By Hannah Gray
As ideas from the last year's Retention Task Force intersected with the discussion of adding Chinese language courses to UP's curriculum, a new idea sparked.
The brainchild of the Rev. Stephen Rowan, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, is a consortium of UP faculty and staff involved in international languages and cultures. The consortium met for the first time on Nov. 5.
"We have a number of programs that support international language and culture," Rowan said. "It would be helpful if one group talked to another."
As a member of the Retention Task Force, Rowan and others looked at the possibility of creating consortiums for advising, as well as teaching and learning. Additionally, Rowan was aware of discussion going on between the provost's office, ROTC and the Department of Foreign Languages about adding Chinese as another language.
That ignited the idea of creating a consortium for international languages and culture, as well, according to Rowan.
The consortium will serve as means of dialogue between the many different international groups on campus, according to Kathleen Regan, a Spanish professor and the facilitator of the consortium.
"This is a time to pull together different people on campus that are doing some kind of international outreach," Regan said.
The consortium brings together UP's Department of Foreign Languages, study abroad, Engineers Without Borders, the Moreau Center, E-Scholars, the Office of International Services, and staff who facilitate international scholarships such as the Fulbright, according to Regan.
As members of the new consortium, representatives of each international service group will communicate and coordinate with one another. The representatives will then report what was discussed to their own supervisors, according to the Rev. Art Wheeler, C.S.C., an assistant to the provost, director of Studies Abroad, and an associate professor.
"It's not to add a new layer of bureaucracy," Wheeler said. "It doesn't change the lines of reporting."
The idea of the consortium is to connect the different areas of international service on campus.
"There is such a disconnect at times," said Mike Pelley, the director of International Services. "Transparency is good for all."
One way the consortium plans to connect people with opportunities on campus is through identifying students who are appropriate for certain programs.
For example, John Orr - director of honors and fellowship grants and an English professor - depends on other professors to identify students who would qualify for certain scholarships such as the Fulbright Scholarship and the Boren Scholarship.
Both scholarships deal with an international immersion, whether to further language skills, teach or conduct research.
"It's going to help me know students who should be applying for things," Orr said.
However, the mission of the consortium is not for the members to interfere with one another, according to Lisa Reed, assistant dean to the Pamplin School of Business and a business professor.
"We need to bring all these people together so we're not messing with each other's work, but to know what's going on," Reed said.
The hope of the consortium is to eventually establish a center for international learning and global outreach, according to Regan.
The consortium plans to meet three times a year and will meet twice next semester.
