INTRODUCTION
 The pace of international change at the start of the twenty-first century has overtaken time-honored institutions such as the American university.  The challenges for teaching, research, and service that are posed by internationalization and globalization require a new and more coherent response by universities.  Those institutions that position themselves to meet such challenges have much to gain.  Those that do not have much to lose.  The University of New Mexico, as an institution that has significant, but not unlimited, international resources, is at a decision point.  UNM can join those institutions that are reorganizing and refocusing their resources to incorporate an international dimension or it can lose its comparative advantages by failing to act.  The Committee believes that the UNM administration should take forceful steps to insure that the University responds effectively to the challenges of globalization by incorporating an international dimension as part of its overall mission.

CURRENT RESOURCES
 UNM currently engages in a variety of international activities.  Latin American studies traditionally have been an area of excellence at UNM, and the Latin American and Iberian Institute (LAII) is a nationally-ranked and federally-funded area center that coordinates a variety of academic, research, and service activities, including study-abroad programs in Latin America and Spain.  The Office of International Programs and Studies (OIPS) provides services for foreign students, manages additional study-abroad programs, advises UNM students and faculty on other opportunities such as Fulbright awards, and provides services for the Russian, European, and Asian studies programs of the College of Arts and Sciences.  Both the LAII and OIPS conduct exchange programs with foreign universities.  The Office of Admissions is responsible for handling admission of foreign undergraduate students.  Admission of foreign graduate students is handled by the Office of Graduate Studies.

 Other significant international activities are conducted by UNM schools and colleges.  In addition to the foreign area studies programs already mentioned, examples include the Festival of the Americas and the Institute of Arts of the Americas of the College of Fine Arts, Latin American Programs in Education of the College of Education, the Summer Program in Mexican Law and the International Transboundary Resource Center of the School of Law, the Latin American biology projects of the Department of Biology, the overseas study programs of the Honors Center, the School of Nursing's cooperative M.S. program for faculty in schools of nursing at three Mexican universities, collaborative overseas research projects by the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the German Summer School and Atlantic Bridge projects of the Department of Foreign Languages, the international programs of Continuing Education, and the many overseas research projects of the Department of Anthropology.  Foreign holdings of the General Library are outstanding for Latin America and strong for Europe.  Faculty with overseas experience and foreign language capability are found throughout the University.

CURRENT PROBLEMS
 There is a lack of coordination among the various units that engage in international activities, with the exception of programs focusing on Latin America and Iberia.  UNM's overall international activity can be described as balkanized.  Other problems identified by the Committee include:

1) lack of development of international and foreign area studies programs except those under the Latin American and Iberian Institute,
2) relatively low numbers of foreign students in comparison to peer institutions,
3) serious problems in the foreign student recruitment and admission processes at both undergraduate and graduate levels,
4) inadequate support structures for foreign students and faculty,
5) relatively low numbers of UNM students studying abroad,
6) lack of resources to support faculty research and travel abroad,
7) lack of staffing support for international and area studies other than LAII,
8) lack of access to information about current and pending international activities
9) lack of a mechanism to coordinate international activities.
10) lack of a clear institutional commitment to global and international issues other than those involving Latin America and Iberia.

RECOMMENDATIONS
 The Committee considered a variety of possible solutions for the problems it identified.  It also discussed various alternative models of organization of international activities at several institutions known for excellence in international programs, such as the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Washington (Seattle), Duke University, and Michigan State University.  The Committee also considered at length the recent publication of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges,"Expanding the International Scope of Universities", and incorporated a number of its recommendations in this report.

 The Committee debated the question of resources for internationalization and agreed that its recommendations should be posited on the assumption that new resources will be modest at best.  In consequence, its recommendations assume that the first challenge will be to make the best use of existing resources, which in turn will position UNM to respond to international challenges incrementally and to innovate in seeking outside funding.

Recommendation 1.  UNM should make internationalization an integral part of the University's mission and strategic plan.
 Internationalization of the University is not an important component of the most recent UNM mission statement, UNM 2000, adopted by the Regents in 1995, except with reference to the Western Hemisphere.  The Administration should take steps to see that a broader vision of the internationalization of UNM is incorporated in future mission statements and strategic plans.  By "internationalization" is meant greater involvement of students in international education experiences, the incorporation of international content in the curriculum, increasing the numbers of foreign students and faculty, expanding the international activity of faculty and professional staff, and assuring that international research and scholarship permeate UNM's disciplines, interdisciplinary programs, and professional schools. It should be stressed that internationalization
is an important means to promote diversity at UNM.

