Penn State Behrend: International Profile

Penn State Behrend Campus Visit:

International Profile As of September 30, 2021

International Student Enrollment at Penn State Behrend (AY 2016/17-2021/22)

International Student Enrollment at Penn State Behrend: Fall 2016 to Fall 2021 (source: iTwo)

Term

# International Students

Fall 2016

392

Fall 2017

389

Fall 2018

356

Fall 2019

320

Fall 2020

170

Fall 2021

127

Top Five represented countries in AY 2020/21

Country

# International Students

China

100

India

16

Taiwan

6

South Korea

4

Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan

3 students each

Study Abroad at Penn State Behrend (AY 2016/17-2021/22) Introduction Penn State Behrend (Erie) is an important partner for education abroad. As the numbers indicate, roughly 20% of all embedded program participants come from the Erie campus and they send a significant number of students abroad on other program types as well. A small note of current interest, Arthur Wang, a doctoral candidate in ESL from China who is currently teaching on-site for Penn State First, was a Behrend student initially. The importance of Ruth Pflueger’s work cannot be over-stated. Ruth is a past recipient of the Lamar Kopp award and is extremely devoted to international education. Any visit to the Behrend campus coordinated by Ruth is full of well-attended and meaningful conversations with students and faculty. She is well-respected and a greatly valued partner.

Academic Year

Penn State Erie Student Participation by Term Fall Spr Sum Spr Fall Embedded Embedded Sum Embedded

Total

2015-16

4

11

7

17

16

14

69

2016-17

2

33

4

22

10

1

73

2017-18

4

21

4

15

15

12

71

2018-19

4

7

6

30

1

11

60

2019-20

2

16

2

--

--

--

20

2020-21

--

--

--

--

--

--

0

Grand Totals

16

88

21

84

42

38

293

Faculty-Led Programming Faculty-Led Programs often have participants from other campuses. This program information includes all student information, not just specific to Behrend. The data available in the participation chart above only includes Erie-based students.

Faculty-Led Embedded Programs Since 2015 Behrend has operated 14 faculty-led embedded programs Total program leaders = 37 Total program participants = 206 Breakout details on program participant levels, location, and instructor leader names on the attached spreadsheet All programs for Spring 2020 and Summer 2020 were canceled due to COVID-19 Faculty-Led Freestanding Programs Petra, Jordan: Archaeological Field School Dr. Leigh-Ann Bedal, Associate Professor of Anthropology, History This program was proposed to Education Abroad in 2014, and has run once, during the summer of 2018 with 3 students.

Toronto, Canada: North American Politics Robert Speel, Program Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science Hosted by Ryerson University in Toronto and runs every other year. (It was set to last run in 2020 but was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic. Rob did offer a virtual experience in collaboration with his partners at Ryerson instead.)

In 2018, 11 students participated

International Agreements at Penn State Behrend Overview of Penn State Erie International Agreements Penn State Erie, The Behrend College (Erie) Chancellor Ralph Ford taught at the Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic as a Fulbright Scholar in 2005. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in February 2020.

Erie has two (2) active agreements. Since 2015, Erie has provided the following feedback in response to our Annual Reports.

1. Ryerson University in Canada. MOA whereby Erie faculty and Ryerson teach Penn State and Ryerson students at Ryerson during a summer program. The agreement was signed on July 18, 2008, with an auto renewal clause.

Feedback on 2015 ARIA “Every other summer, a Behrend faculty member, Robert Speel, offer a team-taught course with a faculty member at Ryerson. The course will be offered again in Summer, 2016.”

Feedback on 2016 ARIA “Every other year, a summer course is taught collaboratively by a member of the Behrend and Ryerson faculty at Ryerson University in Toronto. Behrend students are housed at Ryerson and attend class with Ryerson students. This summer, 2016, the program ran and, in the future, will run as all other summer programs in the Global Programs portfolio.”

Feedback on 2018 ARIA “This is a Maymester program led by a Behrend faculty member, Rob Speel. Rob co-teaches a course at Ryerson University with a Ryerson faculty member. Both Behrend and Ryerson students attend the course.

Students are enrolled at their home institution. Behrend students live in Ryerson’s accommodations per contract. The course is offered every other Maymester and ran this summer.”

Feedback on 2019 ARIA “Dr. Robert Speel runs a Maymester course at Ryerson every other year in conjunction with Ryerson faculty.

