On Monday September 23, the President’s Council on Internationalization and Global Engagement released an Issue Paper to initiate a campus-wide consultation process that aims at developing an integrated institutional international strategic plan. The launch event was attended by many members of the York community.
During the launch event, President Lenton noted that York has achieved major strides in internationalizing its campuses, teaching and learning experience, research and scholarship, and community service through the commitment of many departments, Faculties, individual faculty members, staff and students. Building on this rich tradition of global and local connectivity, a coherent, comprehensive, and coordinated institutional strategy is crucial. Lisa Philipps, Provost & VP Academic, explained that the purpose of the Issue Paper is to initiate discussions on what internationalization means to York and how to engage with it in a manner that is aligned with York’s values and vision. During these discussions, York community is urged to contemplate on what internationalization means to us as an institution and what impact we hope to make.
Taking into account the global, national, provincial economic, geopolitical, and environmental contexts and York’s commitment to access, excellence, social justice, diversity, inclusion, and sustainability, this Issue Paper identifies four emerging themes and value propositions of internationalization:
- Global mindset and fluency
- International Student Experience
- Global Nature of Research, Grand Challenges & Talent Development
- Global Reach and Profile
During the Launch event, members of the York community shared their lived experiences with internationalization, current challenges, and future aspirations. Of the many themes discussed are: the need to account for the heterogeneous body of international students, funding models, internationalization of curricula and development of intercultural competencies, international partnerships (where and why), and institutional global profile.
This Issue Paper serves as a springboard to initiate a university-wide consultation process. York University community is invited to participate in this consultation to help develop an integrated institutional international strategic plan. This plan will lay out York University’s vision for building on our current global engagement and initiatives, set goals for further internationalization, and ensure York’s place as a locally and globally engaged university.
We invite all members of the York community to send their feedback on the Issue Paper and/or share their ideas, perspectives, lived experiences and future dreams and aspirations. Stay tuned for consultation workshops announcements and/or provide your feedback online.