Recommendation 2. UNM should provide coordination and direction of its international activities through an administrative reorganization and the appointment of an Associate Provost for International Programs.
 The Task Force recommends placing all international activities under an associate or vice provost whose primary responsibility is to coordinate international programs and activities at UNM.  This associate provost should be given line authority over all international units and activities other than those conducted by schools and colleges.  Units or functions reporting to this office would be of two types: international academic units, such as the LAII and another unit to be proposed that would house other existing foreign area study programs; and international service units, such an office for international student services, an office for exchange and study abroad,  CELAC (Center for English Language and American Culture), and, possibly, an office for international student recruitment and admission at both undergraduate and graduate international admissions.  The Associate Provost for International Programs would assume the functions of, and therefore supersede, the position of Director of OIPS (which would be eliminated).  This outcome is the equivalent of transforming the directorship of OIPS into the associate provostship. Implications for the current service functions of OIPS are addressed below.

Recommendation 3.  UNM should establish, under the new Associate Provost for International Programs, a new Center for International Research and Studies (CIRS) to promote the development of international research and the study of world areas other than Ibero-America.
 CIRS should provide support services comparable to those provided to the Latin Americanist students and faculty by the LAII.  This new unit is conceived as an "incubator" that will support and help generate outside funding for international and area studies programs and for thematically-oriented international and global projects that span disciplines and geographic areas.  CIRS should also manage study-abroad programs for areas other than Latin America and Iberia. CIRS should begin with a modest investment through in-house recruitment of a director from the UNM faculty, a grant-writer, clerical help, and reassignment of existing personnel.  CIRS would provide administrative support for the existing Asian, European, and Russian studies programs, as well as support for developing new projects on interdisciplinary global themes.  Successful aspects of the LAII operation could be replicated with the cooperation of the LAII itself, which would be a sister unit.  It should be noted that the division of responsibility between the LAII and CIRS would replicate the division of labor between the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Department of Foreign Languages.

Recommendation 4.  The support of the international community at UNM (such as foreign students and faculty) should be the primary function of a new unit called the Office of International Student and Faculty Services (OISFS) that would replace OIPS and report to the new Associate Provost for International Programs.  This unit would be staffed with current OIPS who provide international student services.
 An office with the primary function of serving foreign students would have a clear performance mandate, as opposed to the very broad spectrum of international activities currently under the OIPS.  This change would restore the original character of OIPS, which originally began as the Office of International Student Services.  OIPS activities in support of Asian, European, and Russian studies should be moved to the new CIRS.

Recommendation 5.  A new Office of International Study Abroad and Student Exchanges (OISASE) should be established and staffed with existing OIPS personnel.
 This office would provide university-wide coordination and publicity for study-abroad and exchange programs and be charged with developing expanded opportunities for overseas study for the student body at large, including opportunities for financial support.  The many specialized study abroad programs that already exist in other units at UNM (such as the Honors Center, the LAII, Fine Arts, and the Law School) would continue, but should work in collaboration with the new office to avoid duplication of offerings.

Recommendation 6.  Support for international research and faculty development should be a specific charge of the new Center for International Research and Studies.
 The success of the LAII in achieving faculty participation and recruitment results in considerable measure from its programs of support for faculty research abroad and travel to professional meetings. The Task Force recommends that a reasonable but significant portion of the funds currently allocated to the Research Allocations Committee be set aside for support of international research and be allocated by a faculty committee of CIRS.  Additional funding for faculty development and program support activities should be obtained by applying to the U.S. Department of Education's Title VI Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Languages grant program.

Recommendation 7.  Mechanisms should be introduced to insure faculty and student involvement in the new Center for International Research and Studies.
 Faculty involvement has been the key to success of interdisciplinary units (such as the LAII) and therefore must be initiated and maintained through specific mechanisms, such as a policy committee of faculty members, a faculty committee with responsibility for an international speakers program, and a faculty committee responsibility for allocating research and support funds to faculty and students.  Each committee should have student representation.  An international studies student organization should be established and provided with a modest budget for programs, which can then be augmented with ASUNM and GPSA funds.

