'U' continues tradition of international engagement

By Gisgie Dávila Gendreau and Sue Nichols

For MSU, the world is our campus.

It's not just talk.

International engagement is woven into activities, programs and projects throughout the university.

Some 1,200 faculty and staff members are regularly involved in international scholarship, instruction and work abroad.

In 2003-04, MSU sent more than 2,400 students abroad, with offerings in more than 60 countries on all continents.

And the university hosts more than 4,000 international students and scholars from more than 100 countries each year.

MSU is proud of its history of international research and project work, and the university is developing new strategies for expanding these efforts, said Jeff Riedinger, the Office of International Studies and Programs acting dean.

“We are building cross-disciplinary teams of faculty to tackle major world problems such as emerging infectious diseases, climate and land-use change, food safety and security, and gender equity,” he said. “We are strengthening partnerships with key institutions in other countries. We are enhancing international learning opportunities for our students, including expanded study abroad offerings, new curricular and co-curricular programming, and efforts to attract more international students and scholars.”

From Antarctica to the Virgin Islands. From Argentina to Rwanda. MSU has an impact.

Take the Peace Corps. As of March 2004, 1,957 MSU graduates had served as Peace Corps volunteers in 124 countries over the course of the agency's 44-year history, making MSU fifth nationally in the total number of graduates who have served.

Or institution-building. MSU was instrumental in helping to establish the University of Ryukus in Okinawa, Japan, in 1950. In the 1990s, MSU played a key role in the creation of the National University of Science and Technology in Pakistan. Other areas of the world have seen MSU as a major partner in establishing universities, colleges, schools and departments – including Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Iran, Nepal, Tanzania and Rwanda .

MSU faculty can be found engaging in research and work nearly everywhere.

MSU's Institute of International Agriculture is showing how the same land-grant university mission that empowered America 's heartland is now reaching across the world and making a difference.

In Rwanda, MSU is introducing a premium specialty coffee to the United States . The Partnership to Enhance Agriculture in Rwanda through Linkages – PEARL – tells of rebirth and hope in Rwanda, a nation rebuilding from war and genocide. It tells about the global economy, and how it can connect hard work in developing countries with an enthusiastic marketplace.

Partnerships for Food Industry Development (PFID) – Fruits and Vegetables – has in three years brought the gospel of a consumer-driven system to small farmers in developing Latin American and African countries by using science and technology transfer.

“When the land-grant philosophy really works, then there are no boundaries,” said Dan Clay, director of MSU's Institute of International Agriculture .

Sometimes, MSU's involvement turns on a dime. Joan Rose, the Homer Nowlin Chair in Water Research, recently returned from Thailand , where she worked with a team sampling water in tsunami-stricken villages, and continuing with analysis to help communities rebuild water supplies. She's one of several MSU faculty members involved in aid in Southeast Asia.

Students also have a multitude of opportunities to engage in international programs and projects.

At MSU, it's not a matter of if – but when – to study abroad.

Each year, more than 2,000 students take advantage of more than 200 programs in countries on all seven continents. MSU is home to one of the largest study abroad programs in the nation.

Students can choose to sail on an expedition-style ship to the Antarctic Peninsula to study climatology, oceanography and ecology, while watching whales, seals and penguins.

Or they can stay for 14 days at a Virgin Islands National Park on the island of St. John, hiking wilderness trails and snorkeling on coral reefs to learn about geological, ecological and human factors that cause change in nature.

Participants may spend two to six weeks, a semester or an academic year studying abroad. Programs are offered during each session, including winter and spring break, and are available to all majors.

Costs for study abroad programs vary and are often offset by financial aid and scholarships.

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