GWC 25-26 Annual Report
2025-2026 GWC Report
The 2025-2026 academic year marked five years since President Michael Roth’s 2021 statement on “Internalization at Wesleyan,” which followed conversations with the Fries Center for Global Studies, and launched a five year internationalization plan. This five year plan set out six overarching themes concerning different aspects of internationalization at Wesleyan: Curriculum, Beyond the Curriculum, Campus Multilingualism, Access and Diversity, Research and Partnerships, and Governance. Each theme corresponded with several, more specific goals. In the fifth of five years, the Fries Center for Global Studies and the Global Wesleyan Collaborative (GWC) (see our homepage here) set out to evaluate progress on these goals and brainstorm future directions.
The GWC, with new members from different parts of campus, met to discuss this project, and in working groups dedicated each to a theme, evaluated the language of each previous theme and associated goals to discuss their viability for the future. Using the activities dashboard created in 2023, which collects and tracks work done by staff, faculty, and students to further internationalization, we were able to collect a list of accomplishments and successes. This information was critical in evaluating whether goals set out in the five year plan had been accomplished or still merited work. The refreshed goals and themes shown on the website today reflect efforts to update existing goals, strike accomplished goals, and add new ones necessary for our continued path of internationalization.
Here is an abbreviated list of accomplishments under each theme:
Theme 1
- Establishment of CLACs
- IDC seminars
- Creation of GEM
- Creation of GSAS
- Short-term course imbedded study abroad (Ireland, Germany, Italy, Ghana, Hong Kong, Kenya)
- Ghana study abroad program on the horizon
Theme 2
- Establishment of the Wesleyan International Speakers Program (WISP)
- Fostering Wesleyan communities beyond U.S. through Advancement office, including London, Paris, and Beijing
- Expansion and enhanced engagement of International Student Advisory Board (ISAB)
- Expansion to Power of Language Week [and 3]
- Language Buddies [and 3]
Theme 3
- Language Data Project
- Growth and diversifying of CLACs in XXX and YYY languages and ZZZ disciplines
- Create a full time position of Assistant Professor of the Practice in ASL
- Create a full time position of Assistant Professor of the Practice in Hindi/Urdu
- The Francophone Program House
- New Multilingual publication – “Emulsify” student journal
- Establishing the Language Center as part of the FCGS
- Reorganization of the Less Commonly Taught Languages through the Alternative Language Study Options
- Establishment of Global Language and Outreach Fellowship
Theme 4
- Enhancement of International Buddy Program (IBP)
- Expansion of International Student Orientation (ISO) program
- Establishment of the African Scholars Program and the Wesleyan Africans Thriving Together (WATT) peer mentorship program
- 30th Anniversary of the Freeman Asian Scholars Program
- Establishment of WIN (Wesleyan International Network)
- Establishment of Immigration Round Table by OISA
- GCC has contracted with Interstride, a vendor that provides intel on the job market for international students seeking opportunities in the US and abroad
- Committed to on-going due payment to NUIEC
Theme 5
- Established Wesleyan Scholars at Risk program
- SARO 1.0 and 2.0
- MOU with Iracambi
- 3-Year Bilateral Conference with Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- KEF Partnership
- Support for AFSO in its early growth
- Fulbright SIR
Theme 6
- FCGS-OISA (co-location, various interactions, GWC)
- Enhanced, regularized support for area studies minors
- Internationalization Dashboard
- Some internationalization themes in latest university strategic plan
Full list of Activities On-Going or Completed in 2021-26