What is internationalization? | OGE | University of Nebraska Medical Center

Globalization is the movement of people, ideas, goods, capital, services, pollution, and diseases across borders. Internationalization is higher education's engagement with that reality.

What is the internationalization laboratory

The Internationalization Laboratory is an invitational learning community at the American Council on Education (ACE), an initiative of the Center for Internationalization and Global Engagement (CIGE). The Internationalization Lab assists participating institutions to develop capacity, capability, and strategy for comprehensive internationalization. The Lab helps infuse an international and intercultural dimension to all outreach through a mentoring partnership that lasts for 16-20 months.

Why it is important

In order for the United States to have a truly world-class higher education system, colleges and universities must be globally engaged and prepare students to be citizens of a multicultural community both at home and in a globalized world.

Through involvement with the ACE Internationalization lab, the University of Nebraska Medical Center will manifest internationalization by implementing a multidimensional, comprehensive strategy that includes internationalization at home and engagement with global issues and partners.

What it means

After establishing the Steering Committee, four working groups were charged with carrying out a strategic analysis of internationalization at UNMC. Laboratory leadership will continue to develop both a strategy for the comprehensive internationalization of the UNMC community as well as a means to assess our ongoing achievements. This process will result in a final deliverable which will make recommendations for actions and an implementation plan. The four working groups are:

Institutional commitment and administrative structure

Examines strategic planning and input from campus stakeholders; internationalization goals, outcomes and challenges; and the administrative structure for global engagement.

Education and students

Examines international student recruitment and enrollment; education abroad and international faculty, staff, and student support with special focus on integration and retention.

Collaborations and partnerships

Examines current global partners and partnership criteria; documentation of international agreements; ongoing development and assessment of partnerships; and collaboration opportunities and challenges.

Research

Identifies our current and future major global partners in research; identifies metrics for assessing the success of international research programs, and evaluates our export/import training activities.

Please e-mail us at global@unmc.edu if you are interested in participating or have any questions or suggestions!