For the past 17 years, CIEE International Faculty Development Seminars have proven to be instrumental in internationalizing curricula, advancing research, diversifying faculty expertise at institutions of higher education, encouraging new perspectives on and modes of teaching, expanding the international network of scholars, and maintaining the overall vitality of faculty and administration.
Each year, CIEE conducts a post-program survey of participants, and hears stories of new and exciting ways IFDS impacts lives and institutions. Faculty lead their classrooms and research communities in new ways; institutions demonstrate leadership in internationalizing their campuses. Host institutions abroad, too, benefit from the exchange.
Here is evidence attesting to that personal and institutional advancement, gathered through our 2006 survey. Click here to read complete seminar evaluations and testimonials from past participants.
the educator
98%
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Considered IFDS to be excellent value for the money
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98%
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Would highly recommend IFDS to a colleague
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83%
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Experienced personal growth
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81%
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Developed new courses or revised existing ones
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75% |
Increased their knowledge of the seminar subject significantly with up-to-date information on recent academic, economic, environmental, political, social, and religious developments overseas
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59%
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Benefited from scholarly interactions with lecturers and participants
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Educators also reported:
- Building lasting collegial networks with faculty counterparts from home and abroad
- Discovering resources needed to expand faculty and student exchange opportunities
- Fueling new research, publishing, and fellowship opportunities
the institution
Institutions find that funding faculty development opportunities abroad greatly expands internationalization efforts on campus. Quite a few institutions have made IFDS the cornerstone of their campus’s faculty development efforts, sponsoring multiple faculty members each summer. With their new experiences and information, returning educators influence hundreds of students and colleagues each semester. Specifically, institutions reported the importance of IFDS in helping to:
- Enlarge the pool of faculty and administrators conversant in international issues
- Internationalize curricula
- Increase international awareness and interest on the part of undergraduate students through exposure to faculty with overseas knowledge and experience
- Research and develop study abroad opportunities for students
- Increase awareness of diversity issues on campus through exposing faculty to new ideas, research, and colleagues overseas
- Create institutional, faculty, or student linkages with institutions abroad
- Raise the institution’s profile abroad