Internationalization Task Force Final Report

V. Northern Michigan University will welcome a diverse constituency of teachers and learners; will regularly host international teacher-scholars and performers; and will include an increased number of international students within the student body.

The task force recognizes the importance of enriching the campus community with a broad range of international academic expertise and wide array of international cultural/artistic offerings. International scholars, speakers, and performers enhance the student experience by providing alternative perspectives and understandings of the planet and its opportunities and challenges. The International Task Force implementation plan contains details that will promote these goals. Highlights include:

1. Solicitation of regular visiting international scholars through the competitive application process available through the Fulbright Visiting Scholar in Residence Program, the Fulbright Visiting Specialists Program, and the Fulbright Occasional Lecturer program. Other programs and sources of international visiting teacher-scholars will also be tapped as the occasion arises.
2. Restoration, at a bare minimum, of the presence of international students equal to one percent of the student body (about 100) and increasing to 5% (about 500) by 2010.
3. Development of a "transitions" institute that will include English as a Second language instruction and cultural orientation for international students who are entering the United Sates for higher education and research, to be staffed in part by trained graduate students.

Policy Recommendations: International Constituency at NMU

• The university is urged to regard international visiting teacher-scholars as potential sources of campus enrichment and to seize opportunities available to welcome such scholars and to facilitate their interaction with students.
• The university is urged to provide an electronic clearinghouse for all internationally related matters and to include speakers and performers at this site.
• The university is urged, when considering sites for the establishment of centers for study abroad, to consider the potential of these sites for supplying international students for study at NMU.