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Summer 2006

MSU collectively frames its international future

“Global Encounter: Framing MSU’s Global Engagement for the 21st Century,” held on campus April 20, provided members of the university with an opportunity to think collectively about the strategic direction of MSU’s international engagement.

The primary focus of the event was to gather feedback regarding what MSU’s international efforts should look like during the next 10 to 20 years. Participants worked to identify countries, partners and themes where MSU can have transformational impacts. Organized under the direction of Provost Kim Wilcox and Jeffrey Riedinger, acting dean of International Studies and Programs, the all-day open forum marked the beginning of what will be an ongoing discussion related to expanding the university’s international reach.

The forum provided an opportunity for the university community to work together toward defining what it means to move MSU “from land-grant to world-grant,” what the road map to get there might look like, and the metrics by which to measure success.

Wilcox addressed participants at the initial forum, underscoring how MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon’s strategic plan, Boldness by Design, challenges us to expand our international reach with an eye to creating a sustainable presence in the world. He emphasized that we need to work collectively toward creating a much more complete and fully integrated presence for MSU, a presence with institutional stability.

Summaries of key themes were compiled and posted online at www.isp.msu.edu/globalencounter/. The online presence will include an area for feedback, encouraging input from anyone who was unable to participate – and an ongoing infusion of new perspectives as future opportunities and challenges arise.

A planning and implementation committee – along with Riedinger, Wilcox and John Hudzik, vice president for global engagement and strategic projects – will work to identify next steps for the university, integrating new conversations into the larger dialogue as they take place across campus.

Riedinger hopes that by the end of fall semester, conversations will be far enough along to provide a strong sense of the consensus on campus, thus informing the budget request process.

A follow-up event, “Global Encounter: China,” was held May 18 in the International Center. Future forums will build on the broad themes that emerged from the April 20 event while focusing on a specific area or topic.

For more information, visit www.isp.msu.edu/globalencounter/