UT Gets Ready for the World
UT has embarked on an ambitious plan to make sure its graduates are “Ready for the World.”
Officially dubbed “Ready for the World: The International and Intercultural Awareness Initiative,” the effort is 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 a global society,” UT Chancellor Loren Crabtree said. “The world is changing every day in 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 and Dr. Jan Simek are co-directors of the program. Faculty and staff leadership committees are working on various aspects of the initiative.
“Ready for the World calls for internationalizing the curriculum, 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.”
A Whole New World
The five-year process of reallocating resources to support Ready for the World began last year. 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 lifelong engagement with global learning,” Papke said.
Ready for the World initiatives coincide with UT’s Diversity Action Plan, which requires all departments to strengthen recruitment and retention efforts to enhance diversity among all faculty and staff.