(College Planning and
Management, August 2012 - by Scott D. Miller and Marylouise Fennell)
Exceptional leaders are able
to find the best in themselves and, in turn, inspire, engage, and mobilize
others, even in the most demanding circumstances. The current global
financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn have ratcheted up the
pressure on leaders already grappling with a world in transformation, says
Dominic Barton, managing editor of the McKinsey
Quarterly.
"Everyone needs to get into the same kayak
in the same whitewater rapids that truly are the global economy,"
emphasizes Senior Consultant Richard Skinner of Harris IIC Partners,
Washington, D.C.
As our campuses increasingly compete for
students with universities worldwide, globalization can provide a competitive
advantage. This means educating students who think globally; are prepared
to thrive in volatile, pluralistic culture; and who understand the trends
driving international change.
In a major research effort, McKinsey has
identified five global forces that are rewriting the list of business
opportunities and challenges. They include
the rise of emerging markets as centers of consumerism and innovation, the
imperative to improve developed-market productivity, ever-expanding global
networks, the tension between rapidly rising resource consumption and sustainability,
and the increasingly larger role of government as a business regulator and
partner.
In 1994, we founded the InterAmerican Consortium
composed of six U.S. Colleges and 11 international institutions as a means of
globalizing American higher education and meeting the requirements of
international trends. This concept goes
well beyond the typical semester of study-abroad year to place preparedness of
U.S. students on a level plane with their international contemporaries.
We suggest:
- Initiating globalization across the curriculum. Many institutions have formed campus-wide task forces with representation from a broad range of academic disciplines to foster global awareness and cultural sensitivity. Such interdisciplinary integration can extend beyond business, language, and social sciences courses into disciplines such as the humanities, the physical sciences, and nursing, creating a truly campus-wide focus. In addition, we recommend appointing a faculty position focusing on global initiatives to provide further impetus.
- Engaging faculty and staff. Creating and extending articulation agreements with domestic and international colleges and universities, as we have done through the consortium, can constitute a helpful first step in moving students and other members of the college community beyond their initial comfort zones. Faculty and staff exchanges among institutions as a way of fostering global awareness and education also represent an attractive recruiting vehicle, and a means of bringing faculty on board with the entire concept of globalizing American education.
- Creating global awareness through opportunities other than study abroad. International and travel aboard may not be feasible for all students, including nontraditional learners balancing employment with family responsibilities. Establishing articulation agreements with domestic colleges and universities and service-learning opportunities in other parts of the U.S., however, can broaden students’ intercultural awareness.
- Taking incremental steps. Even small first steps, such as monthly brown-bag lunches on hot topics relating to global awareness, can extend involvement and growth to students and faculty who haven’t previously participated in international initiatives. As a former colleague noted, “Rather than making just one big splash, we’ve been instrumental – along with others – in helping change the climate on campus.”
Today’s students are as likely to come from
Singapore as from San Diego, and our alumni as likely to work in Mumbai as in
Minneapolis. It behooves us, therefore,
to prepare students to be tomorrow’s global citizens.
# # #
Dr.
Scott D. Miller is president of the College and M.M. Cochran professor of
Leadership Studies at Bethany College in West Virginia. Now in this third college presidency, he has
served as a CEO for 22 years.
Dr.
Marylouise Fennell, RSM, a former president of Carlow University in Pittsburgh,
PA, is senior counsel for the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and a
partner in Hyatt-Fennell an executive search firm.
They have collaborated on eight books, including “President
to President: Views on Technology in Higher Education” (2010) and
“Presidential Perspectives: Economics Prosperity in the Next Decade”
(2011.) Both serve as consultants to college presidents and boards.
