Global
Learning Fair Exhibits Worldwide Opportunities
By Conor
Devitt
Summary: The
International Programs Global Learning Fair, held January 24, showed off the
multitude of global opportunities available to WSU students.
Outline:
I). The Event
<!--[if !supportLists]-->·
<!--[endif]-->Time
and Place
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<!--[endif]-->Goals
II). Global
Options within Campus
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<!--[endif]-->Global
Leadership Certificate and Global Studies minor
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<!--[endif]-->Language
Options
III). Global
Case Competition
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<!--[endif]-->Purpose
and Description
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<!--[endif]-->Prize
IV). Study
Abroad
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<!--[endif]-->Statistics
and options
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<!--[endif]-->Economic
effect
The International Programs Global
Learning Fair offered WSU students a chance to learn about study abroad
possibilities, foreign language options and the Global Case Competition.
The fair, which was held on January
24 in the CUB Junior Ballroom, was put on by the Office of International
Programs Global Learning Department.
“President Floyd hopes the fair will
get students to think about global issues,” said Kajsa Hendrickson, a Global
Learning Adviser who coordinated the fair. Booths lined the walls of the Junior
Ballroom, each highlighting a different global learning opportunity.
“We want to expose different global
options within our curriculum”, said Jeff Koch, the communications coordinator
for the Office of International Programs. “We are gaining more relationships
with universities in other countries every week.”
One of the goals of the fair was to
expose the variety of global options offered to students within the curriculum at
the Pullman campus, Hendrickson said. Students can attain a global leadership
certificate by taking a mix of globally-focused and leadership courses. Another
option is the Global Studies minor, which requires 18 credits of course work in
a variety of global topics. According to the WSU website, students also have
the opportunity take Chinese, French, German, Russian, Japanese and Spanish
language courses.
One of the global options offered
within the university curriculum that was highlighted at the fair was the
Global Case Competition. In its third year, the competition pits groups of
students against each other to see who can come up with the best solution to a
major world issue. The global issue for this year has yet to be decided, but
previous issues were the Nigerian energy crisis and the Haitian earthquake
response.
“The goal is to get students to work
together to derive a creative solution to a global problem,” project specialist
Charles Snyder said. The winners will receive an all-expense paid trip to a
foreign country, the location of which has yet to be decided. A possibility is
that the group of students who win will be sent to the location of the problem
and given the opportunity to present their solution to local officials, Snyder
said. Registration for the Global Case Competition will open February 18th.
The largest portion of the fair was
devoted to traditional study abroad programs. There were more than 15 external
study abroad providers present at the fair, Hendrickson said. There were also
more than 15 faculty-led trips advertised and several WSU department programs
present. New study abroad locations offered this year include Cuba, Colombia
and Croatia.
“We’ve seen a slight downturn,” said
Hendrickson when describing the numbers of people who have chosen to study
abroad since the economy collapsed in 2008. “Less than 3 percent of students
study abroad nationally.”
With the economic recession many
people are transitioning to study abroad programs that take place in the
summer, Koch said.
Hendrickson stressed the large amount
of scholarships available to students who choose to study abroad. Federal,
Global Learning Department, university and independent scholarships are all
offered to help pay for study abroad programs around the world.
