The William H. Young Center for Global Education

The Center for Global Education was established in 2004 to direct and promote the various international initiatives of the college. As part if its core mission and liberal arts foundation, Edgewood College aspires to produce students who have knowledge and experience of the global dynamics in the contemporary world, who show the ability to analyze and to value other cultures, and who are thus equipped to become effective global citizens. To achieve this, Edgewood engages its faculty, students, and staff in the ongoing process of integrating a global perspective into all facets of campus life, linking curricular and co-curricular initiatives and creating a more globally-oriented learning community.

The college’s goal is a globalized Edgewood campus. This includes a curriculum with widespread international and global content, broad student participation in study abroad, a significant presence of international students on campus, co-curricular activities around global themes, and strong faculty and staff engagement in global programs.

The Center’s efforts are devoted to educating globally competent graduates who have the cross-cultural skills to know and esteem others’ perspectives, a deep understanding of global interdependence, and acceptance of difference. The Center concerns itself with six areas:

• Curriculum
• Study abroad
• Faculty development
• International students
• Co-curricular activities
• Initiatives to specific world regions

The Center’s co-directors assist faculty to incorporate a global perspective into the curriculum, plan co-curricular activities that will reinforce what students learn in the classroom, and offer opportunities for students and faculty to participate directly in a global experience through study abroad and faculty/student exchange.

STUDY ABROAD
Edgewood College strongly encourages its students to study abroad. Experiencing another culture firsthand is a unique opportunity for students to learn about the world and their place in it. Students are given a wide choice of approved programs that will enhance their liberal arts education with a global perspective. Study abroad is the best way for students “to acquire the skills, attitudes, and perceptions that allow them to be globally and cross-culturally competent [which] is central to U.S. security and economic interests in the twenty-first century.” (NAFSA White Paper on International Educational Policy, 2003.)

The Center staff is available to advise and assist students at all stages of the study abroad experience, from identifying and choosing a suitable program to negotiating the application process; from providing an orientation program for students about to depart the United States to helping returned students use their international experience to bring a global dimension to campus. Planning ahead for a successful study abroad experience is essential. Students should attend a study abroad information session, offered regularly through the school year, and then make an appointment with Center staff.

The Center staff administers all Edgewood College programs abroad and also coordinates Edgewood student participation in non-Edgewood study abroad programs, including:

• An exchange semester or year abroad at a university in one of 35 countries through the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP). See www.isep.org;
• An exchange program with Masaryk University in the Czech Republic;
• A semester in Rome, Italy led by an Edgewood College faculty member;
• A summer Spanish-language program in Guanajuato, Mexico;
• Short term study abroad experiences led by Edgewood faculty, generally 10 to 21 days, which may offer Human Issues credit;
• An approved program sponsored by another institution.

The college is also part of a collaborative project with other schools in the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, whereby Edgewood students may participate in programs abroad run by these schools while remaining enrolled at Edgewood.

Policies
A student enrolled in a program of study abroad approved for transfer of credit by Edgewood College may be eligible for financial assistance under Title IV, HEA programs (§485(a)(1)(N)). All students must work with the staff of the Center and the Registrar’s Office in order to assure that all procedures for course selection and pre-approval, transfer of academic credit, applicability of financial aid, and program payment are followed. While many students wait until their junior year to study abroad, the second semester of the sophomore year can be considered if the student meets all program requirements.