The University of Tennessee has embarked on an ambitious plan to help students gain the international and intercultural knowledge they need to succeed in today's world.
"Ready for the World: The International and Intercultural Awareness Initiative" is part of a long-range plan to transform the campus into a culture of diversity that best prepares students for working and competing in the 21st century.
"'Ready for the World' will prepare our students, faculty and staff for success in an ever-changing global society," said UT Interim Chancellor Jan Simek. "The world is changing every day in its complexity. This effort is not just a lofty academic goal; it is an absolute necessity to provide our students the education and experiences they need to thrive."
Dr. Mary Papke (papke@utk.edu) is director of the program. Faculty and staff leadership committees are working on various aspects of the initiative.
"'Ready for the World' calls for expanding the curricula, increasing global competency of faculty and staff and focusing on the intercultural issues of particular concern to the university," Simek said. "Along with recruiting more international students and faculty, we will increase the number of students who study abroad and change the programming, the opportunities and the overall feel of campus life. In short, we will dramatically alter what it means to be educated at the University of Tennessee."
In 2005 the university began a five-year process of reallocating resources to support this initiative. Crabtree’s five-year goal calls for devoting $1.5 million in funds to faculty recruiting and new initiatives, campus programming, transforming the curriculum, new scholarships and study abroad opportunities and further support of campus diversity efforts.
As many as 100 general education courses will be reworked to integrate cultural awareness. Faculty members are working to strengthen interdisciplinary programs and integrate study abroad into general education as well as departmental requirements.
"Through these efforts, undergraduates will gain a worldview that recognizes, understands and celebrates the complexity of cultures and people. They will gain competence in cross-cultural communication, both domestic and international; the capacity to think critically about international and intercultural issues; the understanding that knowledge is global; and a passion for life-long engagement with global learning," Papke said.
Ready for the World initiatives coincide with UT’s Diversity Action Plan that requires all departments to strengthen recruitment and retention efforts to enhance diversity among all faculty and staff.
"While our primary goal is focused on the student experience, we are creating an environment that welcomes and nurtures the very best faculty, who represent all corners of the world. This initiative lays the foundation to learn from their world knowledge, hear and appreciate their point of view, and learn from their experiences," Simek said.
Planning for "Ready for the World" began in 2004 as UT’s Quality Enhancement Plan, which was required for reaccreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The reaccreditation phase ended in the fall of 2005 with UT receiving a highly positive 10-year SACS reaccreditation.
