to participate in a national project called, “Global Learning for All.”  As part of that project, KSU conducted an internationalization review, established a set of global learning outcomes, and developed an international strategic plan.  The internationalization review revealed our strengths and challenges.  For example, we learned that while several degree programs as well as general education have international learning outcomes and have established links between these outcomes and courses requirements, many other programs do not have upper division courses that address international issues in meaningful ways. In addition, we learned that there is a need to align more strongly KSU’s co-curricular international learning experiences to program outcomes.

Both our participation in the ACE initiative and our internal reviews and reorganization underscore the need to move international education to the next level.  This next level for KSU is “global learning for all graduates.” Our ultimate goal is to ensure that all KSU graduates are well-educated and responsible global citizens.  Consequently, and borrowing from the language of the Institute’s international strategic plan, the critical issues to be addressed by this QEP focus on achieving greater:

a.  internationalization of the curriculum at all levels (faculty-centered),

b.  intercultural engagement for all students in and outside the classroom (student

     centered), and

c.  institutionalization of global learning campus-wide (administration-centered).

Specifically, the QEP will strengthen the university’s curricular, co-curricular, and collaborative initiatives related to global learning.  It will broaden and deepen opportunities for international and multicultural learning.  The QEP will provide the infrastructure (policies, practices, resources, and assessment processes) needed to systemically advance the university in its achievement of the global learning outcomes that were developed in Fall 2004.

Focus of the Plan

How this QEP will Improve Student Learning

Since global learning occurs in and outside of the classroom, KSU’s divisions, departments, programs and services will collaborate to articulate clear, measurable, learning objectives, set targets, and engage in reviews to determine the achievement of those objectives.  This QEP will improve student learning by focusing strongly on the global learning outcomes that were established in 2004 as part of the ACE initiative.  In Fall 2004, KSU’s Global Learning for All Steering Committee developed the initial draft of a set of global learning objectives.  These student learning outcomes served as a starting point for conversations about greater inclusion of multicultural and global perspectives in all degree programs, general education, campus life, co-curricular experiences, and KSU’s QEP.  This QEP will be comprised of a number of major action plans and initiatives which are designed to facilitate the achievement of the following general global learning goals and specific learning outcomes for all KSU graduates:

Graduates Possess Global Awareness and International Perspective (Knowledge):

• Graduates articulate knowledge of world history, politics, government, literature, regional geography, and economics; they will systematically acquire information from a variety of sources regarding diverse regions, countries, and cultures.
• Graduates make informed critical assessments of global events, processes, trends, and issues, and convey the interconnectedness of political, economic, and environmental systems.
• Graduates interpret world events from more than one cultural viewpoint, and they will analyze the effects of internationalization and globalization on the nation, state, and local communities.
• Graduates articulate perspectives and experiences in global learning associated with their degree programs.

Graduates Are Effective in Cross-Cultural Communication and Engagement (Skills):

• Graduates recognize individual and cultural differences and demonstrate an ability to communicate and interact effectively across cultures.
• Graduates demonstrate fundamental communication skills in one or more foreign languages.
• Graduates demonstrate flexibility, openness, empathy, and tolerance for ambiguity.
• Graduates espouse and exhibit respect for diversity.
• Graduates demonstrate sophisticated uses of databases, computers, the Internet, the Web, and other information technologies for global communication and problem-solving.

Graduates Are Committed to Global Ethics, Social Justice, & Sustainable Development (Values):

• Graduates advocate and show support for human rights and economic well-being throughout the world community, including but not limited to the importance of access to education, health care, and employment.
• Graduates address environmental resources and issues in ways that benefit the world and future generations.
• Graduates connect root causes of acute global problems (e.g., population growth, poverty, disease, hunger, war, and ethnic strife) to issues of land use and access to natural resources (e.g., clean air and water, bio-diversity, nutritious food sources, minerals, and energy) as well as political and economic systems.
• Graduates espouse the interconnected nature and importance of global issues such as arms control, maintaining peace, enhancing security, alleviating poverty, and managing resources cooperatively, responsibly, and equitably.

Focus of the Plan

Importance and Centrality of this QEP to KSU’s Core Values,

Mission & Strategic Priorities

The rapidly growing interdependence and interconnectedness of the world’s nations, economies, cultures, and people pose a vital educational imperative for higher education.  Well-educated university graduates of the 21^st century must be globally knowledgeable, interpersonally skilled cross-culturally, and sensitive to fundamental human rights and values.

View 21 is KSU’s updated strategic plan for the 21^st century.  “Internationalization” is one of KSU’s five core values in that plan.  That core value states that KSU is committed to “achieving significant international understanding and global perspectives that create responsible citizens for the 21^st century.”  The strong connections of this QEP to KSU’s core value of Internationalization are abundantly clear. 

Furthermore, the other four core values identified in View 21 are also linked to and are reflected in this QEP.  The core value of “Community of Learners” highlights KSU’s commitment to “building a holistic, diversity mature, and interdisciplinary community…”  This QEP’s strong emphasis on the world community and on appreciating multicultural diversity constitutes a strong tie to that core value.  At the heart of KSU’s core value of “Partnerships” is a focus on “practicing collaboration and uniting diverse disciplines, perspectives, and peoples.”  Again, this QEP fosters partnerships and perspectives that unite the world’s people.  The core value of “Interdisciplinary Learning” underscores KSU’s commitment to “making connections” throughout the educational experience.”  This QEP will underscore the importance of having all graduates make global connections in their learning and their lives.  Likewise, the final core value of “Leadership” reflects KSU’s commitment to “promoting ethical leadership, social responsibility, and meaningful community engagement that make a difference.” This entire QEP, especially its emphasis on the values of global social responsibility, constitutes a significant advancement in global leadership development for KSU graduates.

