American Council on Education's Internationalization Lab

The University of North Georgia participated in the American Council on Education's (ACE) 17th Internationalization Laboratory cohort.

Starting in August, 2019 and spanning a period of 20 months, UNG developed strategies and goals for campus internationalization with the goal of long-lasting institutional change. The UNG Internationalization Lab Final Report (PDF) is now complete.

The next steps towards implementation will include mapping the recommendations from the report and major institutional initiatives to prioritize Center of Global Engagement (CGE) goals.

Major Themes From the Lab Report
UNG should assess the current global learning opportunities and build intentional curricular and co-curricular pathways to global learning for all of its students. The upcoming revision of the general education requirements can be used as a starting place for building new opportunities.

UNG should tell its story of internationalization by communicating current international opportunities for field work, research, and study, highlighting international students, scholars, and faculty, and promoting our current partnerships. Improved communications will assist the university with its fundraising efforts related to internationalization.

Create and implement professional development for faculty and staff in the following areas:

global learning and curricular design

intercultural communication

faculty support to lead study abroad programs

faculty support for international research collaboration

Create appropriate structures (faculty mentoring, college liaisons, advisory councils, etc.) for faculty engagement related to internationalization. These could be for international student integration into UNG classrooms, creating new education abroad opportunities, partnership development, UNG policy review, and a host of other related efforts.

Promote the values of diversity, inclusion, and equity throughout CGE programming and especially in student, scholar, and faculty recruitment efforts. Increasing the number of international students and scholars on our campuses as well as being very intentional in our recruitment of diverse populations into our education abroad opportunities will further UNG’s goals in this area.

Closely examine assessment methods of CGE programs and services to ensure appropriate design, outcomes, and continuous improvement.

ACE Internationalization Lab Report

All stakeholders are encouraged to read the report and its recommendations for moving internationalization forward at UNG.

How this Process Started

The first meeting of the cohort took place on August 9, 2019 in Washington, DC, and UNG was represented by the co-chairs of UNG’s ACE Internationalization Lab Steering Committee, Sheila Schulte and Dr. Steven Lloyd.

The purpose of the meeting was to get an overview of the process and timeline, meet the other cohort members, meet the ACE staff and the ACE Lab advisors, and clarify next steps. There was also a panel of recent Lab members discussing the process based on their institutional contexts and giving advice on how to make it a successful experience.

UNG’s ACE Lab advisor is Dr. Penelope (Nell) Pynes, and the ACE meeting allowed us time to get to know one another and think through the process at UNG. Dr. Pynes, is the Associate Provost for International Programs at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. She earned her master’s degree from the University of Alabama and a doctorate in Germanic linguistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is has been a leader with NAFSA and the Association of International Education Administrators where she just completed her term as President. Her institution went through the ACE Internationalization Lab several years ago under her leadership and found it to be a transformative process.

Steering Committee

The committee produced the Lab's final report which aligned with other strategic initiatives at UNG. This committee was formed based on the recommendations from each Dean.

Committee Members and Working Groups by Topic

The committee members served as chairs of several working groups divided by topi

Topic	Co-chairs	Working Group Members
Articulated Institutional Commitment	Waros Ngamsiriudom, Mike Cottrell College of Business Sue Klappa, College of Health Sciences and Professions	Jeff Boggan Jill Johnson Eunse Park Mariangela Vecchiarini-Piazza
Education Abroad Practices	Juman Al-Bukhari, College of Arts and Letters Alex Wisnoski, College of Arts and Letters	Erin Barding Shannon Gilstrap Victoria Hightower
International Students	Joe Matthews, Commandant of Cadets	James Badger Mohammad (Reza) Nourbakhsh Robert Robinson
Curricular and Co-curricular Learning Outcomes	Winnifred Namatovu, College of Education	Lindsay Bailey John Holliday Lauren Johnson Gene Van Sickle
Collaboration and Partnerships	Katie Simmons, Mike Cottrell College of Business Elizabeth Marekia-Cleaveland, Institute of Environmental and Spatial Analysis	Sharon Hamilton Bobbi Larson Andy Novobilski Andrzej (Dre) Przybyla
Faculty Policies and Procedures	Kelly McFaden, College of Education Vanessa Jones, College of Health Sciences and Professions	Olivier LeBlond Anastasia Lin Mohan Menon Jill Schulze
Administrative Leadership, Structure and Staffing	Nancy Dalman, College of Science & Mathematics Jeremy Cooper, College of Science & Mathematics	Marcus Brewer Jennifer (Jen) Graff Cristian Harris

Timeline

Date	Plan
January, 2021	ACE Internationalization Lab Final Report completed
October 12, 2020	ACE Internationalization Lab Peer Review
May 1, 2020	Steering Committee meeting
March 6, 2020	Steering Committee meeting
February 3, 2020	Steering Committee meeting
December 6, 2019	Steering Committee meeting
November 1, 2019	Steering Committee meeting
October 14, 2019	Dr. Pynes will visit and meet with the Steering Committee, the Provost, Provost's council, Center of Global Engagement staff, and other constituents
October 4, 2019	Steering Committee meeting
September 13, 2019	Steering Committee meeting
August 9, 2019	First meeting in Washington, DC to establish process and timeline