Gonzaga’s Center for Global Engagement provides a strategic and coordinated space to provide faculty, staff, and visiting scholars with information on programs and initiatives. According to the American Council on Education, an essential element of comprehensive internationalization is Faculty and Staff Support.
As the primary drivers of teaching and knowledge production, faculty play a pivotal role in learning, research, and service. Their commitment is imperative to the success of internationalization. Institutional policies and support mechanisms ensure that faculty have opportunities to develop intercultural competence themselves and are able to maximize the impact of these experiences on student learning, research, and service.
This support comes in the form of on-campus professional development opportunities and faculty and staff mobility opportunities.
On-Campus Professional Development Opportunities
On-campus professional development opportunities is expected, encouraged, and rewarded. Workshops, seminars, and other programs help faculty and staff build intercultural competence and incorporate diverse and global perspectives into their teaching, research, service, administrative responsibilities, and local-global community connections. Gonzaga supports this best practice by providing the following opportunities:
- Multicultural Support Task Force a group of faculty that have substantial training/teaching/research in teaching international students in the US higher education system. Our goal is to create more support services for faculty.
- Global Engagement Faculty Development Fund, provided by the International Education Council
Faculty and Staff Mobility
Faculty and staff mobility is recognized as an asset. Faculty and staff have opportunities to teach, conduct research, participate in virtual exchange and collaboration, and attend domestic and international conferences. Gonzaga carries this best practice by providing the following opportunities:
- Giving departments the opportunity to host J-1 Exchange Visitors.
- Giving departments the opportunity to host Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants.
- Giving department the opportunity to engage with the Diplomat in Residence - Northwest (AK, Northern CA, OR, WA)
- Via Gonzaga's Partnerships Agreement - giving faculty the opportunity to create faculty exchange opportunities
- Via the Sponsored Research and Programs Office, supporting Gonzaga faculty to research and teach abroad including Fulbright US Scholar Program.
- Via the Study Abroad Office, giving faculty the opportunity to create and teach short-term, Faculty Led Study Abroad courses and on the Gonzaga in Florence campus.
International and Transnational Faculty and Staff Affinity Group
For information regarding the International and Transnational Faculty and Staff Affinity Group, visit the ITFSAG page from the Office of Inclusive Excellence.