This is a team-taught course; enrollment includes both PSU and Ryerson students. It gives PSU students an inexpensive opportunity to experience a strongly multicultural, metropolitan environment and expand their understanding of our neighbors to the north—politically, economically, historically and culturally.”

Feedback on 2020 ARIA “Unfortunately, travel to Toronto was impossible this past summer, however, the collaborative course was taught virtually by Behrend and Ryerson faculty. This is an ongoing program and the course will be offered as usual at Ryerson when travel is again possible.”

2. Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences in Germany. Renewal MOU signed on January 14, 2020 and due to expire on January 14, 2025. The original agreement was signed on May 5, 2014 and expired on May 5, 2019. Additionally, Erie had signed an undergraduate exchange program with Rosenheim on December 6, 2016 that expired on December 06, 2019 and was not renewed.

Feedback on 2017 ARIA Behrend provided the following feedback about the partnership “A Behrend faculty member teaches periodically at Rosenheim and will be teaching there again this summer. A Rosenheim faculty member has taught at Behrend. Faculty exchanges are expected to continue.”

Feedback on 2018 ARIA “Two Behrend faculty members have taught at Rosenheim this year. One Rosenheim faculty member is teaching at Behrend this fall.”

Feedback on 2019 ARIA "Rosenheim is a valuable international partner. It has provided housing for Behrend students while on paid, international internships. It has also assisted in locating companies for these internship opportunities.

Rosenheim faculty have taught at Behrend and several Behrend faculty members have taught at Rosenheim.

Rosenheim administrators make regular visits to Behrend College. We expect this collaboration to grow and deepen over time.”

Feedback on 2020 ARIA “Collaborations between faculty members continue and are expected to be ongoing. Normally, Behrend faculty teach at Rosenheim during the summer and a summer course for Behrend students was being planned, but those preparations are temporarily on hold due to the pandemic.”

Feedback on 2021 ARIA “This relationship continues to sustain an EA program for students that is actively used. Renew agreement (upon expiration).”

3.Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences in Germany. Erie had signed an undergraduate exchange program with Rosenheim on December 6, 2016 that expired on December 06, 2019. However, there is an exchange imbalance. According to Section 41 of the agreement, the term of the agreement can be extended by one year to remedy the imbalance. In February 2020, there was an inquiry about a student from Rosenheim possibly coming to Penn State Erie during Fall Semester 2020, but that was not possible due to pandemic-related travel restrictions. Although the agreement technically expired and Erie does not wish to renew the agreement, Erie provided the following comment in the 2020 ARIA: “The disparity in cost makes it difficult for Rosenheim students to participate in an exchange. There are also curricular issues for Behrend students. It has been decided that the best option to involve students in the ongoing partnership is to offer a PSU summer course at Rosenheim for PSU students.”

Even so, in 2021, Erie noted the following: “Behrend faculty teach at Rosenheim regularly. Preparations are currently under way to enable Behrend students to participate in a three-week summer program offered by Rosenheim. This MOA should remain active.”

2017 ARIA feedback about additional international activities: #

Activity Name

Activity Description

Country

Point of Contact

Faculty Travel Grant

Design embedded course

Cuba

Carolynn Masters

2018 ARIA feedback about additional international activities: #

Activity Name

Activity Description

New SUM embedded course

Country

Point of Contact

England Ukraine

Chris Harben Olen Surhko-Harned

2019 ARIA feedback about additional international activities: # 1

Activity Name

Activity Description

Potential short-term Designed for ENG students SUM program

Country

Point of Contact

Czech Republic

Ralph Ford

Additional Information for Penn State Behrend Penn State Erie stands in a region of its own, due to both geography (it is far from other campuses) and the amount of international and global activity on the campus. It is in the Northeast region.

Fast Facts Dr. Ralph Ford is Chancellor and Dean of Penn State Behrend as well as a professor of electrical and computer engineering.

How many students are enrolled?

There are 5,050 students currently enrolled at Penn State Erie. Historically (with the exception of the current academic year), international students account for 6% of the campus population (see page 3).

Majors Penn State Erie offers from the 40 degrees at the bachelors, masters, and associate degree levels. Academic areas are organized within 4 schools – the Black School of Business, the School of Engineering, the School of Humanities & Social Sciences, and the School of Science.

Where is it located?

Penn State’s Erie campus is located just minutes from Erie’s city center and Lake Erie and is within ~100 miles of metropolitan areas, such as Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo.

Does it have residence halls?

Penn State Erie boasts nine residence halls and nine apartment buildings, that house more than 1,900 students.

Penn State Global Contact Information @ Penn State Behrend