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Global is what we do!

On February 15th, the WORLD Center for International Learning rebooted its “Lunch and Learn” faculty information series. Director Paula Hentz gave a presentation to 13 faculty on how to apply for WORLD awards. These awards support work done by faculty to internationalize the campus and curricula, and support individual faculty and teams to explore emerging opportunities in different parts of the world that have broad impact on student and organizational learning.

Faculty participated in discussion with WORLD staff and other faculty who have experience in developing and implementing international experiences into courses and programs. Some other topics covered were:

  • How international research impacts teacher-scholar development
  • How teachers can parlay their research into high-quality learning abroad programs
  • Walking through the proposal process and how WORLD will support them every step of the way

Stetson University is committed to preparing professors and students to be informed, active, and engaged citizens of both local communities and the world. All faculty are encouraged to consider the benefits of internationalizing their courses (Application here). If you’re not sure how to get started, be sure to meet with any member of WORLD staff as they are ready to help you bring the world to your classroom.

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Introducing Brown Visiting Teacher-Scholar, Dr. Olena Kolupayeva

I did my PhD in Linguistics at Kamianets-Podilskyi Ivan Ohiienko National University, Ukraine. I completed a professional internship as a professor of journalism on the basis of a European broadcaster (“BVBM as the representative of citizen media interests in Germany”, the Federal Republic of Germany, 2019-2020). Also, I participated in the Erasmus+ International Academic Mobility Program at the Catholic University of Ružomberok (the Slovak Republic, 2019).

Currently I’m working as a Brown Visiting Teacher-Scholar Fellow in Communication and Media Studies at Stetson University. My research is aimed at recognizing false and misleading information distributed by Russian government-controlled media, pro-Russia websites, social media accounts like Twitter, Facebook, TikTok. My attention is also focused on refuting fake news in the media covering war in Ukraine.

Being a facilitator of Media Literacy project, my objective is for students to develop critical thinking skills while accessing, analyzing, and evaluating media messages in a variety of forms.

As a graduate of the “Human Rights Academy for Journalism Professors”, I try to increase students’ awareness in the field of equality and non-discrimination, recognize, analyze and break down stereotypes in media.

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Meet Stetson’s Fulbright Scholar, Alaa Alafify

Alaa Alafify is a highly educated and accomplished English as a Foreign Language (EFL) educator with a strong background in language instruction, curriculum development, and instructional technology. She holds a Master of Arts in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) from a co-supervision program between Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University in Egypt, and Limerick University in Ireland. She also holds a Teaching English as a Foreign Language Diploma (MTD) from Ministry of Defense Language Institute (MODLI) in Cairo, Egypt, and Special and Professional Diplomas in EFL Curriculum and Instruction from Ain Shams University. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Language (For Preparatory and Secondary Education) from Ain Shams University Faculty of Education, Egypt with a GPA of 4.0 and a General Grade of Very Good- the Second with Honor. She has publications in multiple international and national instructional journals.

Throughout her career, Alaa has gained extensive experience in teaching and training EFL students of all ages and levels. She has served as a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) at Stetson University, where she taught Arabic as a foreign language and developed course materials for undergraduate students, including PowerPoints, handouts, workshops, and assessments, to enhance learning and enable students to master concepts. Additionally, she has served as a Teaching Assistant at Ain Shams University, where she educated student-teachers on the methods and techniques of teaching English as a second and foreign language.

Alaa is also a skilled curriculum developer and has experience in participating in developing Curricula for the EFL Curriculum and Instruction Department. She also has experience in conducting workshops on Instructional Technology and soft skills for EFL pre-service teachers. Alaa has also demonstrated her expertise as a teacher trainer, where she has designed and conducted teacher training sessions for teachers who sought a Diploma in TEFL.