Recommendation 8.  The new Associate Provost for International Affairs should be given some type of authority over international recruitment and admissions, the nature of which should be recommended by a faculty/staff committee, based on an investigation of procedures employed at universities with high success rates in enrolling foreign students.
 The committee finds that systematic international recruitment is almost entirely lacking and should be initiated.  Bottlenecks in international admission at both undergraduate and graduate levels are also a serious problem that must be addressed.  The Committee did not  have a consensus on recommending a mechanism.  A majority felt that a new Office of International Recruitment and Admissions should be established under the new Associate Provost and staffed ith current admissions personnel.  It was argued in opposition that this would create problems with the regular admissions office and with the Office of Graduate Studies.  There was a consensus that whether or not the current admissions personnel are placed directly under the Associate Provost in a new office, the Associate Provost should be granted some type of authority over international recruitment and admissions.  The Committee did agree that resolution of this issue requires investigation of arrangements at more successful institutions, and recommends that a faculty\staff advisory committee on international recruitment be appointed to assist the Associate Provost in addressing international admissions and recruitment.

Recommendation 9.  An International Studies major and minor should be established, following the Latin American Studies model, with administrative support provided by CIRS and academic supervision provided by the College of Arts and Sciences.
 The core language, area, and international studies courses for such a degree already exist in Latin American, Asian, European, and Russian studies, and in international studies fields such as international economics and comparative politics.  An interdisciplinary supervisory committee should be named that includes representation from these four areas and from international studies fields such as international economics, international relations, comparative politics, and international law).

Recommendation 10.  Support for grant development should be provided through CIRS with initial assistance from the Office of Research Services (ORS).
 Success in obtaining external funding will be the key to the success of CIRS (as it has been for the LAII).  Grant support programs for area studies and international studies exist in the federal government and in private foundations but have not been tapped due to lack of support for project development and proposal writing.  The CIRS should have a grant writer and/or a director and executive officer with grant preparation skills, so that the international and area studies programs under its aegis can seek external support.  Initial support for grant development could be provided through the part-time loan of a staff person from ORS.

Recommendation 11.  UNM should develops methods to give priority (other things being equal) in new faculty hires to persons with international expertise.
 The long-term growth of UNM's international faculty resources will have to result from an incremental process of normal faculty turnover and hiring.  For the desired result to be obtained, priority in hiring faculty with international expertise, other things being equal, should be made official policy.  Specific methods of implementing the policy should be developed, such as including a faculty person with international expertise on faculty search committees (similar to what has been done to increase minority hiring).
 

 MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON GLOBALIZATION, INTERNATIONALIZATION, AND LATIN AMERICA
(Present and Voting to approve the Report on November 9, 2000)
Gilbert W. Merkx (Chair), Latin American and Iberian Institute
Rebecca Digman, Office of International Programs and Services
Guillermina Engelbrecht, Latin American Programs in Education
Gladis Maresma, Office of International Technical Cooperation
Peter Pabisch, Foreign Languages
Lawrence Roybal, Outreach Services
Susan Tiano, Sociology
Jon M. Tolman, Spanish and Portuguese
 
 

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

1. UNM should make internationalization an integral part of the University's mission and strategic plan.
2. UNM should provide coordination and direction of its international activities through an administrative reorganization and the appointment of an Associate Provost for International Programs.
3. UNM should establish, under the new Associate Provost for International Programs, a new Center for International Research and Studies (CIRS) to promote the development of international research and study of world areas other than Latin America.
4. The support of the international community at UNM (such as foreign students and faculty) should be the primary function of a new unit called the Office of International Student and Faculty Services (OISFS) that would replace OIPS and report to the new Associate Provost for International Programs.
5. A new Office of International Study Abroad and Student Exchanges (OISASE) should be established and staffed with existing OIPS personnel.
6. Support for international research and faculty development should be a specific charge of the new Center for International Research and Studies.
7. Mechanisms should be introduced to insure faculty and student involvement in the new Center for International Research and Studies.
8. The new Associate Provost for International Affairs should be given some type of authority over international recruitment and admissions, the nature of which should be recommended by a faculty/staff committee, based on an investigation of procedures employed at universities with high success rates in enrolling foreign students.
9. An International Studies major and minor should be established, following the Latin American Studies model, with administrative support provided by CIRS and academic supervision provided by the College of Arts and Sciences.
10. Support for grant development should be provided through CIRS with initial assistance from the Office of Research Services (ORS).
11. UNM should develops methods to give priority (other things being equal) in new faculty hires to persons with international expertise.