Clearly, this QEP is centrally linked to all five of KSU’s core values which in turn are linked to KSU’s Mission and Strategic Goals. The University System of Georgia’s current strategic plan also includes a significant commitment to the advancement of international education across the curriculum and in extra-curricular activities as well.  Few QEP topics could be  more important or centrally connected to KSU’s core values, mission, and strategic goals than this one.

Institutional Capability for Initiating & Sustaining this QEP

Over the past 20 years, KSU has established a proven, successful, and recognized track record of achieving substantive advances in global and multicultural education.  All of the university’s colleges, its division of continuing education, and its division of student success and enrollment services have made notable advances in this regard.  The reorganization and elevation of several key units under the new Institute for Global Initiatives in 2003 were intended to reinforce and empower greater advances in internationalization in the future.

Admittedly, achieving global learning for all KSU graduates on the knowledge, skills, and values dimensions outlined above is a lofty aspiration.  While many of KSU’s current graduates are presently achieving these vital learning outcomes, many others are not.  At the very least, KSU must increase substantially the percentage of its graduates who are well-educated and responsible global citizens as defined by the expected learning outcomes for its graduates, and we are particularly well-positioned to do that successfully.  Aspiring to “global learning for all graduates” remains, however, the ultimate goal and educational imperative.

One likely path for fleshing out a detailed implementation plan for this QEP in 2005-2006 would be to expect each of the following units to identify and define their particular project or major initiative for this QEP:

· College of the Arts

· Bagwell College of Education

· Coles College of Business

· College of Humanities & Social Sciences

· College of Science & Mathematics

· WellStar College of Health & Human Services

· University College

· Graduate Studies & Sponsored Programs

· Student Success & Enrollment Services

· Undergraduate Residential Student Life

· Undergraduate Nontraditional Student Life

· Graduate Student Life

· Information Technology Services & Library

· Administrative Support Services (Cross-Divisional)

· Institute for Global Initiatives (University-Wide)

· Other campus units and programs

Each of these projects should have a direct link to one or more of the global learning outcomes outlined above in an effort to improve and deepen global learning for all KSU graduates.  This proposed representation of all major campus divisions and student levels assures a broad and campus-wide impact of the QEP.  By limiting each division or collective group to the design and implementation of only one major initiative for the QEP, the number of projects overall should be manageable, and each division’s efforts can be concentrated on pursuing one significant project of improvement in a sophisticated, deep, and productive manner.

The QEP Implementation Steering Committee would serve as the oversight and coordinating agent for the 15 projects and would work to ensure that each project met common SACS standards of sophistication and acceptability.  This coordinating committee would also encourage the development of a balanced mix of projects so that the entire set of knowledge, skills, and values outcomes are addressed to some degree if at all possible.  Each of the 15 project directors will serve as the members of the QEP Implementation Steering Committee along with Val Whittlesey, AVPAA (Committee Co-Chair), Chris Horne, Faculty Representative of KSU’s SACS Leadership Team (Committee Co-Chair), Linda Noble, Associate Director of CETL, and Ed Rugg, Director of Institutional Effectiveness & SACS Liaison.

Assessment of the Plan & Its Impact on Student Learning

Once the major action plans and initiatives of this QEP are identified and designed later in 2005 and 2006, appropriate and specific assessment methods and strategies for each initiative will be established for monitoring their success and their impacts on improving student learning  (to the degree that such impacts can be independently identified).  Since most of these assessments will occur at the college/program level, they could be added/connected to existing methods for gathering evidence for the Assurance of Learning (AOL).

In addition, several institution-wide assessment measures for the success of the QEP as a whole and its impact on student learning will also be established.  One of those general methods will involve repeating KSU’s 2004 systematic audit of internationalization for the ACE project.  That audit yielded a baseline of  “pre-QEP” activity.  Repeating that audit three years and five years after the QEP is initiated should yield substantial evidence of programmatic improvement in KSU’s curricular and noncurricular educational experiences.

Another institution-wide assessment should involve an analysis of data collected routinely each year.  Institutional research on enrollment trends of international students, student demographics reflecting diversity, study abroad participation, and targeted international courses and programs should provide some supporting evidence of the QEP’s success.  Trends in the employment of a diverse and international faculty, staff, and administration could also lend support for the QEP’s success.

As a participant in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), KSU currently has some pre-QEP baseline data on the reported impact of the KSU experience on several related global learning outcomes for freshmen and seniors.  If the QEP is succeeding at the three-year and five-year marks, the NSSE results for those later years should show marked improvement from the current baseline data.  In addition, KSU’s average ratings should be significantly and substantially higher than the averages of its national comparators on the NSSE items, reflecting KSU’s gains in global learning for all graduates as a function of the QEP’s success.

These are but a few examples.  Many more assessment methods and strategies will need to be identified once the operational plan for the QEP is fleshed out in 2005 and 2006. 

Broad-Based Involvement of the Campus Community in the Plan

Over the past 20 years, KSU has demonstrated broad-based commitment and involvement for the advancement of global and multicultural learning.  All colleges and major divisions have demonstrated numerous independent initiatives and notable collaborative support for this educational imperative.  Broad-based buy-in of the campus community should be a natural and welcomed extension of these past campus-wide interests and commitments.  The opportunities for KSU to take a giant leap forward in its educational leadership as “Georgia’s International University” are great and would be strongly reinforced by this QEP.