Resource constraints and other challenges are preventing some historically black colleges and universities from internationalizing their campuses as extensively as other institutions of higher education.
That’s a major finding of the Creating Global Citizens initiative, which for three years studied seven HBCUs that worked with the American Council on Education’s Inclusive Excellence Group and the Center for Internationalization and Global Engagement.
Without an investment of human, fiscal and other resources, internationalization efforts will likely remain stagnant or may even decline, the recent report noted. Some funding strategies recommended by the report:
- Establish a modest student fee to support internationalization —a model Howard University in D.C. and North Carolina A&T State University have tried.
- Engaging directly with businesses—those that employ graduates or that would benefit from a globally competent workforce—as external partners for funding.
- Creatively reallocate existing funds—such as by designating a portion of overhead from internationally related grants. Or, unspent or unrestricted funding at the end of the fiscal year could fund faculty efforts to enhance existing courses with global learning.
- Pursue external grants available to support internationalization initiatives.
- Develop international programs with community groups. Savannah State University in Georgia has partners that share costs for speakers on international topics, for example.
