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

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<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Goals

II). Global Options within Campus

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III). Global Case Competition

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IV). Study Abroad

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<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[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 18^th.

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.