Alaa is an active member of the academic community and has presented at conferences and workshops, such as FLTA Speaker with La Casa Cultural Latina Center, where she gave a cultural presentation about “Why Egypt is she the of mother of the World?” with the goal of introducing American students to the Arabic culture. She was also the only Egyptian who got selected out of over 200 applicants to represent Egypt at Fulbright FLTA Mid-Year Conference in Washington, D.C. She successfully delivered a presentation on using Infographics in Teaching Foreign Languages. In addition, she served as a Cultural Fair presenter responsible for hosting a booth to share experiences and engage attendees to encourage participates to learn more about the Egyptian culture.

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Global Competence: Expanding Student Access to International Learning Experiences

Each Spring, Academic Affairs prepares an update to the Board of Trustees on work to advance the university’s strategic goals. This year, the work of the International Learning Committee was highlighted in response to the Learning Excellence Roll Ahead Strategic Map Goal and how Stetson is responding to the following questions:

—how do we know our students are learning

—how are we improving the experience of learning for them; and

—how are we seeking continual improvement of our work throughout the university. 

This growth highlight response represents the type of continuous improvement sought by the Board and by higher education.

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The overarching role of the International Learning Committee (ILC) is to elevate the academic merit, overall value and viability of the international program at Stetson University. The re-instated ILC (AY 2018-19) swiftly adopted the ACE CIGE, the nation’s best practice conceptual framework for comprehensive internationalization. CIGE aims to situate universities as globally oriented and internationally connected via strategic, coordinated processes that align and integrate policies, programs, and initiatives. Specific focus was placed on curricular and co-curricular activities to support our institutional value of global citizenship by all students. Between 2019 and 2021, the ILC developed draft Global Learning Outcomes (GLOs). Their work since February 2021 has resulted in the following advancements: 

Increasing ILC Leadership Capacity in Comprehensive Internationalization: The ILC commissioned award-winning national experts to increase its members’ competence in the intentional, ongoing, collaborative process of internationalization as an institutional ethos: 

  • Participated in rubric development training to identify best approaches for evaluating GLOs
  • Finalized a pilot evaluation rubric using a single-point protocol to build criteria based on real student behavior using artifacts from actual courses 
  • Participated in a facilitated workshop on campus internationalization to uncover promising practices in enhancing curriculum integration

Expanding Course Internationalization through Faculty Professional Development: 

  • February 2021: Launched the Curriculum Enhancement through Global Learning Initiative to provide Stetson faculty with concrete tools, grounded in theory and with measurable outcomes, for globalizing courses including global learning frameworks, content, activities, and teaching strategies
  • April 2021: Implemented the Curriculum Enhancement through Global Learning Mini-Grants Program; awarded 11 faculty mini-grants ($500 each) to internationalize courses during summer 2021 by infusing at least two draft GLOs into new or existing fall 2021 courses
  • May 2021: Implemented a virtual two-hour Curriculum Enhancement Through Global Learning Workshop where the consultant offered to grantees a toolkit of strategies for getting started with internationalizing courses 
  • August 2021: Received new or revised syllabi from grant recipients along with detailed descriptions of changes made to courses
  • January 2022: Received samples of student work for assessment along with post-course surveys 
  • May 2022: Anticipate current award recipients will contribute as coaches during a faculty development workshop for the new cohort of faculty interested in internationalizing their courses.

The ILC is currently conducting a comprehensive review of artifacts from the mini-grant pilot program. Outcomes of this study will inform continuous improvement strategies such as (a) modifications of the proposed GLOs; (b) adjustments of the mini-grant program, pending resource availability; (c) broader discussions with academic leadership; and (e) guidance on next steps for institutional integration including discourse on a proposed Global Competency Overlay and formation of a Global Learning Task Force to expand and deepen the learning outcomes work initiated by the ILC.

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Fifth-Year Peace Corps Prep Program Report

In December 2016, Stetson University entered a five-year agreement with the Peace Corps (PC) for the establishment of a Peace Corps Prep Program. The program is designed to advance the goals of the Peace Corps and Stetson University by combining academic course work with practical field experience and enhancing ongoing international initiatives. Peace Corps Prep advances Stetson University’s mission, goals and strategic values by providing professional development, leadership experience and training, intercultural competence, and academic growth.

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