GREAT Annual Report

2022 GREAT Program Annual Report 

At the beginning of the year 2022, we identified the word “partnerships” as the keyword to guide the GREAT program to explore ways to support faculty global engagement. This keyword has helped us take on a more open-minded and collaborative mindset to partner with faculty and various departments and to support faculty global engagement. To do that, we hosted a series of monthly GREAT lunch and conversation events to establish a network of faculty who have been champions of and who are interested in exploring opportunities of engaging globally. As a result of these conversations, we categorize four special interest groups: 1) Faculty-driven international collaboration and partnership development; 2) International/Intercultural teaching; 3)Support for global research; 4) GREAT conference planning. More excitingly, we expand our faculty advisory board to lead and support these four special interest groups. This expansion provides a framework for us to focus on in 2023 and beyond to continue the efforts in promoting global engagement. Year 2022 has been a starting point for this continuous journey. And we would like to invite you to read the brief review of the GREAT events and projects that we hosted in 2022 and to participate in future GREAT activities.  

 The 2022 GREAT conference was successfully held on November 10, 2022 
  • Theme: Building intercultural competence through high-impact student experiences 
  • 12 sessions with over 30 presenters about 140 attendance total from both MSU and external institutions 
  • A brief summary of the conference survey and assessment 

The survey data indicated that this conference successfully reflected and promoted the theme of building intercultural competence through high-impact student experiences.  The survey feedback showed that programs such as education or teaching abroad, as well as an international virtual exchange that provides intentionally guided intercultural conversation, reflection, and learning, have significant value in helping students develop intercultural competence. Additionally, the conference highlighted the importance of providing support for international students to engage in intercultural conversations with faculty and peers in class. 
 

  • Support Grant for International Virtual Exchange 
    • 2 MSU faculty from 2 different colleges involved 44 MSU students who worked with 88 international students in the UAE and Taiwan in 2022. 
    • As of the end of 2022, there are 101 MSU students who had intercultural interaction with 148 international students through international virtual exchange courses sponsored by the GREAT Supportive Grant for International Virtual Exchange Project. 
    • Highlights of Students' IVE Projects: 
      • From ENG575/684 class, students planned and developed a small business idea in the United Arab Emirates: Home | My Site 1 (camsteilen.wixsite.com) 
      • From HSP410 course, students completed projects focused on business expansion from the United States into Taiwan. One group based their project on expanding a Disney World theme park to Taiwan.  
    • Student comments: 
      • “The concepts in this course, from acknowledging challenges in intercultural communication to having cultural sensitivity/curiosity, will not only prove to be valuable in my personal life, but also in my professional work life. I’ve grown to love working with people from various parts of the world. Being able to have professional relationships with knowledgeable people abroad (as well as lighthearted friendships with them, as we would constantly send cat and Star Wars gifs in our Microsoft Teams chat) is extremely important to me." 
      • "The things I learned in this course will stick with me for the rest of my life. I will always be able to take a step back and think about different cultures before judging coworkers or strangers.” 
      • “I feel like the knowledge and opportunity to speak with international students helped me to see how the hospitality industry is different and has expanded to other countries. Learning how they manage hospitality helps us in so many ways." 

 

  • International Teaching 
    • 4 faculty taught online summer courses for Chinese students at Southwest University in China through their Global Immersion Program (GIP)

 

  •  International Cloud Classroom Project 
    • In 2022, we offered 7 online recorded courses for both Spring and Fall semester enrolled 1,052 students total.  

 

  •   Global Grant Support 
    • J. Christopher Stevens Virtual Exchange Initiative 2022 Grant Competition - seeding grant filed through an interdisciplinary approach to explore global issues and ethical challenges in healthcare, business, and science. The grant proposal was drafted and filed by Dr. Wafaa Kaf, Dr. Leslie Seawright, and Dr. Peng Zhang