The international prog rams at Juniata College were honored by receiving the Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization from NAFSA: National Association of International Educators .
Award-Winning: Honoring Juniata’s Internationalization Juniata is one of five institutions in the U.S. to receive the 2012 Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization from NAFSA: National Association of International Educators.
“Studying abroad is a tim e when your most mean ing ful , deep personal growth occ urs because you are ou t on your own, and you are totall y out of your comfor t zon e." —Eleanor Provias ’13 , ear th and environment al studies
—Establishing international student exchanges with partner universities around the world. Juniata has established programs in India, China, Mexico, the Gambia and Morocco. The College also formed a consortium with five other Northeast colleges and universities to help develop new study-abroad opportunities in nontraditional sites. —The Language in Motion program, a 2004 Simon Spotlight Award winner, is a national consortium with 12 partner institutions. In addition, in 2011, Juniata reached its goal of having 10 percent of Juniata’s 1,600 students be international. The College’s class of 2011 had 48 percent of its graduates participate in an international experience, mostly through Juniata’s 33 programs in 16 countries. 13
2012 Spring-Summer
“Our highly successful international initiatives are the result of more than 30 years of faculty dedication and strategic administrative support, as well as an institutional commitment to providing our students with transformative experiences, ”says Jenifer Cushman, dean of international programs. Some of the College’s internationalization efforts include: —Establishing in 2009 a Global Engagement Initiative that led to the formation of an intercultural learning assessment committee and the Global Village Living and Learning Community, a designated floor in one of the College’s residence halls where many international students live. —The dedication of Juniata’s faculty and staff to provide students with transformative international experiences such as teaching and advising international students and traveling to international campuses to form partnerships for study-abroad or summer programs. “The greatest innovation in global engagement at Juniata is, perhaps, this collaborative spirit cultivated through faculty involvement,” Cushman says. —Juniata’s formation of an international campus community, an initiative including requirements that all students must take at least two internationally focused courses, establishment of the campus Unity House, and an international “Host Family” program.
Photo courtesy Eleano r Provias
Photo: Jason Jones